Dear members and friends of St. John's Presbyterian Church:
This Saturday you are invited to a Memorial Service for Ed Garza at 10 am in the sanctuary and a reception in Fellowship Hall after the service. Come and join the family in this celebration of Ed's life.
This Sunday is Senior Sunday and we will be honoring our graduating seniors: Sean Coughlen, Patrick Harrel, Mitch Sawyer and Zach Sponberg. They will recognized during the service and honored with a reception in Fellowship Hall after worship.
Our congregation has been invited to participate in a new ministry that will serve struggling single mothers with children. It is fitting that this call for help coincides with Mother's Day.
When facing a crisis, sometimes parents need help keeping their families intact. Often the pressures of daily life becomes too much and parents feel overwhelmed. Sometimes they are dealing with issues such as unemployment, financial hardship, a death in the family or emotional abuse.
One of our mission partners, Presbyterian Children's Homes and Services (PCHAS), has an office in our church. For 12 years, PCHAS staff members in the office have provided a variety of outreach services to families and children in crisis.
In other locations, PCHAS helps vulnerable parents and children in a residential program that features supervised living, counseling, day care, job search assistance, and other services. The goal of the residential program is to help single parents with children attain independence. PCHAS would now like to bring that program to Houston.
PCHAS is requesting a long term lease to use some of our property near the Methodist Church to build four duplexes. With our approval, this residential program would be built in 2013 and house seven families. There would also be a manager living and working on site.
This ministry would be operated by Presbyterian Children's Homes and Services' expert staff. PCHAS would take full responsibility for all maintenance and insurance costs related to the new program and its buildings, but this project would provide our church family with numerous hands-on volunteer opportunities.
St. John's Presbyterian Church's Session has approved a motion to allow PCHAS to build and operate these new residential homes for single parents. Now we are requesting the congregation's approval. If you approve the motion (below), the session will continue to have input as the project unfolds. Pending your approval, this project would also require approval by New Covenant Presbytery and the city of Houston.
Motion Approved by Session:
St. John's Presbyterian Church's Session asks the congregation to consider and approve the following resolution to allow Presbyterian Children's Homes and Services to build and operate a Single Parent Program on the church's property through a long term lease:
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the congregation of St. John's Presbyterian Church approves in concept a proposal by Presbyterian Children's Homes and Services to build and operate a program facility on existing church property through a long-term lease. The congregation authorizes and directs the Session to take such further action on behalf of the church as may be necessary, appropriate, or advisable to effectuate this resolution, including but not limited to negotiating and entering into a long-term lease for a portion of the church's property.
On behalf of the session, thank you for considering this PCHAS proposal. I cannot think of a more fitting time, May 13th, Mother's Day, for our church to consider partnering with PCHAS on this project.
I've asked PCHAS President Ed Knight to be available at our congregational meeting to provide you with additional information so that we can make a fully informed decision.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Jon
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Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Burnham (Jon's Blog, Facebook, Twitter) Phone church office 713-723-6262; Email church office Sunday Schedule: Church School for all ages: 9:00 am; Worship 10:30 am; Youth Fellowship 5 pm
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St. John's Presbyterian Church
5020 West Bellfort / Houston, TX 77035
T. 713.723.6262 / F. 713.723-4015 / Email: office.sjpc@gmail.com
Worship Service: Sunday, 10:30 am / Sunday School: 9:00 am
St. John's Epistle for May 3, 2012
