Care Commission
Care Commission responds to the needs of our church members in a caring, compassionate manner in a number of ways.
Funeral receptions are provided by the wonderful volunteers on our Caring and Sharing Committee.
Each year every member is contacted by our Calling Committee as a means of connection and care.
Food 4 You, through the generous donation of many volunteers, provides frozen home-cooked meals to take to individuals and families in times of need.
Helping Hands coordinates a team that responds to the real-life, unexpected needs of individuals and families in the church.
Using their gifts of knitting, Knit for Others is composed of volunteers who create chemo caps, prayer shawls, infant booties and caps, stocking caps, scarves and mittens, to donate to those who need them.
The Prayer Care Team and the Prayer Chain offer a means of offering prayer for those who have asked for prayer or who have recently been hospitalized. Prayer request cards and envelopes are in the pew racks. If you have a prayer request for you or a your loved one, please supply the information requested on the prayer card and put it in the privacy envelope. Confidentiality is always honored. For all other requests or questions, please call Janet Benrey 252-638-5787. For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Isaiah 56:7c
As part of the Special Pastoral Care Committee, trained volunteers serve as lay visitors to those who have difficulty attending church or who are in need of spiritual friendship.
Through our ESL/Citizenship Team, English tutoring and citizenship preparation classes are offered in our dedicated ESL classroom.
To learn more about the work of the Care Commission or if you have or know of a specific need, please contact Care Commission chair Becky Nohr.
Funeral receptions are provided by the wonderful volunteers on our Caring and Sharing Committee.
Each year every member is contacted by our Calling Committee as a means of connection and care.
Food 4 You, through the generous donation of many volunteers, provides frozen home-cooked meals to take to individuals and families in times of need.
Helping Hands coordinates a team that responds to the real-life, unexpected needs of individuals and families in the church.
Using their gifts of knitting, Knit for Others is composed of volunteers who create chemo caps, prayer shawls, infant booties and caps, stocking caps, scarves and mittens, to donate to those who need them.
The Prayer Care Team and the Prayer Chain offer a means of offering prayer for those who have asked for prayer or who have recently been hospitalized. Prayer request cards and envelopes are in the pew racks. If you have a prayer request for you or a your loved one, please supply the information requested on the prayer card and put it in the privacy envelope. Confidentiality is always honored. For all other requests or questions, please call Janet Benrey 252-638-5787. For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Isaiah 56:7c
As part of the Special Pastoral Care Committee, trained volunteers serve as lay visitors to those who have difficulty attending church or who are in need of spiritual friendship.
Through our ESL/Citizenship Team, English tutoring and citizenship preparation classes are offered in our dedicated ESL classroom.
To learn more about the work of the Care Commission or if you have or know of a specific need, please contact Care Commission chair Becky Nohr.
What's Happening with the ESL Program - Lots!
Late last year we received a Passion Driven Ministry Grant from New Hope Presbytery to upgrade our computers and to partner with West New Bern Presbyterian Church (WNBPC) to better serve the New Bern refugee population with English language and citizenship training.
In February we upgraded our ESL lab with 3 new desktops and a Chromebook to improve reliability and flexibility for training our Montagnard refugees. We will be returning to our larger ESL lab room in August, which we were displaced from because of the hurricane. That will give us a more comfortable learning space with room to expand.
As part of the grant effort we are also focused on partnering with WNBPC and helping them setup an ESL program and lab to serve their refugees. They have many refugees who are eager to learn. We began limited classes with them in late March using a portable Chromebook. Hopefully we will have the ESL lab up and running at WNBPC in June with extra workstations. Also, we will be training their tutors in the near term.
For your information, the refugees come to our churches through the Interfaith Refugee Ministry, which is given Federal money to help them get a new start in New Bern.
The key to making all this work for our churches and sponsored refugees is volunteer tutors. We greatly need additional volunteers to help tutor our refugee population at First Presbyterian and the growing need at WNBPC. We have an easy to use web-based ESL application and one short training session will have you up to speed. If you have available time to volunteer on Thursdays at 6:00 pm at WNBPC and/or Saturday at 9:00 am in our Ministry Center, we would love to have you join us in this wonderful ministry. It is so rewarding to see the students progress in learning English and moving on a path to citizenship.
For more information about our program please contact Gene Peele.
In February we upgraded our ESL lab with 3 new desktops and a Chromebook to improve reliability and flexibility for training our Montagnard refugees. We will be returning to our larger ESL lab room in August, which we were displaced from because of the hurricane. That will give us a more comfortable learning space with room to expand.
As part of the grant effort we are also focused on partnering with WNBPC and helping them setup an ESL program and lab to serve their refugees. They have many refugees who are eager to learn. We began limited classes with them in late March using a portable Chromebook. Hopefully we will have the ESL lab up and running at WNBPC in June with extra workstations. Also, we will be training their tutors in the near term.
For your information, the refugees come to our churches through the Interfaith Refugee Ministry, which is given Federal money to help them get a new start in New Bern.
The key to making all this work for our churches and sponsored refugees is volunteer tutors. We greatly need additional volunteers to help tutor our refugee population at First Presbyterian and the growing need at WNBPC. We have an easy to use web-based ESL application and one short training session will have you up to speed. If you have available time to volunteer on Thursdays at 6:00 pm at WNBPC and/or Saturday at 9:00 am in our Ministry Center, we would love to have you join us in this wonderful ministry. It is so rewarding to see the students progress in learning English and moving on a path to citizenship.
For more information about our program please contact Gene Peele.
Outstanding Older Adult Award
Every year, the Session of each church in our Presbytery is asked to nominate an "outstanding older adult" from their congregation who has throughout their life exhibited extraordinary acts of kindness, charity and volunteered countless time to help those in need. This year the nominee form our church is Skip Bradley. We congratulate Skip for his work and for good deeds done, both seen and unseen. Skip will be presented with his award at a special worship service and recognition ceremony at First Presbyterian Church in Rocky Mount on Sunday, May 19th.
Grief Support Group
The next gathering of this group will be September 17th in the Session House at 6:00 pm. This group serves two purposes, to provide support for those who are experiencing the loss of a loved one and to be a safe haven for those who are living through this process. The gathering will begin with a catered meal with a basket to help defray the cost of the food. Followed by discussions of our experiences on this journey.
Contact Lloyd Griffith for more information or to join this group.
Contact Lloyd Griffith for more information or to join this group.