07325
May 31, 2007

Sixteen new church-related projects announced

More than $1.1 million in grants will support new churches, transformation and community outreach

by Mary Julia Pace
Associate for Communication
PC(USA) Office of Communication

LOUISVILLE — The Mission Development Resources Committee (MDRC) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) recently awarded more than $1.1 million in grant money to 16 church-related projects across the United States.

     The short-term start-up funds will enable congregations, presbyteries and synods to organize new churches, transform existing congregations or develop church-based community outreach programs.

     “The population is growing in many parts of the country,” said MDRC chair Melvin Khachigian of Bakersfield, CA. “In other regions the population is changing. That’s why 65 percent of all new grants are allocated to racial-ethnic projects. These grants provide presbyteries with the seed money to develop new churches or new strategies for existing congregations.”

     Recipients were chosen during a MDRC meeting May 2-4 in Minneapolis.

     With this latest round of mission program grants, the PC(USA)’s General Assembly Council (GAC) is now funding 203 new and ongoing projects across 104 presbyteries in 15 synods.

     “Each of the new projects is a story about Presbyterians responding to God’s call,” said the Rev. Eric Hoey, director of the GAC’s new Evangelism and Church Growth program area. “Listening to them talk about their mission and their vision for the future was very inspiring.”

     The MDRC reports to the GAC. Its primary focus is to respond to the church growth commitment of the denomination, work that it conducts in partnership with synods and presbyteries engaged in church growth mission through the allocation of grants and loans.

     Hoey, attending his first MDRC meeting since being named to the new national staff position in February, said the church has to be “dynamic” and “when the GAC, presbyteries and synods collaborate on these types of evangelism projects, we are sharing the gospel in ways that meet the needs of a diverse and changing culture.”

     Each of the following new projects illustrates one of three mission goals of the grants:

New church development

     In Denver, the Iglesia Presbiteriana De Valverde New Church Development project is establishing a new congregation in the southwest corner of the city that will share worship space with Valverde Community Church, a declining congregation that’s more than 100 years old. The project received a $90,000 grant that will be matched with funds from the Synod of the Rocky Mountains and Denver Presbytery.

Church transformation

     In Paramus, NJ, the Trinity Multicultural Congregational Transformation project is adding a Chinese-speaking ministry to provide Reformed spiritual nourishment to this growing, yet underserved, Chinese population. The project received a $100,000 grant that will be matched with funds from the Synod of the Northeast and Palisades Presbytery.

     Trinity United Presbyterian Church in Santa Ana, CA, is establishing the Samaritan Care Center to provide its members and the community with resources, educational programs and counseling to meet their physical, emotional and spiritual needs. The project received a $50,000 grant that will be matched with funds from the Synod of Southern California and Hawaii, and Los Ranchos Presbytery.

     The other grant recipients, by state, are:

• Comunidad Presbiteriana Hispana New Church Development, Springdale,AR, Synod of the Sun, Arkansas Presbytery, $100,000 grant to plant, organize, and nurture the First Hispanic Presbyterian Church in Northwest Arkansas that will worship God in ways reflective of the Reformed tradition and appropriate to Latino culture in a bilingual, multicultural setting.
• The Middle Ground Project of Knox Presbyterian Church Congregational-Based Ministry, Los Angeles, CA, Synod of Southern California and Hawaii, Pacific Presbytery, $50,000 grant to create a character-building program that can be a safe place for at-risk students to explore how they interact with others, how they view their own self-worth, and how they can apply new behaviors and attitudes towards their performance in school and their goals in life.
• Lathrop Presbyterian Church New Church Development, Lathrop, CA, Synod of the Pacific, Stockton Presbytery, Sierra Mission Partnership, $100,000 grant to spread and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a growing community. It will be an effort to introduce people to Jesus Christ, to reawaken faith in others and to continue to support believers in order to deepen their faith and commitment to Christ.

• Maranata Presbyterian Church New Church Development, Orlando, FL, Synod of South Atlantic, Central Florida Presbytery, $100,000 grant to expand the word of God to the Hispanic community in the fastest growing area of North East Orange County, with a special emphasis on Spanish speaking families moving into the Waterford Lakes and neighboring communities.
• Meridian New Church Development, Boise, ID, Synod of the Pacific, Boise Presbytery, Snake River Mission Area, $95,000 grant to develop a church where the outcast and the successful, the young and the old, can drop their masks and have an authentic encounter with the living Lord and where the Bible is taught clearly, accurately and relevantly.

• Central Presbyterian Church Congregational Transformation, New Lenox, IL, Synod of Lincoln Trails, Blackhawk Presbytery, $50,000 grant to reconnect with its neighborhood of 14 years and provide meaningful worship to suburban singles, families and couples who are grappling with the demands and challenges of life in New Lenox.
• Christ Presbyterian Church Congregational Transformation, Winfield, IN, Synod of Lincoln Trails, Wabash Valley Presbytery, $50,000 grant to assist with their vision of glorifying God with quality worship, nurturing disciples through connecting and energizing the people of God, sharing the Gospel with the community in word and deed, and serving the world by reaching into the community.

• VIDA: Eastboro Life Together Congregational-Based Ministry, Topeka, KS, Synod of Mid-America, Presbytery of Northern Kansas, $50,000 grant to help identify the needs of Topeka’s growing Hispanic population and respond to those needs by establishing a welcoming presence in the community and by nurturing long-term relationships with other Presbyterian congregations of Shawnee County.

• Mid-Coast Presbyterian Church Sudanese Congregational-Based Ministry, Topsham, ME, Synod of the Northeast, Presbytery of Northern New England, $50,000 grant to help the community “break-through” from its current size and orientation to become a growing, outward-oriented Christian community giving witness and service to the Sudanese community in Portland.

• Southfield Presbyterian Church Multicultural Leadership Congregational Transformation, Southfield, MI, Synod of the Covenant, Detroit Presbytery, $50,000 grant for outreach to the community in an effort to become a truly multicultural congregation where no racial-ethnic group is predominant.
• Big Sky Community Church New Church Development, Big Sky, MT, Synod of the Rocky Mountains, Yellowstone Presbytery, $25,000 grant to become an effective, vibrant, healthy and thriving congregation that is organized around a growing commitment to God, the people of God and the work of God.
• Elmwood Presbyterian Church Women’s Empowerment Initiative Congregational-Based Ministry, East Orange, NJ, Synod of the Northeast, Newark Presbytery, $50,000 grant to help encourage women to champion their own destiny and well-being, thereby becoming positive role models and enablers for children in their community.
• Monte Sinai Hispanic Fellowship New Church Development, Sandusky, OH, Synod of the Covenant, Maumee Valley Presbytery, $100,000 grant to help this growing faith community develop into a church with good resources and to offer a spiritual home to Hispanic immigrants across north central Ohio.