Find Your Place: Matthew 25

We are starting to feature different CPC ministries with a Find Your Place Moment on some Sunday mornings, and we’ll follow that up with a blog post in case you missed some details. We hope this helps you think about where you might be interested in taking part as a member of our faith community and ‘find your place’ at CPC.

Let’s begin with the Matthew 25 Team, which is a sub-team of our Community Partnerships Ministry. The Matthew 25 Team is a recent merger of two other sub-teams: the Social Justice Ministry and the Racial Equity Team. It supports the PC(USA)’s Matthew 25 initiative to Build Congregational Vitality, Dismantle Structural Racism, and Eradicate Systemic Poverty. The new Matthew 25 Team meets about every other month.

The Social Justice Ministry has been dedicated to respectful communication forums that raise awareness of and promote dialogue around issues of social justice. Their events are open to the church and broader communities. The Racial Equity Team has discussed relevant books, articles and podcasts, hosted various speakers and “lunch and learns,” and traveled to historic sites in NC to learn more, all in an effort to help all of CPC to become a more anti-racist community. The Matthew 25 Team coordinates a monthly meal for Oak City Cares in Raleigh and coverage of the NeighborUp Food Pantry (formerly Dorcas) for one evening shift per month.

Oak City Cares, located in downtown Raleigh, is a hub for coordinated social services in one location for anyone experiencing or at risk of homelessness. CPC prepares and serves a meal on the 3rd Sunday of every month. There are lots of ways to help – cooking, serving, or baking muffins or brownies at home.

The NeighborUp Food Pantry provides food assistance to residents of western Wake County who are facing financial difficulty. CPC staffs the pantry for one two-hour evening shift per month, (third Thursday) which allows families who cannot shop during the day to receive food. Volunteering requires an advance training session held regularly by NeighborUp, and we are looking for more volunteers for this ministry.

You can sign up to help with Oak City Cares and NeighborUp through links in the weekly E-Link or on the Signup Central page of our website, under ‘Connect' on the menu.  You can find out more about other sub-teams of the Community Partnership Ministry and contact the team leader about your interest through the Community Partnerships Team Interest page.

Matthew 25: 40  “Truly, I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”