Mission & Advocacy Committee

Mission & Advocacy is responsible for global and local mission of justice and peace, oversees support for campus ministries, elder care, support programs of direct service and advocacy. Meets 2nd Thursday 5pm @ Presbytery Office.

Our Vision: Congregational, spiritual transformation through mission and outreach ministries.
Our Mission: Develop programs that involve all congregations in reflection and action that addresses the disparity between wealth and poverty through Christian faith values.

Outreach

Highlight on our Ecumenical Partners 2012: Geneseo Parish Outreach Center

Historically the Presbytery, through a process overseen by the Mission and Advocacy Committee, has provided funding support for a number of worthy programs and services that address important needs in our communities. Often programs have received funding for a number of years, but each year new programs become eligible for funding. In 2012, we are providing first-time funding of $1,500 for the Geneseo Parish Outreach Center (GPOC).

This volunteer-driven program each year provides a variety of low-cost, often-free primary medical care, health education, disease prevention, health screening, dental care, grief support and mental health services to several hundred uninsured and underinsured people in mostly rural areas in Livingston County (as well as some from Wyoming, Genesee, Orleans and Ontario counties). Adults and children of all ages (including migrants and farm workers) are served by volunteer, pro-bono doctors and nurses, pre-medical students, and dentists offering low-cost services to those who would otherwise not be served by dentists in the area. Those served include those without jobs in this economy, as well as working poor with reduced, or lost, health care benefits.

With job losses and reduced health care benefits, the numbers needing the services of GPOC have been steadily increasing. The Presbytery support helps to expand the numbers served, and in particular helps cover emergency pharmacy costs and the dental and hearing care offered by the program, including purchase of hearing aids. All office coverage, ordering of supplies, scheduling and fund-raising are provided exclusively by volunteers, including many from local churches. The Central Presbyterian Church in Geneseo provides financial support, membership on the program’s board of directors, substance abuse counseling and other volunteer support, as well as food supplies provided for users of the program. The program is grateful for the support provided by its Presbyterian friends.

Take Action with
Trader Joe’s

Western New York is surrounded by fields and orchards. We have the opportunity to meet the farmers, to learn that humane labor practices are valued, and can build relationships with those who grow the food we eat.

We are also presented with the challenge to reflect on one of the ways we can support not only our local farmers but those all across the country in providing fair wages to farm workers. We can do that by paying fair prices for the food we buy.

Many of us were excited to hear the news that Trader Joe’s grocery store chain is opening a store here in Rochester. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a community-based organization of mainly immigrant workers from Florida, is calling upon Trader Joe’s to join with other large restaurant and grocery store chains like McDonalds, Burger King, and Whole Foods to do its part in paying fair prices for produce and asking their customers to do the same.

The CIW is not asking that we boycott Trader Joe’s, but as future customers of the store to send the CEO postcards urging the company to participate in the Campaign for Fair Food and work with the CIW.

Postcards are available at the Presbytery office. Weinvite you to read them, sign and address them, and either mail or bring to the Presbytery office and we will mail them for you. Take as many as you need for your whole congregation to get involved! For more information, go to www.justharvestusa.org and www.ciw-online.org.

2012 “Triple-Play” Grant

Mission & Advocacy is collaborating with Congregational Development and Resource & Education in the creation of a new “Triple-Play” grant process for congregations to apply in 2012 to receive funds in 2013.

We are seeking applications in which the categories of

congregational health,
community mission & advocacy, and
leadership training

are combined in a single project, in a partnership of at least two Presbyterian Church (USA) congregations and at least one community agency or program.

Learn more here…

Post-Tornado Rebuilding Mission Trip to Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Sat Apr 14–Sat Apr 21, 2012

Cost: $585 Includes airfare, ground transportation, housing, and group meals (does not include baggage fees)
Two spaces remaining. Act quickly!
Registration Form
Deadline: Friday February 10, 2012

All skill levels are needed and appreciated

Those who have not had the experience of disaster recovery work are especially encouraged to participate!

Learn more here…

Presbytery in 2012 Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study

Presbytery’s work with and for the people of Sudan is highlighted in the forthcoming edition of the PC(USA)’s Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study. The piece reads:

The seeds of inspiration for a January 2011 peace prayer vigil were planted a decade ago when Sudanese refugee families were welcomed at the Rochester airport by mission-minded presbytery folks.

After the Sudan peace accord was signed in 2005, some of the Sudanese visited the families they had left behind. What they found was heartbreaking. Family members were sick with water-borne diseases due to the lack of clean drinking water. Schools and medical facilities had been destroyed. These new friends returned to the United States disheartened but determined to fnd a way to help.

Since founding “Water for Sudan” seven years ago with the help of his American friends, Salva Dut and his team have drilled 88 wells in remote, arid villages in southern Sudan. Four years ago, cousins Mathon Noi and Sebastian Maroundit founded “Building Minds for Sudan.” By building schools, they are rebuilding hope in Sudan.

In 2010, Rev. John Tubuwa, a PC(USA) international peacemaker, visited the presbytery. He touched the people he met as he described life and struggles in southern Sudan. When the presbytery asked how they could help, he said, “Pray for peace.”

In response, the Presbytery of Genesee Valley sponsored a candlelight prayer vigil on Epiphany in 2011 that lifted up Sudan on the cusp of the birth of a new nation. The attendees watched with awe and thanksgiving at the unfolding of this new nation. Rev. Tubuwa wrote, “God answered your prayer and that is why there was a peaceful referendum vote.” May God continue to bless and grant peace to the people of Sudan and Southern Sudan.

The Presbytery of Genesee Valley has 69 churches and 12,859 members.

Cameron Community Ministries’ Playground Story

Cameron Community Ministries has been a vital part of the Lyell-Otis neighborhood for more than 26 years. Cameron programs include a free daily hot meal, clothing house and afterschool and summer enrichment programs for children. Cameron is located in an area of Rochester that has a high rate of crime, drug use and violence. Many in this neighborhood face challenges with educational success, chronic unemployment and limited opportunities to break from the cycle of poverty. CCM is frequently described as an ecumenical urban community center but many neighbors describe them as a “beacon of hope” for the area.

How the playground idea began

CCM has always been involved with children from the neighborhood over the years. Children are frequently seen playing in the streets because the city lots are small or filled with cars. Many parents do not let their children play outside alone due to safety concerns. Open playgrounds are too far for children to walk unsupervised and require crossing busy streets. An adjacent city lot was once considered for a play space but was put on hold after soil testing determined some remediation was needed. An abandoned home, also adjacent to Cameron, was recently foreclosed and the City of Rochester took possession. CCM began working with the city to come up with a plan for the lot and a Cameron playground was the perfect fit!

Partnership with the City

CCM staff and board members have been working on this project with various departments within the City of Rochester from the beginning. Through partnering with the city, they are bringing an additional resource to the children of this neighborhood. The goal is to complete the installation this year and have the playground open to all children during select hours with supervision from Cameron staff members. The back-up plan is to ready the site in 2011 and construct the playground in the spring if sufficient funds are not raised prior to year end.

Playground Cost and Timetable

The total cost of the playground is approximately $80,000 with the option of some donations of materials and labor slightly reducing the price. CCM is also applying for several foundation grants to help fund this project.

Submitted by Cindy Harper, Cameron Community Ministries Executive Director

People’s Ministry in Christ

People’s Ministry in Christ was established in 1995 for the purpose of having a Presbyterian presence in the Dewey-Emerson area of the city following the closing of Christ Presbyterian Church.

The regular congregation of People’s Ministry is 15–25 people, multi-racial, primarily adults, with many fighting addictions and/or mental illness. PMIC tries to help each person realize who they are in Christ. Many of them have grown closer to God and to each other.

In addition to regular Sunday services, PMIC provides mission and outreach to the community, including:

Bible studies and bi-weekly evening prayer meetings at PMIC;
A weekly Bible study at DePaul’s Edgerton Square, a facility for mentally ill individuals;
Participation in the Christian Coffee Hour at Rochester Psychiatric Center four times a year;
Social programs such as dinners, a summer picnic and a movie night;
Neighborhood blessing days of household goods, clothing, toys, and Bibles three to four times a year;
A small food cupboard for emergencies and a blessing fund for urgent needs;
Participation with Dewey Avenue Presbyterian Church in serving meals at Cameron Community Ministry three to four times a year.

PMIC is self-sustaining, receiving donations of material goods and finances from the Presbytery, churches, and individuals in support.

Service times for People’s Ministry

Sunday Bible Study 8:45-9:30 am
Sunday Worship Service: 10 am
Tuesday Bible Study: Tuesday mornings at 10-11 am
Bible Study at Edgerton Square: Wednesday evenings at 6-7pm.

Wish List

Winter clothing for children & adults
Bibles & other spiritual books to give out
Hygiene supplies to give out
Socks & underwear to give out
Household supplies to give out

Our Lobbyists in Washington

The Presbyterian Washington Office is the public policy information and advocacy office of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Its task is to advocate, and help the church to advocate, the social witness perspectives and policies of the Presbyterian General Assembly. The church has a long history of applying these biblically and theologically-based insights to issues that affect the public — maintaining a public policy ministry in the nation’s capital since 1946.

Documents

Mission & Advocacy owns and maintains the following documents

More M&A

PC(USA) Mission & Advocacy Links

Mission & Advocacy Committee

Highlight on our Ecumenical Partners 2012: Geneseo Parish Outreach Center

Take Action with
Trader Joe’s

2012 “Triple-Play” Grant