Clifton Avenue Church of God Food Pantry
Northminster serves alongside Clifton Avenue Church of God in their food pantry located inside their church building. We serve by making and serving a hot breakfast one time each month, collecting both monetary and food donations, and other members volunteer by giving out the food each Saturday the food pantry is open.
WaterStep
WaterStep is a non-profit organization out of Louisville, Kentucky that helps provide water purifiers to areas of the world without clean water. Our shoe drive aims to collect wearable shoes of almost any condition. These shoes are then given to WaterStep, who then sells the shoes to an exporter, which in turn pays for the water purifier. Northminster has been hosting the shoe drive, typically the last two Saturdays in August, since 2015, and in that time, we have collected 54,746 pounds of shoes! This is enough shoes to help 16,270 people have access to clean water.
Northminster plans on hosting another drive in 2025, so don’t forget to collect those shoes and bring them by the church! Please continue to watch our website and Facebook page for updates.
For more information about WaterStep and their missions, please visit https://waterstep.org/.
Springfield Promise Neighborhood
Northminster is a supporter of the local non-profit organization, Springfield Promise Neighborhood. Springfield Promise works with families and children who reside with the “Promise Zone” of Springfield. They work in the southside schools, including Lincoln Elementary, Perrin Woods, Fulton, and Kenwood, offering programs for tutoring and social enrichment. They hold community events to connect the residents, host and care for a garden in which residents can plant and collect vegetables, among many other projects throughout the year. Northminster has made monetary as well as in-kind donations for their programs and the Christmas store that is hosted each year in December.
Presbyterian Special Offerings
The Presbytery hosts four special offerings each year in which funds are donated for various uses. Below is listing of the offerings in more detail (information taken from https://specialofferings.pcusa.org/):
- One Great Hour of Sharing – The three programs supported by this offering is Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the Presbyterian Hunger Program and Self-Development of People. This offering is typically received during the Lenten season.
- Pentecost – The Pentecost offering helps to nurture the faith of those who are the church to come – children, youth, and young adults. 40% of the Pentecost offering can be retained by the individual congregations that want to make an impact in the lives of young people in their own community. The remaining 60% is used to support children-at-risk, youth, and young adults through the ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency.
- Peace & Global Witness – The goal of this offering is to address the systems of conflict and injustice across the world. Individual congregations are encouraged to utilize up to 25% of the offering to connect with the global witness of Christ’s peace. Mid councils retain an additional 25% for ministries of peace and reconciliation. The remaining 50% is used by the Presbyterian Mission Agency to advocate for peace and justice in cultures of violence through education and Christian witness. This offering is typically collected in the fall.
- Christmas Joy – This offering distributes gifts equally to the Assistance Program of the Board of Pensions and to the Presbyterian-related schools and colleges equipping communities of color. The Assistance program provides critical financial support to church workers and their families. This offering is collected during the Christmas season.
In addition to the above listed missions, Northminster also has donated to many other missions in the Clark County community including Project Woman, Oesterlen Services for Youth, and the local homeless shelter.
