09032
January 15, 2009

Can a small, failing church take on Ike and win?

Clothing ministry revitalizes Texas congregation in hurricane’s aftermath

by Mike Allison
Member, LaMarque Presbyterian Church
Reprinted with permission from Presbyterian Neighbor News, Sun Edition

LAMARQUE, TX — At LaMarque Presbyterian Church, we think we can!

Although once a flourishing church with lots of members and youth at church every Sunday, LaMarque Church became one of the run-of-the-mill failing PC(USA) churches. Now things are changing.

Radically.

At the outset of the 2008, we made a tough decision. Should we sell and relocate, change our schedule, or something else?

At a prayerful retreat, we decided to stay focused on our community and see where God was leading us in this troubling time. Our mostly Anglo, somewhat Hispanic/African American congregation no longer matched our community, so we made the commitment to become a multicultural church and began working in our community.

After a garage sale or two, we found we were being led to open a clothing ministry. We launched The Clothes Line and began distributing clothing to our community's neediest people.

Then along came Hurricane Ike. By the beginning of December 2008, we were ministering to 75 families, many of whom had been nearly wiped out by the storm.

Now we have a clear focus for this new ministry. We have tripled the space for The Clothes Line and are concentrating on obtaining clothing for this growing outreach. We trust our partners in southeast Texas will help us gather more clothing for the expected 150 or more families that will be coming to our door every month.

Please call (409) 935-4418 to find out how you can help.