BOB LEWIS MISSION IN SEMINOLE CONTINUES SERVING THE COMMUNITY 

La misión Bob Lewis en Seminole continua sirviendo a su comunidad   

By Elder Dennis Haralson 

Consulta Regional de Beneficios de la Junta de Pensiones de la PC(USA) en San Diego, CA 

By Rev. Katherine Norvell   

Jose Luis Casal and I represented Tres Rios Presbytery at the Board of Pensions Western Regional Consultation April 22-23. This annual event seeks to exchange information and ideas between the Board of Pensions, Presbyterian Councils and the larger church. This year an emphasis was placed on asking benefits decision makers at the congregation level to attend.  

The Consultation began with an address by Rev. Frank Spencer, Board of Pensions President. He has just completed his first year of service in that capacity. Based on an overall assessment during that time, he expressed the following goals for the Board:

*      Fulfill Church's covenant with teaching elders - retired, active, and yet to be ordained

*      Serve more employees who serve the Church

*      Provide employing organizations with flexibility and a competitive benefits package

*      Help employing organizations be the best employers they can be

*      Maintain financial strength

And the following commitment in reaching these goals:

*      Faithfulness: Keeping promises

*      Flexibility: Meeting needs where possible

*      Transparency: Sharing data and challenges openly

*      Hopefulness: Expecting transformation

Other staff members also made presentations during the consultation which gave specific information about the people served, revenue and expenses of offering benefits, and the excellent financial health of the Board of Pensions investments. (Power point presentations are available at rbc.pensions.org.) The Board of Pensions staff also encouraged all plan members and employing congregations to take advantage of the wealth of information available at the Board's website.

Attendees at the Consultation were then asked to meet in small groups provide feedback on the values and priorities they believe are important to the Church going forward.   This feedback, along with that garnered from the Eastern and Central Consultations will inform the Board's decisions and direction. These results will be published on Board's website at pensions.org. 

Along with the assurance of the excellent financial health of the Board of Pensions was the announcement of a The Board of Directors approved a 4.7 percent experience apportionment for the Pension Plan, effective July 1, 2015. 

La Iglesa Presbiteriana Nazareth en San Angelo, "Por Amor a la Comunidad" 

By Beatriz Torres, Commisioned Ruling Elder

Nothing brings a congregation together like doing a neighborhood painting blitz, even if it is not in your own neighborhood, and really even better if it is on the other side of town, For the eight years that I have been a CRE at Nazareth Presbyterian Church we have come together as a church rooted I'm the love of Jesus Christ to paint the house of an elderly person or couple. Team captain Roger Owen rallies the group and participation is great.

BELHAR CONFESSION WAS APPROVED BY PRESBYTERIES AND WILL BE PART OF OUR BOOK OF CONFESSIONS   

By Rev. Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of PC(USA)

Confession of Belhar approved by presbyteries

BOX CITY SLEEP-OVER IN COAHOMA

Durmiendo dentro de Cajas de Carton en Coahoma

By Cheyenne, Tony, Paula, Kenneth (members of the Youth Group)

The First Presbyterian Church of Coahoma Explorer's Youth Group is starting out on a new hands-on learning experience this month. We are looking at the "Day in the Life of a Homeless Person." Our first discussion involved looking through the bible and analyzing verses concerning the homeless. We discussed what this would have meant back in the day, and what it means for people today. We also discussed what the lesson from the bible is for all of us. We then spent several hours talking about why there are homeless people and what causes homelessness. We considered the mentally ill, military trauma, substance abuse, loss of income and jobs, death in a family, domestic violence in the home, divorce, physical disabilities, and natural disasters. We then looked at issues facing the homeless. The youth felt nutrition was very important, so this is our starting point. We discussed how much money we would gather standing on a corner for a day. We then went to Wal-mart and cruised the rows looking for healthy, nutritious food we could purchase for $.50 to $1 a day. The next step was how will we cook it and transport it if we are on the move. Most items that looked tasty were way out of our price range. Most items we could afford, would be hard to cook.

We have several activities coming up in the next few weeks concerning our homeless lesson. Community service day at the food bank will allow us an inside peek at what we might eat at our box city. We are planning a community youth group sleep over with the three other churches in town. We are gathering boxes to sleep in that night. We will camp out on the front lawn of the church. One of the activities will be making signs to hold on the front lawn of the church, asking cars going by for canned goods for our dinner. We will cook over a trash can, if we can get a fire started. We also plan on cooking at the Salvation Army one day. We hope to have someone who is, or has, experienced homelessness to visit with us and give us tips on what actually helps when someone offers assistance. We will culminate with a canned food drive to support the Coahoma Ministerial Alliance Food Bank. This benefits anyone in the area who needs food support at any time. We want to learn how to help, how to communicate, and how to show empathy when we run across someone who needs our love, compassion, and understanding.

We aren't sure where this project will head this summer, but we are open to new ideas. IF you have any ideas to help us on this lesson, please share with us. Blessings to you all.