Westminster Hills
Presbyterian Church’s sixty members continue the founders’
commitment to being a strong witness in its South Hayward neighborhood.
They invited seven other churches to join them in running a
community garden and managing a USDA emergency food outlet.
Small groups organized the reclamation of a park from drug dealers,
brought about the end of discriminatory housing practices, and
championed a “No Room for Racism” policy, which
is still printed on the city limits signs. They have persuaded
city government and other churches to work with them to equip
a neighborhood center that provides immunizations, housing assistance,
and referrals for job training. Area residents speak fifty-two
different languages so they have hired multilingual high school
students to register voters. Members volunteer at a senior center,
host the neighborhood watch meeting, distribute food, and host
vigils against hate. This small congregation is a vital part
of its community.
A five-member team from Community Presbyterian Church (CPC)
in Danville visited Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina and
not only inspired their congregation to create the largest mission
project in their history but also enlisted other area churches
that together raised $450,000 to build sixteen houses. They
built 400 walls, shipped them to the building site, and sent
250 people—including 100 of CPC’s youth—to
raise these walls on newly laid foundations. All of the houses
were occupied by the spring of 2007.
The 28,132 members of San Francisco Presbytery reflect its
diversity in 77 congregations and 5 new church developments
as they praise God in Cantonese, English, Indonesian, Japanese,
Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog, and Taiwanese. |
