"Each one should use whatever gift he received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” (1st Peter 4:10)
Mission is one way we can live out the Gospel and share the love of Christ with our community and those in need around the world. Below is the list of the various mission activities that Heritage supports during the year, as well as a brief description of each and some links for more information.
Deacons' Fund - One of our church's longest running missions is our Deacons' Fund. This is a special offering that is taken on the third Sunday of each month. This fund is used by our Board of Deacons to assist people in our community with prescription medications, medical bills, gas, groceries, and emergency assistance.
Postma Elementary School (Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District) - This terrific elementary school is located within blocks of our worship location. Since 2013, we have served as Community Partners for Postma. We have provided their staff with welcome breakfasts, as well as treats and small tokens of appreciation. We have volunteers who serve as mentors to individual students. We have served as "Bus Buddies" to assist children getting to the proper location on the school buses at the start of the school year. We have contributed toward "Christmas baskets" that assist certain families with holiday needs. As we grow, we hope to do more for our friends at Postma.
A brand new mission for us is Undies for Everyone. This wonderful organization acquires new underwear for needy school-age children. Often these children have access to donated clothing, shoes, and school supplies - but not clean, new underwear. Although to some this might seem to be a funny thing, it is anything but funny to a child in need! We collect packages of clean children's underwear on a designated "Undie Sundie" and donate them to this wonderful organization. For more information, check out their web site: http://www.undiesforeveryone.org/
CAM - The Cypress Assistance Ministries is a local organization that helps people with food, emergency shelter, clothing, job placement, ESL classes, and even furniture. We support their food pantry twice each year with these events:
During January we participate in the "Souper Bowl of Caring" where we collect cans and packages of soup.
In June we have "Peanut Butter & Jam for CAM" in which we collect these products to help feed school children who may not receive school lunch support during the summer months. This June we collected over 400 containers of food for this program. That will provide over 3300 individual servings!
Christmas Jars - The Christmas Jar tradition is inspired by the 2005 New York Times bestselling novel, Christmas Jars, by Jason Wright. The heart of the book is the impact of the Christmas Jars on people and families. The Christmas Jar concept is simple. Is a friend struggling with health problems? Do you have a co-worker whose car always seems to be in the shop? Was a neighbor laid off? It’s easy to get caught up in life and not truly see those around us. The most unassuming or unexpected may be the most in need, and the $20, $50, or even $100 that you might sock away between now Christmas can be a godsend. If you don’t feel like you know someone in need, the Mission Committee will gladly donate your jar to a family at Postma Elementary.
PC(USA) Denominational Special Offerings - Heritage participates in three special offerings through our denomination.
One Great Hour of Sharing - This offering is collected around Easter. A gift to One Great Hour of Sharing enables the church to share God’s love with our neighbors-in-need around the world by providing relief to those affected by natural disasters, provide food to the hungry, and helping to empower the poor and oppressed.
Peace and Global Witness Offering - This offering is collected on World Communion Sunday, which is the first Sunday in October. A gift to the Peace & Global Witness Offering enables the church to promote the Peace of Christ by addressing systems of injustice across the world. Individual congregations are encouraged to utilize up to 25% of this Offering to sustain their local peacemaking ministries.
Christmas Joy Offering - This offering is traditionally collected by Heritage on Christmas Eve. A gift to the Christmas Joy Offering helps provide financial assistance to current and former church workers and their families and also enables deserving students to attend Presbyterian-related racial ethnic colleges and schools.