Outreach Ministry
LPC's Outreach ministry is concerned with seeing our neighbor, knowing our neighbor, and loving our neighbor.
Ministry Team
Members: Sally Ayotte, Lynn Cordy, Bo Welch and Carolyn Welch
“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
-- Matthew 5:14-15
LPC's Outreach ministry is concerned with seeing our neighbor, knowing our neighbor, and loving our neighbor. We hope that by being active in our community and advocating for the needs of our neighbors, we can share God's light and transforming love to the residents of Bluffton and beyond.
We are currently exploring several different avenues for doing outreach. See some of our current initiatives below.
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Criminal Justice Initiative
"I was in prison and you visited me." -- Matthew 25:36
Each year we recognize Justice Advocacy Day. The PC (USA) recognizes this day because we as a church believe it is imperative to our faith to seek justice and advocate for those whose voices are often silenced. We find this exhortation throughout the Bible, but especially from Jesus in Matthew 25 where he explicitly mentions visiting the imprisoned. In light of this, the Outreach Team has released a series of short videos on the prison system, which can be found below. We also just held a series of community conversations on the criminal justice system featuring key leaders (see photo above).
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The first short video with Chaplain Bo Welch explains different types of justice and is available below:
The second short video is an interview with Shirene Hansotia who serves as the Criminal Justice Policy and Legal Counsel for the South Carolina ACLU.
Our third video is an interview with Aparna Polavarapu who is a tenured professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law and Founder of the South Carolina Restorative Justice Initiative.
Our fourth video is an interview with Cary Sanders. Cary was formerly incarcerated and currently serves as the director of the nonprofit JumpStart.
Our fifth video is an interview with Tom Hallam. Tom formerly served on the South Carolina Parole and Pardon Board and is a volunteer with the nonprofit JumpStart.