“If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”
Isaiah 58:9b-10 (NIV) |
HOPE FOR A BRIGHTER DAY CAPITAL CAMPAIGN
St. James has provided a sense of hope in one of the City’s most challenged communities for well over 110 years, and now God is calling the church to a new and higher imperative. As a part of the new imperative, the church has initiated a 3-year capital campaign to raise $1.5 million to build the St. James Community Enrichment Center that will serve as a focal point of our outreach ministries. |
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The inspiration for the Family Life Center is kingdom building. The Lord has called St. James to fulfill our role in God’s plan to repair lives and empower the communities that we serve through an expanded range of ministries that support the spiritual, emotional, physical, and socio-economic wholeness of the community. There has never been a time of greater need in our communities, nor a greater opportunity for our church to serve in support of God’s work. St. James has been a bright light along an often dark path for many people in a community where fully 45% of the residents live at or below the poverty level and many others barely live above poverty. We pray that you can see that the project is needed and that it is among the most important St. James has been called to undertake in its history.
You can send your tax-deductible contribution to this project payable to St. James A.M.E. Church, 8401 Cedar Ave., Cleveland, OH 44103, with a notation that the donation is for the Brighter Day Fund. |
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BRIGHTER DAY OUTREACH INITIATIVES
YOUTH ENRICHMENT MINISTRY: The youth enrichment ministry will provide a safe and nurturing environment for school-aged children, up to age 18. Through afterschool and summer initiatives, this program will provide a mixture of educational and recreational activities focusing on cultural enrichment and personal development. The program will focus on promoting the following core value areas:
1. Cultural Awareness and Appreciation: history and culture, music, drama, painting, sculpture
2. Self-esteem and Personal Responsibility: self-identity, self-worth, motivation, healthy life styles and choices
3. Discipline and respect for others: respect for elders, following directions, respect for peers, respect for human life, dispute resolution, anti-violence philosophy and practice
4. Interpersonal Relations: healthy interaction with other people, sharing, listening, and communicating
5. Educational Reinforcement and Enrichment: tutoring, supplemental work in educational basics - reading, writing, math, and science.
PARENTAL SUPPORT MINISTRY: The Parental Support Ministry will provide parents with information and resources to help them to be more effective parents and positive role models for their children. Among other things, the program will seek to:
1. Covenant with parents to follow positive and proactive parenting guidelines such as reading to children each day, reviewing and assisting with homework, establishing age appropriate bed times, etc.
2. Provide parenting skills enhancement seminars
3. Offer stress and time management programs
4. Establish peer support groups for parents
5. Provide crisis intervention for family conflicts
LIFELINE HEALTH MINISTRY: The Lifeline Health Ministry seeks to improve the level of health in the community through health education, promoting healthy lifestyles, offering screening and testing programs, and encouraging regular visits with doctors and other medical personnel as needed.
ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT MINISTRY: This Ministry will help to provide members of the community with information and tools necessary for economic stability and prosperity. The economic empowerment ministry will seek to increase the number of people in the community who are gainfully employed, increase access to and awareness of information regarding economic opportunities, and increase the level of personal fiscal responsibility.
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