Wednesday, July 21, 2010

An Interview with the Gillettes and Millers

We sat down for a few minutes to talk with Jen & Marty Miller and Pastors Bruce & Carolyn Gillette of Limestone Presbyterian (the Gillettes are seated in the center).  Fun fact:  Pastor Carolyn is quite the accomplished songwriter - you can find her music on www.carolynhymns.com!


Jen & Marty have been active in Family Promise since early 2009 as part of the Core Team to help launch the network (Jen is also a deacon at Limestone Pres).  They are both very busy with their careers, Marty in finance and Jen in education, also working on her doctoral degree.  Despite their schedules, they enjoy their key role in Family Promise.  As Marty states: "we are so busy in our 'normal life' but we make time to for Family Promise."

Pastor Bruce has been familiar with Family Promise since 1993. In fact, two of his former congregations in New Jersey have been actively hosting homeless families as part of their local Family Promise networks.

Limestone Presbyterian has a history of involvement in homelessness causes, with strong ties to both Elkton, MD-based Meeting Ground and the Delaware-based Friendship House.  Pastor Bruce clearly sees Family Promise as complementary to these tremendous organizations, as volunteers become directly engaged with homelessness in the comfortable environment of their own church.  In fact, he believes this will motivate more members to be involved with other homelessness organizations.  Another of Pastor Bruce's motivations for joining Family Promise is found in the biblical passage John 17, where Jesus prays for the unity of believers.  When we asked what advice our Limestone Presbyterian members would have for prospective congregations, Pastor Bruce stated "the best way for us to be closer to God is to what God calls us to do."

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