St Mark United Church of Christ is a 5 for 5 Church!A 5-for-5 congregation is one that gives to Our Church's Wider Mission(OCWM) through its church budget. Our Church’s Wider Mission (OCWM) funds our UCC Conference and the national ministries of the UCC. Our Church’s Wider Mission includes Basic Support, for the funding of core programs; and Special Support, for specific mission opportunities through the four UCC special mission offerings. While also providing parishioners the opportunity to participate in each of OCWM's four special mission offerings received during the year—One Great Hour of Sharing, Neighbors in Need, Strengthen the Churchand theChristmas Fund.
St Mark in Mission
St Mark's Angel Tree ~ St. Mark will have an angel tree again this year to benefit the children of Templo Cristiano in Dover FL. These are migrant family children that have very little and are always grateful for the efforts that St. Mark members make each year to make their Christmas a little better. We will have the angels on the tree by Sunday, December 7. We ask that you find room in your heart to make a childs christmas one to remember. Please take one angel from the tree with their name and age and write your name on the bottom angel so that we have a record of who has what child. Then bring a wrapped clothing item as well as a toy item for that child and place it under our Christmas tree. We will also be collecting items to put in their stockings. Small toys, toothbrushes, tooth paste, soap, deodorant, shampoo, brushes, combs, candy, or anything appropriate what will fit into a stocking. The dollar stores are an excellent source for these items! And if you are unable to get out and shop, please consider a monetary donation and the missions committee will be happy to do the shopping. Last year we ran out of stocking stuffers so shop now!
St Mark Reaches Out to Area Pastors ~The Christmas Fund is a special offering that remembers and benefits those who serve our churches. It provides financial aid to retired and active ministers and their surviving spouses and children who face overwhelming financial demands. This is a ministry carried out by the Pension Boards. This offering is being taken throughout the month of November.
Due to hard economic times, ECHO (Emergency Care Food Pantry) food pantry in Brandon is currently OUT OF FOOD. According to Stacey Efaw, Executive Director, "We are out of food except for canned vegetables and canned soup. Our policy is to provide each family with seven days food, which includes chicken, eggs, butter, flour, sugar plus a large assortment of non perishable food items such as peanut butter, spaghetti sauce, jelly, canned meat, etc. Right now we have to purchase all of these items. And on top of the increased demand, donations are down." If you feel blessed this holiday season and have enough to share, consider donating to ECHO food pantry to help those truly in need.
Neighbors in Need- Our congregation’s mission focus for the month of September is Neighbors in Need (NIN). This is one of the five special offerings of the United Church of Christ. This a special mission offering supports ministries of justice and compassion throughout the United States. One-third of NIN funds support the Council for American Indian Ministry(CAIM). Two-thirds of the offering is used by the UCC's Justice and Witness Ministries(JWM) to support a variety of justice initiatives, advocacy efforts, and direct service projects.
