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OCWM Affects Many Lives

by Andy Gustafson, Assoc. Conference Minister for Stewardship & Financial Development

October/November 2005

I am often asked “what exactly is OCWM and how does it affect me?”

Our Church’s Wider Mission (OCWM) means teaching and healing, sending missionaries overseas, working here in the US, toward justice and compassion for all people.

It also means keeping the church strong by supporting local United Church of Christ congregations: the foundation of all mission.

What does it really mean to you? First read what it meant to these people:

“We were part of the New Initiative Church Development program and received OCWM monies, which helped us go from part-time to full-time ministry. That support helped to increase our membership. Over the years, we have grown and maintained a high level of giving in the hope that other churches that may be in the same situation that we were in, may benefit in the same way.”

Jim Chase, Pastor
Federated Church in Charlton
(a giver and receiver of OCWM monies)

“The most appealing thing is the sustainability. When others have left the Honduras tragedy or tsunami, Church World Service will still be there providing relief long after the media has abandoned the story. As soon as the media attention is gone, everyone else is gone and we know that OCWM will be there.”

Claudia Gere, Chair of the Mission Committee
Leverett Congregational Church UCC (small church in
Berkshire Hills that contributed a portion of a significant bequest to OCWM)

“ We see our money as being rain water added to the other rain water and becoming an ocean. With OCWM we can pool all our monies so that at least one program can be fully funded.”

Patricia Gnazzo-Pepper,Mission Chair
First Church in Cambridge (one of the highest per capita givers to OCWM)

“ With the monies you sent, we were able to do grassroots work and gain trust in the neighborhood. We arranged a health day for the lower income neighborhood and informed them of various services available. We provided members with the basic necessities of clothing and food. We have sponsored retreats to teach children about the dangers of drugs and alcohol and the importance of staying in school. At Christmas time, we invited everyone in the community to bring their children to the church so they could receive a gift.”

“As a result of this outreach to the community, we have spread our message of faith to the Hispanic community in various neighboring cities and towns and grew the church to its present size of almost 180 members.

“Your generous support of Our Church’s Wider Mission helped get us started and grow. We are now starting a church in the Lowell area.”

-Lisa De Paz, a UCC lay person, and her husband
Rev. Caesar De Paz, pastor,
Hispanic Community Church of Jamaica Plain and the Hispanic Community Church of Lowell

With your congregation’s support, OCWM can come closer to fulfilling God’s mission. And by being a part of OCWM, 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 the latest information about the OCWM and its budget, request our new poster or visit our website at http://www. macucc.org/ stewardship/ index.htm.