The winning churches are in California, North Carolina and Georgia. They are:
– Covenant Fellowship Presbyterian Church (Santa Rosa, Calif.), which has
added 39 new members in the last three years, with eight adults being baptized.
Worship attendance, membership, Christian education enrollment and annual
congregational giving are at all-time highs.
-Temecula Valley Korean Presbyterian Church (Wildomar, Calif.), which grew
from a few members to 300 in less than a decade. Offering Korean language
school in their community has been a great ministry outreach to second-
generation Korean parents who want to teach their children to understand the
importance of their identity as Korean Americans.
– Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church (Chapel Hill, N.C.). The church is
committed to intentional, inclusive, welcoming worship.
Misión Hispana El Buen Pastor (Winston-Salem, N.C.), which is one of the
fastest growing new church developments in the country, with more than 140
adults and 160 children in regular worship. El Buen Pastor is a model for how
to start a community of faith for a new immigrant population struggling with
economic and education issues.
-Grace Presbyterian Church (Dawsonville, Ga.). Planted to reach a growing
population not served or affiliated with any faith community, the church has
grown from a handful of people to 126 members.
Each winning congregation was selected for its work in furthering Presbyterian
mission in its community by the Mission Development Resource Committee.
The executive committee of the General Assembly Mission Council endorsed the
committee’s recommendations.
The Walton Awards were established in 1991 as part of a $6 million gift from the late
Sam and Helen R. Walton through the Presbyterian Foundation. This gift included a
$3 million endowment. The earned interest is to be used by outstanding new church
developments for site acquisition and capital improvements.
Since 1993, there have been 101 Walton Awards totaling $4.11 million presented to
exemplary new church developments across 66 presbyteries in all 16 Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.) synods.
For more information, contact Mission Program Grants, a ministry of Evangelism and
Church Growth in the PC(USA).
More on this year’s recipients from information received by the selection committee
from the churches:
Covenant Fellowship Presbyterian Church, Santa Rosa, Calif. (Synod of the Pacific,
Redwoods Presbytery) is growing spiritually as it supports both the congregation
and community with: (1) vibrant worship, (2) a clear path of discipleship, (3)
comprehensive children’s ministries, (4) youth ministries centered in Jesus
and service, (5) a meaningful sense of community, and (6) focused, effective
mission efforts. The average worship attendance is 108, membership is 104,
Christian education enrollment is 54 (pre-school through sixth grade), and annual
congregational giving reached an all-time high in 2010. After moving three times,
since 2002, Covenant’s congregation is now renovating a 10,000-sq.ft.building
on over four acres of property to become a high-visibility cornerstone of the
community. The Walton Award will be instrumental in paying for the building and the
construction costs associated with the renovation.
Temecula Valley Korean Presbyterian Church, Wildomar, Calif. (Synod of Southern
California & Hawaii, Riverside Presbytery) started with just a few members a little
less than a decade ago and now has 300 in membership. Currently, there are plans for
two major teaching hospitals to open in the area, and they are expected to hire many
second-generation Korean health care professionals who are likely to move into this
area. Due to the increase in membership, Temecula Valley is steadily outgrowing its
space at the Mountain View Community Church building. The Walton Award will be
used to acquire a church site later this year.
Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church, Chapel Hill, N.C. (Synod of the Mid-
Atlantic, Salem Presbytery) acknowledges the human need for God’s grace and
love by extending a warm welcome to all people into a community of faith. Their
aim, since 2006, is to worship with joyful gratitude for God’s unending, abiding
grace given to all people through Jesus Christ; and to witness, through gifts of time,
talents, intentional inclusiveness, and financial resources, the love of Christ for all.
The Walton Award will be used to offset construction costs for their first church
building, which was designed with “green” technologies for sustainable construction
to minimize the environmental impact and maximize the building’s economic, health,
and community benefits.
Misión Hispana El Buen Pastor, Winston-Salem, N.C. (Synod of the Mid-Atlantic,
Salem Presbytery) is a model for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on how to start
a church for a new immigrant population, struggling with economic and education
issues, creatively showing the wider church how to nurture those without a safety
net into a community of faith. This fast growing new church development, which
began in 2007, has 140 adults and 160 children in regular worship. More than 125
volunteers in the community are involved in an after-school tutoring program serving
120 children. El Buen Pastor’s outreach also includes classes in parenting, ESL, basic
computer skills, reading, math, and Spanish literacy. New believers continue to share
with others how their lives are being changed by this community that is safe and that
is giving them the opportunity to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ. The church
will use funds from the Walton Award to resurface the parking area and replace the
church roof.
Grace Presbyterian Church Dawsonville, Ga. (Synod of South Atlantic, Cherokee
Presbytery) began in an old church building, in 2005, purchased by the Tri-Presbytery
New Church Development Commission, which represents the Greater Atlanta,
Cherokee, and Northeast Georgia presbyteries. The first ever Presbyterian church in
Dawson County, Georgia, Grace has grown from a handful to a congregation of 126
people of all ages and from churched, un-churched, Presbyterian, and various other
background, including those hurt or disillusioned by previous church experience.
Grace’s new, free medical clinic serves nearly 200 patients who are uninsured and
have no access to other medical assistance, and the church expects to provide dental
care soon. Its ministries are staffed by volunteers from the congregation. Grace
Presbyterian will use the Walton Award to pay down its current mortgage, thereby
freeing other funds for much-needed energy-conserving improvements, and to repair a
drainage problem that has been damaging its property.
