Opportunities
for Outreach and Service
As Christians, Christ has called us to reach
out with compassion to those who are troubled, suffering, and in need. Our church seeks to
obey through service to those in our own church, in our community, in our nation, and
throughout the world.
First Presbyterian has a long
history of ministry in the community and beyond. More recently, following
the closing of the mills in 2003, First Presbyterian hosted an
emergency food pantry for the unemployed workers, using the
Fellowship Hall for this purpose for six months. The church also actively
participated in a Community Recovery Network. This network
of churches and agencies provided short-term relief to the former Pillowtex
workers, then went on to established new on-going ministries, such as a
Kannapolis food pantry (which has now grown to several
pantries!) and the Samaritan’s Table supper ministry.
First Presbyterian also has
had a long history of involvement in world missions, both through the direct
support of Presbyterian missionaries and mission projects, and through
short-term mission trips. Now, as the North Carolina Research Campus rises
on the site of Cannon Mills, First Presbyterian is finding new avenues of
ministry, including welcoming some of the international research
fellows coming to our community.
Local Benevolences
Prison Ministry
Other Benevolences
World Missions
Habitat for Humanity
5¢-a-Meal Hunger Offering
Local Benevolences
Our church reaches out to the community by contributing
to the operating funds of several benevolent organizations:
The Cooperative Christian Ministry provides services to
thousands of people annually through the Samaritan House Soup Kitchen,
Shelters and Transitional Housing, a Crisis Assistance Center located on Country Club Road in Concord,
and Food Pantries scattered across the county, including several in
Kannapolis. In
addition to our financial contribution, our church conducts food drives for
CCM and we host and serve meals at Samaritan's Table, a supper ministry.
Several of our members also volunteer in various ways through CCM.
.gif)
Prison Ministry
First Presbyterian maintains a relationship with the
Piedmont Correctional Institute (PCI) in Salisbury, in which we assume pastoral care for
select inmates who request it. In addition, our members conduct a worship
service at PCI on the fourth Sunday evening of each month. Many members bake
cookies to be served after this service.
Related to this area, our church participates annually in Prison Fellowship's
Project Angel Tree.
This project collects and distributes Christmas gifts to local children whose parents are
incarcerated.
Other Benevolences
Regionally, our church contributes to the
Mission Resource Center in Salisbury. We also contribute to the mission of
Presbytery, Synod, and General Assembly.
World Missions
 First Presbyterian historically has
taken a great interest in world missions. Presently we contribute to the partial support
of seven missionary individuals or couples and their families. These missionaries serve in the areas of
evangelism and church growth, medicine, or education in the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya,
Mexico, Rwanda, Sudan, and a northern African nation. Click
here for additional information about each of our missionary families.
Each year, usually during February or March, we contribute over and above our regular giving to a
special Missions project. In 1990 we joined more than 20 other area Presbyterian churches
in raising funds and providing manpower for the construction of an electrical substation
and electrical wiring at the Mwandi
Christian Hospital in Zambia, Africa. Between 1990 and 1998 our church alone raised in
excess of $55,000 for this and related projects. In addition, seven of
our members joined work teams in Mwandi helping to install the wiring at the
hospital, helping to install a walk-in cooler and a morgue cooler, helping with general
repairs and maintenance, and assisting with a new computer system. More
recently our annual offering helps to raise funds to send mission teams on
short-term work trips to Merida, Mexico (and one to Tennessee!). Beginning
in 2010, we began a project to install a
Living
Waters for the World water purification system at a church near Merida.
 Habitat for Humanity
Our church has participated in many Habitat for Humanity
projects through the years. Through volunteer labor, no-profit loans, and
"sweat equity" (home buyers must work 100 hours on their own house and 100 hours
on someone else's house), Habitat makes home ownership possible for those who could not
otherwise afford to buy a house. Special offerings are collected to help pay for
these projects and many volunteers assist with the actual building phases. Click here to go to Habitat for
Humanity Cabarrus County's web site.
 5¢-a-Meal Hunger Offering
This offering is collected on the fourth Sunday of every
month by the children. Members are asked to contribute five cents for every meal they eat
during the month. The funds we collect are divided equally three ways. One third goes to
our missionaries to help them meet any special hunger needs in their areas. One third goes
to the Presbytery of Charlotte, which disperses it to various hunger projects in this
region.
Click
here for more information about the Presbytery's Hunger Action Program. One third is divided between two local organizations: Meals-On-Wheels and
Cooperative Christian Ministry's Kannapolis Food Pantries. Our church collects nearly $3,000 each year from this offering.
This page was last updated on
February 04, 2011. |
