Growing Deep and Wide in Jacksonville

The following article was written by Bill Jordan and will appear in the 2010 Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study.

Take one second career minister who is a lifetime outdoorsman and has an undergraduate degree in biology and put him with a small church that dates back to 1871 in a community with rural roots and a growing suburban population, and see what happens. The Jacksonville Church is engaged in the mission: “To serve Jesus Christ by caring for God’s creation and its people.”

Pastor Dana Eglinton was a contractor who built energy efficient houses. Before he heard God’s call to ordained ministry he believed that a Christian is responsible for the care of God’s earth. In worship, Bible study and retreats the church explored many avenues of service and discipleship related to the care of the earth. Eglinton discovered that there were already people in the congregation who were concerned about environmental issues. Together, pastor and people developed the Jacksonville Presbyterian Church Earthcare Ministry.

The Earthcare Ministry reached out to the neighbors of the congregation members with the distribution of compact fluorescent bulbs and an invitation to join the congregation in caring for creation. Other projects include working with the High School Science Club in building bird houses on property that is void of trees. Members of the congregation are involved with a watershed project that monitors chemicals in creeks and streamsas well as in clean-up projects in their township. All ages enjoy canoe and camping trips, and outings where the emphasis is on enjoying the earth and caring for God’s creation and all of God’s creatures.

Blessings Abound: Bread of Life Mission Meal

The First Presbyterian Church of Bordentown, NJ has always had a passion for mission in our local and surrounding communities as a well as world wide. A couple of years ago we learned about homeless families in the Mercer County area that were relocated to Bordentown motels when the motels where they lived were closed. They are eligible for the services available in Mercer County; however, they now live far away from those resources with little to no transportation available. We decided to take our passion for mission and turn it into “mission in action”. That has become our theme as we organized a team of volunteers to do mission work for the church.

We join with other local churches in a program called “Bordentown Area Caregivers” in an effort to provide meals for these individuals and families. One church providing one meal per month doesn’t seem like enough but when we combine efforts like this, there are meals provided almost every weekend. Motel residents have come to know that even when their resources have run out, there are Christians of all denominations preparing meals to help them. Many are transient; however, we see some of the same residents each month because they have disabilities and/or illnesses that require them to remain.

Blessings abound as we deliver meal after meal and we receive thanks. The gift that we get as a result of this combined Christian effort is much more than we give. When a resident says “that’s really tasty…may I have another” or some have said “this is the first hot meal we’ve had in days and my children are so hungry” it makes it worth all the hard work and planning it takes to successfully prepare, pack and deliver the meals.

Each month we have more and more volunteers from our congregation to help including the youth of our church. If we have leftovers (which are very uncommon) we package and freeze them to distribute to transient individuals or families that come to our church asking for assistance. It’s been a learning process for us and it never ceases to amaze me how we always seen to have “just enough”, nothing is wasted. I feel the power of the Holy Spirit working in our church and in our mission work and pray that we continue to have the resources to be Disciples of Christ.

To see a slideshow of Bordentown's Bread of Life Mission Meal.

Karen Chamberlin
Mission Team Leader
First Presbyterian Church of Bordentown, NJ

Glimpses of Redemption: English Language Learning Program at Forked River

When Forked River Presbyterian Church (FRPC), a congregation with a vision and heart for community outreach ministries, formed the non-profit Mandorla in 2002, their first step was to open Precious Journey Preschool. Retired school principal and Elder Gloria Mako, a member of FRPC and Special Projects Coordinator for Mandorla, says, “I wanted create a multi-cultural experience because I knew the children would be moving into the global community. Even though Forked River had a tiny multi-ethnic population, we offered non/limited English speaking scholarships to make that possible.” By early 2006 the outreach included informal, free English Language Literacy (ELL) classes for adults with an all-volunteer staff. ELL attendance grew to 18 adults, with 15-18 children attending activities coordinated by volunteers.

There was also a growing awareness that they were only touching a small part of the growing immigrant population of the community. Having struggled with the issues of enthusiastic volunteers and limited funds and knowing that other congregations faced similar issues, the church applied for and received a $29,800 grant in 2007 from Presbyterian Women’s Creative Ministries to begin LEAP (Learn English at Preschool), an expanded community outreach ministry for adults and preschool children. In addition to addressing community needs, the LEAP will develop a model that can be shared.

In Forked River barriers between people are crumbling as relationships are built and stories told. In the LEAP classrooms, families learn that they are cared about, loved, and encouraged to participate without the fear of embarrassment or humiliation. And blessings flow in all directions, enriching the lives of teachers and volunteers who feel privileged to be a part of welcoming the stranger and building a transformed community.

By the way, the Mandorla, an ancient symbol of hope and healing, consists of two circles coming together and overlapping to form an almond shape in the middle. In this case, the Mandorla symbolizes the coming together of the church and the community at large.