First Congregational Church - UCC

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SUNDAY Supplement

Outreach

| Local | Regional | Global |

Local Outreach Mission Through the Neighborhood Caring Committee, the Outreach Committee, and the various mission teams in the church we strive to be the hands and feet of Christ in our community. In addition to developing relationships with persons in our neighborhood and community, we support many non-profit organizations throughout our local community. We provide various physical services and financial support to Safe Place, The Haven of Rest/Inasmuch House facilities for the homeless, the Southwest Michigan Food Bank and neighborhood Food Pantry, Gracious Homes, Habitat for Humanity, Crop Walk, and Backpack Program / Franklin School.

Our church also provides a worship space, financial and congregational support to the members of the Chin (Burmese) Baptist Church through the work of our Burmese Community Mission Team. In addition, the First Monday Sewing Plus arm of the Women's Circles of Fellowship makes and donates items to Charitable Union, nursing homes and extended care facilities.

The young people of our Jr. and Sr. High Fellowships rake yards, go Christmas caroling to nursing homes and other facilities for the elderly, and do other service oriented activities throughout the year. Our Confirmation candidates and their adult sponsors are also required to do service work within the community and here at church during their year-long Confirmation process.

Regional Outreach Mission Some of our financial support goes nationally to Crop Walk and Our Church's Wider Mission (OCWM). Through OCWM we give financial assistance to areas of national disasters. We are a generous contributor to OCWM which supports the UCC Michigan Conference and the UCC national structure. It consumes the largest part of our outreach budget. But we also do hands on service work around the country. We have sent a work team to the New Orleans area to do clean-up and demolition in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Each year our Sr. high youth go on a mission trip to an at-risk neighborhood or community. The Outreach Committee also financially supports area campus ministries and the regional seminaries of the United Church of Christ: Chicago Theological Seminary, United Theological Seminary and Eden Theological Seminary.

Global Outreach Mission Our global financial support includes Tools & Blankets for Church World Service, One Great Hour of Sharing, and global disasters such as the tsunami relief effort. We have supported missionaries in foreign countries, most recently Susan and Scott Valiquette in South Africa. Our church school sponsors two children in need through letters and donations: Victor, in Santa Domingo, and Bruna, in Brazil. The Third World/Guatemala Mission Team has made five mission trips to Guatemala, the most recent being in early 2007. During these trips, members have constructed on-site water holding tanks and cook stoves in homes in indigenous villages in the highlands of Guatemala. Many members of our church give significant financial support for these trips beyond their pledged donations. Members of our congregation have also participated in medical mission trips to Guatemala.

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First Congregational Church - UCC - Outreach

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