Posts Categorized: Special Offerings

OGHS: Helping Day Laborers Strive for Fair Wages and Safe Working Conditions

When Payday is Not Promised Narciso, Feliciano, and Alberto labored hard on a construction project in the hot Arizona sun for several days. Though the work was demanding, the promise of payday kept these day laborers going. They had cupboards to fill and bills to pay. But payday presented an unwelcome surprise for these men…. Read more »

OGHS: Increasing Access to Nutritious Food and Farming

Food is a Necessity While we give thanks to God for our food, we need to recognize lack of nutritious food is experienced by many of our sisters and brothers at alarming rates. Creating an opportunity for all people to become farmers, gain access to agricultural land, or manage farms are each ways we can… Read more »

Celebrating One Great Hour of Sharing with Your 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 »

OGHS: Haitian Earthquake Survivors Build Their Future Through Education

Natural Disaster Changes Life Course The 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti, and changed it forever, set Andral’s life on a radically different course. Andral lost his home and career in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital city. In Port-au-Prince and the surrounding region, an estimated 300,000 people lost their lives in the earthquake. You could say that Andral… Read more »

OGHS: Repairers of the Breach

What is “the church?” It’s a big question. Think about this: As the wider culture becomes less traditionally religious, the church—something we share as a congregation and individually hold dear in our hearts— becomes less understood, or misunderstood, by many. Like it or not, it’s a fact. And as hard as it is to admit,… Read more »

Worship Resources for the 2018 Christmas Joy Offering

‘Tis the season…for the Christmas Joy Offering. If you are looking for worship resources to connect your congregation with this Offering, our office has you covered. Our worship resources, written by the Rev. Thom M. Shuman, Stated Supply Pastor, Honorably Retired Galloway Presbyterian Church, Galloway, Ohio, and Associate Member, Iona Community, include: Readings Call to… Read more »

#GivingTuesday draws us to lessons learned in Sunday school

Calendared amidst the commercial craze of Black Friday and Cyber Monday comes #GivingTuesday, a timely reminder that life is more about giving than getting. It is a verifiable fact that generosity enhances our well-being.[i]  #GivingTuesday is celebrated the week following Thanksgiving and kicks-off the year-end charitable season. About 40 percent of all charitable giving occurs… Read more »

Peace & Global Witness: Beyond Our Doors, Beyond Our Community, Beyond Our Borders

Peace is active, not passive The Peace & Global Witness Offering connects congregations around the country with inspiring and innovative peacemakers from partner churches around the globe so they may learn from one another. The Offering helps develop educational resources that illustrate how congregations can become active peacemakers both in our local community and around… Read more »

Peace & Global Witness: Minute for Mission out of Bandon, Oregon

“Now may the Lord of peace… give you peace at all times in all ways.” — 2 Thessalonians 3:16 We live in a world that is constantly overwhelming us. Conflict arises in our families and communities. War is waged between nations and discussed in the marketplace. Instability threatens our jobs, savings or even our homes…. Read more »