Congregational Care Mission Statement
The purpose of the Congregational Care Ministry is to support the members of the congregation a variety of ways. Members of the ministry aid in providing pastoral care, meals for members after hospital stays, memorial receptions, contact with college and military members, maintenance of medical closet and first aid supplies (in office and in kitchen), disaster issues, and contact with the prayer chain and prayer shawl ministry. Additionally, the Congregational Care Ministry is responsible for re-certifying our church each year as an “Earth Care Congregation” through the Presbyterian Church USA headquarters. We provide assistance to ensure that our buildings, grounds, and day-to-day living are in synchronicity with earth-friendly best-practices.
Group Leader: Charlanne Brown
Group Members: Keay Forman, Annette George, Kathleen Polston, Sheena Schlegel, AliceTheall.
November 2023
The Congregational Care Ministry is busy praying, visiting the sick or homebound, bringing meals when needed, and making calls to keep in touch with ill members. Our committee is overseeing the reception after Judy Moxley’s Memorial service on November 5, 2023. John Moxley & his daughter were given prayer shawls to comfort them after the death of his wife, Judy Moxley. A private scattering of the ashes of Nilsa McNeil was done by the family at the memory garden on Saturday, October 21, 2023.
The Earth Care discussion was on ‘pre-cycling’, which supports responsible packaging. We should have much more recycling to go out than we do trash each week. Many items are overpackaged which wastes money & materials and often end up in the trash instead of being recycled. We should be reading packages to see if recycled materials were used & then buy items that do recycling. We also discussed monitoring your City of Ocala water usage by putting the ‘EyeOnWater’ app on your phone. On this app, you can see your daily usage and also be alerted to a leak. People are encouraged to stop using pesticides that contain neonicotinoids, as it is killing the bee population. One-third of the food we eat is pollinated by honeybees, so we need to protect them.
We discussed the Health & Hobby fair and the importance of the new Fort King church health form that we will be encouraging members to fill out. These forms are especially important for people living alone or disabled or prone to falling, etc. These forms will be kept locked up for privacy, but our pastor will have access to them so she can get help for a member if needed. We are still discussing whether or not to have a First Aid/CPR class at our church. Let me know if you would be interested in attending a class. Anyone can take the Red Cross class online. Florida, as well as most states, has a Good Samaritan Law which legally protects those who offer aid to the injured, ill, or someone in danger- without fear of legal reprisal. Please email me, cbdelaware@gmail.com if you would like a daily call to check on your wellbeing. A plan for daily check-up calls for those members living alone is still being discussed.
After the Stewardship dinner on Nov. 12, a number of our committee members will be delivering meals to our homebound members.
Please keep an eye on the weather as it is still hurricane season. There is hurricane preparedness information on our church website https://www.ftkingchurch.org/ Don’t forget to keep saving items for our church White Elephant sale that will be here soon, Nov 17 & 18.
Charlanne Brown, chairperson
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June 6, 2023
A message from Congregational Care;
“The importance of hurricane preparedness”
It is essential for everyone to understand the importance of hurricane preparedness. Hurricanes can be devastating, causing flooding, wind damage, and power outages. Being prepared for a hurricane can greatly reduce the negative impacts.
It is important to understand the path of the hurricane. Check online with the National Hurricane Center and local emergency management offices.
It is important to create an emergency plan. This plan should include an evacuation route, the location of the nearest shelter, and contact information for family members. It is important to have a hurricane supply kit (see below) & to secure your home and property. Boarding up windows and clearing debris can reduce the damage to your home. It is also important to check on vulnerable family members and neighbors.
Hurricane preparedness can help save lives and reduce property damage.
We will be presenting further information and documents for you and will also have them on the FKPC website on the Congregational Care page.
Thank you, Charlanne
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Script for 2023 Hurricane Season callers
“Hello, this is _ from Fort King Presbyterian Church. You are on my list to call and check on during Hurricane Season ( June 1 to Nov 30 ).
Use this line during a hurricane, but let folks know the rest of the info at the beginning of June. Are you ok now, are you in a safe place or do you have a safe place to go if the hurricane gets bad?
The shelters for Ocala will be announced on TV & radio. The only pet-friendly shelter in Marion County is Vanguard High School.
If needed, you can go get 10 free sandbags ( shovel, bag & sand provided) in several locations in Ocala & will be announced.
It is best not to be on the highway during high winds, so make your plans ahead of time.
Do you have any medical needs such as electricity for medical equipment, or do your medicines need refrigeration, do you have a service animal, are you confined to a bed, in a wheelchair or need a ride to a shelter, are you on dialysis or oxygen, etc? If so, you can register with Florida Health & Marion County Emergency Mgt. 352-369-8100.
We have the sign-up forms at church or you can go on their webpage,
https://www.marionso.com/emergency-management
If you lose your power & air conditioning, we can take people to our Fellowship Hall building for the daytime ( 9 to 5 ), but only if we have electricity at church. You can stay cool & have lights & power. Bring your own food & things to do and clean up when leaving. Call the church if you need this service @ 352-694-4121.
We have printed for you to take, a Safety checklist, Supply list, pages on what to do before, during, and after a hurricane etc. in the Church Narthex & on our church website https://www.ftkingchurch.org/
Some helpful emergency #s are;
Sheriff – 352-369-8100
Marion County Citizen Information Hotline 352-369-7500”
Charlanne Brown
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