The Harvest Offering’s Witness to God’s Grace
For more than 45 years, the Presbytery of Des Moines has been faithful to rural neighbors in Iowa and around the world with its own special offering.
In 1978, the Presbytery demonstrated its witness to God’s grace by supporting rural ministries in communities near and far. In the beginning, through the Harvest Sunday Offering, help was provided for educational opportunities to make available to ordinary rural people in less developed countries simple, basic agricultural knowledge special to their own type of agriculture.
In 1987, in response to the farm crisis here at home, the Rural Harvest Offering was born during very difficult circumstances—farm foreclosures, business closings, population loss. Presbytery members saw the hardships and worked together on a shared mission to meet the needs of rural neighbors.
In 1996, after five years of partnership with the Parish of San José in Berlín, El Salvador, a portion of the Rural Harvest Offering was designated for support of rural projects there. And in 2004, the Presbytery’s Joining Hands – Egypt partnership was included. These two partnerships represented an acknowledgement of the original intent of the Harvest Sunday Offering; to recognize the reality of rural neighbors worldwide, as well as the ongoing needs of Iowa’s rural communities.
In recent years, the Presbytery of Des Moines’ Harvest Offering grants have been offered by application to programs and projects that meet the criteria set forth by the Presbytery’s Committee for the Promotion of Social Righteousness. Funding has been provided for local initiatives and international grants which have prioritized women in agriculture who carry an extra burden in their own cultures and economies.
The Harvest Offering is a uniquely hands-on special offering. Congregations share the love of Christ with many friends and neighbors. Past giving supported a wide variety of innovative and inspired projects. It has provided emergency assistance in the eleventh hour for families and communities on the brink of disaster and it has encouraged ordinary people who care about their community to develop ministries of sharing and development. Iowa Presbyterians have stood together with brothers and sisters at home and afar.
Over the years, grants have gone to a wide variety of programs:
• Dexter Rural Neighbors for emergency assistance and self-help activities
• PrairieFire’s Renewing Rural Iowa, assisting with faith-based, ecumenical community organizing
• Food for Life for processing donated livestock and distributing meat to families in need in Union County
• Southern Iowa Ag Diversity Corporation to help diversify agricultural production to improve the income levels of the rural population
• Sharpsburg Presbyterian Church for preservation of the Spring General Store, the town’s only main street business and community gathering place
• Comm-UNITY for the Common Good in Wayne County for training neighbors to assist neighbors, linking the rural poor to available services, and the following year, to create a used furniture warehouse
• First Presbyterian Church of Creston for their “backpack mission” providing new backpacks to students in four school districts
• WeLIFT program to provide individuals with the necessary skills to find employment and function well in the workplace, sponsored by Trinity United Presbyterian Church in Indianola
• Corning’s weekend backpack project for students who rely on school programs for healthy food AND to support their local food pantry fundraising efforts
• Food pantries in Allerton Presbyterian Church to purchase gift cards to be used at the local grocery rather than stocking food that might spoil or go unused
• and First Arabic Presbyterian Church
• CROSS Outreach to support their mission of preventing homelessness through financial assistance toward rent, deposits, mortgage, electric or water bills
The Committee for the Promotion of Social Righteousness rededicated the Presbytery’s commitment to the Harvest Offering in 2023 to support local projects focused on food insecurity. Although the plight of hungry Iowans is not often on the front page of the news, congregations in the Presbytery recognize that needs still exist, and they have a role to play in addressing hunger in their midst. Assessing the needs and how best to address them is how local programs are most effective.
Since 1978, congregations across the Presbytery have shown unflagging support for this unique special offering with innovative ministries and generous giving. The Harvest Offering can be scheduled at any time during the year as best suits individual congregations. Grant applications are accepted and reviewed by the Committee for the Promotion of Social Righteousness, and that Committee determines funding. Contact Mission Executive Amgad Beblawi for more information.
