God's Mission Our Gifts: Your October Mission & Service Stories and more!

Your October Mission & Service Stories   OCTOBER 2 There’s One Church – The Universal One   [Photo credit: Paul Jeffrey/WCC]   Unity, justice and peace for all is a big vision. And it’s one that more than 4000 participants from over 120 countries joined together at the 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches to help realize. The United Church was there. It’s important we were. Here’s why.   OCTOBER 9 Thank God for You   [Photo credit: Simon Chambers/ACT Alliance] Sometimes we can be so busy checking off our “to do” list that we forget to reflect on our blessing. Enter Thanksgiving. A time to stop and catalogue what we are grateful for. You top our list. Thank you for your faithful support through Mission & Service.   OCTOBER 16 Teetering on the Brink of a Global Hunger Crisis . [Image credit: © motortion | Dreamstime.com]   Right now, more than 50,000,000 people are facing starvation―almost twice as many as in 2019. As we teeter on the brink of a global hunger crisis, your generosity through Mission & Service has never been more needed. Especially on World Food Day.   OCTOBER 23 Update: Your Generosity at Work in Ukraine   [Credit: Simon Chambers/ACT Alliance]   Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, Mission & Service partners have been responding to the needs of those impacted by the war. Here’s an update about some of the ways your generosity is helping provide life-saving support through our global partnerships.   OCTOBER 30 Falling in Love with Earth [Photo credit: Image by r1g00 from Pixabay]   An awakening. That’s how Sarah Arthurs describes what she experienced just before she came up with the idea for “Green Exodus”—gatherings of people who find themselves falling deeply in love with Earth and want to help it flourish. Here’s the story.   World Food Day Worship Resources Food security has always been an issue, but the pandemic as well as wheat shortages resulting from the war in Ukraine have catapulted us to the brink of a massive hunger crisis. It’s critical that we acknowledge World Food Day in whatever way we can. Please share this service (scroll to Mission & Service: World Food Day 2022) with your community of faith. Feel free to adapt it to suit your worship context. Make A Special Thanksgiving Gift Through Mission & Service One person is dying of hunger every four seconds. As we teeter on the brink of a global hunger crisis, your generosity has never been more needed. Please choose to do something meaningful this Thanksgiving, by making a gift to help those who are most vulnerable.  Gifts with Vision The new Gifts with Vision catalogue will arrive in mailboxes at the beginning of October, and the Gifts with Vision website will go live October 3 with great new gifts and lots of returning favourites. Choose not to give “stuff” to your loved ones this year and make a difference in someone’s life, from the comfort of home, with no packaging or wrapping needed. Congregational Stewardship/Generosity This is your resource to help you grow generous disciples and gather the resources you need to transform yourselves, your community, and your world to be closer to God. Please modify and use these ideas in your context.   Thanksgiving Is Not About Turkey! You know how good it feels to be really thanked. Don’t miss this opportunity to thank the people who support your community of faith! Without them and their generosity, you don’t exist. Thanking is the third action of Inspire, Invite & Thank. We’ve started you off with some ideas! Worship resources for the five-week worship series Season of Gratitude: World Communion Sunday to All Saints and more are on the Stewardship in Worship webpage. Nudging the Universe with Generosity and Gratitude Wow!! Each time you give, you change the universe. Vicki Nelson tells you how in this article from the Broadview e-newsletter. Worship Without Stewardship Is Like Peanut Butter Without Jam  It’s OK once in a while, but so much better together! Find the “jam” for your worship on our Stewardship in Worship webpage.  Full worship liturgies, prayers, sermons and kids/youth ideas for most seasons of the church year. Stewardship Seconds: Short, pithy sayings that pack a punch, to help infiltrate stewardship thinking into your community of faith. Add them to newsletters, worship, announcements, webpages, wherever people gather!    Offering Introductions and Dedication Prayers: The offering time in worship is NOT about collecting money! It is about growing generous disciples and stewards. These Introductions and Dedication Prayers, for each Sunday of the year, will help.     It’s Time to Find the HOPE and ABUNDANCE You Need!   Called to Be the Church: The Journey modules really make a difference. In each cohort, community of faith leaders rediscover how inspiring their church really is and get excited about telling their stories as they invite people to share their resources to grow in faith and make a difference in people’s lives.   Come and join the movement!  New cohorts for the Stewardship Best Practices module start in October 2022. Start gathering your learning team now and don’t miss out! Find the details here. Register now at United in Learning. This module fills quickly, so don’t delay!   New cohorts for the Congregational Giving Program module start in January 2023. Find the details here. Registration will open soon.   Is a Fall Giving Program in Your Future? (It should be!)  Taking time each year to focus on stewardship is an important spiritual practice in nurturing strong and generous disciples, which in turn helps your community of faith succeed in living out its purpose.  Step 1: Download the Program Book, Planning Guide and other resources you need to be successful from the bottom of the Congregational Giving Program – Do It Yourself webpage.  Step 2: Download the worship resources for your dates from the Stewardship in Worship webpage:  28 Days to Thanksgiving: Offering Our Gratitude (September 12-October 10)  Season of Gratitude: World Communion Sunday to All Saints (October 3-October 31)  Discipleship IS Stewardship: Five Sundays for Any Time of the Year (you choose!)  Step 3: Find one or two other people to work with and make it happen.  Don’t be intimidated. Do whatever you can. Every step forward on your stewardship journey is progress! What matters is that you keep walking. You can do it!  Connect with us for help and support: called@united-church.ca   GOD’S MISSION, OUR GIFTS is your newsletter. We want to provide news and information that you can use in your community of faith, whether you’re a minister, a board member, an administrator, a treasurer, or anyone else who wants to make a difference.   What else would you like to see? What can we do to help your community of faith get where it needs to go? Send us your thoughts! Fill out your Mission & Service goal-setting form online! Donate Facebook Twitter Website Email Instagram YouTube LinkedIn   Your generosity enables the United Church to love, serve, and minister in the world. Make an online donation or learn more about your options to support the work of the church.

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