PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN

May 2023 - Feb. 2024 - 129 Pet Beds donated to St. Johns County Pet Center by Helping Hands!

For stuffing donations for beds, contact Bonnie McCarty

Presbyterian Women, Inc.

Presbyterian Women, Inc., is the women’s organization in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). A community of more than 200,000 women, the members participate in Presbyterian Women (PW) and align our ministry and hearts around a shared purpose, the PW Purpose:

Forgiven and freed by God in Jesus Christ, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we commit ourselves
• to nurture our faith through prayer and Bible study,
• to support the mission of the church worldwide,
• to work for justice and peace, and
• to build an inclusive, caring community of women that strengthens the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and witnesses to the promise of God’s kingdom.

These commitments are lovingly carried out in Presbyterian Women groups in congregations, presbyteries and synods. At the national level, Presbyterian Women provides the resources, direction and opportunities to fulfill the organization’s mission and ministry. Presbyterian Women’s connectional structure allows you to participate as deeply and/or broadly in the organization and its commitments as you wish.

Presbyterian Women (PW) is an inclusive group, open to all, members and non-members, who are interested in joining our work and activities. Geneva PW have several groups called Circles. Two groups meet monthly for fellowship and Bible Study. The third group, Helping Hands, meets weekly for fellowship and Mission projects.

Morning Circle meets on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 9:45 am in Knox Room, led by Amy Finnigan.

Westminster PW Bible Study meets on the 2nd Wednesday at 3:00 pm in the Eastwood Village Clubhouse, led by Fran Meza.

Helping Hands led by Bonnie McCarty, meets weekly at 10 am in the Knox Room of Fellowship Hall.

Evening Circle meets every 1st Thursday of the month, at 6:30pm in the home of Stephanie Toelle. Contact Stephanie (cell) at 904-254-9386 or by email at stephctoelle@gmail.com.

Betty Griffin House

The Betty Griffin Center is the first organization in St. Johns county to offer protection and services to victims of domestic violence and their minor children and to victims of sexual assault and their families. Each month we provide 35 “Welcome Bags” for women and children, many of whom leave their homes suddenly in crisis. This ensures that each receives the essentials and a soft toy or some form of comfort).
Food 4 Kids

PW currently sponsors one child, supporting a ministry of Memorial Presbyterian church. Each child receives a backpack of food, weekly, for an entire year.
Family Integrity Program

The goal of this program is to help provide support for children placed in out-of-home protective services with extended family members. Eligible St. Johns County families benefit from:
Easter Baskets – 36 baskets of candy, toys & food gift card
Back to School support – 50 backpacks & shoe gift card
Share the Harvest – 50 families receive food for Thanksgiving & grocery gift card,
Angel Tree – 80 children receive gifts & food for their families
Supported by our PW Thanksgiving Pie-Baking fundraiser (see below)
Christ's Cupboard

Monthly food contributions from our congregation support our local food bank for St Johns County families in need.

HELPING HANDS

Helping Hands meets every Thursday at 10 am in the Knox room of Fellowship Hall. This group works on many different projects - sewing, quilting, making items for the Betty Griffin Center, Hospice, American Cancer Society, Humane Society, and Westminster Woods. Their beautiful prayer quilts are sewn and knotted for our church family and others are especially appreciated.

2022 Christmas Party

Thank you to our very generous Geneva family for your support of our ministry to children and families served by The Family Integrity Program of SJC. We were able to provide fifty families with food and a gift card for Thanksgiving, seventy-seven children had a present on Christmas morning, forty more bags of food were delivered to the families and we had extra food that was taken to Christ’s Cupboard to the local food pantry on Roberts Road.

Back To School Backpacks

The next project is our Back to School Backpacks. We collect school supplies to fill 50 backpacks during the week of VBS.

Easter

Our next project for the children will be for Easter and we will collect candy and small toys to fill thirty-six Easter baskets. We will also include a gift card to Winn Dixie.

Welcome Bags

Our monthly project continues for The Betty Griffin Center as we provide thirty-five “Welcome Bags” to the women and children who come to the shelter. These bags include towels, washcloths, “Hotel Stay” toiletries (toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, soap) coloring books, crayons, children’s books, and small stuffed toys. Many of these items can be purchased at the Dollar Store. If you have questions please feel free to contact Pat Ulp, Sharon Hartsell, or Amy Finnigan.

Many thanks to our Geneva family. We are Blessed to be a Blessing.

Holiday Market Place

Our talented PW members work year-round to prepare for our annual October Holiday Market Place featuring the artistry and craft skills of many members of the church, youth group and community. This is our organization’s main fundraiser at which both adults and children can find a bonanza of hand-made treasures at affordable prices to kick off the holiday decorating and gift-giving! An integral feature of this event is the delicious bake sale and sandwiches, salads, and a variety of sides for lunch!

Thanksgiving “Buy a Pie, Feed a Family “ Bake Sale

The Tuesday prior to each Thanksgiving Day, PW members and friends gather to bake and sell over 125 pies annually. This is a great time of fellowship, work and fun that provides the funds to add a holiday food card to each of the 50+ Thanksgiving baskets we distribute through the Family Integrity Program.