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Making Christ Known - Mission at Berea UCC
"Love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind
and with all your strength . . . . Love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no commandment greater than these."
Our
congregation expresses its love for God by imitating the compassion of
Christ in caring for our neighbors, both in our community and beyond. To
better meet the human needs throughout Cuyahoga County, our members founded
Church Street Ministries in 1994:
- to serve the needs of pre-adolescent, at-risk, and chemically dependent
youth,
- to provide emergency assistance and counseling to the homeless, transients,
and refugees,
- to educate our community about those in need and provide them with
opportunities to serve.
Our two Second Mile Thrift Shops transform donated goods into funding to carry out
these missions of love.
HELP WANTED: Manager for thrift shop for non-profit
organization.
Retail management experience preferred. Up to 35 hours. Send resume
to Church Street Ministries P.O. Box 59, Berea, Ohio 44017 |
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Our church has a food pantry to serve the needy in the Berea area, and we
continually gather food and other non-perishables for this purpose,
especially on the first Sunday of each month. For Thanksgiving, Christmas,
and Easter, we assemble and distribute baskets of food to those in need.
During Advent, our church's love spills outward from our Giving Tree as it
becomes surrounded by donated gifts for disadvantaged children and
families. Through our Alternative Catalog, our members honor Christ's birth
by giving thousands of dollars to a wide range of charitable organizations.
Other financial support is provided by our church to ministries outside of
the United Church of Christ, for example for the youth programs of the West
Side Ecumenical Ministry.
Our church is home to one of the oldest Alcoholics Anonymous groups in
the world,
and another besides. We host local weekly meetings of Al-Anon, which is a
support group for friends and family members of alcoholics. Along with
other community groups, we host periodic gatherings of the local Native
American community.
In love, we act in faith to bring forth God's Kingdom across the Earth. As a
Just
Peace church, we struggle with the social and economic injustice which
prevents peace in our world. For example, through a letter writing campaign
in early 2003, we expressed our concerns as Christians to our nation's
leaders about their intentions regarding Iraq.
Reaching out in Mission
Through the United Church of Christ (UCC), our congregation reaches out in love to
those in need both locally and across the world. In 2005, our members
contributed thousands of dollars for disaster relief through the UCC. With
donations from across our nation, the United Church of Christ was able to
provide about $10 million of aid in response to the recent hurricanes and
tsunami.
We are a "5 for 5" church, providing basic support to Our Church's Wider Mission
and
contributing to each of its four special offering.
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