Outreach - Who Gets Funds
ME Churches
$1000 for Maine Churches
The sale of 41 acres in Maine
In 2023, the Presbytery sold a 41-acre lot of woodland in Starks, Maine. The property had been gifted to MATE [Mission at the Eastward] years ago and had been used for timbering income and, at times, by the old Camp at the Eastward which was near the lot. In deciding what to do with the property, the Leadership Commission recommended the following action to the presbytery and it was approved in 2023.
Fairbanks Presbyterian Church
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What to do with the proceeds?
Action of PNNE April 20, 2023
On April 20, 2023, the Presbytery approved the following proposal for use of the proceeds from the sale of the 41-acre property in Maine.
Rationale:
Given that the property was a gift from MATE to PNNE which in turn had been a gift to MATE for the use of CATE in ministry to the youth of Maine, we recommend that the proceeds be used to enhance our ministries in Maine.
Also, given that PNNE is a Matthew 25 Presbytery, and that the property was intended to further the outreach ministries of MATE through CATE, we recommend that the proceeds be used to provide ministries that reach out to our brothers and sisters in Maine who have need of our loving help and support.
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Therefore:
LC recommends to the PNNE Assembly that the proceeds from the sale (approximately $41,000) be used thus:
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a. $21,000 be used in outreach ministries through our seven churches in Maine over the next three years through a special grant process to be administered by the Outreach Subcommittee along with one other member of LC.
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In the first year $7,000 will be distributed $1,000 to each of the seven churches with a letter inviting them to use the funds in ministries that reach out to their communities.
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This will be a three-year process. After the first year, the Outreach Subcommittee will ask for a report from each church asking how the funds were utilized for Matthew 25/Outreach purposes. After receiving this report, another disbursement of $1000 will be made to that church for the following year. And then again on the third year.
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After the third year, any unused monies will be added to the funds administered by Maine Outdoor Ministry (MOM).
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The Outreach Subcommittee will share stories of how the money is used with the presbytery.
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b. that the balance of the sale, about $20,000, be added to the monies to be administered by MOM in its programming and campership for the youth of western Maine.
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Reports of the congregations of Maine
In administering this fund for PNNE, the Outreach Subcommittee has sent out $1,000 a year [2023, 2024, & 2025] to each of the seven PNNE congregations in Maine. We simply asked that each year, before receiving a new check, that they tell us how they used the previous check.
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2023 Reports
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The first year of this funding (2023) found our congregations coming up with a wide variety of ways to impact the lives of the communities around them.
Some congregations focused on ways to help the congregation enhance its ministry to the community. One purchased a Chrome Book to enable their ability to share their worship service via Zoom. Yet another congregation wanted to take its old and broken playground and make it into a safe place for the children of the community. The initial step was to replace the broken fence around the playground.
Other churches gave their $1,000 to organizations in their communities which are already doing important work. Those organizations included: a free medical clinic , a program which educates and assists immigrant and refugee families, a school food program of daily snacks and weekend food, a school weekend backpack program, and a housing repair & utility support program.
Another response focused on responding to particular people’s needs in their communities. One used the funds to respond to a flurry of deaths in its community as it helped with supporting the needs of the grieving families. Another church focused on trying to meet some concrete needs of folks that had fallen through the gaps in its community. They responded to requests from Recovery Center staff, homeless services representatives, law enforcement, prevention agencies, as well as individuals. They provided clothing, sneakers, boots, socks, rental assistance, medical equipment, furniture, transportation, fuel, groceries, beds, blankets and much more. Through amazing partnerships within the community they have been able to remove barriers and provide for individuals and families.
A creative project was to engage the two local high schools to challenge their youth to participate in some community service. Each school was offered $350 for their project, and, on completion of the project were given $150 to be used in their next project.
Another important use of a portion of the gift of $1,000 was the support of the church in Sudan as it faced the devastation of the war.
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2024 Reports
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2024 again found a wide variety of ways in which the churches used this gift.
The Sudanese Fellowship used it for a Youth’s conference, in November 2024; this was a three day event with Nuer speaking attendees from various states and Canada; there were over 200 guests and the Fellowship arranged meals, housing and transportation during the event.
Some congregations used the gift to enhance their property to more easily and safely serve the community. One congregation made a commitment to use the first $1,000, along with the second $1,000, to do some work, mainly fencing, on its playground area to make it a more usable and safe space for church members and the community children that play there. While another church used it on its Clothing Center community support activity. The Church and community members raised money to buy new windows in the Clothing Center building. The other step to update the building was to scrape and paint the outside of the building. The old paint was lead based so additional treatment needed to be done to safely remove the lead-based paint chips produced during scraping. The $1,000 was used for this process.
Once again two of the churches used the funds to support community programs, one of which provides emergency shelter for the area’s homeless adults. While another supplies beds and bedding to those in need.
One other congregation continued its experiment in working with area high schools. In 2023 it partnered with one of the local high schools to see how they would use outreach grant money for the benefit of their community. They proposed a project for their Life Skills Program students. They were very pleased with how that project turned out, and with a little tweaking they have expanded the project to 2 schools and 3 different groups of students in 2024.
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Sudanese Fellowship
2025 Reports – the checks were sent to the churches in August of 2025 and the reports will be received in early 2026
