Funds from the 2022 Presbytery of Lake Michigan Property Proceeds Grants will help establish a ministry to support the deaf and hard of hearing, install new toilets and pay utility bills related to a youth mission program, and establish a pilot Journey of Justice program.

Some of the funds also will help fund the participant fees for a Young Adult Volunteer and send three youth to summer resident camp programs.

This is the third year that the presbytery awarded grants using funds set aside from 2019 property sales. Grants are awarded to congregations and worshipping communities to help fund community outreach programs, justice ministry work and new worshipping communities; to help individual young people participate in leadership programs and workshops or churches to provide such opportunities, and to help individual youth pay registration fees to attend Presbyterian-related camps in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana.

The 2022 grant recipients include:

  • Fairplain Presbyterian Church in Benton Harbor — $2,225.30 to replace eight old toilets with more efficient units and to pay increased utility bills related to having the church used by workers and volunteers with YouthWorks during mission work weeks.
  • First Presbyterian Church in Holland — $2,225.31 to pay professional and student interpreters during regular Sunday services and special events, like Ash Wednesday and Quiet Christmas, as the congregation establishes a ministry for the deaf and hard of hearing community.
  • UKirk at Michigan State University — $1,500 to offset costs of curriculum, leader development training for students, and a mission immersion/ educational experience to engage participants in the Journey of Justice to learn about the past and take action steps in the present at the intersection of faith and structural racism.
  • Logan Recob at Brooklyn Presbyterian — $3,000 to help cover costs of participating in the Young Adult Volunteer program.
  • Donna, Stephen and Caleb Henson-Bohlen — $100 each to help cover the cost of each attending a week of summer resident camp.