This year found members of our congregation active in mission in numerous ways.  We received three UCC offerings:  Neighbors in Need, One Great Hour of Sharing, and The Christmas Fund.   An offering of $80 was received on Seminary Sunday for Andover Newton Theological School. Twice a month folks shopped and prepared meals for 175 men at United Homes Shelter.  Weekly donations to the Newton Food Pantry were delivered.   We collected Christmas cards for the inmates at Billerica House of Correction.  We collected and delivered gifts for City Mission Society's Christmas Shops, which were then distributed by CMS to those who were in the most need during the holiday season.   Fair Trade Coffee that benefits farmers and the environment is being used at Coffee Hour.  Folk of Second Church are members of boards of various non-profit organizations, providing business expertise and invaluable support.

 

Through the benevolence portion of our yearly pledges, we were able to support 31 different organizations and the Second Church Youth Mission Trip to the Jersey shore. These charities and non-profits serve children, teens, men, women, and families, covering diverse needs and fostering community. 

Organizations supported in 2014 included.  Descriptions are listed below.

 

UCC - Our Church's Wider Mission (OCWM)Metrowest Interfaith Hospitality Network

Advocates, IncNewton-Wellesley-Weston Committee for
   Community Living
Newton Metco Scholarship Fund

All Hands VolunteersNewton Community Service Center

Andover Newton Theological SchoolNewton Food Pantry

Boston Area Rape Crisis CenterNewton/San Juan Del Sur Sister City

Campership (Project Card and Concern)NWH Protestant Chaplaincy

Can-DOPilgrims of Ibillin

Chaplains on the WayREACH

City Mission SocietyRefugee Immigration Ministry

Congregational LibraryRosie's Place

Cooperative Metropolitan MinistriesSecond Church Youth Mission

Fair Trade CoffeeSERRV Development Grants

Franklin County Community Meals Program Springwell
UCC/GLC

Homes for Our TroopsUnited Home Shelters

Mass. Council of Churches
MCPCC/Concord Prison OutreachUnderstanding Our Differences

Minister's Discretionary Fund Gift Cards 

 

 The Advocates –Advocates’ mission is to help people with psychiatric illness, chemical dependency, developmental disabilities, or other problems in living.  They provide community-centered services that empower people to deal effectively with their difficulties, to pursue their own individual aspirations, and to realize satisfaction in their relationships, their work, and their communities.

 

All Hands Volunteers is a U.S. based, volunteer staffed, non-profit organization dedicated to timely disaster response and relief.   The organization harnesses the power of volunteers to bring direct assistance to disaster-affected communities around the world. They help families take the first step to recovery, provide a passionate, community based response, and start with simple work that helps communities move toward normalcy. 

 

Andover Newton Theological School   Founded in 1807, Andover Newton is the oldest graduate school of theology in the United States.  The School offers a Theology and Arts program, Distance Education courses and curricula in the area of Faith, Health and Spirituality. 

 

Boston Area Rape Crisis Center    The Newton Partnership to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse is a community collaborative led by the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center.  The Newton Partnership’s mission is to prevent child sexual abuse by engaging adults in effective perpetration prevention efforts at the local level.   

 

CAN-DO    recently completed renovations at its property at 61 Pearl St., Newton.  All of the three two-bedroom units there are rented to formerly homeless families.  One of the families moved from a CAN-DO transitional unit at The Louis Garfield House.  The other two families are headed by formerly homeless veterans, one from the Vietnam Era and the other a veteran from the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars.

 

Chaplains on the Way - A Ministry of Presence: At the heart of spiritual care with poor and homeless adults, particularly with those who are both homeless and living with mental illness, is a ministry of presence. This ministry of presence may be offered on the street, in shelters, in hospitals, in jails, in prisons, and at programs such as day shelters — wherever poor and homeless people are found.

 

City Mission Society   Besides the annual Christmas Shop, CMS programs include Healthy Helping (to provide healthier food to food pantries), Criminal Justice (works to provide effective help for more than 250 incarcerated and released persons), Boston-Area Youth Organizing (teaches young people grassroots organizing skills to help promote social change), Crisis Intervention, and Youth Arts (connects working artists with high-risk Boston school children to help develop their self-esteem)

 

The Congregational Library and Archives   strives to enliven a tradition of care for the world’s future by preserving and interpreting the stories of the past and to serve anyone desiring to learn more about one of the nation’s oldest and most influential religious traditions and has been since its founding in 1853.  The Library is located just down from the Massachusetts State House at 14 Beacon Street, Boston.

Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries Our mission is to mobilize congregations and communities across economic, religious, racial, and ethnic boundaries so that, in partnership, we can work more effectively for a just and peaceful society.  We work for spiritual growth and interfaith understanding.

 

Family Promise Metrowest - Provides family shelter for victims and their families of domestic violence.

Franklin County Community Meals Program –  works in partnership with the community to alleviate hunger in Franklin County.  FCCMP provides meals, fellowship, food and household supplies, and in collaboration with other groups. FCCMP works to address the structural causes of hunger nationwide.

 

Homes for Our Troops is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that builds new or adapts existing homes for handicap accessibility to meet the needs of our most severely wounded veterans.  Our support enables all of us to “give back” freedom and independence to our veterans with a specially adapted home.  Freedom and independence  means accessibility, movement, and for most, the ability to live in a home without the dependency of a family member/full-time care giver.

 

Massachusetts Council of Churches works in two major areas:  public policy and “faith and order.”  First, the MCC engages policy issues upon which all member denominations agree, such as capital punishment.  The second is an ongoing dialogue to promote mutual understanding of one another’s theologies and doctrine.  The goal is to promote Christian unity while honoring diversity. 

 

  Middlesex County Prison Coordinating Committee – MCPCC is exploring the continuation of their work on behalf of the County Corrections system as a sub-committee of the Concord Prison Outreach, whose work they know through the Billerica Hous

e of Correction.

Ministers’ Discretionary Gift Cards – Second Church has on hand Shaw’s Gift Cards to give to folks who come to the church seeking assistance with food.  Given out once a month to individuals, they are in $25.00 denominations.

 

Neighbors in Need supports the UCC’s ministries of justice and compassion throughout the United States.  Two-thirds of the offering is used by the UCC’s Justice and Witness Ministries to fund a wide array of local and national justice initiatives, advocacy efforts, and direct service projects.  NIN also supports our American Indian neighbors in the UCC.  It is an invaluable resource for more than 1,000 individuals from dozens of tribes and nations who are members of UCC congregations in the U.S.

 

 Newton Community Service Center  Founded in 1907, NCSC is a nonprofit human service organization that strengthens individual, family, and community life through educational programs and support services that promote social-emotional wellness and continuity of care for all ages.  NCSC services are all based on the understanding that the ability to develop and maintain healthy relationships creates strong individuals, families and communities.

 

Newton Wellesley Hospital Chaplaincy – Their goal is to provide pastoral care, or spiritual support, to help the individual connect with the personal values, beliefs and resources that provide meaning and comfort during a time of stress.  This spiritual support may be connected to a traditional faith or be a personal expression of hope.  

 

Newton Food Pantry  provides four - five days of nutritionally balanced food items meant to be a supplement to clients’ monthly food supply to Newton residents seeking the pantry’s help.  Almost 500 families are served, including the elderly on fixed incomes and families with children.

Newton METCO Scholarship Committee - provides help to METCO students from both Newton North and South High Schools.

 

Newton/San Juan del Sur Sister City Project – San Juan del Sur is a Pacific Coast port in southern Nicaragua and is one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere.  It has enjoyed a relationship with Newton for over 20 years, during which time the Sister City Project has financed the building or renovation of over 20 schools and improved the health of San Juan Bay communities by bringing simple, eco-friendly technologies to the area.

 

Newton Wellesley Weston Committee for Community Living - has served individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families since 1972.

 

One Great Hour of Sharing   This UCC offering provides support to health, education, refugee, agricultural and emergency relief initiatives in 138 countries by working with local, national and international partners.  The offering is received most often during Lent, with the fourth Sunday suggested as the Dedication Day.  It is administered by Wider Church Ministries, Global Sharing of Resources.

 

Our Church's Wider Mission (OCWM) Our Church’s Wider Mission funds the ministries that are at the heart of who we as the United Church of Christ.  We feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and shelter the homeless here and in over 70 countries worldwide.  We’re a church with a history of being in the forefront of religious action for justice and peace, and we welcome everyone to worship and church life.

 

Pilgrims of Ibillin – is an American nonprofit organization supporting the Mar Elias Educational Institutions which were founded by Archbishop Elias Chacour:  Christian, Muslim, Druze and Jewish students and faculty working together to “Build Peace on Desktops” throughout Israel/Palestine.

 

Project Care and Concern – Provides inner city youth with an opportunity to spend time at an overnight camp or day camp.  The families the children come from are coping with overwhelming challenges, such as a jailed mother or a low-paying job; and among other things, camp provides three meals a day for the children.

 

REACH,  REACH is committed to advancing the safety, healing, and empowerment of those who experience relationship violence.  They offer direct services and education while promoting social justice for individuals and families of all backgrounds.   

 

Refugee Immigration Ministry   – serves immigrants and asylum seekers.  “Building Community with Uprooted People to Serve the Common Good” is RIM’s mission.  This faith-based organization was founded in 1986 and provides community-based support to individuals and families who have been uprooted by violence.  RIM’s faith-based approach builds collaboration between community faith groups in order to provide support to each client from his or her own faith.

 

Rosie's Place has grown and changed recently, expanding service hours by 50% in three of their most important programs – advocacy, food pantry and women’s education.  English language and GED prep classes are thriving, with an additional 8 classes each semester.  An Outreach Van has been put on the streets to reach women not yet ready or able to visit Rosie’s Place.  Rosie’s programs grow and adapt to meet women’s changing needs. 

 

SERRV  Their annual Design Camp programs offer an opportunity for artisans and fair trade organization product designers learn from experts about the U.S. market and how they can successfully develop and make products that will bring increased income for their families.  Design Camps are held in the U.S. and at locations around the globe.

 

Shaw’s Grocery Gift Cards – Second Church gives a $25 grocery gift card once a month good for food, paper products, and health/beauty items to people coming to the door with a request.

 

Springwell – Last year over 600 Newton elders were served free meals at home through Springwell’s program.  Of those, 28% are living in poverty; nearly all live on fixed incomes.  The average age is 80 years and the majority are elderly women.

 

UCC Coalition for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Concerns –   Second Church is one of 1,100 Open and Affirming churches in the UCC, the biggest and fastest-growing LGBT-welcoming-church movement in the world.  But there are nearly 4,000 UCC congregations that aren’t ready yet to step out in faith by affirming an Open and Affirming covenant.  These churches represent almost 750,000 members of the UCC – three-fourths of our membership.  This year Second Church has upped our contribution to UCC/LBGT to help them in their important work of inclusivity.

 

Understanding Our Differences, an independent, nonprofit based in Newton since 1978, has demonstrated its decades-long dedication to persons with disabilities through its award-winning disability awareness education curriculum.  This program has touched the lives of more than 30,000 elementary school children and adult volunteers in Newton and beyond.

 

United Homes Adult Shelter  United Homes Shelter, a 110 bed adult homeless shelter in Dorchester known for its warmth, relaxed atmosphere and which prides itself in taking many men barred from other shelters because of behavior problems or substance abuse.   Second Church furnishes a dinner for United Homes Shelter clients on the first and third Saturdays of the month.  Call the church office (244-2690), if you would like to participate in this outreach project.