News Release
Louisville — Over the next couple of weeks the Presbyterian Mission Agency will begin reverse-remitting gifts made from individuals directly to the Agency from last year’s Pentecost and Peacemaking Offerings. Fifty percent of Peacemaking gifts will be split evenly between presbyteries and receiving congregations, while forty percent of Pentecost Offering gifts will be remitted back to congregations.
“This process helps illustrate the healthy and growing partnerships that exist throughout the PC(USA),” says Linda Valentine, the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Executive Director. “We are absolutely pleased to be able to help raise funds for mission through presbyteries and congregations,” she added.
According to Director of Special Offerings Sam Locke, this is an especially exciting time for his office. “Hearing how congregations are investing in their communities through gifts to Special Offerings is really inspiring, especially when we have the opportunity to help share these stories with the entire denomination,” says Locke. Locke goes on to say that he wants to “encourage more congregations to share the projects these gifts are funding to serve as examples to other congregations who may be looking for new ideas” on how to use their gifts.
In total, 263 congregations and 123 Presbyteries will soon be receiving checks as large as $700 from the Presbyterian Mission Agency to help fund their own projects. Examples of projects funded by retained Pentecost and Peacemaking Offering gifts include summer camps for at-risk children, sponsorship of local youth sports teams, scholarships to attend churchwide events such as Youth Triennium or Peacemaking Travel Study Seminars, and projects such A Place to Sleep in Shelbyville, Kentucky, which provides beds for children and youth, and was recently recognized nationally during this year’s Make a Difference Day.
Through the four churchwide special offerings, Presbyterians can help meet the needs of our sisters and brothers around the world. Whether by helping a community recover in the wake of a disaster, assisting a pastor’s family in their time of personal crisis, or by making peace in classrooms by helping to prevent bullying, our gifts to the special offerings continue to be a strong catalyst for positive transformation in the lives of others and to serve as a visible witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
For more information regarding the PC(USA) Special Offerings, visit http://presbyterianmission.org/SpecialOfferings