You are currently subscribed to the PCUSANEWS listserv of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
============================================================
This story online at: http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2006/06604.htm
06604 November 17, 2006
Honoring the past by endowing the future MIJHH gives New Mexico elder 'perfect opportunity to get involved'
by Emily Enders Odom Mission Initiative communications officer
ALBUQUERQUE, NM * Diane Ogawa spends the better part of her waking hours making decisions that impact significantly on future generations.
She does this professionally * as executive director of the PNM Resources Foundation, which seeks to improve New Mexico's quality of life through grants to nonprofit organizations and educators in the state.
In her life of faith, she has embarked on the same mission as cochair with her husband, Greg, of Covenant Presbyterian Church's Joining Hearts & Hands campaign.
The Mission Initiative: Joining Hearts and Hands (MIJHH)[http://www.pcusa. org/joiningheartsandhands] is a five-year, $40 million effort to raise new funds for Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) overseas mission workers and for church development in this country, particularly new racial ethnic and immigrant congregations.
"For me, this [MIJHH] campaign provided the perfect opportunity to get involved at a new level at our church," Ogawa said.
Ogawa's evolving role at Covenant Church here began in 2005, following the celebration of the church's 50th anniversary. In studying the report that had been written on that occasion by Covenant's longrange planning committee, she prayerfully sought her own way to get more involved.
"This plan is great, but what does it mean for me?" Ogawa remembered thinking, "Until I saw the 'Commitment to Mission,' which is why my mom and family and I are so committed to this church."
The Rev. Catherine Robinson, Covenant's pastor since August 2004, cited that same commitment to mission in reflecting on her own call. "When I began my ministry, it was clear that the church had a readiness to look at some new directions in mission," Robinson said. "The congregation wanted to connect with the neighborhood in new ways, and our longrange planning committee wanted to focus on the area of new church development in order to give thanks to God for the people and the money that started this church."
Robinson contacted the Rev. Jim Collie, executive presbyter for Santa Fe Presbytery, to explore with him how the church's objectives might be carried out most effectively. Without hesitation, Collie suggested Joining Hearts & Hands.
The presbytery is in the midst of a $1.7 million campaign for Joining Hearts & Hands, under the direction of campaign manager, the Rev. Judith Todd. Setting Covenant's $100,000 fundraising goal as a part of the presbytery's overall campaign was Ogawa's own idea: $50,000 to honor the church's first 50 years, and $50,000 for the next 50.
"We structured our pledge so that a portion would go toward a permanent endowment, which would forever support the mission outreach of our church," Ogawa said. "Not just what we all see, but the outreach that our children and grandchildren will see."
The Rev. Bill Hedrick, Covenant's parish associate, who resources the church's Joining Hearts & Hands committee, commended Ogawa's approach. "Diane understands how these things work," Hedrick said. "From now on, there is a budgetary impetus and requirement that there be mission."
Of Covenant's commitment, Collie said, "There are a lot of excuses for not participating in Joining Hearts & Hands. Our experience with Covenant disproves them all. A relatively new pastor in an older, midincome congregation looking to observe a local anniversary has caught fire with a $100,000 pledge to Joining Hearts & Hands."
Robinson concurred: "I feel very excited that we're doing something that will establish without question our connectedness to the denomination and to the presbytery."
A slightly different version of this story will appear as an advertisement in the January/February 2007 issue of Presbyterians Today magazine.
============================================================
You are currently subscribed to the PCUSANEWS listserv of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
To unsubscribe, send a blank message to
mailto:PCUSANEWS-unsubscribe-request@halak.pcusa.org.
To update your email address, send your old email address and your new one to mailto:PCUSANEWS-owner@halak.pcusa.org.
For questions or comments, send an email to mailto:PCUSANEWS-owner@halak.pcusa.org.
To learn more, visit http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 100 Witherspoon Street Louisville, KY 40202 (888) 728-7228