Reaching For Excellence Kick-Off! 
Throughout the Presbyterian Churches of South Texas Parkway is known for being a really good church. Parkway has been served, through the years, by an excellent staff. The church has been generous in its outreach to the community. Men and women from the church have heard the call of Jesus Christ and have given their lives into ministry. If there is a shortcoming it is probably in our self-perception - we don't know what all we do and how well we do it!
In a thin little book,
The Purpose of the Church and Its Ministry
, H. Richard Neibuhr wrote, "The purpose of the church is to increase among men the love of God and neighbor." That sounds obvious, doesn't it, but there was a seismic shift involved. It was no longer enough for the church to assure your salvation; now the church now is to equip you for Christian witness and service to the world. Let me put it in terms of means and ends. Once the church was an ends and that end was assuring your salvation. But today the church is called to be a means for your growth as a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Parkway Presbyterian Church is to grow Christians. One way we know whether or not we are doing that job is to see what change happens in the lives of those who walk through our doors. Do people grow a stronger faith? Do they experience a new depth of spirituality? Do they develop a generous heart? Do they have a passion to help others?
And let me go a step further and make this personal: Does Parkway Presbyterian Church help you grow your faith? Is your faith fuller, richer, more sustaining now than when you first walked in through the doors? If not, we need to work on that together.
We are calling this effort the "Reaching for Excellence Project." Let me explain this by analogy. Every week we have worship and I think that most weeks it is done well. But now and then worship is excellent. The combination of the liturgy, the hymns, the scriptural texts, the sermons, the prayers, and the people in worship bump it over from "really good" to "excellent."
We should be reaching for that excellence in everything that we do.
Reaching for Excellence asks you to make a single pledge that is payable over two years. Your pledge will support:
- Regular budgeted operating expenses for two years;
- Capital funds to remodel Fellowship Hall;
- Mission funding to expand our witness around the world.
Our goal for this effort is $1,350,000.
There are certain marks of the Christian life, ways you can see the Christian faith being lived out. The first mark is a generous heart. All of us have been gifted by God. Once you and I see that what we have as a gift instead of a possession then we are on our way to a life of generosity. God gives. Jesus gave. The Holy Spirit is a gift. Everything in life is a gift from God and in our thankfulness for God's goodness to us we give back.
The second mark of a Christian life is helping hands. We want to help others experience life in God's grace. Sometimes that means telling them about Jesus. Sometimes that means helping serve them a meal.
The third mark of the Christian life is a changed life. Of course we hope that through our efforts and the efforts of the Parkway community we change the lives of others. But it is also true that if we have generous hearts and put our helping hands to work for others the life that will be changed is our own.
I hope that you will help Parkway in Reaching for Excellence in ministry and mission.
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Stormy weather and faith To be assaulted by a severe storm -- who hasn't felt frightened, anxious, uncertain? But as we know, the depth of our faith 
After you volunteer somewhere come back to Parkway to get a dot. Fill out your name, where you volunteered, contact information, and place it on the wall in the entry. If you don't know of a place at which to volunteer don't worry. Look at dots that other people have filled out and see if any of them sound interesting. If you like one and want to learn more then use the contact information on the dot and find out more about it. Let's try and fill the wall with lots of dots to share where we are serving in mission!
W.O.W Ladies Bible Study
