offering – We are the First Congregational Church in Winchester https://fcc-winchester.com A Christ-centered nurturing community, growing in faith, serving in love, welcoming all with joy. Thu, 12 Nov 2020 17:18:40 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.2 https://i0.wp.com/fcc-winchester.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/cropped-cross-2.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 offering – We are the First Congregational Church in Winchester https://fcc-winchester.com 32 32 71464776 Just Peace Offering https://fcc-winchester.com/latest-news/just-peace-offering/ Thu, 08 Oct 2020 14:33:16 +0000 https://fcc-winchester.com/?p=9826 The recipient this year of our annual Just Peace offering was Haley House of Roxbury. Haley House addresses basic human needs through five interconnected branches including a soup kitchen and food pantry, as well as a housing program offering affordable housing for low-income families and formerly homeless individuals. Once again, the generosity of this congregation has contributed to the welfare of many persons in need of a helping hand with a contribution of $4,550! In a time of hardship for many, your generous giving will make a significant difference. Thank you for being the loving and compassionate people you are.
The Mission and Outreach Ministry

 

Dear Friends and Members of First Congregational Church:


October is a time in our church family life when we collect a special offering specifically focused on areas of justice and peace. Our denomination calls this our ‘Just Peace’ Offering. This always resonates deeply with the lived values of our faith, and 2020 has certainly brought justice and peace to the forefront.

 

The Outreach Ministry gets to do many fun things to impact our town, broader community, country, and world (hint hint – we would love to have you join us!! Send an email to betsygoodelll@gmail.com to check us out!).

 

One of our tasks is choosing the organization to receive our Just Peace offering.

 

This year it was easy. Amid all of us wrestling with racism, justice, and access to a better future for every family, a few of your hale and hearty Outreach ministry members have had a chance to visit and be part of Haley House. We encourage you to venture out and visit them and we are happy to be designating Haley House as our Just Peace 2020 offering.

 

Haley House is steps from Dudley Square in Roxbury. At Haley House, there is direct work to empower community members to participate in and make the way to a better and stronger future for themselves and their neighborhood. Through an amazing coffee shop and cafe they provide a community gathering place powered by Roxbury residents who learn to cook, serve, and mange a small business. They also provide a soup kitchen, elder meal program, and urban farming outreach. Since food and shelter and the most basic of needs, Haley House also manages over 100 affordable housing units in the South End, many of which are reserved for those transitioning from shelters.
Haley House is dedicated to helping those made vulnerable by the harshest effects of inequality move toward wholeness and economic independence. They offer collaborative living and working environments to:

 

  • Build communities and connections across boundaries
  • Model creative alternatives that confirm the intrinsic dignity and worth of each person
  • Challenge the attitudes and structures that perpetuate suffering

Let’s use our resources to make justice flow like a river with our Haley House friends who are directly engaged in support, social justice, and access programs. Thank you for being generous with our Just Peace offering to Haley House! Donations can be made through check, PayPal, or Venmo. Just write “Just Peace” or “Haley House” in the memo field.

 

With faith, joy, and gratitude

 

Your Outreach teammates – Janet Vaughn, Patricia Brady, Julia Daggett, Lenore. Eforo, Laura Bailey, Lauren Seibold, Sarah Girotti, Betsy Goodell

]]> 9826 Special Easter Offering in Response to Covid-19 https://fcc-winchester.com/latest-news/special-easter-offering-in-response-to-covid-19/ Wed, 01 Apr 2020 19:26:01 +0000 https://fcc-winchester.com/?p=8800 Dear Friends,

 

One of the core principles of our Mission and Outreach Ministry at First Congregational Church in Winchester is to identify opportunities for our church to serve the community. Typically, this time of year we would select a well-deserving organization to be the recipient of our Easter Offering. Given we are amidst a global pandemic with many people in our community facing serious health concerns and potential financial hardship, we wanted to be involved in affecting the response in our community.

 

To better position our church to deal with the impact and recovery associated with Covid-19, our Leadership Team has created the FCC Covid-19 Emergency Response Fund. This fund is designed to help our congregation and wider community address needs related to Covid-19. While we don’t fully know the extent of needs to come, we see on the horizon using these funds to help individuals and organizations respond and rebound from the current situation. Examples of support could look like; help with household expenses for someone who has lost their job, support for an elder with computer needs around tele-health, providing for funeral expenses, help to meet life-sustaining financial obligations, help for Outdoor Church and Dwelling Place participants (organizations that we usually support) and potentially much more.  Towards this end, there will be a small team established with Rev. Judy Arnold to confidentially manage the fund for the months ahead.

 

We hope you will consider giving generously to our  Covid-19 Emergency Response Fund by donating to this special Easter offering and beyond. Checks should be made out to First Congregational Church, noting “Easter Offering” in the memo and mailed to 21 Church Street Winchester, MA 01890. You can also donate via PayPal or Venmo noting “Easter Offering”.

 

Yours in faith and service,

 

Mission and Outreach Ministry
If Venmo requires you to verify our phone number, the last 4 digits are 1044. 
]]> 8800