WORSHIP & DEVOTIONALS
Opening Worship | Sunday, October 4, 2020
DEVOTIONAL • Monday, October 5, 2020
UCC Special Mission Offerings
Being 5 for 5 means that your church is a leader in providing support to Our Church’s Wider Mission and the UCC Special Mission Offerings which sponsor vital ministries that bring hope to people in the U.S. and around the world.
Learn more about the five offerings below.
Our Church's Wider Mission (OCWM) is the name we give to gifts from churches in support of the ministries of the Hawai‘i Conference and the United Church of Christ. OCWM supports our youth, our pastors, our churches, and our missions.
One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS), as part of Our Churches Wider Mission, is the special mission offering of the United Church of Christ that carries God’s message of love and hope to people in crisis. The UCC works with international partners to provide sources of clean water, food, education and health care, small business micro-credit, advocacy and resettlement for refugees and displaced persons, and emergency relief and rehabilitation. OGHS also supports domestic and international ministries for disaster preparedness and response.
Offering typically received on the Fourth Sunday of Lent.
Strengthen the Church offering re-imagines and builds the future of the UCC. Shared at the conference and national levels, STC largely supports youth ministries and full-time leaders for new churches in parts of the country where the UCC does not have a strong presence. Its also provides support for existing church's new initiatives.
Offering usually collected on Pentecost Sunday.
Neighbors in Need (NIN) is a special mission offering that supports the ministries of justice and compassion throughout the United States. One-third of offerings collected for Neighbors in Need supports the Council for American Indian Ministry (CAIM). Two-thirds of this offering are used by the UCC's Justice and Local Church Ministries (JLCM) to provide grants for a variety of justice initiatives, advocacy efforts and direct service projects.
Offering typically received on First Sunday of October as part of World Communion Sunday.
The Christmas Fund for the Veterans of the Cross and the Emergency Fund is a Special Mission Offering that congregations have been supporting for over 100 years. The offering is administered through the United Church Board for Ministerial Assistance, the charitable arm of the Pension Boards. Funds provide direct financial support to those who serve the church and are facing financial difficulties. Active and retired clergy, lay employees, and their surviving spouses may be eligible for the Supplementation of Small Annuities, Supplementation of Health Premiums, Emergency Grants, and/or Christmas “Thank You” Gift Checks.
Offering typically received on the Sunday before Christmas.