Presbyterian women have been making grants to creative ministries through the Thank Offering since 1888 when Eliza Clokey of Springfield, Ohio, urged each woman to give one dollar over and above her usual contribution to the Women’s General Missionary Society of the United Presbyterian Church in North America as a “thank offering to our Lord.” Women gave sacrificially and were credited with saving the worldwide missionary movement of the church at the time. Since then, Presbyterian women have granted support to thousands of ministries worldwide, and raised millions of dollars for mission.
In February 2017, the Creative Ministries Offering Committee of Presbyterian Women met to review 92 applications submitted for grants from the 2016 Thank Offering. Fifteen of the projects were chosen for grants totaling $382,500. Ten of the projects are ministries that serve people in need in the United States. Five of the projects are international. More than half of the funded projects are health ministries.
To learn more, visit www.presbyterianwomen.org or see the July/August 2017 issue of Horizons magazine.