Community and Beyond

The Hedgesville Presbyterian Church Mission Community

Jesus said, “Give them something to eat.”

 

Christ is our model – in loving and caring for those around us. Some of our ministries and missions:

 

Global Missions: We pray for, stay in touch with, and financially assist a Presbyterian mission co-worker in the Central Asian country of Tajikistan.

 

Loaves and Fishes: We take up a collection of foodstuffs once a month for the food pantry located nearby at the Hedgesville Methodist Church. Serving area families in need, this facility is open on the fourth Friday of each month. Our 2008 Souper Bowl of Caring collection totaled 80-plus cans of soup for the pantry.

 

Community Networks, Inc.: Since 2006 our church has been a member of the “300 Club” of this tri-county nonprofit organization. Community Networks manages Bethany House, a 32-bed shelter for women and children, the Hope Living/Learning Center, which provides transitional housing for women, and operates programs for people who have or are affected by HIV/AIDS, including a drop-in center and housing.

 

Cents-A-Meal: Once a month we bring to worship the money we have saved by setting aside four cents a meal for each family member, each day. Our project is part of an effort by Shenandoah presbytery that distributed donations to local, national and international hunger-program recipients. This is our response to our Presbyterian (U.S.A.) denomination’s small “first step in the battle against hunger and poverty.”

 

Samaritan’s Purse: Each November congregation members fills holiday-wrapped shoeboxes with Christmas gifts for children. These are distributed to needy children in many nations of the world through Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse organization.

 

Christmas International House: Joining the 15 Eastern Panhandle Presbyterian Churches, we developed a two-week home-stay program for the 2004 and 2006 Christmas and New Year’s holiday break for international university students. From China,  Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan and England, these students were studying in a variety of states in the U.S., as we exhibited the kind of hospitality Christ calls for.

 

Baskets: Presbyterian Women made up baskets of goodies and delivered them to families at Christmas-time.

 

Care Pregnancy Center: We collect funds for use by this organization that helps young women.

Hedgesville Helps World Wide Missions

When the Shenandoah Presbytery met in Keyser last November, all churches had been invited to play exhibits on their mission programs. Hedgesville Presbyterian won the $500 awarded for the best exposition of any church's mission programs. Clerk of the Session Vicki Jenkins put together a very impressive display with photos, text, and number of objects that helped to tell the story, such as a typical shoe box wrapped in Christmas  paper to illustrate the shoeboxes filled with gifts that HPC collected and sent overseas through the Samaritans Purse program. Throughout the day of November 11 either Vicki or Peggy Helmick manned the exhibit and stood ready to answer any questions that viewers had. The Session decided to send the first half of this prize money back to the Presbytery as our HPC contribution to "new missionary support" for this year. This is a special project created to try to get 20 new missionaries into the field in 2009-2010.

Overall, $4 million a year extra will be needed if the Presbyterian missionary force is increased by 20 people.