Reaching Others in Thanksgiving and Joy
Reaching out during the holiday season is a natural response to God’s bounteous goodness to us. In November we gather with friends from other churches for the annual Community Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service. The offering received supports the Breadbasket ministry. In turn, participants in the Breadbasket ministry prepare and deliver approximately 100 Christmas boxes filled with food for families in need in our area. Each year Westminster provides nearly 200 Christmas gifts for men and women at the Boswell Regional Center and fills shoeboxes with gifts that are sent to children around the world through the Operation Christmas Child/Samaritans Purse project. Closer to home, WPC members man the registration table for the Salvation Army Angel Tree, and Sunday School classes designate a portion of their offerings during December to purchase Christmas gifts and clothing for children whose names are selected from the Angel Tree. Appropriately, children from Westminster do the shopping for these children. Caroling and small hand-crafted items made during the annual Advent Workshop are gifts we deliver to our own shut-in members as expressions of our love during this season of giving.