Local Outreach

Ministry Files

Informational Document: Needed items for the Food Closet
Informational Document: Madison Healthy Start Family Center helped by ACTs Thrift Shop

Pasadena Covenant Church has a long history of caring for “the least of these,” and you will find children, teens and adults working together in a range of outreach activities. Whether you regularly attend the church or not, we encourage you to join us. To connect with any contact person shown below, please email or call the church office at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 626-795-9381.

Peace and Justice Ministry Team

This team works together to provide opportunities for the Pasadena Covenant Church congregation—as individuals, families and small groups—to serve others beyond our walls: through our partnership with the Madison Healthy Start Family Center, with Can Do Kids Club, at the Bad Weather Shelter, through our neighborhood outreach programs and in other ways. We feel that Pasadena Covenant is planted right where it is for a reason, and we look for God to lead us to build meaningful relationships with those in our immediate neighborhood so we can heed the call from scripture to bring about justice and peace among ourselves and in the world. We welcome new members, and invite you to join us for our monthly meetings or to get involved in any of our ministries.

Want to know more about what's going on with the Peace and Justice Team and Northwest Pasadena? Check out the brand new Peace and Justice blog, "Lake and Santa Barbara". Here you'll find updates on ministry opportunities, monthly profiles of neighbors and local businesses, and personal resources for developing a "Theology of the City". http://pascovpj.tumblr.com/

Contact: Jamie Knauss, Ministry Team Leader, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Partnership with Madison Healthy Start Family Center

Madison Avenue Elementary is our neighborhood school, and we have recently formed a partnership with the Healthy Start Family Center that is located on its grounds. We work closely with Mirsa Serrano, coordinator of the center, in three ways.

We provide food weekly to be distributed by the center to families in the neighborhood who live far below the poverty line and are in need. To be involved in this outreach, you may bring food to Pasadena Covenant Church on Sunday mornings (see list of needed items at left) or help deliver food on Monday mornings to the center. If you are interested, please contact Lois Bascom at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

There are opportunities to help Madison students in the classrooms as a volunteer. For more information, please contact Dorothy Patzia at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Finally, the families of our neighborhood frequently have need for household items as they are forced to move suddenly, or as new families move into already crowded quarters. By donating items to the ACTs Thrift store, located at 1382 Locust Street, Pasadena, CA 91106 (on the Corner of Hill, just above Walnut St.), and designating the donation to benefit the Madison School Healthy Start Family Center, neighborhood families can use the credit to obtain items they need. See the ministry file, "Madison Healthy Start Family Center helped by ACTs Thrift Store". For more information contact Kim Dorman at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) .

CAN-DO Kids Club

CAN-DO Kids Club is an after schoool tutoring and enrichment program for elementary children, including homework help, literacy development, field trips, music lesson, gospel choir, Bible Club, a low student/staff ratio, and enrichment classes such as cooking, art, and sports.

CAN-DO stands for Christians Assisting Neighborhood, Developing Opportunities and is an outreach of Neighborhood Urban Family Center that has served hundreds of children, teens, and families since its start up in 1994.

Our vision: To enhance the social, moral, and spiritual fabric of urban Pasadena through personal relationship and programs that emphasize education, moral development, strengthening the family, racial reconciliation, and Christian faith.

Opportunity to serve with CAN-DO Kids: There are after school tutoring opportunites any, Monday through Thursday, from 3:00 - 4:30 p.m. to work with the children who come to CAN-DO kids. You may come whichever day or days you can help.

Contact: Jenni Wiebe at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Bad Weather Shelter

During the winter months in 2012-2013, Pasadena Covenant Church hosted a Bad Weather Shelter in its gym building for individuals and families who were homeless. The shelter is sponsored by the Ecumenical Council of Pasadena Area Churches (ECPAC) and is served by many volunteers from area churches as well as from Pasadena Covenant. The shelter was open every night in January and February, and was weather activated (40 degrees or below, or 40% chance of rain) from the day after Thanksgiving to December 31, 2012, and from March 1 to 15, 2013. The BWS is closed for this winter of 2013.

Contact: Wayne Walker, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Neighborhood Outreach Events

As a team, we are committed to helping our church offer three to four outreach events each year, to get to know our neighbors better and become a better neighbor to them. We have partnered with our Children’s Ministry to run a neighborhood Family Camp with a bilingual emphasis, and have helped with Halloween and Christmas events. We are always planning for the next event and would welcome your involvement.

Contact: Brenda Thomas, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Elizabeth House

This shelter, a home near the church, serves women in crisis pregnancies and their children. Mentors and spiritual friends are needed for residents of the house. Learn more about Elizabeth House at http://www.elizabethhouse.net.

Contact: Judy Wipf, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 626-795-9381

Club 21

Club 21 Learning and Resource Center, a non-profit organization that supports children with Down syndrome and their families, operates on our church campus during part of the week. Club 21 was founded by a Pasadena Covenant member and is always in need of volunteer help! Learn more about Club 21 at http://www.clubtwentyone.org.

Regular events:

Every Friday morning: First Steps (Babies 0 to 3)

Wednesday and Thursday afternoon: tutoring

Contact: Nancy Litteken, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Sister Churches

Pasadena Covenant Church seeks to partner in ministry with other Evangelical Covenant congregations in our Pasadena neighborhood:

Abundant Life Covenant Bible Church
Church of the Redeemer is a sister congregation in South Los Angeles with which Pasadena Covenant has partnered closely in the past. Although our partnership is now less formalized, there continue to be opportunities to be involved in this multiethnic congregation and its community development ministries.
Contact: Richard & Anna Parks, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 323-732-9881.

Events of related ministries (last updated May 6, 2013)

Madison Family Center: Thurs. May 23rd - Madison Healthy Start Family Center Grand Opening! 9:30 - 11:00 am. 750 N. Los Robles Ave. Pasadena 91104

CAN-DO Kids Club: Wed. June 5th - Family End of Year Celebration

Door of Hope Monthly Birthday Celebration: June 7th, 6:45 - 8:30 pm (1st Friday of each month)

Northwest Neighbors: July 1st - 26th (excluding July 4th) - Summer Camp (volunteers needed)

Door of Hope Monthly Birthday Celebration: July 5th, 6:45 - 8:30 pm (1st Friday of each month)

Door of Hope Monthly Birthday Celebration: August 2nd, 6:45 - 8:30 pm (1st Friday of each month)

Door of Hope Monthly Birthday Celebration: Sept. 6th, 6:45 - 8:30 pm (1st Friday of each month)