Posts By: Lauren Rogers

OGHS: Building a Household with the Suffering and Vulnerable

What is a household? Close your eyes and consider the word “household.” What comes to mind? Caring people? A table with food, shared with family and friends? Shelter? Warmth? Friendly voices? Love? I imagine we all think of many of these same things when we think about a household. Yet there are many in this… Read more »

OGHS: Long-Term Recovery from Hurricane Maria

Without power Who could forget the devastation after Hurricane Maria swept across Puerto Rico in 2017? Certainly not Mimita Nieves. Eighteen months later she was still living without electricity. Mimita did the best she could. She got along on canned food and powdered milk, and fresh vegetables when she could get them. She cooked on… Read more »

OGHS: Together, We Become the Household of God

Facing drought in Somalia Before a hunger emergency struck Somalia, Hawo Abdi and her husband were  successful herders near their country’s border with Kenya. However, two years of intensive drought parched the land to the point that they could no longer raise the camels, cattle, sheep and goats that supported them. As her family faced… Read more »

OGHS: Supporting Housing Security and Fairness

From Worry-Free to Evicted For more than a decade, Monica lived peacefully in her Jersey City apartment and enjoyed a worry-free relationship with her landlord. However, when a new landlord acquired her building, Monica started getting notices summoning her to court. At different times, the landlord contended that she had been late with a rent… Read more »

OGHS: Repairers of the Breach

This is God’s house It is likely that some of us, when we were growing up, were told that there were certain ways to behave in the church building, because it is God’s house. Maybe it was not to run, or to keep our voices quieted, or maybe we were taught to invite others in…. Read more »

Celebrating the 2020 One Great Hour of Sharing with Our Youth

Engaging the children of your congregation with the four churchwide Special Offerings has never been easier or more important. There are numerous ways children can connect with One Great Hour of Sharing, including the engagement placemat and fish coin banks that often arrive in your standing orders. However, were you aware there are numerous resources… Read more »

2020 One Great Hour of Sharing Resources for Mid Council Leaders

You shall be called repairers of the breach. —Isaiah 58 Around the world, millions of people lack access to sustainable food sources, clean water, sanitation, education, and opportunity. Each gift to One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) helps to improve the lives of people in these challenging situations. For more than 70 years, One Great Hour… Read more »

Links of Love: A paper chain built by Presbyterian generosity is unbreakable

Presbyterians are linked together by faith, fellowship, community and generosity. For the first time ever, we’re making these connections tangible and introducing an activity to celebrate a united effort, raising up our collective impact and making an enormous difference in the lives of others around the world. It’s called Links of Love! As part of… Read more »

Christmas Joy: God is with Us

Christmas Joy Offering The Gift of Being With What was the most perfect gift you ever received? A bike or doll when you were a kid? A video game, perhaps? Maybe it was the day you met your husband, your wife — or looked into the eyes of the newborn baby that someone laid in your arms. For… Read more »

Christmas Joy: From Homelessness to Hope

Not Another Statistic As a high school senior, Devon Kelly had no place to call home and little hope. Beginning at age 14, he slept wherever he could find a place to lay his head. He stayed with cousins, friends, his grandmother, and his aunt. Sometimes he spent the night outdoors on a park bench…. Read more »