news article
AC 2015 offerings outlined
March 13, 2015 / By Kathleen Rubino / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
The theme of the 2015 session of the Upper New York Annual Conference is Planting God’s Future in Hearts and Neighbors - The Promise of Harvest.
God calls us to harvest through the offerings that support missions and ministries, and this year five offerings will be received during the session.
On Wednesday, the Clergy Care Fund offering will be taken at the clergy session and a Helping Hands Fund offering will concurrently be taken at the laity session. The Clergy Care Fund assists clergy who are in need of financial support, and Helping Hand raises funds to be used by the Cabinet to assist congregants in need of financial support.
There will also be three additional offerings:
During opening worship on Wednesday, May 27, an offering will be received for Africa 360, the Upper New York Conference’s campaign to provide ministry to the people of Africa. The Conference has pledged to raise $1 million for Imagine No Malaria – an initiative to end malaria deaths in Africa by 2016 – and $1 million for Africa University scholarships. The Africa 360 offering will include individual gifts as well as local church collections in response to Upper New York Area Resident Bishop Mark J. Webb’s appeal in fall 2014. This is our “Global Love Offering.”
The next offering will be received on Friday, May 29 at the Celebration of Ministries. This offering will support the Mission of Peace (MOP) – a yearly journey of discovery and shalom to nations in our global community sponsored by the Northeastern Jurisdiction Council on Youth Ministries. Five youths from Upper New York went to India as part of MOP ‘15. The next MOP trip is to China.
The final offering will be received on Saturday, May 30 at the Service of Commissioning and Ordination. The offering will support Stop Hunger Now, a non-profit organization committed to ending world hunger that delivers food and aid to developing countries and countries in crisis. This will be the second consecutive year that members of the Conference will help package meals for distribution within the United States and throughout the world.
“Annual Conference provides our community many opportunities for outreach and charitable giving,” Upper New York Area Resident Bishop Mark J. Webb said. “Whether you lend a hand financially or spare some of your time, an offering, no matter how big or small, is a blessed gift to give.”