To many the summer is a difficult time

The world of Third Church Outreach ministries is never dull! A quick recap of the latest developments :

• Our tutoring programs at Schools #3, #35, and East High are approaching the end of the program year. Sue Maddock will be retiring from her position as tutor coordinator at School #3, and we will be honoring her faithful service at the 10:45am worship service on Sunday, May 15. We’ve hired Deb Bishop as the new tutor coordinator for School #3, and she is working with Sue this month to transition the leadership smoothly. We’ll share more about both Sue and Deb in future Outreach blogs this spring!
• And do check out the Breakthrough Schools proposal of Great Schools for All (GS4A), which is a crucial part of our advocacy for equity in public education in Monroe County through socioeconomic integration. You can download the proposal at Breakthrough-Schools.pdf.
• We celebrated the 25^th anniversary of Dining Room Ministry in April with both our Saturday guests and in both Sunday worship services. Now we are discerning how to deepen this ministry for the next 25 years. How do we build deeper relationships with our guests, and become one beloved community?
• Consider purchasing a ticket for a Dining Room Ministry guest to the Taste of Texas youth fundraiser to be held May 15, 2016 at noon, so that we may fellowship together!
• Our next RAIHN (Rochester Area Interfaith Hospitality Network) rotation of hosting homeless families begins May 29, 2016. Both face-to-face and behind-the-scenes volunteer opportunities are available.
• I recently attended the PC(USA)’s Compassion, Peace, and Justice Day along with Ecumenical Advocacy Days in Washington, DC. I look forward to sharing a dedicated blog post about the events’ focus on justice issues of race, class, and power, and thinking about what that means for our own Rochester context. My experience culminated with visits with the staffs of Congresswoman Louise Slaughter and Senator Chuck Schumer to advocate for expanded voting rights and humanitarian considerations in trade agreements.

As we approach the end of the program year, we also realize that the needs of many of our neighbors don’t go away in the summertime. And so our Outreach ministries continue on without interruption. I hope you will match your own particular passions with programs that we offer to meet real and persistent community needs – all in response to the great love shown to us by God in Jesus Christ.

Grace and peace!

Lynette K. Sparks, Associate Pastor for Outreach & Evangelism