Our Church's Wider Mission
Our Church’s Wider Mission is:
…Sunday School lessons for kids…. Irrigation pipes in the desert…. Military chaplains in Iraq…. A welcoming approach to the Gospel…. Volunteers reading to the blind…. New ways to worship…. Refugees coming home to their new country…. Christians who take the Bible seriously but not literally.
The
United Church of Christ is a strong religious presence in
countless communities across the country-thanks above all
to faithful people, gifted leaders, and to the quiet steady
support of Our Church's Wider Mission.
Our
Church's Wider Mission is helping right now to bring the United
Church of Christ message to more and more people.
Each
UCC congregation decides how much of its members' financial
support the congregation will contribute to Our Church's Wider
Mission for the funding of Conference and national ministries.
In turn, each Conference, the regional setting of the church,
decides how much of its congregations' financial support it
will contribute to Our Church's Wider Mission for the funding
of national ministries.
OUR
CHURCH'S WIDER MISSION HAS TWO COMPONENTS:
BASIC
SUPPORT: National Basic Support provides for
the funding of the core programs of UCC national ministries.
The Massachusetts Conference gives 60% of Basic Support to
national ministries. For a description of how Basic Support
is used by the national setting, click here.
For a description of how your gifts are used throughout the
UCC - locally, by the Massachusetts Conference, UCC and nationally,
click here.
SPECIAL
SUPPORT: Special Support provides funding for
specific mission
opportunities
through the four special mission offerings of the UCC. 100%
of contributions to Special Support are forwarded on to the
national ministries. For a description of the Special Offerings
and the work they fund, click here.
With
your congregation's support, Our Church's Wider Mission can
come closer to fulfilling God's mission. And by being a part
of Our Church's Wider Mission, your congregation can come
closer to being all that God intends it to be, touching lives
at home and around the world, in the name of Jesus Christ.
For
resources to help educate your congregation about the good
news of Our Church's Wider Mission please contact:
Andrew Gustafson,
Associate Conference Minister for Stewardship and Financial
Development.
What
are the Special Mission Offerings?
One Great Hour of Sharing
"Who is my neighbor?" is this year's scripture text from Luke 10:29. The suggested date to receive the offering is March 2, 2008
 Strengthen
the Church
Come from the four winds, O breath... Strengthen the Church!
The suggested offering date is May 11, 2008. Alternative dates are Thanksgiving, the United Church of Christ Anniversary (June 25) or your church's anniversary.
Jesus
came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you...
As God has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this,
he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit." John 20:19b, 21b-22
Through our gifts to
Strengthen the Church, we further our commitment to be a multiracial,
multicultural church, open and affirming and accessible to
all. We strengthen and renew existing congregations. We fund
leadership for new congregations. We provide exciting new
programs for youth and young adults. We fund leadership development
for the whole church. Your Conference and Local Church Ministries
each direct half of your generous gifts for these purposes.
Neighbors in Need
Another World is Possible
Begin Promotion - October 2007
Neighbors in Need seeks to do both. This offering includes
support for the work of the Council for American Indian Ministry,
efforts to eradicate hunger, and the promotion of justice,
peace, and reconciliation.
 The Christmas Fund
Remembering Those Who Serve the Church
December 23, 2007
2005 Year End Figures
2006 Offering
The Magi Project
The Christmas Fund
Offering (formerly Veterans of the Cross), is one of four Special
Mission Offerings of the United
Church of Christ , is an important way of sharing our
joy at God's renewing and life-giving grace. The offering,
which is administered by The
Pension Boards on behalf of the UCC
, is an expression of joy and gratitude for those who
serve the church. Gifts to the Christmas Fund help provide
pension and health premium supplementation to low-income retirees,
emergency assistance to clergy families in need and Christmas
gift checks to hundreds of annuitants.
Your gifts are needed more than ever
to help the growing number of retirees whose low-income annuities
make it difficult to meet increasing living costs. This is
your opportunity to participate in God's promise of renewal
by enabling this ministry of compassion and care.
We have begun a three campaign known as the Magi Project with the goal of doubling the Annual Offering to the Christmas Fund by the year 2010. 2005 was the year in which we began the process of reframing the offering.
|
2005 UCC Annual Report