
The following are brief descriptions of a few of the many organizations
the First Congregational Church of Reading supports through the generous giving
of our members:
Hunger and Homelessness
- Habitat
for Humanity is an ecumenical Christian movement dedicated to eliminating
poverty housing. Houses are built and sold at cost to economically disadvantaged
families on the basis of need, regardless of race or religion.
- Emmaus
House is located in Haverhill, and serves homeless families and individuals
by providing a structured family environment, counseling, and referrals to
outside agencies. It is run by Emmaus, Inc., assisted by individuals, churches,
and other charitable groups.
- Rosies
Place Eighty-four cents of every dollar donated to Rosies
Place goes directly to services for the women and children who come to them
for help. They not only provide over 6,500 nourishing meals a month, short-term
housing for hundreds each year, and other emergency servicesfrom lawyers
and doctors to rape counselors and housing advocatesbut they seek to
create solutions to homelessness.
- Reading Food Pantry Under
the auspices of the Reading Clergy Association, the Reading Food Pantry serves
residents of Reading and members of Reading churches. In addition to a monetary
donation, we collect food and help to staff the pantry.
- OXFAM
America is dedicated to creating lasting solutions to hunger, poverty,
and social injustice through long-term partnerships with poor communities
around the world. As a privately funded organization, we can speak with conviction
and integrity as we challenge the structural barriers that foster conflict
and human suffering and limit people from gaining the skills, resources, and
power to become self-sufficient.
Education
- Andover
Newton Theological School founded in 1807,
is the country's oldest Protestant graduate school of theology. Today its
students include more than 500 men and women from 45 Protestant denominations,
as well as the Roman Catholic and Jewish faiths.
- Boston
Cambridge Ministry in Higher Education Campus ministry truly is
the churchs presence on our college campuses. Students need the presence
of a caring Christian community to help them deal with college pressures.
The campus is where todays values are being formed, and as todays
students prepare to be tomorrows leaders, the church must be present.
Because God is at work on college campuses, we as a church must be at work
also.
- Chikore
Secondary School, Zimbabwe was established in 1955 in Zimbabwe, then known
as Southern Rhodesia. Donald and Jeri Abbott had been appointed to serve as
missionaries in Southern Rhodesia in 1950, and by 1958, Donald was the principal
at Chikore. That was the year when Dan Hall, a former member of our church,
took his young family to teach at Chikore.
- Peki Seminary, Ghana is run by the
Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Ghana. It prepares lay leaders and musicians
for positions of responsibility in churches throughout Ghana.
Counseling
- Interfaith Counseling Service of Reading,
MA This program offers counseling services to individuals of
all ages and faiths who are suffering from emotional problems. It has the
advantage of combining pastoral counseling with psychotherapy.
- Interfaith AIDS Ministry is for people
with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, serves the Greater Boston Area and
strives to bring "a fuller understanding of God's love for persons affected
by AIDS and to serve as a bridge between caregivers and congregations.
Additional Outreach Opportunities
- Elon
Homes for Children is located in Elon College, North Carolina, is a private,
non-profit corporation with close ties to the UCC. Elon Homes provides programs
that include: residential care for court-ordered children, two charter public
schools, community based services for children in foster care homes, a family
care program, and a center for child development.
- City Mission Society The mission
of this organization, founded in 1816, is: "to work with the urban poor
to fashion a vision of wholeness of human life against the realities of economic,
racial, and social injustice."
Peace
- Fellowship
of Reconciliation (FOR) seeks to replace violence, war, racism, and economic
injustice with nonviolence, peace, and justice. We are an interfaith organization
committed to active nonviolence as a transforming way of life and as a means
of radical change. We educate, train, build coalitions, and engage in nonviolent
and compassionate actions locally, nationally, and globally.
Local and National Conference
- MACUCC
(Mass. Conference of the United Church of Christ) these
dollars are used to support programs for ministers, local resources, youth
resources, etc.; further, a large portion of those dollars goes to the national
UCC where they provide both National and International financial support to
those in need
- Turner Falls
- One
Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) is an annual interdenominational offering
for disaster relief, economic development, and refugee resettlement in more
than 100 countries across the world, including the U.S.
Contact us for
more information on how you can contribute to opportunities at the First Congregational
Church of Reading.