Mission and Service
“Fill the Cup: Turn Hunger to Hope”
Mission and Service Theme for 2008 - 2009
Fourth Sunday Welcome Table Dinner
Sunday, November 23 - 5:30 p.m.
Help “Fill the Cup: Turn Hunger to Hope!” The Welcome Table Dinner is a meal for the community offered each fourth Sunday of the month here at Grace Church thanks to the help of many volunteers.
Volunteers are needed to: **help prepare food **be a table host **prepare a dessert **help serve **help with clean-up
If you would like to be a volunteer please contact Joan Sonneborn or Tracy Weatherhogg at 775-4301/ tracy@gracechurchvt.org .
Many thanks to all those who supported our Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser! We were overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response of volunteers and financial support - $1079 has been received to support our Welcome Table dinners and to supplement the $1000 from the “Make a Difference” grant!
Jubilee Justice presents:
A Healthcare Forum on Thursday, November 13, at 6:00 p.m. This forum, hosted by Jubilee Justice in Fellowship Hall, is sponsored by the American Cancer Society and Vermont Interfaith Action. Fitting in with our Living the Word testimonial focus, this program will feature “testimonials” from persons who have benefited from the Catamount Healthcare Program. Come learn about how Catamount can work for you or someone you know who needs it!
Grace Church Plans another trip to Back Bay Mission! February 14 - 21, 2009
It’s not too early to mark your calendars and get ready to join us for another trip to Back Bay Mission in Biloxi, MS. This week is a school vacation so we hope that will allow many of you to plan to join us. Watch for more information in future newsletters about how you can become involved. If you think you might be interested in going or if you have questions, contact Tracy Weatherhogg.
Eco-Mission Working To Green Up Grace !
As you walk through the kitchens of Grace Church, you will find a recent addition in our attempt to take seriously our call to be stewards of God’s world – Coffee Grounds Composting Buckets! As pots and pots of coffee are made and consumed, composting our coffee grounds is one way that we can reduce our waste and also do something to help the earth. Buckets will be taken home by various volunteers.
Coming Soon … new containers that will make recycling paper, cans, bottles, newspapers even easier while you are here at Grace Church AND more signs to remind us to turn off lights throughout our building when rooms are not in use!
Jubilee Justice Mission Group
As the newest Committee of Council, just voted in at the Annual Meeting, we'd like to share a bit about who we are, what we're doing, and how you can be involved. We started as a mission group under the Mission and Service umbrella, and as the tradition suggests, we have become a Committee of Council. We are all members of Grace who volunteered to serve on this committee because of a shared interest in justice issues. We don't all share the same view of them, but we all share a commitment to helping discern God's will for Grace Church in following the biblical call for justice for all of God's creation. The members of the Jubilee Justice Committee are:
Ellen Green, Peter Cooper, Jack Jessup, Garey-Lea Smith, John Stager, Susan Stager, Nancy Stevenson, Ron Pulcer, Andrea Hathaway, Dick Rodgers, and Tracy Weatherhogg. Bob and Nance Kittner were members before they moved.
We have been meeting for about a year and have held the following events for the congregation:
...A showing of Hotel Rwanda (a factual movie that speaks about the situation in Rwanda and points to what is currently happening in Darfur and Zimbabwe),
...A speaker on restorative justice (through the Rutland United Neighborhoods Community Justice Center) and a forum on Catamount Health (held in conjunction with the Vermont Interfaith Alliance).
At our retreat in May we adopted a mission statement for this committee, and we'd like to share it with you so you have a better understanding of what we are about. If you have any questions, or would like to get involved either on the committee or in a hands-on project such as for the restorative justice program, feel free to contact any member of the committee.
Jubilee Justice Committee Covenant/Mission Statement
(Adopted May 10, 2008)
As a Committee of the Grace Congregational United Church of Christ, we recognize that God is calling us to be about the work of bringing justice and making peace in our world, in our community, and in ourselves. Confessing that this call challenges our individual and corporate lives, we covenant among ourselves and with God to seek the ways of justice and peace:
To make a difference in our lives and the lives of all who experience injustice and violence in our community and the world.
To reach out to those people and keep them in mind as we work for justice.
To educate ourselves and others in our congregation and wider community about justice issues.
To identify ways to address those issues’ root causes.
