Rio Rancho Presbyterian Church

Jesus commands us to "feed my sheep" and we are challenged to obey by providing opportunities to the congregation for service, prayer, and support of various local, national, and international programs.  Additional responsibilities to the congregation include:

• To guide and encourage understanding of Mission

• To challenge us to increase involvement

• To be accountable and faithful to the congregation in the use of money for Missions.

At the local level, program areas include those that focus on relief from hunger and lack of adequate housing.  We also provide funding for those whose lives are in transition.

Storehouse West is a major provider of food for the needy. It was started by members of RRPC over 20 years ago  We provide canned goods, paper products and children's clothing.  In addition 75% percent of our two-cents-a-meal offering is donated to Storehouse West.  Other programs we support in fighting hunger include Annual Crop Walk and Souper Bowl of Caring.

Habitat for Humanity is a well-known provider of adequate housing around the world.  We participate through volunteers from the congregation and a special annual offering.  Two other programs supported by our church include Martineztown House of Neighborly Service and Haven House, both of which provide shelter for battered women.  Two unique programs provide support for women and men exiting prison. A Peaceful Habitat provides housing and assistance in finding jobs for women as a means to reintegrate them into society.  Dismas House places paroled or ex-con men and women in homes and assists them with their return to society.  These men and women have a 10% return rate compared to 46% for normal unassisted ex-cons.

RRPC also supports scholarships for Mexican students at the Soccoro school in Juarez, Mexico and The Cuba Workgroup.  RRPC currently sponsors seven students at the Soccoro school.  The cost of one scholarship is $200 for one year, not including food or housing, since the student normally lives at home.  Students are in grades 6-12.  In January, we held a potluck which raised $416 for these Mexican scholars. This was combined with congregation donations and a generous gift of $400, allowing us to fund seven secondary school scholarships in Juarez at a cost of $1,400.

The Presbytery of Santa Fe has long supported a work group in the country of Cuba. Churches throughout the Presbytery collect offerings to support ministers and lay-workers in the spreading of the good news.

Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other so that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for AA membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. AA is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution and does not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety. RRPC supports AA by providing a private and quiet place within our facility to meet and share their experiences.

For over 55 years, Al-Anon (which includes Alateen for younger members) has been offering strength and hope for friends and families of problem drinkers. It is estimated that each alcoholic affects the lives of at least four other people; alcoholism is truly a family disease. No matter what relationship you have with an alcoholic, whether they are still drinking or not, all who have been affected by someone else's drinking can find solutions that lead to serenity in the Al-Anon/Alateen fellowship. Rio Rancho Presbyterian Church provides a quiet, caring and private place to meet.

The largest part of the Mission budget is sent to Presbytery for support activities carried out not only at the local level but also the Synod and General Assembly. 

There are four PC(USA) offerings that are received annually for specific programs: The One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS), The Pentecost Offering, The Peace Making Offering and the Joy Christmas Offering.

The One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS)

The OGHS offering was started 60 years ago in response to the devastation left by WW II.  In 1949, Christian leaders and celebrities organized an hour-long national radio broadcast on the last Saturday evening of March, encouraging listeners to give to the cause at their local church the next morning.  Over 75,000 churches participated!  The tradition has continued ever since.  For the last few years the total offering has been about $20 million with $9-$11 million collected by Presbyterian churches (USA).  Each denomination decides how it will use the funds they collect.  PC(USA) divides its funds among three programs: Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA), Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP) and Self-Development of People (SDOP) with each receiving 32% and the remaining 4% goes to PHP for work on homelessness. Read more to learn about this important mission.

Pentecost Offering

From Psalm 104:30, "When you send forth your spirit, they are created."  This year's Pentecost Offering theme calls on us to push past our comfortable boundaries and offer our resources to make a difference in the lives of children, youth, and young adults. The Pentecost Offering is unique in that our congregation keeps 40% of what we receive for programs designated by our session. The other 60% support General Assembly ministries that advocate for children and provide leadership development opportunities for our youth and young adults.  Some examples of where this offering has been used in the past are

• School Safe Zone programs in Kenya

• Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) leadership training programs in Tucson, Arizona

• Development of youth work villages in the Gulf region

Peacemaking Offering

The Peace Making Offering was created in 1980 to support the efforts of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to live out a deeper commitment to peacemaking as part of our faithfulness to God.  It is one of the four special offerings designated by the PC(USA) General Assembly.  This offering is received on World Communion Sunday.  Twenty-five percent of the offering received will be used for local peacemaking within the church and our community, 25% is used by the Presbytery and Synod, and 50% is used by the General Assembly ministries through the Presbyterian Peace Making Program.

Christmas Joy Offering

Summer Jones doesn't know what she wants to do with her life.  That's fine- she's a 10^th grader.  If she did, she'd probably be wrong.  But she does know she's a lucky young woman.  Summer lives in a pueblo where people care enough about their youth to pay for a number of them to attend Menual School in Albuquerque, NM.  It's a great place for Summer to explore and discover who she is.  Most important, Summer has a loving community that she can serve as she develops her skills and talents.  One thing is clear:  Summer wants to take the skills she learns and the gifts she develops at Menual School back to benefit her Pueblo.  It's surprising how many students from racial ethnic schools want to serve their native community.  Perhaps it's related to some feeling of debt or simply that they identify any success as a community accomplishment, not individual.  Whatever the cause, these values seem rooted in deeper soil.  They seem part of the good news of great joy that brought nearby shepherds and distant dignitaries to a stable in Bethlehem: This news is the abiding and accompanying love of God in Jesus Christ. It is also a message that sharing this love with one another is both our responsibility and our privilege.  It is our path to becoming fully ourselves.

One of the ways Presbyterians follow that path is through the Christmas Joy Offering.  Half of our gifts go to racial ethnic colleges and schools like Menual to help students find what gifts God is calling them to use, and how.  The other half goes to the Assistance Programs of the board of Pensions to help meet unexpected needs of church workers and their families.  Both halves of the Offering are part of the way God's people model living in community with one another.

As you can see, Missions are as varied as people.  Yet we know it all speaks to the glory of God.  We, as Christians, find that Christ provides us with challenge and satisfaction.  We hope you find your challenge at the Rio Rancho Presbyterian Church. Please let us know how we can help.