St. Thomas Presbyterian Church (St. Thomas) responds to God’s call by educating, equipping, and inspiring its congregation
to respectfully listen and learn as a we develop collaborative relationships that address the needs of our community
and world. Below is a list of Mission Partners St. Thomas supports in prayer, financially and through faith in action, i.e., becoming a volunteer with one or more of our Mission Partners. St. Thomas members and friends can contribute
to the future of this church with a variety of gifting options and bequests that may be given now or as part of your estate. Contact Rev. Daniel Vanek for more information.
Outreach
Outreach Committee's Mission Statement of serving our neighbor is inspired from James 2:14 – 17 using the New Revised Standard Version bible translation: What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So, faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
Below are four mission areas St. Thomas P.C. serves. Click a mission area button (e.g., On Our Campus) for related Mission Partner details and volunteer opportunities. Below the mission area buttons are the Mission Partner tiles with brief summaries. Click a tile to learn more and what volunteer opportunity(s) may best be suited for your time and talents.
ON OUR CAMPUS
IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD
OUT IN THE WORLD
PRESBYTERIAN MINISTRIES
The Nabor House Community: The Nabor House Community assists at-risk children and families as they navigate toward a stronger future by providing high quality early childhood education in a Christian environment. Located in St. Thomas Presbyterian Church’s Christian Education wing at 14100 Memorial Drive. For more information on registering contact Samantha Vargas by calling 281-556-3290. For more general information, view this link.
On-site Food Pantry: We give emergency food assistance to the needy in our neighborhood (zip code 77079) from our food pantry, stocked by our congregation. The Food Pantry is open Mondays through Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon. We request food, cash donations and/or volunteers to label food expiration dates and hand out food.
Grace Bags for the Homeless: We give out Grace Bags the first Sunday of each month to members and visitors at St. Thomas to carry them in their car, give them to a homeless person, and say 'God Bless You'. The bag is filled with a few food and personal hygienic products, a directory of services for the homeless, a small cross and a prayer card. Contact Conrad DeGrace to volunteer.
Boy Scout Troop 1089: St. Thomas charters this fun-oriented, boy-led troop with about 50 youth. They camp every month of the year, except June and July when they go to Summer Camp and High Adventure. Adult leadership includes Eagle Scouts and Wood Badge-trained leaders to help guide the way. They have a First Class Emphasis program to help our new scouts attain the First Class rank. View this link for their troop's flyer with the Scoutmaster’s contact information. To view a one-minute video introduction to scouting activities, click this video link.
For more information online about the troop’s activities and contact person,
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Go to the following URL https://tmweb.troopmaster.com/
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Then select your state (TX) and then our troop (1089). Thereafter TroopMaster will remember those selections (so long as your cookies aren't cleared).
TroopMaster services website has many different troops in many states so if you have picked the wrong one (or your cookies cleared) then you need to re-set your site. If for some reason you have selected the wrong state/troop previously, select the "New site" option you should see located at the top left of the login page. You can then select the state and troop again.
Palmer Drug Abuse Program (PDAP): PDAP is a support group for adolescents, young adults, and families in the Greater Houston area who are looking to prevent or overcome the harmful effects of drug and alcohol abuse. PDAP is a youth-driven program that not only provides guidance on how to live a healthy and sober lifestyle, but it also creates an alternative peer group for PDAP members, thus giving them a safe & secure environment to implement change & build lifelong friendships. Although two adult PDAP groups meet weekly at St. Thomas, if interested in joining a group, you must first join PDAP. View this link for overall information or click here to find out more about joining.
ON OUR CAMPUS
IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD
Outreach Center of West Houston: Seeded by the efforts and funds of St. Thomas, this community building serves thousands of people each year. The programs it houses include Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.), Palmer Drug Abuse Program (PDAP), Young Life and National Alliance on Mental Illness. For more information, go to www.oc-wh.org and view the STPC Volunteer Opportunity description here.
FamilyPoint Resources: FamilyPoint Resources engages our community in supportive relationships that build hope, meet needs, and transform lives. We accomplish our mission by working toward mutual growth through listening, playing, and learning. The Nottingham Park Area is a pocket of apartments and condos nestled between Memorial and the Energy Corridor in West Houston. The area is home to an amazingly diverse community, though many of the families living in the area are under-served and under-resourced. Roughly 85% of the families in the Nottingham Park Area are considered low-income and have an annual household income of less than half the average income for our zip code (77079). FamilyPoint works closely with area schools, specifically the schools in the Spring Forest Middle School feeder pattern and have a growing relationship with Stratford High School. For more information, go to link and volunteer online here.
Memorial Assistance Ministries: Our resources and volunteers help this organization give financial (assistance, education and coaching to build a budget so the bills get paid on time every month), Employment Services (to receive job-readiness skills for new or better jobs), food, English as a Second Language (for non-native speakers to interact better in their community), and school clothing to local families in need. For more information, go to link and view the STPC Volunteer Opportunity description here.
Rebuilding Together Houston (RTH): RTH is Houston’s largest community outreach organization working to preserve affordable homeownership and revitalize neighborhoods. They do this by providing home repair and renovation services at no cost to low-income homeowners in need, such as the elderly, individuals with disabilities, veterans, and people impacted by natural disasters. Contact John Cronk or Joe Halloin, STPC, for more details and visit their website link.
Turning Point Center: The mission of Turning Point Center (TPC) is to help elderly homeless individuals – ages 50 or above – to get back on their feet and re‐enter society as independent, self‐sufficient, and productive citizens. To do so, TPC provides the essentials of food, shelter, clothing, and transportation, and they collaborate with other agencies to provide benefits and services. Benefits include SSI/Disability, medical, veterans, and food stamps. Services include psychological counseling, substance abuse education, AA meetings, and other rehabilitative services. TPC also offers basic computer classes, hands‐on job training, career counseling, and job placement. TPC provides these benefits and services within a sober, structured living environment. For more information, go to link and view the STPC Volunteer Opportunity description here.
Spring Branch ISD Community Relations Team: Mary Uribe-Pizana, SBISD Mentor Coordinator (713-251-2212), request volunteers for their SpringBoard Mentors Program to assist students in grades 3 – 12 by offering guidance, encouragement and support. Mentors provide young people with the skills needed to address personal, school and home issues that may discourage them from reaching their potential. In just 30-60 minutes weekly, mentors supply the gift of hope to those they touch and give young people a vision of success. OC approved promoting their request. To get more details, view the STPC Volunteer Opportunity description here. To become a mentor with SBISD, please completed their form online on this link.
Free Immunizations for Kids: St. Thomas partners with Caring for Children’s Foundation Care Van Program on a quarterly basis to provide free immunizations to children (from newborns through 18 years old - must be “Texas Vaccine for Children” eligible (have Medicaid, CHIP, no insurance, or with insurance that does not cover vaccines). Care Van provides the medical team and vaccinations; we provide the support (registration, advertising, etc.). Contact Larry Maple, STPC, for more details at 832-498-5560.
OUT IN THE WORLD
Project Cure: Thousands of people die every day in the developing world because local hospitals & clinics don’t have the medical supplies and equipment needed to save lives in their communities. Children are missing the chance to get an education and live a full life due to illnesses that would be treatable if they had access to proper health services. It’s Project C.U.R.E.’s mission to change that. Together we will deliver health & hope to the world. For more information, click here, and to view and sign up online for volunteer opportunities, see link.
Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston: IM’s mission statement is to bring people of diverse faith traditions together for dialogue, collaboration, and service, as a demonstration of our shared beliefs. IM envisions a community working and acting together in response to the needs of a Greater Houston to create a more respectful, connected, and caring society. IM is an inclusive connector of people, faith communities and resources in our nation’s most diverse city, sustaining healthy and respectful lives for vulnerable populations and promoting interfaith relations and volunteerism. For more information, go to link and view the STPC Volunteer Opportunity description here.
Houston International Seafarers’ Center: Serving over a million seafarers since 1968, both HISC Centers exist as the result of a deep desire and concern within the local maritime industry, followed by active support and involvement of the community and local churches, to provide a safe and welcoming recreational and spiritual environment on land for those who have chosen the sea as their livelihood. Recognizing that all human persons are a gift of God, the mission of the chaplains and Committee for Ministry to the Port of Houston is to carry out a ministry of presence, outreach, witness, worship, service, and advocacy to, with, and for seafarers and their families from around the world. For more HISC information, go this link.
PRESBYTERIAN MINISTRIES
Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly: Nestled on 500-acres along the spring-fed Guadalupe River, it is open to the public for spiritual retreats, conferences, summer and day camps, weddings, vacation getaways, individual reservations and more. The mission of Presbyterian Mo‐Ranch Assembly (Mo-Ranch) is to foster growth in God through Jesus Christ by sharing its unique living, learning, Christian environment. The ethos of Mo‐Ranch is in their conference programs and camps. Mo-Ranch allows our campers and participants opportunities to disconnect from outside distractions and make new connections with themselves and new friends. Funding is requested for Mo-Ranch’s Upper Youth Plaza Campaign to support our Summer Camp expansion at Mo‐Ranch. This expansion will allow them to serve more children in the summer time at camp and provide needed space for churches and community groups to meet and stay during non‐summer months. For more information, go to link and view the STPC Volunteer Opportunity description here.
Presbytery of the New Covenant: Made up of 88 church spread across 39 counties in southeast Texas, member-churches connect with work of the presbytery to provide care and guidance individuals seeking to enter the ministry, pastoral care to churches and pastors and more. Presbytery of New Covenant (PONC) is made up of 88 churches and new church developments, spread across 39 counties in southeast Texas, including Houston. It is part of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Member-churches connect with the work of the presbytery through their gifts of time, talent, and treasure. Presbyterians affirm that God comes to us with grace and love in the person of Jesus Christ, who lived, died, and rose for us so that we might belong to God and serve Christ in the world. God sends the Holy Spirit to dwell within us, giving us the energy, intelligence, imagination, and love to be Christ’s faithful disciples in the world. The PONC website provides volunteer opportunities under the ‘Ministries’ tab for off-campus areas or contact Lynn Hargrove (713-526-2585) about volunteer opportunities within PONC.
Presbyterian Children's Home & Services: PCHAS serve nearly 5,000 children and families across three states every year to ensure families achieve self-sufficiency and children are placed into loving, permanent homes. PCHAS provides services to children and families within the Houston area including 1) Single Parent family Program; Child and Family Program; Voluntary Adoption Program; and Foster to Adopt Program. Their Mission Statement is to provide Christ-centered care and support to children and families in need. For more information, please contact Marla Endieveri, Development Officer, (marla.endieveri@pchas.org; 832-241-5921) or go to link. View the STPC Volunteer Opportunity description here containing three service opportunities.
Special Offerings: Two of the special offerings we collect each year during worship are:
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One Great Hour of Sharing: Assist those affected by natural disasters, provide food to the hungry.
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Christmas Joy Gift: Provide financial assistance to current and former church workers and students attending Presbyterian-related racial ethnic colleges.
