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Ministries
Canonsburg-Houston Food Pantry
Assisting residents from the Canonsburg - Houston area, food pantry distribution occurs every third Saturday of the month from 9:00 AM until Noon. This wonderful ministry provides supplemental food resources to those families in our area who are in need. We serve 120 families monthly on average. Toys, clothes and household items are also made available to families.
Clients must provide proof of income and residency plus social security information to qualify for assistance.
We thank many area schools, churches, companies and area stores who donate food to the pantry throughout the year. We also appreciate the U.S. Postal Service who holds a large food drive in May donating over 15,000 pounds of collected food!
Because we serve so many families, many volunteers are needed to make this outreach successful. Over 40 volunteers are needed monthly to prepare and carry out distribution day, and so many more are needed throughout the year to help with sorting, collecting, delivering and working with clients. New volunteers are always welcome and serving is a great way to for high school students to fill their community service hours.
Workcamp
Every year, our Senior High youth participate in Workcamp, a mission trip experience through Group Workcamps (www.groupworkcamps.com). These week long trips re-focus on God and use the experience of serving to shape and change the lives of both you and the people you are serving.
Throughout the week a group of 400 teens from across the nation descend upon a town to share and show the love of Christ in a very practical way! You could be helping a needy family by painting or rebuilding a home or installing a wheelchair ramp. It's a great chance to meet new people, see God at work through you and most importantly strengthen your connection with Jesus in a week of work and worship. It's an experience you'll never forget!
In 2009, 2011, and again in 2016, our church was blessed with the amazing opportunity to host Workcamp here in Canonsburg! What a great experience it was to cover our community in His love and serve those living in our neighborhood. The support from local businesses and individuals was astonishing and many lives were touched in a way that only God could! We are so thankful to every person who shared their time to support Chartiers Creek Workcamp.
Operation Shoebox
Operation Christmas Child (Operation Shoebox) does much more than just deliver shoe boxes of Christmas toys to needy children across the world- it reaches children and families with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Countless lives are changed as volunteers share the message of eternal life through Christ.
We are blessed to participate in this outreach and ministry each year. Participants pick up their empty shoeboxes at church in October and November and begin praying for the child who will receive this gift. They then fill the boxes with age appropriate gifts like small cars, yo-yos, jump ropes, stuffed animals, crayons, coloring books, toothbrushes and toothpaste-items that would delight a child. Shoe boxes are returned to the church on or before our dedication service as we as a church family pray over the children and families who will be blessed with these gifts.
The boxes are sent to a distribution center where volunteers deliver the boxes to children at Christmas, telling them about Jesus Christ through Gospel literature and evangelism programs.
This mission touches the lives of so many who wouldn't be able to celebrate Christmas otherwise and is a wonderful way to remind all of us how fortunate we are that our lives are filled with the Lord's blessings!
Get your family, friends, neighbors, school or youth groups involved in collecting items and packing shoe boxes too! It is a great way to teach young children the joy of giving and sharing the gospel.
Visit this mission online at: www.samaritanspurse.org.
Canonsburg-Houston Toy Chest
This mission, hosted at Canonsburg United Presbyterian Church, provides children in our area who are less fortunate with toys at Christmas. With the generous support and financial assistance of many area businesses and individuals, this mission can continue to purchase new and very gently used toys, stuffed animals, books and bicycles for those children ages 6 weeks-16 years of age.
It's a blessing to be able to provide such an outreach to those in our community and not be possible without our wonderful volunteers to support and assist the mission every step of the way. This program is sponsored by the Canonsburg-Houston Ministerium. God continually works through the Toy Chest to touch the lives of many families at Christmas!
Thanksgiving Dinner
Hosted yearly at Canonsburg United Presbyterian Church, the Canonsburg-Houston Ministerium provides a free Thanksgiving Dinner to families in the area yearly on Thanksgiving Day. This ministry serves over 350 meals and helps so many families, who would not be able to do so otherwise, share in the joy of Thanksgiving.
It takes many volunteers to make this wonderful outreach possible. A sincere thank you goes to everyone who helps make each year a success. Whether you baked pies, helped set up or clean up, served dinner or prayed for those receiving the dinners, we are humbled by the love you share for people they do not even know! You bring the true meaning of Thanksgiving to life.
If you are interested in volunteering to serve this ministry, please contact the church office for details.