When leaders at First Presbyterian Church of Mt. Pleasant first heard about the Matthew 25 initiative, they thought it was “a good challenge” to think about how their faith guides them to serve their community. The church has engaged in outreach to people who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community, who have immigrated to the United States and their community, and many others in this small Midwestern town. We caught up with the church as it was celebrating its embrace of the Matthew 25 initiative to hear how it has impacted it as a faith community and individuals.
The national staff of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) recently heard a sermon by one of the church’s most committed and innovative practitioners of the Matthew 25 movement, the Rev. Heidi Worthen Gamble.
Can you name the 11th largest country in the world? Would it help if I said it is the second-biggest country in Africa?
If you’re still unsure, pull up a map of Africa and place a finger right in the center of this huge continent. Chances are you have found the Democratic Republic of Congo, or DR Congo for short. Probably, like the rest of us, you know very little about this country named after its lifegiving Congo River. Most of us are not aware DR Congo is a country of contradictions. It holds large resources of raw materials like gold, silver and diamonds, , while at the same time being among the poorest countries in the world.
When leaders at First Presbyterian Church of Mt. Pleasant first heard about the Matthew 25 initiative, they thought it was “a good challenge” to think about how their faith guides them to serve their community.
For more than 52 years the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP) has helped communities recover from the legacy of racism and structural inequality infecting every nation around the world. The focus on community comes into focus when our story is shared in Spanish, El Comité Presbiteriano del Autodesarrollo de los Pueblos.
Thanks to a new partnership at Stony Point Center (SPC) food that might have been thrown away or composted ended up in the hands of immigrants in the community who needed it.
Climate change, according to the rev. abby mohaupt, has made it more difficult for many people, especially the poor, to access six keys to human existence — food, access to water, rest, home, safety and love.
The Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett, president and executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, welcomed more than 230 attendees to a recent Matthew 25 online event focused on eradicating systemic poverty within the U.S.
God of boundless love, thank you for meeting us at our place of deepest need. Look with compassion on our brothers and sisters. Fill us with your Spirit, that we may witness to our love in the world. Amen.
