For several years, the Women's Retreat has been a beacon weekend. Being able to get away from normal, daily life has given the women of CPC time to reflect, learn, and worship in a way that encourages them when they return. Each year women deepen friendships and make new ones over meals, fellowship, fun, and conversation.

Watch the testimony from above to get a look into how the retreat has affected Maggie's life and enjoy the pictures below of past retreats.

In October, we got to celebrate 40 years of God's work at Clemson Pres! It was such a joy to look back at where we've been and spend time being thankful. Rev John Hall preached and we shared an outdoor meal together.

FOUNDING MEMBERS GOT TOGETHER TO TALK ABOUT THEIR MEMORIES

PICTURES FROM THE DAY

Mercy Ministry Team Member, Grace, shares how this ministry has impacted her family and life. Watch her testimony:

Our Mercy Ministry Team has been hard at work over the past year revamping how they serve our church and community. They have clarified their vision, mission, and goals as well as been working to grow our partnerships with local organizations.

What's it like to be a college student at Clemson Pres?  Abby Thorsland shared her story of how God has been at work during her time in college and at CPC. 

The CPC Guatemala Mission Team recently returned from their trip! Below are accounts of the trip. Thank you for praying and supporting our team as they traveled and came alongside our brothers and sisters in Guatemala to love the community and share the gospel. 

In late March, Clemson Pres sent a group of businesspeople to Guatemala to mentor high school students in the Christian school called Mana de Vida in Escuintla, Guatemala.   The team taught business principles and judged in a Shark Tank-type event the school sponsors every year for the micro businesses the students run.   In addition, the team visited several homes of the families of students. In each home, we had the opportunity to share a time of prayer with the family. We also had opportunities to consult with local businesses that have a relationship with the local church called Vida Real.  During the week, the team had many opportunities to share their spiritual journey and to talk about how Jesus has informed their business practices.  It was a great week of blessing for everyone involved!

Mana de Vida is a Christian School serving over 500 students. It is much more than a school as it cares about transforming the entire family and community through the love of Jesus.

While the majority of the team was mentoring through business, one team member, who serves as the sponsorship coordinator for Mana de Vida in the US, had the joy of delivering greetings and gifts to students sponsored by our very own CPC members!

From the team member delivering the gifts:

What a blessing to see the smiles and gratitude of the students receiving a card or small gift. Simple words of encouragement and the knowledge that others are praying go a long way to show God’s love to children in difficult circumstances. Additionally, Circle 4 has taken on the entire school to provide personalized birthday greetings to each child attending the school, along with some love from Clemson.  I had the privilege of delivering these to some of the students with March birthdays. The kids receiving these sent a big “Thank you and Go Tigers!” back to the “Abuelita’s” of Circle 4.

I also worked with middle and high school students who are learning English to provide video meetings between students and their sponsors living in the US. It was exciting to see the advancement of the students in their English skills as well as watch the connections between students and sponsors being formed.

RUF-International has been welcoming, loving, and serving International students at Clemson since 1989. Over the years, thousands of Internationals have experienced warm hospitality while at Clemson.

We're so thankful for RUF-I and the work the Lord does through them. Recently one of RUF-I's students shared her story with us during worship service. We hope you're encouraged by God's work in her life!

The Men's Retreat in 2024 made a big impact on the men of Clemson Pres. Recently Thomas Austin shared how the retreat and the men of the church brought him encouragement and truth when he needed it.

In early December, 14 Clemson Pres members went to help MNA's disaster relief efforts. MNA Disaster Relief split the group on Friday and Saturday to help with different locations and needs. They were all around the Hendersonville area dealing with mudslide cleanup, building a shed for a family to hold things from their flooded basement, fallen tree cleanup, widening a path for large trucks to be able to get in to help, moving donated furniture, and other odd jobs to bless Arden Pres that has been hosting groups coming to help. They were encouraged by meeting other PCA church groups from as far away as Maryland that were also there helping.

On October 27th the CPC Life Sunday School class helped lead us in worship! This Sunday School is for adults with disabilities and quite possibly has the most fun of any ministry. Their joy and dedication is a testimony to God's work in and through them. We are so grateful for this class and how they lead us with love and encouragement. The importance of their presence in our church family and friendship cannot be overstated.

If you weren't able to be in the service, watch the clips below!

After a chaotic and stressful week, it has been so good to be the church and experience God's presence and provision. From having worship service without power to an impromptu potluck with our neighbors, God has reminded us what a gift his people are to one another. He has provided us with encouragement, relief, and kindness this week.

On Saturday, several groups from CPC went to various sites to tackle cleanup and tree removal. While much remains to be done in our congregation, community, and region, this was a good place to start.

We're deeply grateful to everyone who gave their time, energy, and resources to make a difference. Here are some highlights from our work day:

Click above to hear about the Orangeburg Team's trip this past July.

They joined our sister church, New City, in making renovations for a men's treatment center and provided childcare in the form of VBS for a class that New City's leadership was leading for parents. 

Women's Bible is starting up again for the fall. This time the groups are studying Colossians.

For years, Women's Bible Study has provided a place for women in our church and community to study God's Word in both large group and small groups. Women have been encouraged and supported while growing in their relationship with God and one another. 

Dear CPC Friends,

Thank you so much for your support of our trip to Orangeburg!  What a wonderful time our Team had serving together, and serving alongside Pastor JP Sibley, his family, and the members of New City Fellowship.  

Serving together as a team on various New City facility maintenance projects and leading a family VBS outreach was a great privilege for us... and a lot of fun!  

• The facility projects included: (1) cleaning out a storage area damaged from a roof leak; (2) installing a chain-link fence for a play area; (3) cleaning/sealing picnic tables; (4) cleaning out an “abandoned” home that will be used to house those in need; (5) replacing light fixtures at the Rise Ministry building, a ministry that will help men overcome addictions and become financially independent and followers of Christ; (6) spraying the church facility for bugs -  (Thanks Rotie!);  and (7) general cleaning of the church facility in preparation for the VBS.  The kids jumped right in with the adults on the cleaning chores and had so much fun!!
• VBS: The VBS team spent a lot of time preparing for the VBS sessions that occurred on Thurs, Fri, and Sat evenings.  This included learning songs and skits to help communicate the lessons and planning fun activities.  What great helpers the kids were!  There were about a dozen visitors who came to the VBS, (kids and parents), and all were very positive about the experience.  Please pray that the Lord would draw them to Himself and into New City.  

In closing, our Team was so thankful for the opportunity to participate with New City Fellowship in building God’s kingdom in Orangeburg.  We hope to return to Orangeburg not only to meet needs and bring encouragement to our sister church but also to help our church grow in our vision to follow our Lord’s command to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).

Thanks again for your support of this effort!

The 2023 Orangeburg Team

Since last August, we've had two opportunities to come alongside our brothers and sisters in Ukraine as they serve their communities. The last round of crates we prepared are heading to Ukraine to be sorted and delivered as needed. Watch the video below to learn more about how the crates are being delivered and used and to see how the Lord is at work in one woman's life.

We love getting to work with Ripple of One. Recently they did a write up about our partnership. We're so thankful for their work in our community and for getting to know the Ripple families.

READ THE WRITEUP