MISSION IS HOW THE WORLD SAVES THE CHURCH…
Mission to others has always been an important expression of our faith at First Church. Currently this takes three forms: mission with the wider church (United Church of Christ), local acts of compassion in the Pittsfield area and a new emphasis on social justice and respect for the earth. Four special offerings for the wider church include Our Church’s Wider Mission (relief and foreign mission activities), Neighbors in Need (advocacy and mission within the USA), One Great Hour of Sharing (ecumenical relief ministries throughout the world) and the Strengthen the Church offering (for starting and renewing local congregations.)
Our action/reflection model currently includes the following emphasis:
Spring: During this season of resurrection and renewal, our activities are grounded in living into biblical justice. Walter Breuggemann noted Old Testament scholar, calls biblical justice a quest for dignity by “discovering what has been taken from another and helping to return it.” Recently we have been exploring how to be a part of the healing of Afghanistan through support for the Central Asia Institute and the work of Greg Mortenson.
Berkshire Habitat in New Orleans
Summer: More than ever before, people of all walks of life understand that caring for the earth involves changing our lives and habits. In cooperation with the Berkshire Environmental Action Team, we participate in 2-3 clean-up actions on the Housatonic River each summer. And we are going to sponsor a portion of the river to keep clean, too.
Fall: In addition to raising funds for our Neighbors in Need offering, the fall months move us into study and action concerning hunger. We raise funds for the Christian Center’s on-going ministry of feeding the hungry, host a Thanksgiving Eve concert to generate emergency heating for families in need in the Berkshires and cooperate with Bread for the World in lobbying our representatives.
Winter: The biblical understanding of peace – our winter emphasis – comes from the Hebrew word: shalom. More than merely the absence of conflict, shalom involves dignity, hope, compassion and restoring right relations between people and our action/reflection work is guided by this insight.
