Posted: 12/19/03
Austin church adopts 50 families for care
By George Henson
Staff Writer
AUSTIN–The Christmas season marks a new, more personal relationship between God and humanity. Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin hopes to engender some new and personal relationships this holiday season as well.
Families within the church have adopted 50 families with ties to the Christian Women's Job Corps classes the church sponsors or one of the church's four church starts. The church starts were facilitated with funds from the Baptist General Convention of Texas and Austin Baptist Association.
Three of those congregations are in multi-housing projects of the Austin Housing Authority, and the fourth is in a mobile-home park.
Chris Rowley, director of Mission Austin and the Christian Women's Job Corps program, said in the past, church members have brought gifts to the church for families, and the gifts were distributed at a party held at the church.
“It was big and it was fun, but it was a bit impersonal. The families didn't get much of a chance to know one another,” she said. “People are really excited about how we're doing it this year.”
This year, Hyde Park families will deliver their gifts to each recipient family's residence. Most of the families are headed by single mothers, “who are notorious for being overlooked,” Rowley said. In addition to gifts, food also will be given along with a “What Christmas is All About” evangelistic tract.
Rowley encourages the Hyde Park volunteers not only to make a visit but to establish a relationship that lasts beyond Christmas.
“It's relationships that make the difference,” she said. “We're trying to take it to the next level, not just play Santa.”
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