Lori Hoffman

Eliot Church is grateful to Theodore Edson Parker Foundation for a grant of $15,000 to be used in 2025 to sustain the work of the Day Center. The Parker Foundation has generously supported the Day Center in the past; this new grant comes at a time when it is needed most.

The Parker Foundation’s primary goal is to make effective grants that benefit the residents of the City of Lowell. Grants are made for a variety of purposes, such as social services, cultural programs, community development activities, education, community health needs, and urban environmental projects.

Joyfully and with thanks to God, Eliot’s Session and the Presbytery of Northern New England approved hiring Dr. Alvin Padilla as our Interim Pastor, and he agreed to serve, effective September 1, 2024.

Dr. Padilla is Dean of the Latino and Global Ministries Program at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He is now also serving as our pastor 3/4 time. He has agreed to lead our congregation, seeking to incarnate the gospel and all that it commands in the life, witness, and internal affairs of Eliot Church, its members, and its staff. As Moderator, he will facilitate our mission study and the process of seeking a permanent pastor. 

Because of his obligations at Gordon-Conwell, Dr. Padilla will not serve as Executive Director of our Day Center. Session and our Outreach Committee have put plans in place for Day Center executive leadership.