Mission of the Month
Salem Stewardship will be highlighting one mission project each month during the year. Check back frequently to see how you can help support these organizations.
Mission of the Month for March 2016
ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING
Through One Great Hour of Sharing, United Church of Christ members reach out in the name of Christ to:
- Build sustainable communities. OGHS supports self-help programs in more than 80 nations to build sustainable communities that enable people to stand against hunger, disease, illiteracy, and other forces of injustice that deny and destroy dignity.
- Respond to disaster. OGHS provides emergency and long-term assistance to people in the aftermath of hurricanes, tornados, storms, floods, tidal waves, fires, explosions, technological disasters, civil strife, war, and other natural or human-caused events. On average, OGHS responds to a disaster once every 2.5 days.
- Minister to refugees. OGHS responds with advocacy and help, hope and hospitality for people who have been uprooted from their homes. More than 30 million of the world’s people are uprooted at any given time.
In cooperation with Global Ministries, Church World Service, Action by Churches Together, Interchurch Medical Assistance, Foods Resource Bank, Oikocredit, Freedom from Hunger and hundreds of local partners around the world, OGHS is part of a remarkable network of service and caring that is efficient, effective and faithful. Administrative costs are typically less than 8 percent annually.
The UCC unites with Christians in eight other Protestant denominations and Church World Service in One Great Hour of Sharing, thus multiplying the effectiveness and extent of our witness many times over. The partnership we share with nearly 6,000 UCC congregations across the United States and Puerto Rico is where this remarkable miracle which connects us to the world begins. The UCC annually channels more than $3,000,000 through OGHS to humanitarian needs in the world.
The OGHS offering is administered through Wider Church Ministries of the United Church of Christ. We will be receiving our OGHS offering on March 5 and 6. Please use the envelope in your bulletin for your contribution. You may also make a gift on-line at the ucc.org website, or send your gift made payable to OGHS to : One Great Hour of Sharing, United Church of Christ, 700 Prospect Ave., Cleveland, OH 44115-1100.
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Mission of the Month for December, 2015
Love Shines Through
“The Christmas Fund for the Veterans of the Cross”
The Christmas Fund for the Veterans of the Cross and the Emergency Fund is a special mission offering of the United Church of Christ that grants us an opportunity to recognize and honor those who have served and continue to serve in lay and authorized ministries of the United Church of Christ.
One of the unique aspects of the Christmas Fund is that the funds provide direct financial assistance to individual UCC clergy and lay church employees—the funds do not support programs or institutions, but people.
The goal for the 2015 Christmas Fund offering is to raise $1,700,000 for the vital ministries of Pension Supplementation, Health Premium Supplementation, Emergency Grants, and Christmas “Thank You” Gift Checks.
During 2014, Christmas Fund donations provided gifts totaling $1,538,531.
The theme of the 2015 Christmas Fund is Love Shines Through. Please help the UCC Pension Board provide needed assistance which will impact the lives of hundreds of persons during the coming year.
We will receive the Christmas Fund offering on Christmas Eve, December 24. You will find the offering envelope in your bulletin. You may also donate by sending your gift to: Rev. Krista Betz, The Pension Boards, 475 Riverside Drive, Room 1020, New York, NY 10015, or donate on-line at ucc.org. Thank you!
The Stewardship Task Force
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