Here is your opportunity to get involved with reaching out in ministering to those beyond the walls of the church. The Justice and Mission Core Ministry provides a wealth of possibilities for ministry. There is sure to be an activity that excites your interest, but if you don’t find it here let us hear what you would like to be involved with and we will talk about how we can make that happen.
We have grouped the ministries into these three general areas: Global Justice and Mission, Local Justice and Mission, and Radical Welcome.
Global Justice and Mission
The focus in this ministry area is to reach out beyond the boundaries of our local community and address some of the larger communities of concern and need. We have a commitment to the B. G. Lavastida Christian Center in Santiago de Cuba where the Reverends Elmer and Gisela Lavastida direct a wide range of social service education programs. A work camp is being organized for November 2021 at the Back Bay Mission in Biloxi, MS, with a wide variety of jobs to be done. The Fair Trade shop in the church provides a variety of items for sale in support of marginalized entrepreneurs in many parts of the world. Volunteers are needed to staff the shop when it is open. Educational efforts are made weekly through documentaries shown on Social/Eco-Justice issues.
Local Justice and Mission
Here are opportunities to be involved in ministry in the local community. The Grab Thrift Shop needs volunteers to help sort and display clothing sold at amazingly low prices to local people with limited income. The Scholarship Action Team administers the church’s scholarship funds making education beyond high school possible for several local students. The current needs of our immigrant neighbors in the present uncertain political climate are an immediate concern and one which will need a lot of support. A small ecumenical group welcomes more members to organize interfaith programs about three times a year. A Prison Ministry Action Team has recently begun work on reaching out to those in prison and looking at restorative justice. Although not direct activities of the church there are other opportunities to minister to people in the local community through such activities as volunteering at the Pleasant Hill Elementary School or participating in the summer community garden project.
PHCC and community members have demonstrated weekly to protest the treatment of immigrant children at the border separated from their families.
Radical Welcome
This area seeks to make our church open and welcoming to the wider community. Pleasant Hill Community Church has a unique message for this rural, more conservative part of the country. We are an Open and Affirming church to those whose gender identity is other than that considered acceptable by many. We also want to help those who may have disabilities feel completely welcome here. To this end, we have workshops to educate ourselves on how best to accomplish this. The ministry of this area also focuses on welcoming visitors and orienting new members. These ministries need persons committed to making these things happen. In addition, this area works through the church website and other social media to spread the word about the welcoming nature of this faith community.
