United Church of Christ and our Wider Mission

Bethany Children's Home is an historic ministry of the United Church of Christ located in Womelsdorf, serving children in the community since 1863. “The mission of Bethany Children’s Home is to provide a safe place of nurture, protection, and supportive care to aid our residents in their self-understanding, growth, and healing toward a brighter, healthier future.” Click on this Bethany Children's Home link for more information.

UCC of Robesonia supports Bethany Children's Home in a number of ways, including: (1) providing financial aid; (2) supporting Bethany events; (3) welcoming Bethany youth to our church activities; (4) providing ride tickets and lunch for Bethany youth and chaperones to our annual fun day at Knoebels Amusement Park; and (5) through our pastors providing pastoral and spiritual support.

Phoebe is one of the United Church of Christ retirement communities. The Phoebe-Berks campus is located in Wernersville.

Click on this Phoebe Ministries link for more information about Phoebe in general, or on this Phoebe-Berks Ministries link for more information about Phoebe's campus in Wernersville.

The United Church of Christ is divided into conferences by geography. The conferences are further divided into associations. UCC of Robesonia belongs to the Pennsylvania Southeast Conference (PSEC) and the Covenant Association. The Covenant Association essentially includes all of the UCC churches in Berks County.

Our PSEC has an annual spring and an annual fall meeting each year, to which we send two lay delegates, one youth delegate, and our pastors to vote on matters of the conference and to share information between our church and conference setting.

To learn more about our conference click on this PSEC link.

The United Church of Christ is divided into conferences by geography. The conferences are further divided into associations. UCC of Robesonia belongs to the Pennsylvania Southeast Conference (PSEC) and the Covenant Association. The Covenant Association essentially includes all of the UCC churches in Berks County.

The Covenant Association came to be in October 2016 from a merger of the Heidelberg, East Berks, and Reading Associations. Prior to that merger, St. Paul's UCC & Zion UCC were a part of the Heidelberg Association.

In addition to mutual support of one another's churches and pastors, the Covenant Association organizes local mission efforts. One shared mission example was our “March 4th for Literacy” children’s book drive, where we received children’s book donations and then distributed them to children in need. Balloons, children’s games, and food were a part of the book donation day.

Click on this Covenant Association link for more information.

Seminary is a graduate school that prepares women and men for ordained ministry. Lancaster Theological Seminary (LTS) also has educational programs for lay adults and teen youth leaders.

There are six theological seminaries in the United Church of Christ throughout the country. Lancaster Theological Seminary (LTS) is the one closest to us, the one to which UCC of Robesonia is assigned to be of support. Each UCC congregation is given a UCC seminary in which to be of support.

Many of the pastors who have served St. Paul's UCC are graduates of LTS, including the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Motz.

UCC of Robesonia provides annual financial support for LTS. During the month of February we will be taking a special offering for LTS. This offering will enable the seminary to provide quality educational programs for persons seeking to become ordained ministers with the UCC, as well as programs for lay leaders and teen youth leaders.

To learn more click on this Lancaster Theological Seminary link.

The Pennsylvania Southeast Conference (PSEC) Disaster Recovery Mission Team organizes the disaster response ministries in our conference.

The mission of the Disaster Recovery Mission Team is to prepare congregations to deal with disaster events by providing preparedness training and acting as a communication nexus for receiving and dispersing human services referrals, volunteer relief opportunities, recovery supplies availability, and timely information on disaster management. The Disaster Recovery Mission Team represents PSEC in its work with other faith-based and community organizations to constantly discover and disseminate best practices of dealing with disaster.

UCC National Disaster Ministries
All Disaster Recovery activities are coordinated with the UCC National Disaster Ministry which oversees related activities on the national level.

The members of the UCC of Robesonia send financial support for many special disaster relief efforts, and offer support of the UCC's disaster relief efforts in general through the OGHS and OCWM offerings.

Click on this UCC Disaster Ministries link for the latest relief efforts of the UCC in our nation and throughout the world.

Our Church's Wider Mission (OCWM) makes the above UCC national and conference ministries possible. OCWM funds the work we do in the Associations, Conferences, and in the national and global church. OCWM funds are invested in programs, resources, and tools needed to keep local UCC churches strong, effective, and growing.

OCWM helps provide pastoral placement and education for church leaders; worship materials and theological interpretation; resources and training for stewardship and fundraising; and so much more. We are one church—a united and uniting church. We are the United Church of Christ.

OCWM is one of our national "Five for Five" UCC annual offerings.

Support for OCWM is received weekly in the UCC of Robesonia throughout the year. Contributions to OCWM can be made by marking a donation as "OCWM", as well as through funds marked as "Christian Mission" in the weekly offering envelope in the annual offering envelope packets.

One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) supports partners in countries with ministries that fund health, education and agricultural development, emergency relief, refugee ministries and both international and domestic disaster response, administered by Wider Church Ministries, Global Sharing of Resources.

This is one of our national UCC "Five for Five" annual offerings, and is received on the Fourth Sunday of Lent.

Strengthen the Church (STC) supports church growth, pastoral and lay leadership development, youth and young adult ministries within conferences and administered by Local Church Ministries.

This is one of our national UCC "Five for Five" annual offerings, and is received on Pentecost Sunday.

You can make a secure online donation by clicking on this Strengthen the Church Online Contribution link.

One-third of the Neighbors In Need (NIN) offering supports the Council for American Indian Ministry (CAIM), and two-thirds is administered by Justice and Witness Ministries to support a variety of justice initiatives, advocacy efforts, and direct service projects through grants.

You can read more about NIN on the UCC website by clicking on this UCC info about NIN link.

This is one of our national UCC "Five for Five" annual offerings, and is received on First Sunday of October as part of World Communion Sunday.

"The Christmas Fund for the Veterans of the Cross and the Emergency Fund" has been caring for active and retired clergy, surviving spouses, and lay employees of the United Church of Christ for over 100 years. The fund provides pension and health premium supplementation, emergency assistance, and Christmas thank you checks.

The emergency financial needs of many who serve the church have increased dramatically. These difficult times make the need for the Christmas Fund more urgent than ever.

This is a ministry of the UCC Pension Boards, one of our national UCC "Five for Five" annual offerings, that is received annually on the Sunday before Christmas.

The Council for American Indian Ministry (CAIM) is the voice for American Indian people in the UCC. CAIM provides Christian ministry and witness to American Indians and to the wider church. Justice issues that affect American Indian life are communicated to the whole UCC by CAIM.

Historically, the forebears of the UCC established churches and worked with Lakota, Dakota, Nakota, Mandan, Hidatsa, Arickara, and Hocak in North and South Dakota, Wisconsin and northern Nebraska. Today there are 20 UCC congregations on reservations and one urban, multi-tribal UCC congregation in Minneapolis, Minnesota. CAIM supports these local churches and their pastors. In addition, CAIM strives to be a resource for more than 1,000 individuals from dozens of other tribes and nations who are members of other UCC congregations and to strengthen their participation in the life of the church.

This offering of the Pennsylvania Southeast Conference (PSEC) of the UCC provides financial assistance, including healthcare and dental insurance assistance to UCC pastors, spouses, and widows within our local conference.

The first Sunday in November is designated as All Saints Sunday. We celebrate long ago saints and those we know as saints today; people who inspired us by grit and determination to “keep on trying.”

Many of these people are pastors whose lives shaped and influenced our own. Some of our Pennsylvania Southeast Conference (PSEC) pastors who retired years ago are now in need of special assistance. Because their retirement income is low, the churches of the Pennsylvania Southeast Conference supplement the cost of their health benefits.

For more information, click on this PSEC All Saints Day Offering link.

The General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ is the Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia A. Thompson. You can learn more about her by clicking on this Bio of the Rev. Dr. Thompson link. She is pictured here at our 2024 Pennsylvania Southeast Conference with the Rev Dr. Benjamin Motz, who first met her while on a mission trip in Florida, as they were seeking to bring relief aid following the devastation of hurricane Katrina.

To learn more about the United Church of Christ, and the many, many ways in which we serve our God as a denomination, click on this UCC link.

Your donation to UCC Ukraine Relief Fund will provide shelter, food, and other care to war refugees and internally displaced people.  It also will help refugees and asylum seekers from African, Middle Eastern, and other countries who had sought safety and support as refugees in Ukraine and now are twice displaced.

     The United Church of Christ is appealing for support for refugees who have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries and for elderly and other vulnerable people who are displaced within Ukraine and unable to leave.  As a member of the ACT Alliance (Actions by Churches Together), UCC support is being targeted to people most in need through humanitarian relief partners with a history of working in the region.

     For example, Hungarian Interchurch Aid (HIA) has been working along the Hungary-Ukraine border for years.  It is focusing its war relief in Ukraine to two border cities. The UCC’s long-term relationship with the Reformed Church in Hungary is held through the Europe and the Middle East Office of Global Ministries. 

     For more information, please contact our Mission Committee.   You can also click on this Ukraine - UCC Response for more information on the UCC National Website.

Prayers

     We invite you to pray for the people of Ukraine, Russia, those offering aid and those in leadership positions, and for hope and peace. You can find a prayer by clicking on this Prayer for Ukraine link.  Click on this Prayer Vigil link to view and pray along with our February 2022 prayer vigil service for Ukraine.