History

In the early years when there was a Board of Deacons, they oversaw many of the responsibilities that now are divided somewhat differently. Mission was one. During the 1980’s there was a Mission Projects Division. That committee saw to such things as special offerings through the national Presbyterian Church (Peacemaking and Pentecost), local activities like Thanksgiving food distribution, Christmas gifts to needy families and a mitten tree. One Great Hour of Sharing has long been a part of the Presbyterian mission.

In the later 80’s, a church-sponsored food pantry was proposed and successfully begun to become a very important part of our church’s mission. The Elk Grove Presbyterian Church Food Pantry is housed in and managed by our church, and is dedicated to helping Elk Grove residents who are experiencing difficult financial times. These residents include single parent families, two-parent families, the elderly, and temporarily or permanently disabled persons who are referred to us by the staff of the Elk Grove Community Service Office.

Today

Today the food pantry provides food for 57 households or about 150 people. Over 45% of them are children under the age of 18. As a result of the food pantry, we have also become involved in helping and inner-city food pantry with occasional collections and Christmas gifts for local and inner-city children and families.

Our church’s national government provides many opportunities to reach out to those in need, including of course, the long running One Great Hour of Sharing. Activities which we are involved in run the gamut from international and national to local and close areas.

Church-wide, we responded to Pentecost and Christmas Joy Offerings which are used for youth and retired church workers. We have had fundraisers for the Heifer Fund, Bread for the World, for relief for disaster victims, hunger programs and more.

We also consider part of our mission is to educate. So as one of those projects, we are presenting “clean water” information and promoting the national Presbyterian Project in Africa – building wells in Niger communities.

Through our 50 years, this church has made Mission and important part of who we are.

Additional Outreach Initiatives

In 2019 we collected various special offerings including:

• One Great Hour of Sharing
• Pentecost
• Bread for the World
• Christmas Joy

We were a busy congregation in 2019 selling Butterbraids, collecting food for Pine Avenue, collecting pop tabs for the Ronald McDonald House, we brightened Christmas morning for 25 Pine Avenue children, we spread holiday cheer to 20 people in our community through Adopt a Family, our coat drive in November for PADS netter 2 large boxes of coats, we had a wonderful time packing food for Feed My Starving Children, and finally, our choir performed the Annual Christmas Cantata for our community.