Ministry Updates, page 2

Men Of Promise

"Thank you, Lord Jesus, for the men's ministry, Men of Promise," praises Frank Mack. "It helped me to become the man you want me to be, and not the man I was." Before attending Central Presbyterian Church, Frank says, "I was lost in my addictions. I was losing my relationships with my girlfriend and my children. I didn't know what direction to go." Frank attended the Men's Retreat last fall. He made chili for the January cook-off. He attended the Men of Promise planning meetings and a men's small group. He soon became a fixture at the Men of Promise table in the Concourse. He went to Black Rock and encouraged men on the high ropes, even though he couldn't climb due to a diving accident. He volunteered as the cook for this fall's retreat. "I got involved in men's ministry, looking for a change and a new way of life. I love having fellowship with a bunch of fun-loving guys who love the Lord."

But, Frank found Men of Promise included more than just doing fun things together. "I was holding in a lot of pain, guilt and grief from my past. I found out I wasn't alone. Men of Promise gave me the opportunity to become open and talk with others about things I face as a man. They are loving, caring, trustworthy and faithful. They are there in need. They are also there in good times," he says as he recalls his recent wedding.

"Above all, the men's ministry has taught me, as a man, how to worship God. Worshiping the Lord with other men has then made me a better disciple. The Lord, working through Men of Promise, is teaching me to be a better man, husband, friend, father, spiritual leader, and witness. The men's ministry inspired me to believe that I am important in this life and the life yet to come. I have a purpose. I encourage other men to join us so that together we can grow in a Christ-like way of life. I give all the glory and honor to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen." Amen!

Women's Ministry

This year, leaders from the various women's ministries at Central met to discuss how they could more effectively communicate and work together. The result of that meeting, was the formation of Women's Ministries of Central, a leadership team of representatives from each of the different Women's Ministries who would meet periodically for encouragement and better communication between all the groups.

The team began by formulating a mission statement: Moving women toward Christ by bringing them into a community that encourages their joyful growth in God's Word, prayer, friendship, and service. This is the driving goal of each ministry for women at Central. The Women's Ministry team wants to help more women become involved with the existing ministries and keep those ministries connected with each other so they can resource and uphold one another. To that end, the Women's Ministries plans to publish a brochure of all the ministries available to women. The publication goal for that brochure is January 30, 2006.

The team also plans to have several all-church women's events each year to enable women from different ministries meet one another. In September, they hosted a wonderful evening with Joyce Sackett, as guest speaker. The evening also included a book signing of Joyce's new book, Goodbye, Janine. In March, they will host a one-day, on-site retreat with guest speaker, Robbie Castleman, who will be speaking on worship.

Women On Wednesday (WOW)

Women on Wednesday has gotten off to a great start this year, with almost 90 women in attendance. Class offerings include both Old and New Testament Bible studies, a book study on the book, Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World, a young mom's group that offers support and Bible study, a journaling class and a prayer group. Our opening worship has been energized by personal testimonies from a number of different women from our congregation and our community has been strengthened by relationship-building games.

Our community project this year is to provide support for the pediatric unit of Mt. Washington hospital by knitting caps for newborns and providing funds for the purchase of toys, such as mobiles. A new dimension of service that has been added this year is a once-a-month offering of babysitting by some of the women with older children. This is intended to give the young moms in the group an opportunity to have lunch with friends from WOW. The first month, there were 14 children with the babysitters and the moms returned looking refreshed and happy!

WOW continues to draw women from outside of Central and to resource those within our congregation. One attendee recently commented that her primary ministry focus is her neighborhood, but WOW has been valuable to her as a place where she can be fed spiritually and prepared for that ministry. WOW continues to strive to live into our mission statement: to impact women for Christ by building bonds of friendship through shared praise, study, and prayer.

Central Lights

Central Presbyterian Church's ministry to those 50+ effectively provided Christian fellowship to those attending Central as well as people in the surrounding community. We offered a variety of programs which took us from local churches to Princeton University to Old England and a 500-mile walk across Spain. Our mission goals included funds for scholarships for the Christian Community Center and the Sewell family.

We look forward to presenting a series of interesting programs for the year 2006.

Some Community Stats for 2005

Webmaster's Note: Due to privacy concerns, this section will not list names or details on the website.

• 28 New members
• 17 Births
• 8 Deaths
• 7 Baptisms
• 4 Weddings