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GA04062 |
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PHEWA honors model ministries |
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New Moderator's Justice Award goes to San Francisco ministry |
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by Eva Stimson |
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RICHMOND, June 29 - Presbyterians involved in outstanding social-justice ministries were honored Tuesday evening at an awards reception sponsored by the Presbyterian Health, Education and Welfare Association (PHEWA).
The Rev. Susan Andrews, the moderator of the 215th General Assembly, presented the newly created Moderator's Justice Award to San Francisco Network Ministries, saying she chose it because it "deals not only with the physical needs of human beings, but also with their deeply spiritual needs."
The Rev. Glenda Hope, who accepted the award on Network Ministries' behalf, said it "began in 1972 with eight people sitting on the floor in a house church." Since then it has developed programs to help people living in the Tenderloin, a part of San Francisco notorious for crime, prostitution and drug dealing. The ministries include computer training, low-income housing, a safe house for women leaving prostitution and memorial services for poor and homeless people whose deaths otherwise would not be acknowledged. |
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Presbyterian Health, Education, and Welfare Association, in partnership with the Presbyterian Association for Community Transformation, presented Cristo Rey Outreach in Sunland Park, New Mexico with the Community Ministries and Neighborhood Organizations Award. Photo by David P Young |
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Six other awards were presented:
- The Urban Network for Congregational Leadership Award: The Pilgrimage, an outreach ministry of Church of the Pilgrims in Washington, DC, which for 30 years has enabled youth from across the country to learn about poverty and homelessness through hands-on service projects.
- The Community Ministries and Neighborhood Organizations Award: Cristo Rey Outreach Inc., a ministry of Sierra Blanca Presbytery in Sunland Park, NM, that created the first day-care program and neighborhood center in the subdivision of Anapra and offers services including after-school tutoring and a food-buying cooperative.
- The Nancy Jennings Award, presented by Presbyterians for Disabilities Concerns: Bebe Baldwin, a minister and educator in the Presbytery of the Twin Cities, who has been an advocate for people with disabilities in her presbytery and in the PC(USA). Baldwin lost most of her vision during her first year as a pastor, but accepted the setback as a challenge to empower others with disabilities.
- The Florence Iverson Kraft Award, presented by the Presbyterian Serious Mental Illness Network: Hillsboro Presbyterian Church, in Nashville, TN, a 750-member suburban congregation that provides counseling and education for people and families affected by mental illness and regularly incorporates mental-health concerns into worship.
- Hancock Award, presented by Presbyterians for Addiction Action: Bobbi Douglas, director of STEPS (Substance, Treatment, Education and Prevention Services) in Wooster, OH, for "contributions in the field of addiction prevention, intervention and recovery." The award is named for the Rev. David Hancock, a retired Presbyterian minister who is a recognized authority on addiction. Douglas, a deacon at Wooster's Westminster Presbyterian Church, has worked to involve the community in issues related to drug and alcohol abuse.
- The John Rea Thomas Award, presented by the Presbyterian Association of Specialized Pastoral Ministries: Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary's Marriage and Family Therapy program. The award is named in honor of the Rev. John Rea Thomas, a founding member of PHEWA, who spent a lifetime serving in military and hospital chaplaincies and other specialized ministry settings. The Louisville Seminary program was recognized for its unique role in preparing students for the practice of marriage and family therapy.
PHEWA, created by the General Assembly in 1955, is an umbrella organization for 10 networks that provide resources and support to Presbyterians involved in social welfare and justice ministries. |
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