CPC 1999 Annual Report:
Social Action Committee

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The mission of the Social Action Committee is to understand and proclaim Christ's compassion for all people, by awareness and involvement in social issues and through intentional outreach to the community. The committee seeks to educate, challenge, encourage, and provide opportunities for the congregation to demonstrate Christ's response to social needs and injustices, thus moving people toward Christ.

Most of Central's intentional outreach to the community is through partnerships with other churches and ministries, thus moving people towards Christ by modeling God's mercy, justice and desire for unity among believers. We had the privilege of using a Beyond These Walls' grant in 1999 to begin a relationship with the Agape Fellowship Miracle Church in Park Heights. Our financial resources have helped renovate their Family Empowerment Center and provide spiritual, emotional and physical assistance to people in crisis in this neighborhood. In addition, we have participated in their Back To School Anointing Service and other ministries as well as being blessed by their teaching and music at Central on July 25th. We are also prayerfully moving towards loaning a few of our members to Seventh Baptist Church, a Project Justice partner, to support them in reaching their community for Christ.

Your generosity with time and resources has blessed many other people this year. We continued to collect food and other goods for ACTC, the Christian Community Center and Love & Action. Dedicated crews renovated a house in Sandtown for Habitat for Humanity and served at Our Daily Bread. Three small groups have actively worked with Chuck Trader and the Baltimore County Department of Social Services to mentor and minister to families in crisis in our area. We provided Love & Action with more than 125 gift bags which were distributed to men, women and children suffering with AIDS. It was exciting to see our M&M Kids help out at the Christian Community Center and our youth travel to Tunica, Mississippi to share the gospel and the ministry of racial reconciliation in this town.

Our education efforts included sponsoring a Project Justice breakfast featuring a lecture by Charles Marsh on the role of religion in the civil rights movement and facilitating an Adult Education Class on racial reconciliation last winter as well as several summer Potpourri classes. We also responded to a request from Session to explore the issue of diversity by providing a biblical perspective on ethnic diversity within the body of Christ, seeking to understand and learn from the experience of those in our congregation from diverse ethnic backgrounds, compiling demographic data for the area around Central and outlining a strategy for becoming a diverse loving community - one of our congregation's core values.

Our budget included support of eighteen organizations providing holistic ministry locally, nationally and around the world. In 2000 we will add operating support to the Agape Family Empowerment Center, Temple House - a ministry to homeless men with AIDS, and a needs based scholarship to Central's preschool for a child outside our church family. We look forward to introducing you to more of these ministries through our Moment for Mission on Sunday mornings. Please keep these organizations in your prayers. We welcome your participation in the work of the Social Action Committee and are anxious to help you find volunteer opportunities with our partner ministries.