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Pastor's Pen
The ministries
of Shiloh’s Family Life Center are some of our
most creative and uplifting programs. One of
our longest running programs is our male youth
enhancement project, a latchkey program for
at-risk youth, that has been written about and
studied all over the country. The Senior Center
for the Hearing Impaired is one of the first
elderly deaf day care programs in the nation.
The debutantes, Child Development Center, teen
mothers take charge, and AIDS outreach programs
have all touched the lives of countless people
in Washington, DC. On this 25th anniversary, we
congratulate the staff, board, and friends of
the Foundation for all their tireless efforts on
behalf of the work of the Family Life Center.
When I first arrived at Shiloh 16 years ago, we
found ourselves facing a serious problem. Food
services (then managed by the Center) and
facilities rentals were unable to pay the
expenses of the Family Life Center building.
Often meetings were held late into the night as
we all tried desperately to solve the shortfall
issues. Then Shiloh Baptist Church decided to
step in and assume the Family Life Center's
building expenses as well as take over the
management of the food service program The
Family Life Center Board was reconstituted as
the Family Life Center Foundation with the sole
responsibilities of seeking grants for and
managing the Center’s programs.
Roughly one year after that decision, when the
initial grant by the Ford Foundation expired in
the early 90s, the Board was forced to cut staff
but maintained a director part time. Without a
second thought, the church assumed the payment
of the part-time director's salary, continued to
keep the lights on, and the building heated and
cooled, so that the male youth enhancement
project could continue. Today the church
provides an annual grant to the center as well
as supplies the in-kind services of office
space, janitorial support, and security. A
Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) was adopted
several years ago by the Church and the Center,
which outlines the working relationship between
both entities.
At this point in the Family Life Center's
journey, grants have again dried up and, as the
children of Israel in Egypt, we are forced to
make bricks without straw. However, over the
years when the going has been tough the Family
Life Center Foundation has rolled up its sleeves
and gotten the job done. With a hard-working
and generous board, as well as dedicated and
committed staff, we will again face this
challenge with prayer and sacrifice, and we will
overcome.
Christians are people of hope. We believe that
for the Family Life Center Foundation the best
is yet to come
Reading through the Bible
November 25,
2007:Jeremiah 23:1-6; Luke 1:68-79;
Colossians 1:11-20; Luke 23:33-43
December 2, 2007 - First Sunday of
Advent: Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 111; Romans
13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44
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