Giving can mean many things. In addition to providing dollars, giving can mean offering your talents and time to share God’s love with those in need, whether they are our neighbors or people a world away. The First Congregational Church of Reading, adopts the United Church of Christ philosophy, believing that:

• The realm of God is promised to the poor, not in the afterlife, but here and now; on earth as it is in heaven.
• The Kingdom of justice, equality, and peace is attainable if we have the will to challenge and change our systems.
• If we have the will to live more simply so that others might live.
• If we consume less and share more.
• If we dare to love, even our enemies, the possibility and promise of God’s realm invites our response.

Outreach Support
At the First Congregational Church of Reading, our Outreach ministry is committed to bringing to our congregation a world of opportunities to support many worthy organizations both through hands on participation and by financial donations. All of these opportunities are open for participation from any member of the congregation or our community:

• Each year we organize and serve six dinners for Emmaus House a family shelter in Haverhill, MA.
  Blood Drive: Each year, we coordinate and host a Community Blood Drive.
• Reading Food Pantry: Reading Contributions of food are brought to the Reading Food Pantry, and many from our church family volunteer their time to help distribute the food and sort the USPS collection each May.
• Elon Homes: Shipments of Campbell soup (and other product) labels are clipped, sorted, and sent throughout the year to Elon Homes for children in North Carolina to be redeemed for much needed vans.
• Holiday Gifts: Holiday Gift collections are made to benefit City Mission Society’s Christmas Shops and Emmaus House.

Information to Action

• Debt Relief: The Outreach commission also brings attention and action to issues of injustice found within our world today. Our first topic was Third World Debt Relief. We began by educating the congregation about the issue, we invited a guest to preach on the topic and hold an informational forum. The congregation then participated in letter writing campaign requesting political leaders to support legislation that promotes Third World Debt Relief
• Hunger: This year we are focusing on Hunger. We held a Hunger Banquet which brought a powerful understanding of the inequities of our world to those who participated from our congregation and our community. Further programs focused on Hunger this year include a Brown Bag Lenten collection, Children Sermons, Heifer Marketplace held by the children of the church a youth run event, and a letter writing campaign just to name a few.

Stewardship and Pledging
Annually, at the First Congregational Church of Reading, members are asked to pledge their giving for the following year. This stewardship support allows for us to plan for church expenses to maintain our historic church building. The pledging also gives members an opportunity to elect to have a portion of their dollars, called benevolence dollars that they specify to go toward a wide range of valuable services and organizations.

For links and more information about a few of the many organizations that our Church supports, check out our Outreach Opportunities page.

I chose you to bring justice, and I am here at your side. I selected and sent you to bring light and my promise of hope to the nations. You will give sight to the blind; you will set prisoners free from dark dungeons. (Isaiah 42:6-7)