#114 - Out of the Ashes We Will Rise

We made it! Out of the ashes we will rise! After exactly 8 months, we have completed all of our construction! We rededicated our beautifully rebuilt sanctuary on July 9th and we got to thank everyone for all their help! Everyone from our Rebuild Committee, to the firefighters, to all those who donated to HPC after the fire, to all those who prayed for our recovery! Thank you! Congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee came and presented us with a flag that had flown over the U.S. Capitol in honor of our Grand Reopening. It was a beautiful and exciting service. At the same time we celebrated our 114th Anniversary as Heights Presbyterian Church!

In honor of our 114th Anniversary, in gratitude for the support we have received during our recovery, and with an ever-growing thankfulness to God for all that we have been able to accomplish and rebuild, we would like to give back 114 acts of community service over the course of the next year. This vision is in line with the heart of this congregation which gives back out of a recognition of God’s abundance to us. Heights Presbyterian has such a rich history of serving the Heights community for the past 114 years and we hope these “114 Acts of Service” express our gratitude and willingness to be here for another 114 years. In the coming year, some of HPC’s 114 acts of community service will include:

Free monthly community meals
Sack lunches handed out during the weekdays to the hungry
Regular Hope & Help Events (providing needed items to seniors, adults and families in need)
New support groups
Handing out water during White Linen Night
Summer Book Drive and Back to School Backpacks
Blessing of the Pets
Theology on Tap at Eureka Heights
Community service projects in coordination with the Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops
Adopting needy families at Christmas
A Visit from Santa during Mistletoe Madness
Christmas Gift Boxes for the Houston International Seafarers Center
Free family yoga and senior chair yoga classes
Handmade blankets given to children at Child Advocates and to senior citizens in nursing homes
And more!

We don’t want to leave the community that we are serving out of the equation so we are reserving some of these 114 acts for ideas from the community itself. Encourage your neighbors to email the church at office@heightspc.org, or drop off your suggestions in the mail slot at the church. If you have a suggestion you would like to submit, please send it to the Outreach Committee. Some of these acts of service will look familiar, they are things we already do to serve our community, but others will be new mission opportunities for us. This congregation has a heart for mission and they are already coming up with some really creative ideas for giving back- come see all the good things God is up to here at Heights Presbyterian!

Looking forward to serving our community with you,
Pastor Lindsay