Mission and Outreach

Graystone's vision is to send every member into mission; encouraging them to go, give and participate in what God is doing in the world.

"Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation."  Mark 16:5

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Global and National Partners

Graystone has a long and storied history of partnering with missions and missionaries from around the globe.  Currently we are connected with missions in Africa, India, the Middle East and Far East, Central and South America, and North America.  More...

Find out more about the Christian faith in a relaxed, non-threatening atmosphere.  Enjoy good food, great conversation, and thought provoking teaching during Alpha.  Invite an old friend or meet a new one.   

Becoming A Member


We encourage anyone who is interested in Graystone to attend one of our seminars.  Classes are offered in the Fall and Spring of each year.  It is a great way to get to know some other people and find out more about who we are and what our mission is.  We encourage everyone to begin with the Alpha Course which is also offered in the Fall and Spring of each year. 

Spotlight on Missions:

NOLA Mission Trip:May 17-24, 2008 On May 17th, 2008, a diverse group of 20 Graystoners set out for New Orleans to participate in the rebuilding effort. Our team included a range of ages (high school to retired), experience (some had been on previous mission trips, some had not), talents (cooking, cleaning, dishwashing, encouraging, ripping out wallboard, pulling nails, removing moldy insulation, cutting and putting up wallboard, spackling seams, scraping exterior paint, painting interior walls). We were housed by Redeemer Presbyterian Church, whose mission is reaching out to those affected by Hurricane Katrina. We gutted one house, helped rebuild two others, and painted and cleaned the house where we were living.  Each day teams labored at the different work sites, then gathered in the evening for a delicious meal cooked by Sue Drummond (aided by Bob Gongaware), and shared reactions to the experience through prayer and discussion of Bible passages centered on the theme of “building”.  We learned that God wants us not only to rebuild houses but to “build each other up”, that Christ is the Cornerstone, and that we ARE God’s house when we do the work of Christ in the hurting places of the world. Here are brief comments by those who went: Sarah Gongaware: “In the New Orleans airport, a small jazz ensemble played ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’ to greet us [which] set the mood for the whole trip.” Vickie Morganti: “The sights [of Katrina damage] tugged at our hearts and brought us to tears. . . In gutting a home we gave a family a chance to rebuild their lives and start anew.” Jesse Randall: “New Orleans showed me . . . what happens when life literally washes the ground out from under our feet. . . we are all dependent on Jesus Christ.” Marilyn Brown: “We lived as a family – worked, played, and ate together—and grew to know and love each other. . . As the eldest member of the group, I found that there was still plenty for me to do – when a house is gutted someone has to carry away the trim, wallboard and insulation, then sweep up and carry away all the loose debris!” Kelly Drummond: “Besides the whole working-for-hours-until-we-couldn’t-stand-up-anymore thing, New Orleans was great. Just kidding. Gutting the house was a lot of fun. Amanda and I were skilled sledge hammer-ers, and we destroyed the first bedroom!” Amanda Jones: “If I could do rebuilding every day in New Orleans, I would in a heart beat!”  Bob Gongaware: “ ‘Passing the peace’ at Redeemer Church lasted longer than the sermon and seemed like a re-enactment of Pentecost. . . .The most memorable moment was when  Bob Wood anointed the house with oil. It was powerful and moving. I felt God’s presence.” Susan Drummond: “While the team labored, I cooked. . . . The oven door only opened halfway and the temperature controls would fall off in my hands . . . . I learned patience. . . .” Colin and Bethany Hurley: “The best part was watching [the team] fall in love with the city as we have. We are grateful that Graystone has become a part of this great mission!”Chelsie Brown: “This trip changed my perspective on New Orleans and the people who live there. . . . [Our home owner] loved his home city and was grateful to have us there. . . . The people are friendly, joyful, and full of hope, something I’d wish for in a place I call home.” Jeff Denlinger: “I enjoyed the people and the beauty and history of the city. . . There is life in this place, joy . . . and a Christian presence. Is that all there is? No. That’s why we send mission teams with the hope and help of the gospel, and we are all changed in the process.” Beth Ann Fanning: “If New Orleans were a person, it would be one of the most colorful and exuberant I have ever met. . . One to whom you say, ‘Love ya. Hope to see ya’ again soon.” Neil Lehman: “The trip allowed me to connect with a wonderfully diverse range of Graystoners, with believers in Redeemer Presbyterian church, and with people who had only been nameless faces on t.v. To connect with the thousands of Christians who have come to New Orleans to assist the victims of Katrina was a deeply rewarding and moving experience for me, one which I enthusiastically recommend to others.” Jessica Risinger: “ The people of New Orleans . . . took every chance they had to thank us . .  . . the positive response fed the energy of our group. . . I can’t wait to go back!” Ben Shopland: “This was my second trip to New Orleans. . . I was amazed at how much progress has been made since last year. . . there is a lot of work left to be done and it is our privilege as Christians to take advantage of the abundant opportunity for mission. . .” Susan Shopland: “On the last day, our work crew consisted of 12 Catholics from New Jersey, two Episcopalians, one Lutheran, and 7 Presbyterians from Indiana, PA.  As members of the body of Christ, we can meet needs which we could not meet alone! Dave Stewart: “Thank you Graystone for your prayers and for making this opportunity available to me.” Larry Rayko: “The trip was a new experience for me. . . . To see all that needs to be done is overwhelming, but it felt good to be a small part of it. I’m glad I decided to go and encourage anyone to try it.”   Bob Wood: “ The work was hard, dirty, exhausting . . . Rewards were getting to know the Graystone group and new people from New Orleans, Sue’s cooking, and above all serving God and the people of New Orleans.  Would I do it again? Yes. Should you? Yes.” We hope these comments capture the NOLA 2008 experience for you. However, the story is not complete without noting that the 20 people who went were just the “tip of the iceberg”.  Counting all who prayed for us, donated money for van rentals or trip costs, cooked chili, baked cornbread, or donated money at the chili cookoff, we estimate that six to eight times that number of people actually participated in this trip!  Thank you, Graystone!!!    Susan Shopland, Congregational Awareness Team

 

Local Partners

Graystone supports both financially and personally local missions such as St. Andrews Village, Birthright and Life-Way Pregnancy centers, Child Evangelsim Fellowship, Christian Counseling Services, and many more.  The gifts and resources God has given us are for others and the good news of God's kingdom being lived out and shared.  More...


Each year Graystone donates 1,000's of shoe boxes to Samaritan's Purse in Operation Christmas Child.  Million's of children receive a gift for Christmas that they otherwise would never see and hear the good news of the story of Christmas and a God who loves them.
          

 

To find more and how you can be a part of this mission click the shoe box.

West Virginia Mission Trip Update

 God Is Alive and At Work in West Virginia!  I’m sure this comes as no great revelation to those reading this.  As the trip team leader I outlined how we would develop our devotions each evening.  How do we know that God exists on a personal level?  Most participants on the trip have had the same institutional influences—church, biblical teachings, science, education, the arts, family, etc.  But we all have unique life experiences and interactions with God. At one point in my life I was acting Quaker State District Manager at St. Mary’s, West Virginia where I was responsible for sales and operations.  Two major relocations and three promotions later I needed up on long term disability with many health issues.  After many, many years had passed I found myself in West Virginia getting to know my fellow mission trip workers and the work site supervisor, one Harry Drake.  All of a sudden Harry and I recognized each other.  Harry had formerly been an oil distributor out of St. Mary’s district.  God had other career plans for Harry also!  He had gone back to college, earned a degree, continued on to seminary and had become a Baptist minister and an employee of the West Virginia Presbytery.   What are the statistical odds of the two of us ending up on the same mission team?  This was not a random occurrence; God had put us back together to do His work.  I have been enriched and blessed by these mission trips in so many ways.  I am thankful that God allows me to serve Him.  I have now been on six trips to West Virginia (4 different locations in the southern part of the state) and have already reserved a date to take another group next year.
Robert MacDonald

 

This was my first work mission experience.  I had heard of the great times that my friends had had on previous trips and was expecting a similar experience—kinda like your first time at church camp—and I was not disappointed. The trip down to Kopperston (also spelled Kopperstone), West Virginia, was time spent talking at length with my friends.  While there, I met new friends—workmates who had the same ideals, beliefs, work ethics, and most of all, a desire to have fun while helping others.  The people we met and in whose homes we worked and with whom we commiserated, were a delight.  At the local Presbyterian Church we worshipped with the congregation, and had a hymn sing-along.  They were precious and at times hilariously funny, although beset by many problems. Meal times together with the work crew provided excellent food and good conversation.  We, in short, bonded in Christian friendship like in no other setting I’ve experienced.  In my particular work assignment, I learned the use of new equipment and strategies for home repair that I now use at home.  A particular strategy was “how to extract a screwdriver dropped by my mentor from a soil line”  - but that is a long story for another time. When asked if I would be willing to come back next year, the answer was an immediate, “YES.”

Ken Hershman
This was my 4th trip to West Virginia to spend a week in mission work.  As always it was a rewarding, tiring, work-filled week spent with Christians from our Kiskiminetas Presbytery.  I met two new friends and caught up with several past mission trip friends.  One of the things I love about the trip is sharing meals (including preparation, shopping and clean up) with a gang of people.  There is conversation, fellowship, and fun around the table.  A highlight for me is my memory of the rainy day that five of us donned bright yellow hooded hazmat suits and safety goggles and washed down 2 houses top to bottom.  We surely looked like aliens from outer space—climbing ladders, wielding scrub brushes and hoses, and removing years of accumulated grime.  At the first home we worked on, the owner rushed out as we were breaking to go for lunch to give us a pasta salad and cake in thanks for what we had done.  At the second, and larger of the houses, the 80+ year old owner insisted we come in for brownies and coffee; she made us take off our damp chilly sweatshirts and proceeded to warm them in her dryer.  Actually it was my sneakers that were soaked and my feet and socks, very wet since it had rained off and on much of that day.  Another fellow who had been the recipient of repairs done to his home by a previous work team—stopped by to visit us several times bringing several loaves of home baked bread and cinnamon rolls as his way of expressing thanks for the help he’d received.  On the day that the weather reports predicted an all day downpour our work supervisor (Harry) suggested we spend the day at our home base and do some much needed work to ready the house for the work teams scheduled for this summer.  That day we unpacked 150 cans of paint, built shelving and organized all the painting supplies, finished the plumbing for three new showers, primed and painted the shower area and hauled tools and materials for construction which were put away in the storage room.  Ten of us working all day in that basement made a big difference and we knew our contribution would really benefit the teams coming after us to Kopperston, WV.  It is our privilege to minister to those in need as servants of Jesus Christ through our labor and prayers with our finances.  I look forward to going to West Virginia next year.  Here are the “perks” of going on a mission trip:Packing is easy (I take the same wardrobe every year!)The mountains of southern West Virginia are beautifulThe people are friendly, grateful and kind (and I love the “accent”)The work team becomes a familyI learn new skills on the job and work off the calories tooWe get to meet the people we help and interact with the local church and communityEvery trip is a unique experienceSandy Burwell