How you can grow with First Presbyterian...
English as a Second Language (ESL) Classes
OUR NEXT CLASSES WILL START IN SEPTEMBER 2023. PLEASE CHECK HERE IN AUGUST FOR INFORMATION.
We offer 10 weeks of English classes starting each September and January. Students can study at the Beginning, Intermediate or Advanced level. All are welcome. Students can register for either Monday-Thursday classes, Saturday classes, or both.
Joint Mission Ministry
Joint Mission Ministry is a community service, outreach, and
engagement initiative of First Presbyterian Church of Arlington
and Fairlington Presbyterian Church in Alexandria. Our shared
mission ministry works to increase our capacity, strengthen our
relationships among each other and in our communities, and
to do the work of Christ to hear and address the needs of our
neighbors, with our neighbors.
United we can meet community needs more effectively and
with greater reach and impact. We listen to community
partners, while building on the faithful mission engagement
work each member congregation is already doing.
Specifically, we seek to address needs in the areas of housing, food insecurity, and being neighbor in the way Christ calls us. This happens by creating relationships within our community.
Our goals include:
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Strengthening existing ties to the community
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Finding new areas of outreach
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Connecting to neighbors, particularly in affordable housing
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APAH’s Springs across the street from First Presbyterian
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Coming together in mission to maximize volunteers and minimize burnout
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Increasing communication across congregations, not just in our Joint Mission partnership, but in our region, to know more about mission opportunities
Our partnerships include:
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Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH)
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Our Stomping Ground
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Arlington Food Assistance Center
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Wesley Housing
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ALIVE!
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Casa Chirilagua
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And more
Questions about how to get involved? Reach out to our Joint Mission Coordinator, Rev. Blair Moorhead, at: missionministrytogether@gmail.com
Questions? Interested in teaching? Contact Audrey Morris at ESLFPC@gmail.com
View classes held by other churches in our program at www.ESLIM.org
The Ronda Gilliam Clothing Bank
The Ronda Gilliam Clothing Bank, a Mission of First Presbyterian Church, receives donations and distributes clothing to those in need Wednesdays from 1-3 pm and Saturdays from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm at 716 S. Glebe Road, Arlington. Want to help further? They need volunteers to sort and present the donated items. If you can help during hours above or off-hours, please email rgclothing.bank@gmail.com or text 571-274-7901.
Sunday, May 21st
Fairlington Presbyterian Church
Friends of Urban Agriculture Plot Against Hunger
Come join your church friends for fun times in our gardens. Our awesome green space features the Memorial Garden, various other ornamental beds, and a Friends of Urban Agriculture Plot Against Hunger vegetable garden. Let us know if you are interested by contacting Louise Shutler (shutlerl@gmail.com) or Audrey Morris (agmorris1@yahoo.com).
PathForward (formerly A-Span)
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First Presbyterian has been preparing bagged meals for the homeless in Arlington in conjunction with PathForward (formerly Arlington Street People's Assistance Network) for many years.
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If you are interested in helping please contact Austin Wiehe at awiehe@verizon.net.
Supporting our Healthcare Workers
The Mission Team of First Presbyterian has organized special collections to purchase meals for Virginia Hospital Center staff. On December 28, 2020, our Mission team made their third delivery of meals to thank VHC staff for their work during Covid-19. If you wish to contribute to feeding medical workers, you may donate to Mission here.
Just Coffee
The idea behind Just Coffee is to address one of the root causes of labor migration from Mexico to the U.S. The business model is simple and optimizes profit for the growers. The coffee is harvested, cleaned, and prepared for shipping from the very southern tip of Mexico in Chiapas, to the far northern frontier of Mexico in Agua Prieta. In Agua Prieta the coffee is roasted, ground, and packaged in small, air-tight bags for crossing over into the U.S. and shipped to American customers.
Buying and drinking Just Coffee is one way that you can support Mexican farmers in their efforts to support themselves. If you are interested in purchasing Just Coffee, please contact Austin Wiehe at awiehe@verizon.net.
Meals on Wheels
For almost 20 years, FPC has been the staging center for a special community service: Meals on Wheels, which is responsible for Monday through Friday delivery of meals to home-bound people. There are about 15 routes to cover; each route has about 8-10 deliveries to make and needs two people, one to drive and one to drop off the meal. That's 30 volunteers everyday for five days--150 people needed every week to keep this vital mission going. Volunteers come from community churches or are interested individuals; some business people even do this service on their lunch hour!
Right now, Meals on Wheels needs more volunteers. Come on, you retired folks, people who are not working, and even people who work but could take their lunchtime once a month to perform this vital service. Who knows? We who are mobile today may need this service in the future. Be an angel and volunteer once a month, twice a month, or even once a week. Whatever you can do, you will find it rewarding.
We gather at the church at 11 am when the meals are delivered here by truck. We then take our particular route's meals, put them in our cars, and drive off to deliver them. Generally we finish our routes between noon and 1 pm.
If you can help, please call 703-522-0811, email info@mealsonwheelsarlington.org, or click http://mealsonwheelsarlington.com/volunteer.html.