wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Mission pledge: $1 million/Multicultural expertise:

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #9019 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05610
Nov. 11, 2005

Long Beach congregation 
sharing blessings of two kinds

Mission pledge: $1 million
Multicultural expertise: priceless

by Toya Richards Hill

LOUISVILLE - Grace First Presbyterian Church, in Long Beach, CA, is
passionate about multiculturalism.

	The combined Japanese- and Anglo-American congregation formed three
years ago with the merger of two churches - Grace Presbyterian and Lakewood
First Presbyterian.

	"We are intergenerational and multicultural," says pastor Steven
Wirth.

	Grace First has pledged $1 million to the Mission Initiative Joining
Hearts & Hands (JHH) campaign, to be used in rebuilding Gulf Coast-area
churches damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

	In addition to the money, Grace First is sharing its zeal for
multiculturalism with several Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations in
South Louisiana Presbytery.

	Through the National Ministries Division (NMD), it is partnering with
several churches in the hurricane-ravaged area that are already culturally
diverse or would like to be.

	The idea is to use Grace First's special gifts to help revive those
churches, Wirth explains - congregations with members ranging from
African-Americans to Creoles to Caucasians.

	Grace First intended to use the $1 million in a capital campaign,
until members realized that "we had not really challenged ourselves in
mission to get beyond our comfort zone," says Wirth.

	The session approved the pledge for Katrina relief unanimously, then
the congregation gave Wirth a standing ovation for having made the
suggestion.

	"I've never been applauded for asking for money," he says.
"Everything has been exceedingly positive."

	Congregation members plan to help the Gulf Coast congregations with
youth programs, summer Bible schools and a variety of other programs.

	Grace First had talked with NMD about sharing its brand of
multiculturalism before Katrina hit, says the NMD director, the Rev. Curtis
Kearns Jr., but the disaster provided an opportunity to do it "more
expediently and on a larger scale than what they had first imagined." 

	"Grace First has a real passion and enthusiasm for multicultural
church development," Kearns says. 

	The $1 million donation is going to the Gulf Coast congregations
through the JHH campaign, which is raising money to support international
missions and new-church development.

	The drive was launched in 2002. Its goal is to raise $40 million by
the end of 2007. So far it has donations and pledges of more than $20
million.

	"We're very excited" about the Grace First pledge, said Bill Saul,
co-chair of the JHH steering committee. "It's a win-win."

	Saul, an elder at Grace First, says his church is learning how to
share its blessings:

	"The Katrina tragedy brought to our attention the tremendous need of
people, and made us more aware of how blessed we are. When we look around at
our own church ... we're in comparative luxury."

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