MISSIONS
The missions programs at Lake Murray Presbyterian seek to reach out to the community and to the world. We do God’s work locally, regionally, and internationally. In many ways, we live in a mission field in which people need hope, good news, forgiveness, and eternal life offered in Christ. Click here to review our page for Mission Frequently Asked Questions. In 2018 LMPC began a Daughter Church in the Dutch Fork High Zone area. Click on this link for more info.
LOCAL MISSIONS
GOoD WORKS
We partner with GOoDWorks in Chapin, South Carolina. GOoDWorks was formed by a member of our church, but it is for all churches. GOoDWorks helps local, needy people with housing, utility bills, counseling and in many other ways. Each year our church has a GOoDWorks Blitz in which we repair, renovate, build handicap ramps, and encourage the local needy. GOoDWorks has won two awards by the state of SC for the highest percentage of its gifts going into ministry. Our 2022 Blitz will be held June 27th through June 30th.
WE CARE is our local food pantry. Lake Murray Presbyterian supports this outreach ministry by donating food and giving financially. The We Care Center was established by locals churches to aid area individuals and families facing basic living emergencies. We Care coordinates resources for their clients The center is open Monday and Wednesday 9:00 am – Noon. We have given over 11,000 lbs of food to We Care this year; the USC/Clemson give-off raised 4,234 lbs., with Clemson winning by 500 lbs.
THE JUSTIN PEPPER FOUNDATION was established in October of 2007 in memory of Justin Pepper, an 11-year old member at LMPC. Even at a young age Justin was a regular volunteer at GoodWorks and for five years he donated his birthday gifts to Thornwell Children’s Home in Clinton. Justin was a very outgoing young man with personality plus and drive and lives life to the fullest showing kindness and concern for others.
The Foundation was established to encourage youth to follow in his footsteps and give back to their community through acts of philanthropy and volunteerism. The Justin Thomas Gustav Pepper Memorial Scholarships are awarded to high school seniors with these traits providing a $ 1000.00 scholarship to any educational opportunity beyond high school.
Justin Pepper House is a not-for-profit organization that provides a Christian based housing option for displaced families. Created in memory of Justin, Justin Pepper House has served many families and individuals for over a decade. They collaborate with other ministries in our community that can help with food, life-skills, and location of any additional resources as needed.
In addition, they maintain/produce the following ministries:
The Tweens & Teens Gift Drive
Firewood Ministry
School Supplies
SNACKPACKS provides food for students who have little or nothing to eat on the weekend. LMPC currently supports students at Chapin High School and Lake Murray Elementary with weekly SnackPacks. A bag is filled with non-perishable and healthy food items for each child to take home.
REGIONAL MISSIONS
THORNWELL HOME FOR CHILDREN is a home for abused or neglected children and teens in Clinton, South Carolina. Many small groups at Lake Murray Presbyterian support the children with toiletries, school supplies, and for the teens…cosmetics! Our youth have events with the youth of Thornwell. Lake Murray Presbyterian gives generously toward their endowment.
PRESBYTERIAN COMMUNITIES has five retirement centers in South Carolina. They provide encouraging, safe, clean, and spiritually uplifting retirement living.
MIGRANT MISSIONS is an opportunity to minister to the migrant workers in Lexington County with other Presbyterian churches in our region. Our church gives them Spanish-English Bibles.
PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE in Clinton, South Carolina is a Christian liberal arts college with deep Presbyterian roots. Our church provides and endows a scholarship for locals students who attend PC.
DISASTER RELIEF
DISASTER RELIEF
is another vital mission ministry. Lake Murray Presbyterian has taken groups to work in disaster relief in Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, and our home state of South Carolina. After the Flood in the fall of 2015, we hosted volunteer work crews from across the eastern half of the United States. We also served as a major drop of point for donations of materials and supplies.
INTERNATIONAL MISSIONS
Our Mexican mission partners are making great success in the village of Poncho Villa, Chiapas. Our Mission Trip is set for July 12-18, 2022 and we encourage our youth and their parents to come and experience the faith, beauty, and the adventure of a mission trip in Mexico. If interested in participating in this adventure, contact Rev. Blaine Hill at (803) 345-5140 for more information. (Click here to see the report from our trips in 2019, 2018 and 2017.
Through Trinity Presbytery and the Trinity South Sudan Ministry, we are engaged in supporting the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan as they pursue peace for their war torn country. Our Pastor, Ben Sloan, traveled to Africa early in 2018. Click here to learn more about his trip.
The church has served in South America and Africa.
Our 2019 Trip to Chiapas, Mexico
2017 YOUTH MISSION TRIP TO CHIAPAS, MEXICO
Frequently Asked Questions: Mission
How is Mission at LMPC Funded?
We have three sources of funding for missions: General Budget, Mission Fundraiser and Designated Giving.
General Budget: Every year the session sets a portion of the general operating budget of the church for mission. In 2019 this budgeted figure is $90, 540. This money is not available until the end of December of 2019. In addition to general mission work ($29,000), these funds are used to support our presbytery, church planting and a variety of organizations like Montreat, Police Chaplains and Presbyterian support groups.
Mission Fundraising: Each March the Mission Committee conducts a mission fundraiser for a wide variety of mission work: Good Works, Mission Trips to Mexico, support of international missions, We Care, Thornwell Children’s ministry, to name a few. In 2018 you gave $14,228 to the mission fundraiser.
Designated Giving: Church members also make designated gifts to particular mission and ministry as they feel led by the Holy Spirit. This might be a special project like refurbishing the Justin Pepper House or an ongoing work like our mission partners in Mexico. The size of these gifts ranges from coins and dollars given on Souper Bowl Sunday to tens of thousands given to major projects.
How do we spend mission money at LMPC?
The Mission Fundraiser is overseen by the church missions committee. It is divided by percentages between the local, regional, and international mission causes that the church supports (See FAQ sheet). So things like We CARE (for the hungry), the HUB (Community Center and tutoring), GOoDWorks (Housing help), Scouts, Thornwell Home for Chidlren, PC, and our international missions (Building churches/clinics/schools in Mx, Peru, S Sudan) are supported.
Why do we send people to far away places for mission work?
Called We send leaders and members of our congregation to work with Christians in other countries and cultures because such work has always been a vital part of the Church of Christ. God calls us to help our brothers and sisters in Christ, both near and far. The letters of Paul show that the connections across cultures are fundamental to the Christian life.We believe that God has called us into our partnerships with churches in Mexico, Peru and South Sudan.
Connected We return to the same communities year after year in order to build an ongoing relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ in those places. We are not seeking to drop in, fix a few problems, and bob back home. We want to know the people and congregations in the places where we travel.
Changed Though we definitely seek to bless and help the people with whom we serve abroad, our mission journey has as much to do with our transformation by the Holy Spirit as with the benefit to our host partners. In writing to the church in Rome, Paul notes that he wants to visit with them, so they can mutually encourage each other. Modern mission trips are as much about faith formation as mixing concrete and painting walls.
Caring We go to help the people and churches in other places. Our mission partners value our presence. They are encouraged in their faithfulness by our going to visit and work alongside them.