Big Cove Outreach
Big Cove values our relationships with our community partnerships. However, we change our direct outreach programs periodically to suit the needs we see in the community around us. For example, during this last Christmas, we collected toys for the parents to shop for at the CARE center Christmas shop. Prescreened individuals were able to shop for toys for their children for Christmas with a set dollar amount. Big Cove manned the shop and contributed toys.
LENT: In 2023, the Lenten project supports First Stop Homeless Ministries. In addition, a companion project is collecting food for The Care Center food pantry, which is experiencing increased demand due to escalating food prices and the ending of the emergency funding under the SNAP program.
Christmas Time: Big Cove provided greeting and pastoral counseling skills to the CARE Center’s Blue Christmas program. Blue Christmas helps people in our community that find the holiday period difficult. For the 2 years of the Blue Christmas program, Big Cove has been a major provider of program support.
Warm Accessories for the Homeless: Every Year Big Cove collects and packages over 50 scarves, stocking hats and gloves to give to the homeless population. This year packages of scarves, hats, gloves and socks were given to First Stop to provide to homeless through their day care center
Hospital Goodie Bags: For several years Big Cove has been encouraging the doctors and nurses at Huntsville Hospital and Crestwood for their service during the COVID crisis in the form of healthy snack bags. These bags are filled with yummy treats to eat, protein bars and mints for the hospital workers who are exhausted. Some of the recipients had tears when given these treats- they were remembered and appreciated.
Literacy: Big Cove has supported our local Flint River Apartments, subsidized housing, by proving both children’s and adult libraries to the renters.
Community Outreach: Each fall Big Cove puts on a Community Outreach event tailored to reach many different demographics. The main components are: a yard sale where donated items are provided to those in need at rock-bottom prices; a craft sale; free hotdogs, popcorn and drinks; access to our mission partners; bake sale; and children’s activities.
Connection meetings: Big Cove works in concert with many other mission providers in the Huntsville area through monthly connection meetings and a coordination called Charity Tracker.
Big Cove has a number of mission partners. Learn more about them below!
Mission, Outreach, and Evangelism
The BCPC community supports a variety of local, and international service and evangelism projects. There is an outreach mission team that meets monthly to discuss God’s call on Big Cove to the community. Mission and Outreach Ministry Team special events will be listed on the Events Page. Be sure to check it out!
Our Mission Partners
We have established partnerships with mission providers in our community in order to utilize their expertise in reaching various people in need. Friendships and relationships in our community can grow exponentially with new-found partnerships and those who are served. Through such relationships and experiences, we can really come to understand our community in a deeper way.
Care Center, New Hope AL - WHO ARE WE?
In the year 2000, four area churches (Cove United Methodist, Rivertree Church, Big Cove Presbyterian, and St. Columbia Episcopal) put their denominations aside and came together to start The CARE Center after recognizing the unmet needs of our under-resourced neighbors in southeastern Madison County. Initially, the mission provided emergency food, toiletries, baby products, school supplies and financial assistance (serving 60 families / month on average). By 2005, The CARE Center Executive Board and volunteers realized the importance of community development to help neighbors become self-sufficient and began to design opportunities for higher education.
Today, because of God’s grace, The CARE Center has grown significantly, impacting the lives of so many of our neighbors. Volunteers and staff are dedicated to walking through the crisis while offering hope & opportunity to our neighbors regularly. We are currently partnered with over 1,500 students and families through our partnership with local schools, including Madison County Elementary, Madison County High School, New Hope Elementary and High Schools, and Owens Cross Roads School.
The Mission of The Care Center is to Share the love and hope of Christ while empowering our neighbors in Southeastern Madison County through education, employment, and crisis support.
Presbyterian Home for Children - WHO ARE WE?
The Presbyterian Home for Children, recognizing the changing needs of children, provides a faith-based safe haven to children with their caregivers and young adults who are transitioning to adulthood through programs which nurture, educate, and equip them to become the fully functioning persons whom God created them to be.
Through life-changing innovative programs that keeps children safe, the Presbyterian Home for Children works with those in need, in a warm, Christian environment, to help them develop the life and social skills necessary to help them lead a successful, independent life.
The Presbyterian Home for Children, a ministry of the Presbyterian Churches of Alabama, cares for teenage girls who have experienced abuse and/or neglect, and boys and girls of all ages and their female caregivers who find themselves homeless because of poverty, abuse, or abandonment. The Home is accredited by Social Current, the leading accrediting organization for social services in the U.S. and Canada; and EAGLE, the world’s only faith-based accrediting body for ministry to children.
The Vine Counseling Center - WHO ARE WE?
The Vine is an ecumenical counseling center, located in the heart of Huntsville, that promotes emotional healing with the love and grace of Christ for individuals, couples, and families. For over twenty years the Vine has sought to facilitate healing and wholeness in human life and relationships using faith resources.
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INDIVIDUALS find relief from emotional distress, depression, anxiety, insecurities, and spiritual stagnation.
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COUPLES find the resources needed to save and repair their broken relationships
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FAMILIES are reconciled and learn to resolve conflict and to live emotionally healthy.
The Vine’s expertise is pastoral counseling and marriage and family therapy. Pastoral counseling is provided by a professional who is both psychologically and theologically trained. Pastoral Counseling is:
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A unique form of counseling which uses spiritual resources as well as psychological understanding for healing and growth.
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A specialized ministry of the church, providing professional counseling that is sensitive to a person’s religious beliefs and traditions.
The Vine's professional staff addresses issues of depression, anxiety, stress management, persistent guilt, how to live a normal life after surviving physical, verbal or sexual abuse, spiritual crisis, life adjustments, career changes, grief, thriving after a dysfunctional childhood, spiritual growth, healing wounds, overcoming bad habits, recovery from addictions, lack of intimacy with God, facing idolatry, disability, job loss.
First Stop, Inc - WHO ARE WE?
First Stop’s Mission is to encounter the homeless where they are, connect them to critical services and support, and empower them toward independent sustainable living.
Firsts Stop is located in the heart of Huntsville, near homeless settlements. First Stop exists not to just serve the homeless and make them more comfortable, but to help them out of homelessness. Their clients have suffered and endured an enormous amount of pain. They are faced with daily challenges, and in many cases, have lost hope. There are no easy answers or solutions, but a problem as complex and diverse as homelessness must be met with comprehensive solutions. First Stop’s team of Case Managers work one-on-one with homeless clients to identify obstacles, set goals, and partner with other agencies and community organizations to create a realistic plan for meaningful growth and change.