Active Outreach

Outreach programs at FPC Bethlehem

2012 Short-term Mission Opportunities:
- Toronto: May 19–26
- Brainerd: Aug. 17–19
- Haiti: fall 2012
- Argentina – November 2012 or January 2013
- Helping Hands: Joplin, Missouri, April 14–22 (week one) or April 21–29 (week two); Camp Brainerd, March 4–8.

We are also working on additional short-term opportunities, so please come and learn what exciting opportunities God may have for you in this New Year: Sunday, Feb. 5 in Room 212 at 10 and 11:30; Saturday, Feb. 4 in the Kirk Center Gallery after the 6 p.m. Worship service.

OUTREACH PROGRAMS AT FPC

Adopt A Missionary
Would you be interested in getting up close and personal with some of FPC-Bethlehem’s missionaries? We are looking for people to regularly correspond with them through email, snail mail and even Skype in many cases. There are no meetings to attend or committees to join. If you are interested, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

WE Mentor Program
The WE (We Exceed) Mentor Program is an innovative program begun several years ago under the direction of teachers Sarah Hriniak and Sam Sommer in conjunction with Russell and the late Evelyn Grander. Volunteers from the (church and school) community are paired with students that they mentor and engage in learning activities on a weekly basis. Students and mentors are matched by means of personality traits and interests. The teachers take time to prepare the students for these connections.

The mentors are provided with an orientation to explain the program’s purpose, itinerary and guidelines. We engage in a discussion with each mentor to help us determine the best mentor-student match.

Students write letters to their matched mentor, after which the mentors respond with a letter back to their mentee at a first meeting luncheon.

The mentors then meet every week for 90 minutes with their mentee – going over their planners, academic status, activities to do together, journaling, sharing and engaging in shared projects. Mentors also help students prepare and study for tests. They engage in recreational events, field trips, research projects and even some school activities like the book fair, PSSA prep and events in the community.

The program runs from mid October to mid May.

Mentor Elementary School Students
Make a difference in the life of a student through one-on-one mentoring at Donegan Elementary School. The mentoring program at Donegan pairs mentors with at-risk students in one-hour-long sessions meeting weekly at 2:15 p.m. from Oct. 11 through May 22. The primary weekday is Tuesday but other days are also an option. Goals of the program include the development of a close interpersonal relationship, provision of a positive adult role model, and academic tutoring in subjects specified by the student’s teacher. For more info, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Get Involved!
New Bethany Ministries needs food donations and volunteers from 10 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. on the 1st and 4th Mondays of each month. Please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The Christmas Giving Tree
Help the neediest members of our community celebrate Christmas. The annual Giving Tree is filled with paper ornaments containing the names of men, women, boys and girls and a list of items they would love to receive. The names are supplied to us by various charitable organizations in the community. If you would like to join in this annual ministry experience, be sure to pick an ornament from the tree.

One Great Hour of Sharing
A special offering collected over the course of a month that helps support Presbyterian ministries around the world.

Disaster Recovery and Short-term Mission Experiences
Our core values include the following implementation statement: Relevance—we live this value by reaching out beyond our social, political, economic, ethnic, generational, denominational and linguistic boundaries without compromising the Good News and, in doing so, being relevant to the people we touch.

Mission Partnering
We practice intentional partner with other churches and organizations to accomplish ministry and evangelism in the community and the rest of the world. Partnerships, overseen by our Mission Partner Support Committee, are comprised of:

- 22 missionary families and individuals ministering throughout the globe.
- Local mission organizations ministering evangelistically and holistically to members of our community. Local ministries we support include Victory House, New Bethany Ministries, Northeast Ministries, Youth for Christ, Habitat for Humanity and more.
- Denominational support for designated mission endeavors—locally, nationally and globally.