Thanking God for Deb Hibler and Liz Tietz, who are completing their second year of preparing meals for our neighbors in Newark.  Twice a month, these ladies collect the food to feed 60 plus people, devise a menu, then prep and organize a delicious dinner.  Other FPC volunteers are dedicated to help serve dinner, make about 25-40 “take out” meals, plate desserts, make drinks then clean up all the dishes at Second Presbyterian, Newark.  Leda Rutledge rounds out the team as she organizes all these volunteers.  About 30 FPC members are involved in this Matthew 25 ministry each month.

As we begin our third year, we are grateful to Liz, Deb, Leda and ALL the volunteers.(disciples)

Do you have an adult backpack or traveling duffle bag you no longer need? 

Please consider donating to our unsheltered friends. This is how they carry all their belongings, which they always need. With all the construction, here’s how you can donate: Call or text Ellen, and she’d be glad to come pick them up or arrange a time to bring them to the church. You can also bring your item on Sunday and leave it in the robing room (at the back of the sanctuary) to be picked up and delivered.

A beautiful thing is happening at the Drop-In Center, a place for our unsheltered during the day.

Our church is supporting a vegetable garden with the help of those who attend the center. In addition, the next-door neighbor of the center is providing water and sprinklers for the garden. And Hope Timber provided mulch at a much-reduced price. Fresh produce will be planted to provide needed nutrition for meals prepared at the center. Produce has been harder to get from local food pantries and is expensive to purchase. Want to know how you can be involved at the center? Talk to Greg Bossart or Ellen!

Share the Harvest is a hands-on mission that takes about 1 ½ hours any Saturday you choose.

It’s great for all ages!

Collect items from vendors at the Farmer’s Market and deliver them to the Salvation Army. Produce is scarce now at local food pantries, so it’s even more important to provide healthy food options. We really need help in July/August. Please contact Ellen with any questions or training needs. 

Our families will be selling their wares once again, the Saturday of the Great Granville Garage Sale. 

This year, the families want to support people affected by the country’s devastating wildfires. “Yard Stands” will be set up at each family home, with some set up on the church lawn. Families decide what to sell, like lemonade, baked goods, popsicles, cotton candy, and jewelry. Maps will be provided for the congregation to shop at the family stands that morning. Please support this hands-on mission ministry by visiting all the families on June 28!

The furniture storage unit is nearing completion at New Beginnings, the shelter for domestic violence victims. 

FPC is funding this construction. Sally and Steve Stilwell will manage the unit inventory. They will arrange for an “FPC Moving Team” to collect donated furniture, then deliver needed furniture to safe homes when residents leave the shelter.

Whole Living Recovery, housing for individuals in recovery, is looking for frying pans to stock their kitchens.

Do you have a set of gently used frying pans you’d like to get rid of? If so, give Judy McNeish a call at 740-258-3033. She will take them off your hands and deliver them to neighbors who will use them. Thank you!

June 17, 2025, 7:00 p.m. at Overbrook Presbyterian Church

"Evicting the American Dream," a documentary that amplifies the voices and stories of children and families confronting eviction and homelessness in Dayton, OH, will be shown on Tuesday, June 17 at 7:00 p.m. at Overbrook Presbyterian Church. It is produced by Counter Stories Production, an arm of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. They hope to have it on streaming services by the fall. More information and a trailer can be found here: https://pcusa.org/evicting-american-dream. Sign up to attend by contacting the presbytery office, 614-847-0565 or dagmar@psvonline.org

 FROM ELLEN:  Would anyone like to carpool?  Let me know at eclark@granpres.org.

We are looking for two people to help organize a clothes closet for Starting Strong.

The date is June 20, from 9:30 to 11:30 am. If you’d like to do this hands-on mission event, please email Ellen (or call the church office) at eclark@granpres.org.Thank you!

Our young families will be doing “yard stands” again this year - selling goods of their choice on Saturday, June 28. 

This is the day of the Great Granville Garage Sale. Last year we raised over $1400 for the children of Haiti. This year the families want to support areas in our country affected by the recent wildfires. Maps will be provided to the congregation so you can “shop” and support this critical cause. You’ll have fun finding the different locations, shopping their wares, and helping our families help others. 

One way to be better disciples is through awareness and understanding of how others live and the choices they face.

Compassion can grow when we see through different lenses. FPC has a special library table in Heritage Hall that displays books on poverty, homelessness, and racism. Many members have taken advantage of this by checking out books. They are here for you, and we hope you will take a look, borrow one, read it, and share what you learn. 

FPC has financed the building of a new furniture storage unit at New Beginnings, a place for people escaping domestic violence. Construction has started. The facility will be up and running soon. Steve and Sally Stillwell will be managing the inventory, donations, and delivery of items. This allows residents to have furniture when they move into a new living space. We are blessed to be a blessing to these individuals and families who deserve a safe, warm, sheltered place to lay their heads.

How?

Read Below.

The Drop-In Center serves breakfast and lunch to 20-40 unsheltered neighbors, M-F. Our own Greg Bossart coordinates all these meals and builds relationships with the attendees. He has a list of items needed to keep costs down and people fed. If you want to pick up items on your next shopping trip, we thank you! Just leave the items under the Blessing Box table in Heritage Hall, and Ellen will do the rest.

• Clear cups for juice

• Large, insulated coffee cups

• Plastic spoons

• Aluminum foil

• Paper bowls 12 – 14 oz.

 What else, you ask?

• Talk to Greg or Ellen about donating a home-cooked meal or sack lunches.

• Come to Trek Brewery on May 29th.  Trek is donating 10% of all proceeds to the ministry at the Drop-In Center!

Over the past few years, FPC has built a relationship with Starting Strong.  Starting Strong supports young men and women who have aged out of foster care at age 18 and have no family support.  We sponsor an apartment at Hope Landing by sharing in the rent payment, plus stocking and cleaning the apartment every time a new resident arrives.  Some of our men have moved donated furniture to other apartments where the young adults are starting their independent lives.  We give graduation gift cards every year, too.  As part of our commitment, we have donated $130,000 in 2024-25.  We have pledged to help Starting Strong build an endowment by providing matching funds up to $50,000.  This thank you note is from the director, Yvonne Williams.  This thank you is for you, FPC.  May God continue to bless us to be a blessing.

Do you ever wonder who is in the kitchen after the last person leaves Wonderful Wednesday each week?  Answer:

Jim and Sara Light! Jim has taken care of all the dirty dishes, pots, pans, silverware... for several years. Sara often joins him to help dry and put away all the aforementioned. Then, the next day, *poof* the kitchen is clean and ready to do it all over again.

Thank you, Jim and Sara, for quietly serving behind the scenes Wednesday after Wednesday. ENJOY YOUR SUMMER!!

Do you have men’s pants, size 30, 32, 34, or 36 that are slightly worn? Or women’s sizes small, medium, or large?

If you are cleaning out your closets and need a place for these pants, we’ll gladly take them! Just label a bag “Drop-In Center,” leave it in Heritage Hall, and we will be sure to get them delivered to the center.

Thank you!

For over 10 years, FPC has collected food from the Granville Farmer’s Market each Saturday. 

Market vendors donate produce, baked goods, flowers, etc., and we take it all to the Salvation Army. With food pantries suffering from budget cuts, fresh produce is needed more than ever. This ministry takes about 1 ½ hours. You can sign up for as many Saturdays as you want.  It’s easy, it’s family-friendly, and it matters. If you would like to join this ministry talk to Ellen for more information or sign up here.

Several community organizations, along with Second Presbyterian-Newark and First Presbyterian-Granville, participated in building 53 walls for a home to be assembled in Mount Vernon.  The event was filled with saws, hammers, energy, and hope.

Thank you to all who participated in this amazing act of love.

Can you donate one?

Elder Greg Bossart serves meals every day to the people who attend the Drop-In Center in Newark. He would like to grill some this summer, engaging the attendees in good, old-fashioned picnic fun. All he needs is a grill. Do you have one that works well, and you no longer need? If YES, please contact Ellen or Greg. THANK YOU!