MISSION OVERVIEW
Our Call to Mission
We come together at Lewinsville Presbyterian Church to understand and to act upon our call to be disciples and apostles of Jesus Christ. To be an apostle is to become directly involved and active in efforts to spread the gospel and to relieve the pain and want of others.
The Scriptural basis for our call is found in Matthew 28:19, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations …, and in Matthew 25:37-40, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we see you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ Jesus replies: 'Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’
Another clear call to action is found in James 2:14-17, What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,’ and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
Interested in Getting Involved?
There are many mission opportunities at Lewinsville, and new projects are regularly considered. If you wish to assist in one or more projects, contact a member of the Mission and Service Ministry Group. If you are interested in a particular outreach area, contact the chair of that group to see how you can become involved.
Budget
10% of Lewinsville's total pledged income is spent in support of our Mission partners.
MISSION and SERVICE MINISTRY GROUP
Ministry Group Chair - Augusta Niday
Staff Representative - Rev. Layne Brubaker
Session Representative - Betty Douglass
Housing Group - Rev. Layne Brubaker
Hunger and Poverty Group - Connie Stewart
Social Services Group- Karen Siple
Refugee Resettlement Mission - Betty Douglass
National and International Group - Alan Stevens
Interfaith Community Programs - Phillip Church
HOUSING GROUP - Rev. Layne Brubaker
Chesterbrook Residences, Inc.
2030 Westmoreland Street, Falls Church, VA 22043
703-531-0781
www.chesterbrookres.org
Three Lewinsville Church members serve on the Board of Directors. Volunteers are needed to play games with the residents, help with crafts, staff the store and sit at the front desk. Lewinsville volunteers offer English lessons to the kitchen and housekeeping staff, and others give secretarial help. You are invited to join as a volunteer working with the residents, helping with one of our activities, and supporting the Fund Raisers.
How you can help…
- Volunteers can help at the front desk, in the gift shop, or help with dinner.
- Play games with the residents or help with craft activities.
- Lewinsville helps with the Fall Gala.
- There are many opportunities for you to share your gifts and talents with the residents, just let us know you want to help.
Primary Contact Person: Claire Grossi
Falls Church Homeless Shelter
217 Gordon Road, Falls Church, VA 22046
703-854-1400
www.fcshelter.org
Falls Church Homeless Shelter provides warm beds, meals, and counseling to the homeless during the winter months. The shelter began operations in January 1996 and is open from November through April to provide temporary shelter, emergency housing, counseling, life skills classes, and other services to assist individual adults.
How you can help…
- Provide hot meals and deliver them to the shelter in the evening
- Prepare and deliver breakfast items, bagged lunches, and staples for the week, such as milk, juice, bread, fruit, and snacks
- Donate cleaning supplies
- Volunteer to help staff the shelter in the evenings
Primary Contact Person: Connie Stewart
Homestretch
370 South Washington Street, Suite 400, Falls Church, VA 22046
703-237-2035
www.homestretch-inc.org
Homestretch is Northern Virginia’s largest transitional housing provider for homeless families with children. It serves over 100 families with over 300 children during the course of a year.
How you can help…
- Homestretch has volunteer opportunities with time commitments to meet any schedule.
- Participate in Good Samaritan Day and paint a home for esidents moving in
Primary Contact Person: Phil Church
Lewinsville Retirement Residence (LRR)
1515 Great Fall Street, McLean VA 22101
703-442-8660
http://www.thelewinsville.org/
An independent senior living facility formed in 1975 by the members of Lewinsville Church which opened in 1980. All active Lewinsville Church members are also members of LRR, Inc. There are 161 apartments. All residents receive at least some rental subsidy.
How you can help…
- Participate in Good Samaritan Day to help the residents with needs around their apartments.
- Plan and participate in the annual Lewinsville/LRR picnic.
- Assemble and distribute Christmas Gift Bags to the residents.
Primary Contact Person: Alan Stevens
HUNGER and POVERTY GROUP - Connie Stewart
Christ House
1717 Columbia Road NW, Washington DC 20009
202-328-1100
www.christhouse.org
Christ House is a temporary convalescent residence for DC’s sick and homeless. It provides comprehensive health care, while helping clients break out of homelessness. Patients receive housing placement assistance, nutritious meals, and other supportive services.
How you can help…
- Volunteer to be part of a Lewinsville team that provides one dinner meal monthly (2nd Sunday).
- Donate winter coats and other clothing items.
Primary Contact Person: Jan Jacewiz
Miriam's Kitchen
2401 Virginia Avenue NW, Washington DC 20037
202-452-8926
www.miriamskitchen.org
Miriam’s Kitchen provides services to DC’s poor and homeless. It serves over 200 meals each day, including breakfast every weekday. It also provides an after-breakfast program, social and case management services.
How you can help…
- Volunteer to be part of a Lewinsville team that provides, prepares and serves one breakfast monthly (4th Friday)
- Help by leading activities in the after-breakfast program.
- Volunteer to be part of a Lewinsville team that provides, prepares and serves one dinner monthly
Primary Contact Person: Mary Frase
S.H.A.R.E.
McLean Baptist Church (operates from)
1367 Chain Bridge Road, McLean VA 22101
703 229-1414
www.shareofmclean.org/
SHARE (Self Help And Resource Exchange) distributes affordable nutritious food and helps needy families in our area in other ways. It provides nearly 13,500 packages of food each month. SHARE is an all-volunteer organization. It has been serving needy families in McLean, Great Falls and Pimmit Hills since 1970.
How you can help…
- Bring your food donations to Church every Sunday. We have a collection point in the Narthex.
- Make donations of gifts for SHARE’s Christmas gift project.
- Help move food and/or furniture during Good Samaritan Day in the Fall or Spring.
Primary Contact Person: Toni Harrington
REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT MISSION - Betty Douglass
Lewinsville Presbyterian Church is a Matthew 25 congregation of the Presbyterian Church USA, which means we are called to actively engage the world around us and act boldly and compassionately to serve people who are hungry, oppressed, imprisoned, or poor. In light of this call the Lewinsville Refugee Resettlement Team (RRT) has been established to support refugees resettling in the Northern Virginia area following difficult or traumatic events abroad.
SOCIAL SERVICES MISSION ACTIVITIES - Karen Siple
Falls Church-McLean Children's Center
7230 Idylwood Road, Falls Church, VA 22043
Office: (703) 534-4907; Fax: (703) 534-4908
e-mail: fcmlcc@aol.com
Website: www.fcmlcc.org
The Falls Church-McLean Children’s Center provides a comprehensive, high-quality early childhood program designed to give young children, regardless of their family's economic resources, a strong foundation on which to build the rest of their lives.
How you can help…
- Volunteer to read to the children or to watch over them during naptime to free the staff for meetings
- Volunteer to provide snacks for a week
- Donate classroom supplies
Primary Contact Person: Augusta Niday
Second Story
(formerly Alternative House)
2100 Gallows Road, Vienna, VA 22182
703 506-9191
www.second-story.org
Second Story for Teens in Crisis began on the grounds of our church as the first emergency shelter for runaway teenagers in Northern Virginia. Today it provides a safe haven for young people 13-17 years old who are moving beyond homelessness, abuse, trafficking, neglect, or other harmful situations. The original program now supports some expanded serviced the community.
Second Story for Young Mothers Program helps to provide housing, counseling and training to homeless young women, age 16 to 24, who are pregnant or have young children. With an emphasis on parenting, education, job readiness and self-sufficiency, program’s graduates are better able to support themselves and their children when they leave the program.
Emergency Shelter for Teenagers helps young people overcoming trauma, homelessness, and hardship to get to their graduation day and write a new narrative for their lives.
Second Story in the Community supports children, teens, families, and community members through resource centers and support programs. Currently, Second Story offers community-based programs serving the communities of Culmore, Annandale, and Springfield. They operate Family Resource Centers, Safe Youth Projects, and a Teen Center. The Family Resource Centers focus on self-sufficiency, leadership, parenting, and family support.
• Safe Youth Project – The Safe Youth Project offers homework help, recreational activities, educational field trips, and workshops to help children improve their grades and make positive decisions. Their Teen Centers welcome young people in grades 7-12, offering a supportive and understanding environment away from gangs and violence.
How you can help…
- Check Second Story’s website for items they need: www.second-story.org/give/wish-list/
- Attend an Open Door at Second Story to learn about ways you can volunteer and help.
- Families from Lewinsville have helped in the past by preparing meals, organizing supply drives, decorating the shelter and providing gifts at Christmas, and more.
Primary Contact Person: Karen Siple
L'Arche Greater Washington, DC
P.O. Box 21471, 2474 Ontario Road, NW, Washington, DC 20009
202-232-4539, 202-387-0963 (fax)
www.larchewashingtondc.org
L’Arche is an inter-denominational Christian resident community whose focus is serving the community of intellectually challenged adults. Community life is centered around four communal homes and the 16 members who have intellectual disabilities, known as “core members.”
Volunteers and core members typically are matched one-to-one. Thus, the care and companionship provided by L’Arche volunteers is much more continuous and individually-invested than is typical in most government or commercial care facilities. The bond between core members and volunteers is very much an extended family relationship that invests the core members with caring and self confidence to live active lives with dignity.
Lewinsville has been a strong supporter and friend of L’Arche since 2001. In L’Arche, Lewinsville has found a very special community where it can assist in providing financial support and where individual members and groups can engage in the life of the community on a more personal level. L’Arche receives financial support through Lewinsville’s yearly mission budget.
How you can help…
- Prepare dinner at an L’Arche home and experience fellowship with Community members.
- Take a core member on a special outing to the zoo, movie, meal or a visit to the mall.
- Participate in Community prayer nights and other activities.
Primary Contact Person: Jan Jacewicz
Shepherd's Center of McLean-Arlington-Falls Church
1205 Dolley Madison Blvd., McLean, VA 22101
703-506-2199
www.scmafc.org
The Shepherd's Center of McLean-Arlington-Falls Church (“SCMAFC”) was organized in 2006. It is one of four Shepherd's Centers in the Northern Virginia area and one of nearly 60 in North America. SCMAFC is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization, whose goal is to assist individuals older than 50 in our community to stay in their homes as long and safely as possible. The “no cost to client” services provided by SCMAFC volunteers include transportation to medical appointments, the grocery store and pharmacy. SCMAFC volunteers also make friendly calls and visits to home bound individuals. Additionally, SCMAFC hosts luncheons and other activities throughout the year for older adults.
How you can help ....
- Become a volunteer. The level of involvement can vary from making short phone calls from your own home to serving as a medical appointment driver, grocery shopping companion/driver, driver coordinator scheduler, friendly visitor to the home bound or providing administrative office assistance. Look at SCMAFC's web site for more information.
- Make donations to SCMAFC.
- Look for announcements about SCMAFC events in the newsletter and weekly bulletin and volunteer to assist with arrangements. Volunteer to drive participants to medical appointments, the grocery store and pharmacy.
Primary Contact Person: Betty Douglass
INTERFAITH COMMUNITY PROGRAMS - Phl Church
McLean Interfaith Coalition
The Coalition has worked on four projects with Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia http://www.habitatnova.org/ (HFHNV) since 2001. Lewinsville volunteers generally build one Wednesday or Saturday a month. Lewinsville is one of 11 faith communities in the greater McLean area in the Coalition, which is committed to providing affordable housing for families in Northern Virginia.
How you can help…
- While handyman skills are always a plus, even those who don’t have those skills can be of great use.
Primary Contact Person: Mary Frase
Tysons Interfaith Partnership
Tysons Interfaith Partnership is an organization of diverse faith partners creating opportunities for spiritual growth, learning, and service with those who live, work, and play in the Tysons community. The organization is committed to the principles of diversity, mutual respect, compassion, and ethical engagement. As partners in faith, they seek to weave these values into our work and the fabric of the Tysons community.
Primary Contact Person: Phil Church
NATIONAL and INTERNATIONAL MISSION ACTIVITIES - Alan Stevens
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Our denomination has been involved in world mission activities for 175 years. Today there are nearly 200 PCUSA co-workers in 50 countries engaged in the vital ministries of sharing faith and working against poverty and violence.
Directed Mission Support for Overseas Missionaries
Three missionary couples receive direct financial support and ongoing communications with Lewinsville Church:
- Frank and Nancy Dimmock (African Mission Specialist, The Outreach Foundation)
- Frank@theoutreachfoundation.org
For more than 30 years Frank and his wife Nancy served as PC(USA) mission coworkers in Africa. From 2013-16 Frank worked with Presbyterian World Mission as the global poverty alleviation catalyst. In 2017 he joined the mission staff of The Outreach Foundation as their Africa Mission Specialist. In his current position he facilitates a network of Christian Health Association in Africa for improving health care for millions. Frank and Nancy are the parents of eight children, six of whom are adopted. Frank is a nephew of former Lewinsville member Herb Dimmock (deceased).
- Andy and Ellen Collins (Thailand)
The Collins are in Chiang Mai under the sponsorship of Interserve (www.interserveusa.org) where Andy serves as an audio-visual specialist working in the ministries of the Christian Communications Institute. Ellen teaches at Payop University’s Colleges of Divinity and Music. They have two sons. Ellen is the niece of Lewinsville members Alan and Liz Stevens.
- Brian and Helen Chapaitis (Papua New Guinea)
The Chapaitises are under the sponsorship of Wycliffe Bible Translators (www.wycliffe.org). Brian serves as a computer consultant working with the Summer Institute of Linguistics to develop vernacular dictionaries for the 800+ languages in Papua New Guinea. Helen, a doctor with specialties in pediatrics, tropical medicine and emergency medevac care, operates a clinic. They have one adult son. Helen is the daughter of Lewinsville member Frances Grimes.
United Orphanage and Academy (Kenya)
An orphanage for 50 boys and girls and an academy (grades K – 8) serving 250 students located in Moi’s Bridge, Kenya. Founded in 2001 by Rev. Stephen Chege, a Presbyterian Church of East Africa pastor, and Henri Rush of Alexandria, VA, the UOA is funded primarily by Westminster Presbyterian Church in Alexandria, VA, Old Presbyterian Meeting House in Alexandria, VA and Lewinsville Presbyterian Church. A Steering Committee composed of representatives from these three Presbyterian churches provides overall direction, policy guidance and fund raising for the operation of the orphanage and academy; Rev. Chege is the current Director for daily operations. A young member of Lewinsville Church performed a three month internship at the orphanage/academy in 2011.
OTHER MISSION PROJECTS - Local Community
Westgate Elementary School Partnership
Lewinsville has had a supporting partner relationship with Westgate Elementary School since 2014. Individual Lewinsville members have supported Westgate in many seemingly simple ways, such has clean-up and planting of the school grounds, donation of backpacks of school supplies to needy children, and donations of turkeys for Thanksgiving dinners.
We currently have seven “reading buddies” who work faithfully with students each week to cultivate the love of reading. Other individuals or groups have donated a wide variety of goods to support school activities, such as craft supplies, sports equipment, and warm clothing for winter. Needy families also are helped at Christmas time with gifts, grocery cards, books, and toys.
Primary Contact Person: Karen Siple
Alternative Gift Christmas Giving
During Advent the congregation is invited to make monetary donations in memory or honor of someone in lieu of spending on a physical gift. In this way we recognize how richly blessed we truly are. And in doing so, we demonstrate and teach to others the value of generosity to those in need.
Good Samaritan Day
Each year the Mission & Service Committee organizes one or two half- or whole-day work events at the facilities of our various mission partners.