Bless Friday

Bless Friday is next week. How will you serve?

Go to MDPC.org

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50 members of Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church volunteered at the Houston Food Bank on Bless Friday. They helped pack over 20,000 lbs of food or more than 17,000 meals.

Here are some projects that we know about for 2019.

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church (Houston, Texas)
Assist at The Forge. Help at the Houston Food Bank. Prepare public areas at the Open Door Mission for Christmas. Re-pack rice and beans for the Fuentes Food Pantry. Assemble Christmas Blessing boxes for distribution by the Seafarers Mission. Make no-sew pillows for the Amazing Place. (See mdpc.org)

St. John the Devine Episcopal Church (Houston, Texas)
Send volunteers to The Beacon. (See sjd.org)

Beacon of Light Christian Center (Houston, Texas)
Will gather at the home of a leader and cook, serve and fellowship with the membership. (See beaconoflightcc.org)

The Woodlands Community Presbyterian Church (The Woodlands, Texas)
Holda campus clean-up day. (See wcpc-tx.org)

Trinity Church of God (Trinity, Texas)
Travel to Huntsville, Texas to help at the Good Shepherd Mission. (See https://www.facebook.com/Trinity-Church-Of-God-229989433702570)

Sacred Heart Catholic Church and Church of Christ (Cotulla, TX)
Visit a local nursing home, playing games like bingo with the residents and spent a few hours with folks that might not get many visitors. (See https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sacred-Heart-Catholic-Church/190663614294132 and cotullacoc.org)

Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church (Seattle, WA)
Help the homeless at the St. Vincent de Paul of Seattle food bank.

Christian Neighbors in Katy, Texas
Work at a local food bank.

Christian Neighbors in Houston, Texas
Will repack rice and beans for a local food bank.

Trinity Church Of God Pentecostal church - All are welcome to come and worship the Lord

PASTORS Jack & Debbie Black
Sunday School 10:00 am Sunday Service 11:00 am
Wednesday Night Service 7:00 pm

Members of Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church (MDPC) in Houston got a jump on Bless Friday. They assembled Christmas Shoe Boxes for the Seafarers Mission at the Port of Houston. These wrapped Christmas blessings will be delivered to the Seafarers who will distribute them to sailors visiting the Port of Houston. If you want to make your own boxes, you can go to the Bless Friday section of MDPC.org for instructions. Boxes can be delivered to MDPC on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

Black Friday Becomes Bless Friday® – Bless Friday Celebrates 10th Year

Monday, November 18, 2019. Since 2010, Bless Friday® has provided an alternative to hectic Christmas shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. Churches and Christians in Houston, The Woodlands, Katy, Trinity, and Cotulla Texas and Seattle, Washington are preparing service projects that honor Christ at Christmas on Friday, November 29 and also on Saturday the 30th. These churches encourage families and individuals to celebrate Bless Friday® as an alternative to Black Friday.

Bless Friday® is a movement to honor Christ by starting the Christmas season with service. Our vision is to transform Black Friday, a national shopping phenomenon, into Bless Friday®, a spirit-filled service day.

Houston churches’ efforts will include; sending congregants to The Beacon, a homeless shelter established by Christ Church Cathedral; helping at the Houston Food Bank; assisting at The Forge, a mission to families in an economically disadvantaged area; holding a clothing give away; and preparing the public areas of the Open Door Mission for Christmas. ODM helps addicted, homeless and disabled men. At-home activities include packing rice and beans for the Fuente Food Pantry, making Christmas Blessing Boxes for the Seafarers Mission at the Port of Houston and making no-sew pillows for the Amazing Place, a wellness center for people dealing with dementia.

Activities in other cities include: assisting at The Good Shepherd Mission in Huntsville, Texas; visiting and playing games with residents in a nursing home in Cotulla; cleaning up a church campus in The Woodlands, and working at food banks in Katy and Seattle. This is the first year for Bless Friday® in Katy.

Chuck Fox, founder of Bless Friday®, states, “Starting your Christmas celebration by helping others changes how you view the season. Children especially may be transformed as they shift their focus from receiving presents to serving others. Join us by choosing an activity that honors Christ, gather together your family and friends, and start your Christmas celebration with service.”

Bless Friday® was founded in 2010 in Houston to change the way Americans celebrate Christmas. Please see our website, BlessFriday.org or contact [email protected].

Check out this link to a story on Channel 11 in Houston:

https://www.khou.com/article/news/local-church-trades-black-friday-for-bless-friday/285-617209995

From Richmond, Texas. RE/MAX Legacy Living, a local franchise, hosted an event where members of the community prepared Christmas shoe boxes for the Houston International Seafarers, a mission to sailors who visit the Port of Houston.

Bless Friday 2018: Pictures from Beacon of Light Christian Center. Beacon of Light Christian Center hosted a clothing giveaway for the community.

Bless Friday 2018: St. John the Divine set congregant to The Beacon, a homeless shelter in Houston.

On Bless Friday 2018 Sacred Heart Catholic Church and Church of Christ in Cotulla Texas visited lost Palma’s a local nursing home and play games with the residents.

Preparations for Bless Friday 2018 are ongoing. We have heard from several churches: plans include helping at a food bank, gathering food for the homeless and hungry, feeding men recovering from drug and alcohol addiction and more. May God be praised.

This is a great time for you to make preparations for Bless Friday (November 23).