After nearly two years of discernment and discussions involving many members of the congregation, in April, 2023, the Session of Clarksville Presbyterian Church declared us to be a Matthew 25 Congregation, joining over 1200 Presbyterian (PCUSA) congregations and groups in the movement.  The Matthew 25 invitation focuses on Matthew 25 wherein the king declares Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me (40).  

 

We have dedicated our focus to "Eradicating Systemic Poverty" and have begun to study how our congregation can best address poverty in our community of Mecklenburg County, Virginia. In our first three months, we have accomplished...

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 1.  Study - Completed an in-depth study of our "Blind Spots" to examine what we did not know about local poverty.

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2.  Mission Trip - Sent a team of 13 members on a one-week mission trip to Red Bird Mission WorkCamp in Beverly, KY.  The group experienced first-hand the depth of poverty in Appalachia, with a poverty rate nearly twice that of Mecklenburg County.

 

3.  CarePortal - Clarksville Presbyterian was invited by the Mecklenburg County Dept. of Social Services and Patrick Henry Family Services to join the new CarePortal, a partnership with other local churches, the Department of Social Services, and Patrick Henry Family Services. CarePortal is a web-based program which allows staff of Mecklenburg Social Services to alert church representatives of local families in crisis.  Churches may then respond if they have the resources to assist or want to partner with other churches to address the need.  One of the goals of the program is to strengthen our church’s discipleship impact by developing relationships with these families.  In two months, our congregation has assisted in these areas:

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• Food Insecurity - financial assistance to purchase a refrigerator for a family who had lost theirs.

• Strengthening of a biological family - provided a bed, mattress, blankets, and linens so that each child could have their own bed.

• Helping make a foster care placement - provided clothing and toys for two children with a history of abuse and neglect who had entered a foster home with few belongings.

• Domestic abuse - provided a pack-n-play and diapers for the mother of an infant and young child, living in a local motel.

• Reuniting a family - provided a trundle bed, mattress, and bedding for a grandmother who is accepting placement of two grandchildren.

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We are praying for discernment in what other ways we can carry out Jesus' direction for us.

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