We hope you might find among the activities listed below an area or project which interests you. We invite you to find out more about any of them by contacting the church office at (512) 345 8866.
Alternative Christmas Gift Market
An alternative way to give Christmas presents is by making charitable gift donations that support local and worldwide mission and service programs in the name of a recipient. FPC has been hosting Alternative Christmas Gift Markets each November since 1994. These have raised many thousands of dollars to aid programs in Austin, Texas, and all over the world with special emphasis on Presbyterian missions. The Market is a truly educational event as booths representing the different projects have displays and provide information sheets explaining the use of donations. Gift cards are available with each donation.
Austin Area Interreligious Ministries
A citywide ecumenical agency, AAIM helps churches and other agencies focus on local needs and assists in helping to meet these needs. They sponsor a widely attended Thanksgiving service each year in a different church and area of the city at which Christians, Jews and Muslims join in dedication to serving the God they all worship.
Food for the Hungry
The first Sunday of every month is our "First Food Sunday". FPC supports the Manos de Cristo food pantry with donations of canned goods and non- perishables (beans, pastas, etc.), which can be brought to the food chest in the Church Narthex and then delivered to Manos.
Freeze Nights
Imagine being hungry, cold, and frightened at the thought of spending the night outside and alone. We participate in a program to give shelter to homeless women and children downtown in concert with a program of the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH). FPC works with Central Presbyterian Church where the homeless are housed. Several congregations in the Austin area provide an evening meal and breakfast to participants.
Habitat for Humanity
On Saturday, April 28, 2007, 20 FPC members participated in building a Presbyterian Habitat for Humanity House in Austin. FPC members gathered at the building site in the Montopolis area of Austin, and spent the day roofing, painting, installing siding, and cleaning up the job site. The house, located at 6905 Villita Avenida, was financed and built by FPC and five other Austin area Presbyterian churches. We will soon be working on another house project.
Interfaith Hospitality Network
FPC is a member of the second Austin Interfaith Hospitality Network. Three or four times a year, the church hosts several homeless families for a week, providing food and shelter. During the weeks that families are part of the program, IHN staff work with them to find new housing and/or employment. Our IHN Host dates for 2010 are January 17-24, May 23-30, and October 3-10.
Manos de Cristo
Manos de Cristo's (Hands of Christ) mission is to provide much needed assistance to underserved individuals in the Austin community. Manos de Cristo is located at 4911 Harmon Avenue, Austin TX 78751, 512-477-7454.
But what is Manos? It's the programs and services mentioned here, and much more. It's tutoring in elementary schools, tamale sales, and gala fundraisers. It's the volunteers who give of their time, and the staff who work so diligently. It's the sponsors and contributors who consistently show they care. It's faith and hope and lots of love. At Manos de Cristo, the hands of Christ are most certainly at work. Every day on a first hand basis, people witness an amazing ministry of miracles—and see love in action.
Giving Hands
The Manos de Cristo Clothes Closet offers gently used clothing for infants, children and adults.
A major component of the Clothes Closet is the Back-To-School Project held for two weeks during the summer. This is a massive community-wide event where individuals, churches and corporations throughout Austin contribute clothing, backpacks and educational items.
Manos needs volunteers for its Annual Back-to-School Program. There is a full week of sorting/organizing in mid-to-late July, and then there is the actual program where you can interact with the children in late July and early August.
Healing Hands
Manos' Dental Clinic is led by FPC member Dr. Noel Roebuck and offers low-cost dental work to people in the Austin area. The clinic provides first-rate dental care to low-income residents who do not qualify for government- sponsored programs. The Dental Clinic is located at 1201 E Cesar Chavez, Austin TX 78702, (512) 477-2319.
Helpful Hands
The Manos de Cristo Food Pantry offers emergency assistance to six different families every day, Monday through Friday. The Pantry is stocked with donations from the Capital Area Food Bank and other agencies as well as from private contributors.
Manos will be posting a weekly list on its website that of what items in the pantry are lacking and hopefully you will join Manos in its efforts to serve more of the underserved individuals in the Austin community. Highlighted items currently include Powdered Milk, Eggs, Flour, Sugar, Cooking Oil, and Cereal.
Successful Hands
Manos hosts "English as a Second Language" (ESL) classes on Monday and Wednesday mornings and Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
The ESL coordinator at Manos is always looking for more teachers for both the morning or evening classes. If you are a volunteer teacher in the education program and have any ideas on how the program can be improved, please contact Manos to help them increase attendance, class size, and overall efficiency.
Mobile Loaves & Fishes, Inc.
"For as in one body we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them: if prophecy, in proportion to the faith; if ministry, in ministering; if one is a teacher, in teaching; if one exhorts, in exhortation; if one contributes, in generosity; if one is over others, with diligence; if one does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness" (Romans 12:4-8).
Mobile Loaves & Fishes, Inc. (MLF) is a social outreach ministry to the homeless and indigent working poor. Founded in 1998 by 6 parishioners of St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Austin, its mission is to "Providing food, clothing and dignity to our brothers and sisters in need," through the use of ten trucks. One supply truck and nine catering trucks go out every night on the streets of Austin, San Antonio, and New Orleans. In 2006, MLF served over 250,000 meals.
Today, MLF has several other programs in addition to serving meals to our brothers and sisters in need. Habitat on Wheels (HOW) places homeless people in gently-used travel trailers that have been fully furnished. The MLF Disaster Relief Response is a program that springs into action immediately after a disaster within driving distance of our program. The Disaster Relief Response provides meals, cleaning supplies, water, and other essential needs to our brothers and sisters who have been devastated by disasters such as floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes.
New Church Development
FPC supports new church development through Mission Presbytery. Recently FPC has supported the new Dripping Springs Presbyterian Church financially and through the actions of FPC members. Pastor Nancy Marroquin is a former member and Associate Pastor of FPC and we wish her a successful and exciting journey as she leads this new church in the Austin area.
West Austin Caregivers
West Austin Caregivers is a coalition of churches that recruit, train and coordinate volunteers to provide services for the elderly. These free-to- client services are designed to help older adults remain in their own homes for as long as possible. Volunteers are needed to provide transportation for rides and errands, to make simple home repairs, to serve as friendly visitors, to read to the visually impaired, keep simple records, and to pay bills. There is also a loan closet for health-care equipment such as wheelchairs, walkers, etc. For more information, call Sue Stanford at West Austin Caregivers, 472-6339 or send an email.