News from Mission
Cross Ministries Back to School Giveaway
The program served 1200 children this year, providing them with school supplies and other needed items. Thank you to members of St Paul for the donation of $348 plus supplies.Dr. Roberta Victor, Director of Cross Ministries, sends her thanks to St. Paul.
A Word from Mission by Bret Mills
The unique characteristic of St. Paul’s Mission Committee is that everyone at St. Paul is an active member whether they know it or not. Here’s some of the various programs supported throughout the year: One Great Hour of Sharing, Peacemaking Offering, Christmas Joy Offering, Des Moines Area Religious Council, Johnston Food Pantry and Clothes Closet to include the St. Paul Garden, Cross Ministries Annual Back to School Supplies program, Des Moines Hunger Hike, Lutheran Services
Refugee Cooperative Services, Equal Exchange Coffee, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Fund, and the Habitat for Humanity. There are certainly other programs members of St. Paul support and do not mention; not because the programs are not worthy but service to others is just second nature; it’s not something to put on a resume or in a report but just what folks do. It’s another unique an wonderful characteristic of St. Paul.
So if you know of a program or project you believe members of St. Paul would like to support, please call 252-1981 or else e-mail Bret.L.Mills@gmail.com and we will help to get the word out.
--- Missions every Month every Sunday ---
| 1st Sunday -- | Free Exchange Coffee/Tea/Chocolate Sales |
| 2nd Sunday -- | Pick up Salvation Army recipe & pan for casseroles |
| 3rd Sunday -- | DMARC Food Pantry Collection & Bring your Salvation Army Casserole |
| 4th Sunday -- | Pass the Hat for Habitat Sunday – Collection for a Habitat House to be built this summer |
| 5th Sunday -- | Soap Sunday - Personal Hygiene item collection for CROSS Ministries |
Ka-Pow! Increase your food pantry giving impact! - The Des Moines Area Religious Council invites your participation in the 2011 Feinstein Challenge, $1 Million Giveaway to Fight Hunger. Please consider a gift or pledge for the DMARC Food Pantry Network . --Thank You For Your Generous Support!
PJT Website Launched! - Shop and Learn Online! Partners for Just Trade has worked hard to bring you a website that makes shopping easy and fun, and that helps you learn about Fair Trade and the artisans who make our unique products. They work with over 20 artisan groups from Peru and have a wide variety of products that allows everyone to find something that fits their taste, style, and budget. Visit www.partnersforjusttrade.org today! Partners for Just Trade is a building a global partnership .
Please remember the people that are affected by the flooding and severe weather. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is currently working with several Presbyteries. You may find further information at 800-872-3283 or online at www.pcusa.org/pda/donate.htm
Permanent change in schedule/storage .... after the summer experiment with changing the casserole due dates, we realized that schedule fits better for many winter holidays as well. Unless otherwise announced, we will continue distributing pans on the 2nd Sunday of the month (though they are always available on the mission display in Fellowship Hall) and collecting them on the 3rd Sunday.
You are invited to take a pan, follow the simple recipe, bake/freeze a casserole and return it on the 3rd Sunday of the month. Instead of putting them in the kitchen freezer as we've been doing, please put them in our new refrigerator in the large, walk-in closet off Fellowship Hall. These casseroles are given to the Salvation Army and distributed to homeless folks in Des Moines.
A mission representative will take the casseroles to the downtown Salvation Army where they are distributed in vans to those in desperate need of food!
Questions? Contact Cathy or Sarah E. at dcseng@mchsi.com or 331-7709.
The first Sunday of each month coffee is ordered from Equal Exchange Coffee via it's Presbyterian Coffee project. We sell whole bean and ground coffee at our cost. Also available are tea, chocolate bars, and baking chocolate. Try some of this delicious coffee during our Fellowship hour after church each Sunday.
On the fifth Sunday, bathing soap, detergents, and cleaning products will be collected and donated to Cross Ministries for low income and indigent families in the Cottage Grove/ Drake neighborhood.
St. Paul Garden News
A Leaf From the Gardener’s Journal......
Editor’s note: The food grown in St. Paul’s garden is contributed to the local food pantry—providing fresh, high-quality produce for individuals and families who don’t have enough to eat. —The Garden Committee
Be a welcoming face!
M&E would like to remind everyone at St. Paul to please take a moment before and after church to introduce yourselves to anyone visiting our church. It is so very important for all of us to reach out to prospective members. They need to know we appreciate them visiting.
Note from Epistle editor: When interviewing new members as they join our church, I also include a question on why they chose St. Paul as their new church home. The #1 response is that it’s because, when they were visiting our congregation, St. Paul members (even if it was just one!) took time to introduce themselves, invite them to Fellowship time (and/or other activities) and generally make them feel welcome. In the same conversation, they usually mention visiting other congregations where not even one person said hello—and so they didn’t visit those places a second time. In sum, these little things matter a LOT!
