Creative Ministries of Presbyterian Women (PW)

“We learn from our mistakes”*

Sarasota Police Chief Bernadette DiPino says discipline in Sarasota County had become too heavy-handed, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. “I don’t believe that our kids should be going to jail or having criminal records for minor things—which a lot of the kids were being cited and arrested for,” DiPino told representatives from more than a dozen churches and synagogues at a Sarasota United for Responsibility and Equity (SURE) meeting. “That’s what we do when we grow up: We learn from our mistakes. But it takes a whole community to make sure these kids don’t make these mistakes again.”

SURE was organized with help from Direct Action & Research Training Center (DART), a 2015 recipient of a grant from Presbyterian Women’s Thank Offering. DART brings diverse congregations together around shared values and concerns in order to effectively address and resolve community problems. The goal is not merely to solve specific issues. Rather, DART seeks to build organizations in cities that possess enough power to successfully hold political, economic and social systems accountable to acting justly. SURE’s work in Sarasota is a prime example.

Sarasota had one of the highest rates in Florida involving police in incidents related to student discipline. Members of SURE lobbied local and state officials for years to reduce the number of students who were arrested and placed on out-of-school suspension for relatively benign offenses. Before October 1, Sarasota was one of only eight counties in the state not to use a civil citation program. As a result, Sarasota arrested more than 200 first-time juvenile offenders for misdemeanors in 2014. Those petty crimes stay on a juvenile’s record until they are 26 and can prevent them from going to college, qualifying for scholarships, joining the military or entering certain fields. On October 1, an administrative order went into effect making civil citations the default form of law-enforcement-related punishment for first-time juvenile offenders who committed non-violent misdemeanors. Civil citations are like arrests but are forwarded to the Department of Juvenile Justice rather than the local State Attorneys Office and keep students’ records clean.

Another issue tackled by SURE was to create alternatives to out-of-school suspension. Three years ago SURE members met with Sarasota County School Superintendent Lori White and asked her to look into a program called restorative justice, which aims to resolve conflicts and correct behavior by having students confront their issues rather than be suspended. Its highlights include small group sessions where students open up about what is bothering them and how their behavior affects others. “Largely where we’re at now is to be more preventive in having a culture in the classroom that deals with these issues before they escalate,” White said.

*Adapted from a story by Shelby Webb in the October 20, 2015, issue of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Includes information from the DART website.

Learn more about the Thank Offering of Presbyterian Women at www.presbyterianwomen.org/thank.

A “snowball effect in the right direction”

Michael and Stephanie Sparks* moved to North Carolina from Missouri a little over four years ago. In December 2014, their landlord told them they needed to pay the taxes on the home they were in—almost $3,000. They couldn’t do it, so the landlord evicted them and the family found themselves homeless. They stayed in a hotel for two weeks and Michael pawned a lot of the family's items so they could afford the high cost of staying in the hotel. After two weeks, the family was referred to Cooperative Christian Ministry (CCM).

When Stephanie called CCM’s Mothers and Children Housing Ministry program, she learned that the program takes homeless mothers and their children, but not entire families. She was referred to My Father’s House, another in CCM’s Shelter and Housing family of programs. In March 2015, the family moved into My Father’s House and began the process of regaining their stability.

The Sparks* family is working toward housing stability with help from Cooperative Christian Ministry.

My Father’s House, a 2015 Thank Offering recipient, represents a unique family shelter partnership between Cooperative Christian Ministry (CCM) and local churches. The program provides emergency and transitional shelter for homeless families with children for up to 180 days, as the families work to regain stability. The ministry creates an environment in which each family makes independent decisions, within their action plan, allowing them to develop educational, physical and spiritual resources. In addition, the program helps families begin the process of establishing financial stability, which will allow them to move to a more independent level of housing. There is no charge for families staying at My Father’s House. The ministry provides supervised housing and meals, guided development of an action plan with case managers, referral resources and a computer lab for students to use to complete homework and parents to use to seek employment. Each Monday and Thursday night, through a partnership with the local school system, an evening tutoring program is offered for children in the program and the local community. Each family in the program shares a room with two sets of bunk beds (and roll cots if needed), cabinets for clothing and personal items, and a hanging shelf for hanging clothes.

Families who are unsheltered or have been split up in the local night shelter benefit from participation in this shelter program. Emphasis is given to families in this program, with the goal of keeping homeless families together and helping them move beyond homelessness through CCM’s continuum of shelter and housing programs. In fiscal year 2013–2014 (the most recently completed FY), My Father’s House served 14 families. Of those, 11 left the program successfully to transitional or permanent housing, or were still participating efficaciously in the program, and three left the program before achieving stable housing. Priorities of the program include safety, responsibility and accountability in the development and implementation of a plan to regain family independence. Aftercare support to former guests includes continued advocacy, education, referrals and other interventions.

Showers of Blessings Church sanctuary, which is being converted during the expansion of My Father’s House

Through its partnership with Presbyterian Women and the Thank Offering grant, CCM will double the capacity of its family housing program, allowing CCM to serve eight families at a time, once space conversion is complete. The conversion will take place in the sanctuary of Showers of Blessings Church, the current location of My Father’s House, where family rooms are currently housed in the education hall. Once complete, an eight-room, dormitory-like facility will host families. There will be laundry facilities and a kitchenette. At the back, showers and bathrooms will be available for the families. Off to the side of the sanctuary, an apartment will be available for a house manager to live, providing supervision and safety.

CCM’s mission is to provide immediate assistance to members of the community who are experiencing crisis in the areas of food, shelter or finances, while engaging them in a series of actions that will empower them to move beyond crisis. In 2014, CCM provided more than 1 million pounds of food to more than 20,000 households containing more than 60,000 individuals; provided financial assistance in the areas of rent/mortgage, utilities and medications to 796 households; sheltered 24 households containing 75 individuals through Project Independence; sheltered 9 households containing 32 individuals through the Mothers and Children Housing Ministry; and sheltered 12 households containing 39 individuals through My Father’s House. Clients come to CCM through word-of-mouth as walk-ins for food assistance and financial assistance. In the Shelter and Housing programs, clients are referred by community partners (the school systems, Community Link, Salvation Army, etc.). Clients in the Shelter and Housing programs also come from other programs within the CCM continuum of care.

“It’s such a relief,” Michael said, shortly after he and his family moved in to My Father's House. “I think it’s harder on me than it is on [my family] being in this situation,” he added. “You just feel like (as a husband and father) you lost.” His goal for his family was to live in the program for as short an amount of time as possible “so another family can come in that needs it more.” For Stephanie, nothing could replace the feeling of security she had knowing that her family was safely sheltered at My Father’s House. “It’s priceless,” she said. And, she added, this step toward stability and self-sufficiency would create “a snowball effect in the right direction.” 

 

*Last name changed to protect the privacy of the family

To learn more about the Thank Offering of Presbyterian Women, visit PW's Thank Offering web page.

Thank Offering plants seed for Birthday Offering project

By Jane McGookey

The Holy Spirit touched those attending the dedication of the 2013 Thank Offering at Oxford (Ohio) Presbyterian Church, inspiring them to nominate their partner church, Seventh Presbyterian Church in Colombia, South America, for the 2015 PW Birthday Offering. Seventh Church has been running a community center to help displaced women and children fleeing brutality related to the drug trade.

The “Colombia Partnership” was started in 1995 when the Presbytery of the Miami Valley and the Presbytery of the North Coast in Colombia formed a partnership covenant. As part of this covenant, Miami Valley churches were paired with churches in northern Colombia. Oxford was paired with Seventh Presbyterian Church in Barranquilla, Colombia. Seventh Church is a mostly female congregation since many of the men have disappeared due to the violence. Seventh is served by a female pastor, attendance is between 100 and 200, and they have two women’s circles. The covenant is primarily relational, a commitment to form lasting friendships north and south, to communicate needs and prayer concerns, and to support each other in ministry.  The congregations pray for each other every week and have even had joint worship services via Skype.

Children of Barranquilla

A group of five women and two men traveled from Ohio to Colombia in June of 2013. Deanna Maxwell, one of the participants, described the visit. “While we were there we visited one of their outreach programs, Bethesda Community Center. The center is located in an area of Barranquilla that is full of displaced people from the war with Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels and drug lords. Most of this community is made up of women and children, mostly because the men are rounded up and killed. The women and children are also victims of domestic violence due to a prevalent machismo attitude in Colombia that our sister church is working hard to change. At the community center our sister church tries its best to retrain the women to find jobs, to feed them and the children, help the children go to school (the school system in Colombia is free but books, school uniforms, and food are not), help children with homework, and counsel the women and children. That is a lot to try to accomplish in this very small building where there are live wires hanging from the ceiling, no refrigeration, no bathroom, the roof is caving in in some areas, there is water under the foundation and the playground is a slab of cement.”

Oxford Presbyterian learned that, to qualify for the Birthday Offering, their project must have a clearly defined purpose that meets basic human needs and provide a form of aid that relates directly to the people being served. Since the center is located in Colombia, it was critical for the Colombian congregation to be fully committed to the project. In January 2014, two Colombian visitors arrived in Ohio, where the collaboration was discussed and agreed upon. Oxford Presbyterian would serve as grant writer and Seventh would provide statistics, project planning and a budget. Communication between continents was facilitated through Facebook and translators on both ends. The proposal was submitted in May 2014.

Deanna Maxwell says, “Someone said to me once that Facebook limits our interaction with people, but I strongly disagree. Social media expands our world so much. I have made lifelong friends in other parts of the world that otherwise I would never have been able to meet. I think keeping in touch through social media with friends from our sister church and their wonderful work has helped our church in so many ways. We have learned about compassion, humility, sacrifice and the wonderful spirit of people in situations we could never even imagine.”

Nearly one year passed from the initial idea to Oxford Presbyterian's learning that the project had been selected for the 2015 Birthday Offering. Oxford Presbyterian Church PW Moderator Susan Wilson conveyed the excitement felt when the Birthday Offering promotional materials were released. The project received funding of $100,000,  $50,000 less than the requested amount but the U.S. dollar is strong in Colombia so construction should begin soon. Additional land has already been purchased for outdoor activities. Susan said the Oxford is anxious for the completion of the project but realizes things move slower in other countries. She says, “We know God is guiding the entire task.”

For more information contact Susan Wilson or Deanna Maxwell.

 

Jane McGookey is synod representative for Synod of the Covenant to the Churchwide Coordinating Team of Presbyterian Women in the PC(USA).

Birthday Offering grant will help "build minds" in South Sudan

Editor's Note: Linda Werts, PW moderator, Park Presbyterian Church, Newark, NY, was present for the groundbreaking ceremonies for Majok-Keen Girls' School in South Sudan. This school is being built with funds from the 2015 Birthday Offering of Presbyterian Women. (See the January/February 2016 issue of Horizons magazine for information about the Birthday Offering.) Linda sent this photo and note on the day of the groundbreaking, January 8, 2016. 

So happy to be part of the ground breaking ceremonies today for the Majok-Keen Girls' School in Mayen Abun, South Sudan! Thank you, Presbyterian Women. PW's support for the Building Minds in South Sudan (BMISS) project, through the Birthday Offering grant, was highly praised by community leaders, students, Sebastian Maroundit [director of the BMISS program] and myself. Improving the lives of girls through education is a wonderful accomplishment and will bring hope and a bright future to each of these girls.

One woman speaker today had this comment to offer: "Educating our daughters will bring benefits to our community, and for those who need cows, an educated daughter will bring 100 cows [marriage dowry]!"

I couldn't think of a better way to spend my day! Dancing, speeches, presentation of solar lanterns and shared fellowship with truly appreciative sisters and brothers.  

Kindest regards and many blessings from South Sudan,
Linda Werts, PW moderator, Park Presbyterian Church, Newark, NY

San Antonio youth outreach program helps teens overcome challenges

One evening a young man from our program was walking home when a group of seven young men, new to our neighborhood, attacked him. Rather than putting his family in jeopardy, he ran the opposite way from home, only to be chased down a couple blocks later. The group began punching and hitting him on his back and head. Rather than respond in violence, the youth did not fight back. The attack quickly dissipated as witnesses arrived on the scene. 

The next day the word had spread. Many youth showed up stating they knew who the attackers were and vowing to take revenge. Despite their best efforts, program leaders unsuccessfully tried to convince the group to do otherwise. That is when the youth who had been attacked began to speak. Rather than repeat the cycle of violence, the youth encouraged his peers not to retaliate, understanding that in the end someone would get hurt worse. Hearing these words from the victim, a fellow House of Teens youth to whom the others looked up, completely calmed the crowd and left them pondering such a radical notion. 

Forgiveness was echoed in the actions that followed. The youth’s mother met with the mother of the attackers to work things out. In that meeting she welcomed her to the neighborhood, told her where she lived, and said if she ever needed anything to let her know. An end to the cycle of redemptive violence . . . 

Youth on a summer service trip

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Multi-level Education Youth Outreach (MEYO), a ministry of Divine Redeemer Presbyterian Church, San Antonio, and a 2014 Thank Offering recipient, creates an environment that encourages personal development, community service, character formation and a dedication to post–high-school learning. The story above and the ones that follow are told by staff members as examples of this environment bearing fruit. To learn more about MEYO and Divine Redeemer, go to www.divineredeemersa.org.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Today, I witnessed an amazing story. It is the story of a young man who has journeyed from the way of violence to a way of peace! It is a story full of joy, but it is not one without tremendous struggle. 

When I first came in contact with this young man four years ago he and his older brother were both in a gang, choosing to follow the lifestyle of their father. By the end of the first year, they both had realized that they did not want to follow in their father’s footsteps and quit the gang. Even after that tremendous step, this young man still loved to fight, fighting anyone for any or no reason, to show he was the toughest. 

Fast-forward two years. This young man came into House of Teens with cuts and scratches all over. He said a group of five young men had attacked him because of his friendship with another young man. At the time of the attack he didn’t even know who they were or why they were beating him. He began to fight back out of self-defense until a gun was pulled on him, forcing him to take the beating.

 After he finished telling his story, I asked him what he was going to do. Even though he had not been in a fight for over a year, I expected him to want to seek revenge. 

He said he wasn’t going to do anything, realizing that fighting back would only cause more problems and not solve anything. He has put an end to the cycle of violence and left a legacy for his siblings and peers to follow!

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Maria (not her actual name) has been with House of Teens since middle school. As a youth she was abandoned, along with her four siblings, by their father, then a few years later, by their mother, to end up being raised by her stepfather. Throughout her childhood, she met the challenges of school, playing sports and helping raise her younger siblings. 

Her senior year, she started looking at colleges to attend, as it had always been her dream to be ta eacher and high school volleyball coach. But as she began the process of applying to college and securing financial aid, she began to feel overwhelmed, not finding much help at her high school. She was on the brink of giving up. 

But through the encouragement of House of Teens and the assistance of College VISTA, she continued the journey. She was accepted into her top choice university and received scholarships and financial aid. She is a testament to the capacity present in all of the youth of our community.

Summer peace camp

Nations Ministry Center purchases van for refugee families with help of Presbyterian Women

Nashville, TN, March 20, 2014—Nations Ministry Center, a nonprofit outreach to refugees and immigrants, will receive a $28,000 Thank Offering grant from Presbyterian Women in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) that will be used to purchase an eight-passenger van. Nations Ministry staff will use the van to transport children to and from its after-school tutoring program, to take adult clients to apply and interview for jobs, to take clients applying for green cards to their medical screenings, and more.

Caitlin Trotter, program manager of Nations Academy, notes the positive impact a van will have on the academy's programs: “Many of the students in our after-school programs are related; sometimes we drop off siblings and cousins at their grandmother’s house at the end of the day. Because of our current transportation limitations, we often drive two or three different vehicles to the same location in order to get everyone home. With a van, we can get everyone home in one trip, saving time, money and resources while allowing our staff more time to tutor and mentor our students.”

Nations Ministry Center, an instrument of God's grace in welcoming refugees and immigrants to Middle Tennessee, promotes genuine self-sufficiency by serving the needs of the whole person. By engaging churches, other organizations and individuals, Nations Ministry Center seeks to support awareness of cultural diversity for the mutual benefit of clients and the entire community.

If you would like more information, email Chris Lovingood.

2013 Birthday Offering recipient "tops off"

By Judy Lovejoy, former PW synod rep, Lincoln Trails

Here is a photo from the topping-off ceremony at Westminster Neighborhood Ministries. Along with board members, other volunteers and donors, I am signing the last beam that goes into the new family and adult services center. The center is expected to be open in January. It was raining during the ceremony, but that certainly didn't dampen the enthusiasm of those who were there. Learn more about Westminster Neighborhood Ministries.

For additional information on the Creative Ministries Offering program of Presbyterian Women, see the giving and funding page of the PW website.

Welcome Church gathers people experiencing homelessness

Violet Little and Schaunel Steinnagel, pastors of the Welcome Church in Philadelphia, are excited and thankful that the Welcome Church has been chosen to receive a 2014 Thank Offering grant for its Welcome Table ministry. 

The Welcome Church, a congregation in development in the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), is a church without walls, primarily including people who have experienced homelessness in Center City, Philadelphia. While the Welcome Church is not specifically a feeding program, all of the ministries of the Welcome Church tend to involve the sharing of food, food that is provided by both housed and houseless persons, for all who are gathered. The Welcome Table is a thread of hospitality that runs through everything that the Welcome Church does.   

The Welcome Church has two salaried pastors, founding pastor Violet Little (ELCA) and associate pastor Schaunel Steinnagel, Presbytery of Philadelphia (PC(USA)). The Welcome Church is extremely ecumenical; people share the traditions from which they come. A volunteer clergy team includes Church of God in Christ, Episcopal, and Seventh Day Adventist helpmates. All are welcome to join us in the coming together of the Welcome Church! 

Gatherings include 

• Worship and coffee hour the final Sunday of the month, outside at Logan Circle, 3 pm; coffee hour hosted by partner youth groups and congregations
• Worship and continued fellowship each second Sunday of the month, inside Suburban Station at 3 pm
• Teatime Mondays at Arch Street United Methodist Church from 1 to 2:30 pm, with home-baked cookies, butlered by homeless Welcome Church leaders
• Bible study, Communion and knitting-as-spiritual-practice on Tuesdays at Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion (21st and Chestnut, Philadelphia) from 12 to 4 pm; includes a table with snacks and whatever participants might bring
• The occasional women's group meeting

Contact Schaunel Steinnagel, [email protected], if you'd like to learn more about the Welcome Church.

To learn more about the Thank Offering of Presbyterian Women, go to www.presbyterianwomen.org/thank.

Thank you for having faith in our vision, 2014 recipient says

I am Reverend Nadeem Sadiq, writing in response to the letter I received notifying us of the Thank Offering grant for South Asian Resource Center (SARC). First of all, I would like to thank you for having faith in our vision.

My wife and I came to the United States in 2005 with our two-year-old daughter. Our struggle to sustain ourselves was no different than that of any other immigrant looking for resources to take care of his/her family. With no money and no means of transportation, our lives were chaotic and stressful. We remember walking through the snow with our daughter in her stroller, her eyes watery, her tiny little nose red with cold; she would beg us to bring her to a warmer place. We still remember how we used to stop at a near store to get her warm and then carry on with our pursuit to find resources to sustain ourselves.

It is said that things happen for a reason and it was during those difficult times that we got connected to many resources that we later used to benefit other people. It was during that time we decided to dedicate our lives to helping those who cannot read, write or speak the language in their new home. Imagine yourself in a place where you cannot read or speak the language—a place where everyone is a stranger and suddenly you find some who look like you, talk like you and are even ready to help you provide everything needed to sustain yourself. That place definitely will be your hope and those people will surely be your family. 

Since 2006, we have volunteered our services for other immigrants, assisting with taking in and interpreting for immigrants and refugees at doctors’ offices, lawyers’ offices, wherever needed. We help immigrants filling out immigration paperwork; we contact U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on their behalf. We help with grocery shopping, with finding jobs at places where people speak the immigrants' language, and we help families struggling with financial crisis to get financial assistance through government programs. We help low income families secure filing fee exemptions so they can get their green cards or citizenship. There is nothing more pleasing and satisfying than to see a family or an individual become self-sufficient and lead a normal life in this wonderful land of opportunity.

We always wanted a comfortable and supportive center where immigrants could come for help. We envisioned South Asian Resource Center (SARC) as a vibrant center serving the South Asian American community and a place where comprehensive informational resources would be available. A generous gift from the Thank Offering of Presbyterian Women made it possible for us to start this project. We had a wonderful inauguration ceremony on February 15, 2014, and were honored to have Congressman Paul Tonko (D–NY) and Mayor Kathy Sheehan (Albany, New York) as guests of honor. 

Mayor Kathy Sheehan (Albany, New York) and Congressman Paul Tonko (D-NY) with Rev. Sadiq and family at the dedication of the South Asian Resource Center in Albany, February 15, 2014.

 

The mission of South Asian Resource Center (SARC) is to empower immigrants from South Asia to overcome the significant challenges they face when they immigrate, by empowering them with the required resources and assisting them with their basic and other needs to enable them not only to sustain themselves but to move toward self-sufficiency. 

Essential services will include

• Language and interpretation—The root cause of most of the problems faced by immigrants is not knowing the language. Language barriers keep immigrants from gaining access to all kinds of opportunities. We have seen people stress and depression, with an inferiority complex and low self-esteem because they cannot speak English. When we translate or interpret for them, we help them understand that not knowing the language is not a permanen disability; we try to make them more confident. We encourage them to speak and we help them learn basic sentences required in everyday language.

• Health insurance information and referrals to low cost health and dental providers—The U.S. health insurance system is new to people who come from South Asia. SARC will not only provide recent immigrants with information about health, but will also help them apply for health insurance. SARC will also help them apply for charity health care and also refer them to health and dental clinics that accept charity or low cost care.

• Immigration and legal information and referrals
• Transportation services
• Academic counseling
• Job search assistance
• Educational opportunities
• Referrals to food, clothing, housing and rental assistance programs
• Emotional and practical support for individuals and families, including victims of domestic violence—Unfortunately domestic violence is very common in South Asian countries. And our cultural norms don’t allow a womeno relate or share her problems with strangers. We have helped many victims, mostly women, with this issue. We hope our center will be a place where women can come, confide their problems and find a way out. It is great to see how we can make a difference in their lives.

We have dozens and dozens of amazing stories about opportunities we have had to make a difference in other people’s lives. I’ll tell you about one case that was no less than a miracle. This is about a 70-year-old woman whose husband petitioned for her children in 2000. In 2011 he received papers to submit the visa fees. Meanwhile, he got really sick with cancer and there was no one to take care of the case. In 2011 he passed away, and Immigration Services sent that woman a letter telling her that her case was closed. She showed the letter to us and we were devastated. The poor woman had waited for her children for 12 years and her dreams were shattered. We told her not to lose hope. We talked to our lawyer, who is a great immigration attorney. He said the same thing Immigration Services said, but he also put us in touch with Colleen Williams at Congressman Paul Tonko’s office. With Colleen’s help, we sent a letter to Immigration Services explaining the woman’s situation. After six months of back-and-forth communication, we were able to have her case reopened. We are hoping that this year she will be able to see her children.

I will end by telling every American: Be grateful for what you have. Do not take anything for granted because to be in this land of opportunity is a blessing itself. Thank you and God bless America.

Note: See SARC's website, www.southasianrc.org for more information.

Eco Center built at Ferncliff with help of PW

The largest straw-bale building in the United States was dedicated at Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center March 29, 2014. And Presbyterian Women was there! In fact, a $100,000 Birthday Offering grant in 2012 to Synod of the Sun for its Solar Under the Sun (SUTS) program helped make the building possible.

Called the Eco Center, it is home to Solar School, the semiannual training program of Solar Under the Sun. SUTS trains volunteers to design and install solar power systems in communities that lack reliable electrical power. Since 2010, SUTS has trained 200 people and helped install over 50 solar-powered systems in Haiti. 

Ferncliff is a summer camp and year-round conference center connected to the Presbyterian church but open to any and all. Over the past decade Ferncliff has made a concerted effort to become one of the “greenest” camps in the country and practice sustainability. In 2013, Ferncliff hosted a national straw-bale building workshop. Forty participants spent a week working on the new building.

The building is 5,300 square feet, with bedrooms for up to 28 guests and meeting space for up to 100. The center uses a net-metering solar system for electricity—excess energy is fed back into the grid for credit. The building has a “solar chimney” consisting of two 18" diameter tubes that pull air up and through the building as they absorb heat from the sun, thereby ventilating the space. The roof is white to reflect heat and has two layers of insulation underneath. The building is heated with a radiant floor heating system in the slab. 

Its walls are made of 1,200 straw bales (wheat straw) purchased from a farm in neighboring Perry County. The bales themselves do not bear the weight of the building. The frame of the building is steel, and the straw bales are used to fill in the walls between the beams. The walls are plastered inside and out with three coats of natural hydraulic lime, which is more environmentally friendly than cement in the way it is produced. The building is also insulated with rice hulls and features floors made of alternative and reclaimed materials such as paper maché, reclaimed rubber conveyor belts and thousands of discarded beer bottles. It was built primarily with volunteer labor. 

Karene Jones, who chaired PW’s Creative Ministries Offering Committee in 2011 when the grant recipient was chosen, was on hand to speak on behalf of PW at the dedication of the building March 29, 2014.   

It was with excitement and anticipation that I followed the construction of this center. How proud I am to be here today on behalf of Presbyterian women across the United States and Puerto Rico. I represent all the women who gave through second- and third-mile giving to PW's Birthday offering to fulfill a mission dear to their hearts.

Part of the purpose of Presbyterian Women is “to support the mission of the church worldwide and to work for justice and peace.” What better way to do just that than to support the building of this Eco Center where many will be trained for mission here and abroad.

We are grateful to David Gill who wrote the grant application on behalf of Synod of the Sun and sent it to the Creative Ministries Offering Committee of PW. We also are grateful for those who serve on that committee and who selected this mission. As Psalm 47 says, “Clap your hands, all you people! Shout joyfully to God with a joyous shout.” What a joyful day this is and what a joy to be a part of this dedication!

Ferncliff also uses the Eco Center for summer camps and to host mission teams from other states. It is available to groups wanting a low-impact retreat/workshop setting. For more information, see www.ferncliff.org.