And we hope and pray that, by God's grace, an awareness of the need for justice will flow back towards us, deepening our awareness and increasing our willingness to act. The elder was speaking of the presbytery's extensive program of doorstep mission. In a united effort, the churches of the presbytery currently help to support nearly forty mission projects within the presbytery's boundaries. Founded over twenty years ago, the Doorstep Mission Program is administered on the presbytery level by the Cabinet on Mission, Witness and Stewardship. Each year the cabinet encourages congregations across the presbytery to seek out fresh mission projects to support.
Some projects receive seed money for up to five years.
Other projects with special long-term needs and opportunities enter into a covenant relationship with the presbytery and its congregations that can extend for many years. Ongoing education is an important part of the Doorstep Mission Program, and the doorstep missions themselves have, through the years, stretched congregations' understanding of the many ways that the need for justice lies close at hand. Every spring there is a presbytery-wide visitation of the projects being supported. I gained so much from the persons I visited. There are 21,900 members in 71 churches and 1 new church development in the Presbytery of Lake Michigan.