Read how YOU can help - in five different ways - our church help others in our community and in our world, through our Mission Outreach committee
If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
James 2:15-17
We need your help to make the holidays brighter for many who are in need.
THANKSGIVING FOOD BASKETS
This is a time to be grateful and to share our many blessings!
We invite you to contribute a Food Basket with non-perishable canned and boxed items needed for a family’s Thanksgiving meal. In addition, we ask that the basket may include a Gift Card or Gift Certificate for the family to purchase a turkey.
To ensure timely delivery before Thanksgiving Day, please deliver your basket to our church kitchen by noon on Sunday, November 19. These will be given to people in Worcester through Pernet Family Health Services.
Suggested items to include:
Box of Stuffing Mix
Box of Mashed Potato or Scalloped Potato Mix
Canned Vegetables
Canned Cranberry Sauce
Gravy Jar or Mix
Dry Mix for Rolls or Breads
Pudding or Pie Filling, etc.
If you would like to donate a gift card for a turkey without making up a basket, we invite you to drop it off at the church office in an envelope marked Thanksgiving Food Baskets. Gift cards can be from Stop & Shop, Price Chopper, Price Rite, Walmart, VISA or Mastercard.
In lieu of a basket, feel free to pack your items in a reusable shopping bag or storage bin!
WHITE SOCKS FOR WORCESTER FELLOWSHIP
As the cold weather approaches, homeless and at-risk adults are in great need of clean, dry white socks. These socks protect their feet from getting cold, getting wet, getting blisters, or getting foot ailments that can send them to the emergency room.
During the months of November and December, we would like to collect as many pairs of men’s and women’s large white socks as we can!
Please help us by bringing new pairs of white socks to the church – there will be a bin in the kitchen labeled “Socks for Worcester Fellowship”.
NEW COATS FOR VETERANS
The “Buy-Give-Get” promotion is back at Ocean State Job Lot! Together we can help veterans in need stay warm this winter by donating new winter coats through “Buy-Give-Get”.
Go to any Ocean State Job Lot store and:
1. Buy a winter coat for just $40
2. Give the coat you purchased back to the cashier, and Ocean State will make sure it’s delivered to a veteran in need.
3. Get a $40 Crazy Deal Gift Card – free!
You can then use the $40 Gift Card any day afterward (not on the same day as the coat purchase) for any items you choose, and a veteran receives a brand new winter coat!!
If you cannot get to Ocean State Job Lot in Westborough or Whitinsville, but you wish to participate, please put a check for $40 in an envelope marked Coats For Veterans and drop it at the church office or give to a member of the MOC. We will purchase the coat and give you the Gift Card.
CHRISTMAS GIVING TREE
Once again, our family of faith wishes to bring some cheer to families and children in Worcester through Pernet Family Health Services, and to residents of Crescent Manor Nursing Home here in Grafton!
Watch for the Giving Tree that will be set up in the Fellowship Hall after Thanksgiving, on November 26th. Please take a tag, purchase a special Christmas gift item, and place it under the large tree in the Sanctuary by December 17th. This is a wonderful way to share the joy of the season!
CONFLICT IN ISRAEL AND GAZA
The Mission Outreach committee will be contributing to the Wider Church Ministries of the UCC in order to support humanitarian assistance to those affected by the conflict in Israel and Gaza.
Below is a statement and prayer from the UCC in partnership with Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP):
We call upon all Christians and people of faith to pray for peace – not an empty peace devoid of justice, equality, and hope for all people, but a deep, lasting, and just peace that addresses core systemic issues of the conflict, from Palestinian needs for self-determination and freedom to Israel’s needs for safety and security.
In our grief, may we join together to ask for God’s mercy in this desperate time by offering the following words:
God of Justice,
bless those who work for peace through justice.
Strengthen their resolve in the face of seemingly endless violence.
Guide the leaders of the people of the Middle East to know your will and to support a just peace for all of your children.
God of Love,
lifting up the holy land for all humankind,
breathe love and compassion into our prayers with a desire for nothing other than peace:
peace in our hearts,
peace for all creation, and
especially peace in the land that is called holy.
God of Hope,
we lift up the city of Jerusalem,
distracted and divided,
yet still filled with promise as all the cities of the world.
Come again into our cities, places of worship,
Upper Rooms and Gethsemanes,
that we may be given sight to recognize you.
God of Mercy,
even as we long to understand that which is often beyond our comprehension,
we lay before you the hearts, minds and bodies of all those suffering from conflict in Palestine and Israel and from the ongoing occupation.
Shower upon all the people of the Holy Land the spirit of justice and reconciliation.
God of the Nations,
give to all our people the blessings of well-being, freedom, and harmony, and,
above all things, give us faith in you that we may be strengthened to care for all those in need.
Amen.
If you choose to donate directly as well, there are several ways to do so.
1. MAIL A CHECK TO:
United Church of Christ
P.O. Box 71957
Cleveland, OH 44194
(write on the Memo line – Middle East Support)
2. ONLINE:
- go to: support.ucc.org/giving/other
- click on: Designate for Middle East Support
In this Season of Light, thank you for opening your hearts to show compassion, and to bring the hope and joy of Christ into the lives of others.
Your Mission Outreach Committee:
Neston Melville-Jones, Barbara Gow, Lori Horton, China Boyd, Sue Howell
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