Journey – Spring 2021

Life

Abundant

Journey Magazine

I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

– John 10:10b

Abundant

Life

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Visio Divina: Step Into the Swell “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

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Feed My Sheep Three generations of McBrydes join hundreds of other families to support efforts combating food insecurity through COVID-19 and into the future.

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Full Circle The Grier Heights Community Center turns their former Rosenwald School into a Virtual Learning Hub.

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Crisis Assistance Ministry’s New Crisis What do you do when you identify a unique, tremendous need?

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Visio Divina: Desert Blooms “...the desert shall rejoice and blossom.”

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Answering God’s Call for Justice A new committee seeks to find ways to participate in the most broken parts of our society.

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Everything Has Its Time Recognizing that we are key instruments in the construction of a future not our own.

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COVID-19 Emergency Outreach Fund Impact Report Our congregation responded in a miraculous way to some of the deepest needs in our city and beyond.

Learn how Myers Park Presbyterian leveraged over half a million dollars worth of funding.

More & More A Note from Joe Friends, The Apostle Paul opens his letter to the Philippians with these words, “I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel… I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ…

And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more.” Written almost 2,000 years ago, these words prove incredibly relevant to Myers Park Presbyterian Church as we emerge from the global pandemic.

Last March, in response to the emergence of COVID-19, the world went on lockdown. Many things changed; millions of lives were lost, businesses shuttered, unemployment skyrocketed, offices moved into homes, and church shifted to a virtual world as living rooms became sanctuaries, kitchen tables became Sunday School rooms, and bedrooms became prayer chapels. COVID also had a way of amplifying things that were already true. Cracks in relationships became crevices under the strain of pandemic lockdowns. Those living on the edge were pushed into the abyss. Divides defining our society socio-economically and racially were exacerbated by the virus, exponentially expanding the needs of our Outreach partners.

In response, your love overflowed more and more.

Last March, amid financial challenges of our own, the Session created a COVID-19 fund to raise additional resources for our ministry partners. You responded by contributing over $550,000 over the course of a year, above and beyond offerings to our operating budget. In fact, the church received 99% of its budgeted revenues for the year – a miracle by any measure.

Opportunities to serve with our neighbors in Grier Heights were needed more than ever, and the

slots were filled as fast as opportunities could be posted. Our kitchen staff mobilized to prepare meals for ministry partners who could no longer rely on volunteers to feed their clients, and church members became “Meals on Wheels” for hundreds of our most vulnerable neighbors.

That love has been poured out within our walls as well. Every weekday, a core group has been meeting at 8 a.m. for Morning Prayer, loving and supporting each other through these days. As our Seniors found themselves isolated from the rest of the world, our Deacons made the effort to reach out to every member over 80 years old to connect with them and let them know they were loved. Our Stephen Ministers were fully utilized throughout the pandemic offering spiritual friendship to members in crisis. More informal connections were nurtured in countless ways among you.

In all these ways and many more, COVID had a way of revealing what has always been true about Myers Park Presbyterian Church. We lived out the call of our mission statement, “living out our love for God in worship, study, and service; loving and supporting one another as we join God’s transforming work in our city and in the world.”

With Paul, I can say, “I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you.” May our love overflow more and more that the good work begun might continue in the days to come.

Love in Christ,

Joe Clifford Pastor

Visio Divina: Step Into the Swell Visio divina is a form of divine seeing in which we prayerfully invite God to speak to our hearts as we look at an image.

Step Into the Swell Lisle Gwynn Garrity, © A Sanctified Art Inspired by Matthew 14:22-33 “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Artist’s Reflection: Perhaps in seasons when our sense of certainty and security unravels, our desperation is more likely to convert into courage.

Is there something about unraveling that makes us a bit less risk-averse, a bit more willing to try what we wouldn’t have dared when everything felt predictable and sure?

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Feed My Sheep Three generations of McBrydes join hundreds of other families to support efforts combating food insecurity through COVID-19 and into the future.

They aren’t your typical Harris Teeter shoppers. Two teenage girls strain to control an overflowing cart as they make the turn into the canned goods aisle.

His eyes crinkle with the smile hidden behind his mask. “Follow me.”

14-year-old Frances McBryde started actively participating in the Youth Ministry’s Loaves and Fishes food drive once COVID-19 hit the Charlotte area. “I know that some people aren’t as fortunate as us,” she remarks. “We don’t have to worry about our next meal, but some people do.”

Frances and Sally keep their eyes peeled for tags marking any sales, aiming to make the money they’ve collected last as long as possible. A nearby employee sees them scouring the shelves and asks, “Are you guys trying to find the best deals?” They nod.

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margins,” Neill recalls. “I can remember these food drives for different purposes, for different times.”

He considers this one of the church’s “first calls,” stemming directly from Jesus’s call to Peter to “feed my sheep” (John 21:17).

She’s right. Since the pandemic, there’s been a marked increase in the number of people visiting Loaves and Fishes in need of food. In just a few months, they had served over 100,000 individuals – well over the number they supported in all of 2019.

“The pandemic has highlighted that there are people in our community who face food insecurity,” says Mac. “Something like this exacerbates it – that there are people that don’t live far from us who are looking for their next meal and that should never be okay… I think in the pre-pandemic world, maybe we were getting lulled to sleep a little bit, not focusing on it as much.”

Loaves and Fishes served over 120,000 individuals in 2020.

According to Mecklenburg County’s Health Department, “Nearly 15-percent of [our] County’s households are considered food insecure, which means they have a reduced quality and variety of diet, may eat less, and eating patterns are disrupted due to lack of money and resources.” That’s enough people to fill the Bank of America stadium. Twice.

Hunger like this flies in the face of Jesus’s promise of abundant life for all.

Frances’s eagerness to serve comes naturally. One might even argue that it’s in her family’s DNA.

It’s imperative that we don’t get “lulled to sleep” on our neighbor’s ongoing food insecurity once the pandemic leaves the cultural mainstream. The three generations of McBrydes are adamant about this.

“I’m surprised I haven’t run into Frances at the grocery store yet,” laughs Neill McBryde, Frances’s grandfather. He picks up cans every week and is one of the countless others who have helped the Youth Group’s food drive collect a staggering nine tons of food since the pandemic began.

Frances locks eyes with her father and smiles as she affirms that they “will definitely continue to participate in food drives after the pandemic.” It’s part of their family’s routine now.

Mac McBryde, Frances’s father and Neill’s son, is also involved. “[The whole family] takes the lead from Mom and Dad,” he shares. “We saw what they did when we were growing up [to] show how important it was to recognize how fortunate we are… that we need to give our time, our money, and our energy to help those who need it.”

“It’s like stewardship, you know?” Neill suggests.

“You just have to get people out of their comfortable position and realizing how they can make a difference. But remember… it’s not about us. It’s about the people we serve through our faith and worship of the Lord.”

“It’s fun too!” he adds, recounting the last time he and Frances went to the store – their heaving cart of food translated into a receipt taller than Frances!

“We alone can’t solve this issue,” says Mac, “but in partnership with others we can.” ∎

Caring for the hungry by collecting cans and food has been an ongoing, underlying mission for our church. It’s certainly not new for COVID-19 – the well-established collection bin in the Welcome Center is evidence of this. “It’s always been on the

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Full Circle The Grier Heights Community Center turns their former Rosenwald School into a virtual learning hub.

“Who wants to help Ms. Allison unload her car?”

“We do!” Chairs scrape, headphones unplug, and enthusiastic chaos ensues as a handful of elementary schoolers run towards the door. This is part of the routine: lunch has arrived at the Virtual Learning Hub at the Grier Heights Community Center.

“Wednesdays are our busiest days because everybody’s remote,” explains Ms. T, stepping back to let the flurry of helpers into the hallway. Tijua Robinson, lovingly called Ms. T by all, is the Director of the Grier Heights Community Center (GHCC) and launched the Virtual Learning Hub last year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

When Charlotte-Mecklenberg Schools transitioned to virtual learning last year, Ms. T quickly realized that something needed to be done to provide internet access and the support needed “for our kids to have a successful school year.” What started as an opportunity to use the community center’s WiFi to connect to school soon blossomed into something much more.

BILLINGSVILLE 2.0 The first students begin to trickle in around 7 a.m.

Some are dropped off by parents on their way to work, while others hop on the van Ms. T and her staff drive around the neighborhood to provide transportation to the Virtual Learning Hub.

start to get the iPads unplugged and ready to go for the day. The 40 or so students ranging from Pre-K to high school seniors settle in and begin to work – each with their own schedule and learning needs.

Most impressively, Ms. T and her staff have their students’ schedules memorized and step in to help whenever they’re needed.

When they arrive, the students know what to do.

While the middle schoolers serve breakfast, others 10

The afternoon goes as the morning does: students settling in around the folding tables with laptops, tuning into class, and working together when they can. The school day officially ends anywhere between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m., but many students finish up before then. This prompted Ms. T and her staff to create their own unique and culturally responsive curriculum to fill the time, asking their students to do mini-research projects on the Black Panthers and Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Looking around the room, Ms. T pauses and laughs “I sometimes call it ‘Billingsville 2.0,’” referencing the Virtual Learning Hub. “After all, this is exactly what this building was originally used for!” About a century after being built, the former Billingsville School building has come full circle.

Continued on next page ▶

Tijua “Ms. T” Robinson, Executive Director of the Grier Heights Community Center.

Then it’s lunch, which the high schoolers serve, and a chance to enjoy the nice weather. The kids relish being away from the screens, grabbing a basketball out of Ms. T’s car and running for the nearby playground.

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A PARTNERSHIP WITH, RATHER THAN FOR A cluster of kids gathers around Allison Hinshaw’s car, reaching into the trunk to help carry the individually-packaged lunches she’s ferried over from the church. Some are bolder than others, stacking as many containers as they can between their chins and hands, grinning at their friends as they carry lunch down the hallway to the Virtual Learning Hub. As the chair for the Outreach Council, Allison has gotten more involved with the GHCC since the pandemic began. When the Outreach team reached out to our local partners, it became clear that the Virtual Learning Hub was taking the place of a regular school day – and they needed food. Food that was normally provided by CMS. Food that Allison and the council quickly realized MPPC could help provide.

In addition to empowering church members to help, the Outreach team also got the Food Service team involved. Three days a week for the entire 2020-2021 school year, our kitchen staff has organized around 40 individual lunches for the students at the Virtual Learning Lab. That’s over 4,500 lunches, all faithfully delivered by church members like Allison.

“I appreciate that our partnership with the GHCC is just that – a partnership with, rather than for,” Allison remarks. The Outreach team took the time to reach out to our partners to learn about the challenges of their work and how we could come alongside them. Lunch, while perhaps not the most obvious way to support the Virtual Learning Hub, turned out to be the perfect way for MPPC to serve our neighbors.

SUCCESS IN A FAMILY ENVIRONMENT What is particularly exciting about the Virtual Learning Hub has been its success. When the new school year began in the fall, Ms. T expected that their numbers would lower as CMS introduced more in-person opportunities. This was not the case.

“We were surprised by how many people stayed for virtual learning this year,” Ms. T notes. Nearly 60% of their families opted to continue sending their children to the Virtual Learning Hub, rather than back to the traditional classroom. Ms. T attributes this to three things: a smaller population, a different environment, and increasing academic success.

With 40 students, the Virtual Learning Hub has a significantly smaller number of students attending in-person than the neighboring schools.

This provides a higher level of safety from possible COVID-19 spread.

“The black community is the largest community that has been plagued

by COVID-19,” explains Ms. T, “so a lot of families feel safe here because it’s a smaller population.”

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“... a lot of families feel safe here because it’s a smaller population.”

As a result, the Virtual Learning Hub simply isn’t a regular school setting. Ms. T calls it “more of a family environment.” Nearly all of the students attend school remotely from one room, spanning multiple ages and grades. They not only receive personalized support from Ms. T and her staff, but they also receive encouragement and accountability from their fellow students. They help prepare the room for the day, they help serve each other meals, and they even get to work together if they’re in the same class.

Of the three seniors, two have gotten into their first choice for college. “Even in the midst of a pandemic, they’re all moving towards their goals,” Ms. T beams.

“Our kids are super intelligent,” touts Ms. T, and their grades now reflect it. “This is the year that I’ve seen some of our kids excel. Our kids who would typically have a C average are now on A-B honor roll!”

Allison can attest to Ms. T’s care and devotion, just from the time she’s spent dropping off lunches. “I wish [you] could see Ms. T in action because she is a force to be reckoned with.

The hard work of the students, Ms. T, and her staff hasn’t gone unnoticed. In fact, Principal Alicia Hash of neighboring Billingsville-Cotswold Elementary called Ms. T to offer praise for their program. Parents have pulled Ms. T aside to tell her they believe their children are succeeding “because you really care and [the kids] know that you care.”

Continued on next page ▶ 13

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She’s so easy-going and fun with the kids — they trust her and love her. She knows every single one of those kids so well.”

“Making sure the kids stay on track with their school work and education is so important,” Allison continues. Education lays the framework for future success, for abundant life. She considers it an honor for MPPC to partner with Ms. T and her staff to support this important endeavor.

It’s clear that the Virtual Learning Hub has made a positive impact on many of their students’ education. At the very least, they’ve remained engaged. The spike in chronic absenteeism that occurred at CMS during COVID-19, especially among students of color, did not include the students at GHCC.

“However long this goes on, I know my team and I are in a position to support these kids”

MOVING FORWARD THE GRIER HEIGHTS COMMUNITY CENTER

As the vaccine rolls out and the light of a post-COVID world glimmers on the horizon, it’s hard to know what to expect will happen with the Virtual Learning Hub. “However long this goes on, I know my team and I are in a position to support these kids,” says Ms. T.

The Virtual Learning Hub is one of dozens of ways the Grier Heights Community Center generates revitalization in the neighborhood.

While things at the GHCC may return to a pre-COVID normal in the future, with afterschool events and tutoring returning to their regularly scheduled programming, it is essential to remember that the issues exacerbated by the pandemic are not going away. Internet connectivity, food insecurity, and the education gap are all real, ongoing issues for many in Charlotte.

Fill your feed with incredible organizations, partners, and people making Grier Heights more vibrant, equitable, and affordable.

Grier Heights Community Center fb.me/grierheightscc

“There’s this notion that [issues like these] exist, but we don’t take them into consideration until tragedy strikes,” suggests Ms. T.

CrossRoads Corporation fb.me/crossroadscorporation Grier Heights Community Center @grierheightscc

Let’s not let our eagerness to move forward and away from the constant reminders of COVID-19 overshadow the very real challenges of our neighbors in Grier Heights.

Let’s keep our eyes open to the systems of injustice that God calls to dismantle. ∎

Tijua “Ms. T” Robinson @th3realtmr CrossRoads Corporation @crossroadscorporation 15

Crisis Assistance Ministry’s New Crisis

Nearly overnight, they had to pivot everything. While wellequipped to handle emergency rent and utility assistance for renters, Crisis Assistance Ministry faced a new issue created by the pandemic: hotel evictions.

It’s not unusual for low-income workers to live in a hotel, rather than renting an apartment or house. As the pandemic set in, an increasing number of long-term hotel residents were unable to pay their bills. Despite the CDC’s and the State of North Carolina’s moratorium on residential evictions in early March last year, many residents still found themselves facing eviction. Why? 16

“Hotel owners simply didn’t put themselves in that category,” explains Carol Hardison, CEO of Crisis Assistance Ministry, “even though they had clients living in their hotels for weeks, months, and even years at a time.” Their bills weren’t being paid, so they needed to leave. Many were only given a day to pay up or move out.

Crisis Assistance Ministry received dozens of calls asking for help, even though this wasn’t strictly in their wheelhouse.

“The [Charlotte] community didn’t have anybody who had ever been tasked with the job of hotel evictions, because it just didn’t happen much,” says Carol. “People who were living in hotels had jobs, and were able to pay, so they wouldn’t normally be kicked out.”

In a matter of 48 hours, the staff shifted their entire system to handle these urgent requests. Every member of Carol’s team, including executive leaders and managers, took calls and worked together to figure out the logistics for how to pay the hotel bills.

In a matter of 48 hours, the staff shifted their entire system to handle these urgent requests.

“Normally, we would print a check to cover a client’s rent or utility bill right out of our system. But these hotels were all different,” Carol points out.

“Some would take a credit card, others would only take cash or money order.

Some required ID or you had to pay in person.” Carol and her team dropped everything so they could run all over town to ensure that people could remain in their hotels. And it worked.

“The county and the United Way called us the following Monday and said, ‘You need to keep doing this,’” Carol shares, smiling in disbelief. So they did. For the next five weeks, they were the only agency in Charlotte addressing this need, despite not knowing how the funds would work out or where they would come from.

“And then your gift came in.” The Myers Park Presbyterian Church COVID-19 Fund provided exactly what they needed – about $25,000 – to cover this ministry. Unrestricted funds like these “were an answer to prayer.”

AND YET, IT’S NOTHING NEW Housing insecurity doesn’t necessarily mean homelessness. According to Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s 2020 State of Housing Instability & Homelessness Report, living in hotels falls firmly within the definition of housing instability.

Housing instability often goes hand-in-hand with high cost-burden, which means that a household spends more than 30% of their income on housingrelated expenses.

The Crisis Assistance Ministry team can confirm this, just in their brief time addressing this issue. “There’s a lot of people who will pay $900 to $1200 a month for a hotel,” says Carol, shaking her head. “One man who had been laid off as a truck driver had been living in a hotel for 16 months and was paying more than my mortgage each month.”

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“And then your gift came in.”

While the people Crisis Assistance Ministry has been serving had found themselves in this difficult situation due to COVID-19, housing instability is not a new issue for Charlotte. In fact, a small group of MPPC members has been at work to combat an element of housing instability before the pandemic began.

“Having a criminal record can be a really significant impediment to getting a job, to getting approved for a mortgage, or even as a renter,” explains Jason Schubert. It’s no wonder low-income households turn to hotels for long-term housing – they may have no other option.

“Having a criminal record can be a really significant impediment to getting a job, to getting approved for a mortgage, or even as a renter”

“In 2019, Mary Katherine Stukes reached out to a bunch of attorneys who are church members to hold what’s called an Expunction Clinic that was led by the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy,” Jason recounts.

These free clinics pair individuals with an attorney who will review their criminal records to determine whether they are eligible to have one or more of the charges or convictions removed from their records.

In the past, these clinics have been held at the Grier Heights Community Center. In light of COVID, the clinics have become more fluid to allow people to meet virtually on an as-needed basis.

“A lot of the crimes or charges that end up on people’s records happen when they are in their late teens or early- to mid-twenties,” says Jason. “It’s unfortunate that something that you do in a young and impetuous time in your life can have such longstanding repercussions.”

A RADICALLY NEIGHBORLY MINDSET “I’m a securities lawyer, I work for a bank.” Jason chuckles as he considers the disparity between his day job and his service with the Expunction Clinics. “I like the idea of putting some of that skill and experience to work in a way that’s truly impactful for our neighbors.”

This kind of radical neighborliness has been evident throughout Charlotte during the pandemic. Just like Crisis Assistance Ministry, many of MPPC’s other local outreach partners including Habitat for Humanity of the Charlotte Region, DreamKey Partners (formerly the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing Partnership), and Roof Above tackled pieces of this extremely complex and ever-changing issue.

As he reflects on John 10:10b, Jason believes “that abundance is a word we often associate with material provision. I think that it’s pretty clear that that’s not what Jesus is talking about.

The life that He calls us to live is one that is first and foremost in community with others – with others broadly defined – not just our immediate neighbors. When we recognize and are willing to make sacrifices to put community first, by putting others first, then I think we discover that life lived that way is really better than what the blueprint otherwise tells us.” ∎

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Crisis Assistance Ministry fb.me/crisisassistance

Crisis Assistance Ministry @crisisassistmin

Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy fb.me/CLTLegalAdvocacy

Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy @CLTlegaladvocacy 19

Visio Divina: Desert Blooms Visio divina is a form of divine seeing in which we prayerfully invite God to speak to our hearts as we look at an image.

Desert Blooms Lauren Wright Pittman, © A Sanctified Art Inspired by Isaiah 35:1-10 “...the desert shall rejoice and blossom.”

Artist’s Reflection: The desert is often associated with desolation, scarcity, and death, but it’s really a place of surprising, subversive beauty – a place of meeting the Divine. It takes a bit more effort to see the desert as a place of abundance and overflowing worship of our Creator.

What would it look like to recognize the abundance in our own lives that we often overlook? How can you help the parched places of your corner of the world blossom into new life?

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Answering God’s Call for Justice Bess Kercher, Peace and Justice Committee

As the outcry following racially-motivated violence echoed across the nation last summer, Myers Park Presbyterian responded in prayer, in person, and in study. Some members attended peaceful demonstrations organized by Charlotte clergy, while others participated in an emotional march within the Myers Park neighborhood.

MPPC adapted Eddie Moore, Jr.’s 21-Day Equity challenge where over 1,000 people (members and non-members) committed to learning more about racism and oppression, and how to faithfully respond to these inequities.

As a result, we began to realize that these deeply-entrenched and serious issues cannot be resolved in a meaningful way with only well-intentioned and limited measures. Our faith teaches that the church is called to be an instrument for reconciliation and peace within our broken world. As Sherron Kay George observed in Presbyterians Today (April 2002), “God is bringing to fruition the new reality that was manifested in the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ – God’s reign of life, love, justice and peace.”

In response to the call to “do justice” (Micah 6:8), we formed the Peace and Justice Committee to provide a proactive, sustainable, and long-term focus on racial and social justice throughout the entirety of MPPC. Fully confronting a comfortable status quo may be difficult, but with prayerful consideration and faithful intention, we believe it will lead to lasting and consequential change. ∎

“…and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” – Micah 6:8

Interested in joining the work of the Peace and Justice Committee? Contact the Outreach office at outreach@myersparkpres.org.

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…a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; As we transition to a new reality with hope and optimism, we bring with us the lessons learned, the voices heard, and the vulnerabilities exposed by an unexpected pandemic. It has been an eye-opening experience to realize how much of the suffering caused

by COVID-19 in our community has its roots in previously unaddressed challenges. Charlotte has worn its scars of a lack of affordable housing, limited economic mobility, and growing homelessness for too long. A virus didn’t bring all this hurting – it only exacerbated it.

Everything Has Its Time Patty Arcia, Director of Outreach

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted…”

– Ecclesiastes 3:1-4, 7 The past 14 months were at the same time quick and slow, with highs and lows, warm and cold, with pain and sorrow coexisting with joy and hope. While time can change most things, for better or for worse, it cannot change God’s everlasting, perfect Love.

Over the past year, our church has experienced what it is to bring light in the midst of darkness – over $560,000 was collected as part of the COVID-19 Fund and shared with multiple partners in the city of Charlotte and beyond.

It would be hard to calculate how many lives were nurtured and supported by those funds, but we are forever grateful for the gift of being transformational instruments in our community and around the world.

In the past 14 months we have seen how children of God, our own brothers and sisters surviving years of inequality and injustice, broke down under the added pressure of COVID-19. Now, we are called to build up. …a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; Our congregation knows exactly how to build up. As we approach our centennial, it’s inspiring to think of all the partner agencies that have started, grown, and thrived with our financial support and relational ministries. We are grateful to have played a part in the achievements of our ministry partners and thank God for the goodness that has come from these relationships. As we look into the next 100 years of doing our part to build the Kingdom of God on earth, we must again prayerfully consider how to be good stewards of the time, talents, and treasure we have been entrusted with. …a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; God is good, all the time. And God’s love will never fail.

We are key instruments in the construction of a future not our own. It’s time to build up opportunities for those stuck in generational poverty. It’s time to engage in transformational relationships with those neighbors experiencing homelessness. It’s time to consider how our financial gifts transform the educational experience of generations, near and far away. It’s time to use our voices, strategically and in partnership, to bring attention to food insecurity and affordable housing.

It’s time to build up. ∎ 23

COVID-19 Emergency Outreach Fund Impact Report

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Purpose This fund was created to support our partners immediate needs and sustained responses to the pandemic, as well as PC(USA) special offerings and the Presbytery of Charlotte.

In a moment of deep need in our world, our congregation responded in faith with a united effort to live out the love of Christ in tangible ways.

IMMEDIATE NEED

SUSTAINED RESPONSES

SPECIAL OFFERINGS

Emergency response needs

Partner donations allowing

Mission focused

such as meals, financial aid

continued service to meet

contributions to PC(USA)

for housing, wifi access, etc.

ongoing need caused by the

and Presbytery of Charlotte,

pandemic.

including Ten-Cents-A-Meal and disaster relief.

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$200,000

$150,000

$100,000

$50,000

APR IL

ER

BY MONTH

MBER OCTOBER SEPTE 26

JULY

MBER E C DE

COLLECTIONS & DISBURSEMENTS T GUS AU

2021

COVID-19 FUND

JUNE

NO V E MB

JANUARY

MARCH 2020

MAY

FEBR UAR Y

RCH A M

APRIL

Total Collected $565,860

96% Disbursed $542,019

4% Remaining $23,841

Month

Collections

Disbursements

Credit card Fees

March April May June July August September October November December January February March April

$601 $198,242 $53,042 $46,392 $18,316 $30,889 $25,639 $23,744 $32,845 $65,020 $17,758 $25,745 $18,036 $9,045

$1,365 $62,655 $93,680 $73,481 $29,450 $45,325 $10,725 $46,477 $22,434 $23,808 $76,612 $244 $34,928 $20,831

$0 $0.02 $890.13 $709.63 $603.63 $113.14 $308.49 $307.38 $314.34 $327.69 $654.85 $244.39 $215.48 $230.68

Total

$565,860

$542,019

$4,924.06

This data represents funds collected from March 31, 2020-April 31, 2021. Outreach has a small percentage of funds available to ensure a smooth transition to the Love Builds Up Fund, which started in April 2021.

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Academic Support $83,496

Affordable Housing $94,000

Financial Literacy and Support $105,000

School supplies, wifi access, and literacy tutoring

initiatives to create housing and contributions to long-term housing partners

Mortgage Relief and Utility assistance

DISBURSEMENTS BY SOCIAL ISSUE Some of these numbers may overlap because multiple issues can be addressed through partner services.

Migrant & Refugee Support $5,851

Mental Health $33,240

Migrant Assistance Project and refugee support services

Counseling and substance abuse services

PC(USA) Support $37,250

Global Partners $15,000

PC(USA) pandemic response and the Presbytery of Charlotte Pandemic response

Addressing Critical needs of our partners around the world

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Food Insecurity $115,274 Food Service Ministry and contributions to food-focused partners

Homelessness $67,038 Immediate Aid, personal protective equipment, and case management

Exact breakdowns are available by contacting outreach@myersparkpres.org.

DISBURSEMENTS BY PARTNER Partner

Funds

Partner

Funds

A Way Home (FFTC)

$10,000

Billingsville Cotswold Elementary

$14,788

Charlotte Family Housing

$26,233

The Harvest Center

Charlotte Presbytery

$27,750

Hope Haven

Charlotte Rescue Mission

$12,240

I AM 24/7

Crisis Assistance Ministry

$25,000

The Learning Collaborative

$26,002

CMS Foundation

$12,500

Loaves and Fishes

$35,000

Crisis Assistance Ministry

$25,000

MeckMin

$3,000

$5,000

PC(USA)

$15,500

CROSS

CrossRoads Corporation Friendship Trays Habitat Charlotte Region

$54,562

Partner Roof Above

$146,465

$6,500

Samaritan’s House

$7,113

$43,000

Supportive Housing Communities

$25,990

$1,000 $20,000 $200

Refugee Ministry

$5,851

Cuba Partnerships

$5,000

Uganda Partnerships

$5,000

El Salvador Partnerships

$5,000

Total Funds Disbursed (as of 5/17/2021)

29

Funds

$542,019

And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.

– 2 Corinthians 9:8

Photography Cover, Page 4 – Natali Panichkina on Unsplash; Page 30 – Jan Canty on Unsplash

Abundant

Life

myersparkpres.org

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION US POSTAGE PAID CHARLOTTE, NC PERMIT NO 1217

2501 Oxford Place Charlotte NC 28207

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