Peters Creek Presbyterian Church Benefit is a Sweet Success

was full of food, fun and fellowship on Saturday evening. The church’s annual drew out familiar members of the congregation, as well as unfamiliar guests. Regardless of whence they came, all enjoyed great food for a great cause.

Kathy Crosby, PCPC elder, said that the festival has been a church tradition for nearly two decades now. With the help of numerous other church volunteers, Crosby coordinated this year’s festival, just as she has done for the past several years.

Inside the church’s cafeteria/hall, party trays of picnic foods prevailed. People lined up to feast on fried chicken, roast beef sandwiches, coleslaw, potato salad and baked beans. A selection of beverages, including lemonade and coffee, was available to wash down the savory stuffs.

Across the room, at least eight different gift baskets were on display for the evening’s raffle. The gift baskets were donated by generous members of the congregation, and were themed around things such as gardening, summer cook-out, Americana, golfing and beach fun.

Of course, the Strawberry Festival included a strawberry indulgence—strawberry shortcake!

This year, the dessert was made using a new recipe, which included a strawberry pound cake base. Sweet strawberries, cool ice cream and smooth whipped cream topped off the treat, making each bite simultaneously decadent and divine.

The dessert wasn’t the only thing that was cool and smooth. Outside, a jazz trio entertained families and individuals who dined under a tent. The trio included PCPC’s own Music Pastor, Brian Pappal on keyboards. Vince Gorman plucked the upright bass, as Mickey Zangus tapped out tunes on his full drum-set.

Children laughed and played. A variety of games and activities were available for the kids, including potato-sack racing and corn hole and water balloons and a piñata.

The proceeds from the event will benefit PCPC’s international Mission Trips. Missionaries plan to head out to Scotland later this year, and hope to have the same success they had earlier this year with their mission work in San Miguel, Costa Rica.

In May 2011, nine people from PCPC went to San Miguel to work in conjunction with the Feed My Sheep Association campaign in the area.

PCPC volunteers used mission monies to repair and update a church in San Miguel. They put in sewer lines and installed fans; painted the outside of the church and wrote scripture on its walls; and, brought toys, food and hope to the foreign congregation.

In addition to conducting mission work abroad, Pastor Jeff Such likes to encourage his audience to do local mission work.

Pastor Such describes his congregation as a “mission-minded church family,” where his role is to guide and combine efforts to give back to the community and to follow the humanitarian commission God gave us.

One of the major domestic mission projects at PCPC is its involvement with the Inner-faith Hospitality Network. The IHN consists of 11 area churches that work together to house homeless families in Washington County.

The goal of the IHN is to keep families together while helping them get back on their feet. Each of the 11 network churches houses up to 15 people for one week at a time, providing a rotation of dinner, dessert, overnight stay and entertainment and companionship.

During the day, recipients of IHN aid are transported to a location in Washington, Pa., where the adults work on finding jobs and housing while the kids are in school.

Crosby makes the important distinction that, although the housing services are provided at churches, the aid is nondenominational and available to any homeless families who pass the background checks and meet other floor requirements.

If you are interested in making a donation of money, goods or services to help IHN families, please contact Peters Creek Presbyterian Church at 724-941-6210.