Outreach

We hope to help all of Christ’s followers here at FPC to find ways to engage in extending the invitation to God’s great banquet table. Some of those we hope to invite will be close friends, family members, coworkers or neighbors. Others will not be invited unless we go out of our way - risk crossing social, cultural, language and maybe even geographical barriers to extend Christ’s invitation. We want to help all God’s blessed followers to find ways to live into God’s desire that we be a blessing. 

"Not God's plan for my life BUT my life for God's plan. 
 Not God's vision for our church BUT our church for God's vision." Ken Priddy

Mission Ministry

"WE ARE HAPPY TO BE YOUR CHILDREN, OH LORD; MAKE US HAPPIER STILL TO EXTEND THE TABLE.”

That's the current motto of our Mission Ministry Team. It's a prayer in the Feb 2 reading of Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals. It fits our Purpose Statement: 

We believe growing in Christ involves finding your place in the grand adventure of seeing the gospel planted, taking root and growing in every people group God created. Taking this gospel across all kinds of barriers is the task Christ gave his first disciples. Since the task is not completed, we seek to discover our part of the task and to be faithful to it in our lifetime. We work together to:  

  • Care personally for mission partners and seek to provide financial support through the church budget process

  • Help all ages of our congregation grow in what they know about missions in general & our missionaries specifically

  • Encourage & promote personal involvement in mission experiences, local or global, by all ages of our congregation

There's room for you at the Mission Ministry Team Table! We meet monthly off campus in various team member's homes.

Please contact Terry Jaurena if you're interested in participation in this ministry team or its projects.

Mission Partner Support & Care

Through our church mission budget we support a number of people and a few organizations who are going out of their way, crossing social, ethnic, religious, linguistic and sometimes even geographic barriers, to share God's love with men, women or children inviting them into a deep relationship of discipleship.

Our Local Mission Partners are crossing those barriers right here in Fresno. Many of them focus their efforts in the neighborhoods right around our church. Some, like Hope Now for Youth & Bethany Inner City Church, have their offices and church gatherings on our campus.

10/40 Window Mission Partners have gone out of their way to proclaim the gospel in a rectangular band on the globe that lies across Africa and Asia from 10 degrees latitude north of the equator to 40 degrees latitude north of the equator. Most of the unreached people groups are found in this region as well as some of the highest levels of poverty. Many of them serve in what we also call Limited Access areas where missionary actiivty is supressed or illegal.    

Global Mission Partners are serving the cause of Christ anywhere else in the world. Some serve just up the road in Sacramento, others as far away as Africa. Some of them have deep connections to our church members and others have ministry so compelling, we just want to be a part of supporting it. 

Evangelical Presbyterian Church Mission Partners are ambassadors for Christ sent through our demonination's World Outreach efforts. Some are in that 10/40 window. One is a family of 5 from our church sharing the love of Christ in a country where only 0.6% of the population is Christian. Another is church planting in San Francisco. 

Relational Outreach

We are convinced that God wants to minister through each and every one of us to the people we relate to in our everyday lives. We want to help the people of FPC embrace their identity as Christ's ambassadors, witnesses and Gospel messengers anywhere and everywhere they find themselves. 

We've embraced this definition of Outreach: "The strategic connecting of people in the congregation with people outside of the congregation for the purpose of building sustainable relationship. It is these sustainable relationships that give opportunity to evangelism."

What, then, is Evangelism? "The strategic connecting of people outside of the Christian faith with a crystal clear presentation of the Gospel including an opportunity to respond to the call of the Gospel."

Engagement Opportunities

Our Outreach & Mission Teams welcome your particiation in any of the following ministry teams/service opportuntities. Contact Terry Jaurena if you want to know more.  Contact Terry Jaurena for details about any of the following. 

Distribute Food w/ Bethany Inner City Church: Every Tuesday our friends at Bethany distribute food from the Brick Room in the Youth Building south side of our campus. Maybe you’d like to join them?

Serve & Learn Teams - Where in the World?  We are currently taking a team to Albania in July, 2023. We are working an dates to serve with Amor Ministries house building in Mexico later in 2023 or early 2024. We are also working toward a Brazil trip to serve with Hope Unlimited in 2024. 

ArtHop Team: We are an official ArtHop venue the 1st Thursday of every month for the purpose of connecting with our community. There are several ways to participate with this team:

  • Prepare and Serve Refreshments in the Gallery one or more months.

  • Help host inside The Gallery or on the Sidewalk one or more months.

  • Assist in identifying artists to feature in our venue.

  • Participate in ArtHop at other venues and bring others with you.

Newcomer Follow Up Team: When we get contact information from newcomers to our congregation, these team members take some specific steps to get to know these individuals, couples or families and help them connect with others in our congregation. 

Serve Local Mission Partners:  Pregnancy Care Center, Evangel Home, Lighthouse Recovery, Rescue Mission, World Impact, FIRM, ESA, YFC, Young Life … They all depend on volunteers for their ongoing ministry or specific projects. Where might you serve?

Invest in the Work of Our Partners: Every one of our mission partners depend on the generosity of God’s people to raise their salaries. We can send you the list!