Massanutten Presbyterian Church:
At the crossroads of real life and abundant grace, where God’s children are:
meeting Christ in each other,
praying earnestly,
listening carefully,
singling joyfully
and joining boldly with the Spirit’s work in the world.
This mission aligns well with that of the Matthew 25 Initiative of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Matthew 25 31-46 calls us to actively engage in the world around us in a such away that our faith comes alive and we awaken to new possibilities. In our effort to live into the call of Matthew 25, we are engaged in a variety of ministries:
Food Pantry
The Massanutten Food Pantry has been serving the Penn Laird, McGaheysville and Keezletown communities since February of 1998. Through the years the number of clients served has varied, as both the community and supportive resources within the community have changed or expanded. Thoughtful leadership and faithful volunteers have responded to the changing landscape in order to provide a hunger ministry that meets current needs. And, the congregation has been generous with both financial gifts and non-perishable food. Click here to learn more.
Blessings in a Bag
Children who arrive to school on Monday morning without having had enough to eat through the weekend have difficulty focusing and learning. Upon learning of a need to address this, Massanutten began a partnership with an elementary school not too far away to provide bags of food for children to take home each weekend. A dedicated team is involved in purchasing, packing and delivering the food to the school each week and school staff distribute the backpacks on the last day of the school week.
Open Doors
Open Doors is a low-barrier mobile shelter in the Harrisonburg and Rockingham Community. Since it opened in 2007, Massanutten has served in this ministry as a shelter host for at least one week each winter. In addition, we have provided collected essential shelter items (pillows, sheets, etc.) provided meals at other locations and supported the organization’s fundraising efforts.
Habitat for Humanity
Throughout 2023, Massanutten joined several other congregations in our area in a Faith Build. We worked together to finance and construct a duplex that has become home to two local families. We look forward to future Faith Build opportunities.
Baja Mexico, Home Building Mission
The Baja Mission effort began as an outreach of a congregation not far from Massanutten. The congregation invited others to join them and over the years congregations have developed relationships with one another, the families who live in the Vicente Guerrero community in Baja, and staff who support these building efforts. Each summer teams from Shenandoah Presbytery meet up in San Diego, CA and drive together down the Baja peninsula, where they partner with a family to build them a home. Through the years Massanutten has sent people to join those team nearly each year the mission has taken place.
Living Waters for the World (LWW)
Living Waters for the World is a clean water ministry that trains volunteers to establish and lead water mission teams to partner with communities to implement and operate sustainable water purification systems and health education programs throughout the world. Massanutten has been part of a team that has served in Guatemala with the support of the Shenandoah Presbytery Living Waters Team.
Learn more at: www.livingwatersfortheworld.org
Valley Interfaith Action
Very often mission takes the shape of doing, building or giving something. Our Matthew 25 commitment has challenged us to broaden our vision for mission. Valley Interfaith Action is a coalition of diverse faith and community organizations in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County working together for change and justice in the Shenandoah Valley. Massanutten was among the first organizations to join Valley Interfaith Action when it launched in 2015. Since that time, we have been learning what it means to listen to our neighbors, develop relationships that seek what is good for others, and discern how we can work together to make that good a reality.
Learn more about Valley Interfaith Action: https://viavirginia.org/
Boy Scout Troop 28 and Cub Scout Pack 120
BSA troop 28 has been sponsored by Massanutten Presbyterian Church for many years. The congregation has been helped by their faithful service and wonderful eagle scout projects, and the scouts have been supported through the use of space, prayers of the congregation, gifts toward camping and in other ways. The troop meets on Monday evenings in the picnic shelter or in the building.
In February of 2024, MPC entered into an agreement with Cub Scout Pack 120 to sponsor and host them in our space. Individual dens meet throughout the week in the building.
For more information about connecting with either of these scout organizations, please contact the church office.
