news article

Special Sunday giving across the Upper New York Conference

January 24, 2018 / By Shannon Hodson / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Do you have a heart for social justice? How about providing relief in the time of natural disasters? What about enabling disadvantaged youth to attend college through scholarship opportunities? While we can help these ministries through being the hands and feet of Christ, we can also support these ministries through offerings that the United Methodist Church collects on Special Sundays.

The United Methodist Church has six Special Sundays church-wide. These include:

• Human Relations Day (Sunday before the national observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday) strengthens United Methodist outreach to communities in the United States and Puerto Rico, encouraging social justice and work with at-risk youth.
• UMCOR Sunday (fourth Sunday in Lent) This Sunday enables the United Methodist Committee on Relief to reach out through worldwide ministries of food, shelter, health and peace.
• Native American Ministries Sunday (third Sunday of Easter) nurtures mission with Native Americans and provides scholarships for United Methodist Native American seminarians.
• Peace with Justice Sunday (first Sunday after Pentecost) enables The United Methodist Church to have a voice in advocating for peace and justice through a broad spectrum of global programs.
• World Communion Sunday (first Sunday of October) provides scholarships for U.S. racial- and ethnic-minority students and international students, on both undergraduate and graduate levels.
• United Methodist Student Day (last Sunday of November) furnishes scholarships and loans for students attending United Methodist-related and other accredited colleges and universities.

In previous years, the UNY Conference hasn’t publicized our Special Sunday contributions. However, at the 2017 UNY Annual Conference, a resolution was passed that states,

“Therefore be it Resolved That worshipping communities of the Upper New York Conference pledge to actively discuss and become educated about these offerings in effort to commit to supporting each offering; and

Be It Further Resolved That the Upper New York Conference set a conference-wide participation goal of at least 30% for each of the six Special Sunday Offerings for 2018 as we move toward 100% participation; and

Be It Further Resolved That that the Conference Director of Communications publish a list of all congregations who participate in all six Special Sunday offerings like that celebrating congregations who pay ministry shares in full.”

The total contributions toward Special Sundays in 2017 from the UNY Conference was $151, 847.40, with the biggest contribution of $59, 281.45 going toward UMCOR Sunday.

Special Sunday church giving is measured by any church who gives a $1 or more toward each Special Sunday. Of close to 900 churches in the UNY Conference, only 63 churches gave funds to all six Special Sundays. The Special Sundays that had the largest number of churches participating were World Communion Sunday with contributions from 236 churches; Peace with Justice Sunday, with contributions from 231 churches; and UMCOR Sunday with contributions from 201 churches. Click here to see the full list of churches who participated in Special Sunday offerings.

How do UNY churches encourage giving on Special Sundays? Many of the pastors of the churches who contributed for all six Special Sundays use resources that can be found on www.umcgiving.org. The pastors of these churches also all make sure that special offering inserts and/or envelopes are added to their bulletins on Special Sundays.

These pastors explained the importance of having a mission-mindset. For example, the Rev. Jeff Childs of Penn Yan UMC, said, “As a mission-minded pastor I have always called the congregations I have served to not only pay their shared ministries in full, but also to go beyond that and support the special offerings of the denomination and those called by the Bishop of our Conference.”

Rev. Andrew Sperry of Saratoga Springs UMC explained one way of promoting the Special Sundays outside of the services; he said, “We have a bulletin board dedicated to the special Sundays that reports our giving and it stays up all year.”

Many churches have committees or an individual responsible for planning how to collect the Special Sunday funds.

The Rev. Sara Baron of Schnectedy First UMC said, “The Intersectional Justice Committee oversees our benevolence giving, and they ensure that a minimum amount is included for each Special Sunday, and then the plate offering is simply additional.”

Pastor Gary Kubitz, of Voorheesville UMC, spoke of the importance of involving the laity in collecting Special Sunday funds. He said, “We have an active mission team, and members of this team take on various projects. One of the members has taken on the responsibility of having offering envelops for each of the special collections throughout the year, and from there, we have a brief mission moment at the beginning of worship regarding the mission we are collecting for. This group has also given to these missions at other times throughout the year. I think the key is having one individual take charge of organizing these special offerings - it simplifies and helps to empower the laity of the church.”

Special Sundays remind us of the importance of the United Methodist Connection, that your dollars serve not only your local church or community, but also serve important missions across the globe. As Rev. Sperry said, “One of the core values of our denomination, Conference, and our Church is connectionalism…We teach that a part of our church family are all the other UMCs around the globe, and to care for our family, we must pool resources. Giving to the Special Sundays is one way we can do that.”