First Presbyterian Church, Manchester, IA

One of our guiding Bible passages comes from the prophet Jeremiah, who told the Israelites to "seek the welfare of the city" (Jeremiah 29:7).We believe it isn't an accident that God has put our church and each of us where we are and that we're here as His ambassadors to show His love to our neighbors through:

Acts of faithful care, love, and kindness in our daily lives.

Groups of people coming together around a common passion or idea.

Partnering with other organizations in the community in responding to an unmet need.

If you share our passion, we'd love to talk to you about how we might make a difference together!

Our outreach and mission ministry consists of two types of work: ongoing and occasional projects. Here's a small taste of some of both:

Ongoing Projects

School Backpack Program - Several years ago, we partnered with Northeast Iowa Food Bank and their program that provides a free backpack full of food for the weekend for qualifying students. The program has been a huge success. Our volunteers meet on Fridays to distribute the backpacks to elementary students. 

Birthday Bags - We also started a Birthday Bag program where students, who elect to do so, will receive a bag with cake mix, candles, frosting, plates and napkins on their birthday so that they can celebrate with their family.

Second Helpings - Second Helpings is a free local meal served each Monday evening. 3 or 4 times each year, we provide part of the meal and the hands to serve it.

Souper Bowl of Caring - On Super Bowl Sunday our congregation collects an offering of canned goods and financial gifts as part of the Souper Bowl of Caring. These are given to the local food back to help feed hungry families in Delaware County.

Christians Concerned Ingathering - Each year our congregation collects health and hygiene products for the Delaware County HACAP Office

Occasional Projects

Each year, we take on special fundraising for local and global mission projects. In past years, we have raised funds for:

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

Operation Santa Claus

Operation Christmas Child

The Good Neighbor Society

Camp Bear Creek (formerly Camp Wyoming)

Pay It Forward

Helping Services for Youth and Families

Presbyterian Peacemaker Carmen Anzora's work in El Salvador

Church member mission trips to the Dominican Republic with Project 52