Mission Outreach

St. John's actively supports mission efforts locally, nationally, and internationally. Each year we strive to maintain and increase our financial commitment, as well as increase direct and personal involvement in mission/outreach activities.

Established in 1970, St. John's Nursery School provides daily pre-school education for over one hundred youngsters, ages 3-5.

St John's houses two Head Start Programs. These federally-funded programs provide early education programs for children from low-income families.

Who Ministry: (The WHO Ministry was recently absorbed by the newly renamed "Outreach Mission Ministry", the following WHO projects will continue under the direction of this Ministry)

Merriam-Webster’s dictionary lists one of the definitions of mission as “a ministry commissioned by a religious organization to propagate its faith or carry on humanitarian work.” St. John’s UCC has supported humanitarian work in many ways over the years. The Outreach Mission Ministry is geared to continue this very important focus.

Over the last few years, three missionary couples have entered into our lens of outreach doing very different and important missions in our global community:

We trust that St. John’s congregation is able to commit to a sustained financial support of these three couples as one of our goals to support the call that Christ gives to “go into all the world and preach the gospel.” We will continue to lift up these young couples and their work.

Outreach Mission Ministry is assuming responsibility for the Stamps for Living project. This project has been longstanding at St. John’s. The various places that receive these stamps are listed on the container for the stamps in the lobby.

As you can see, mission is everywhere - global as well as local. Some of what we do are decisions related to our local community and some are decisions related to the UCC church at large, including its Division of Global Ministries. Much needs to be done – needs are all around us! So, we will continue to “go into all the world” via our support to global mission projects, and support of Our Church’s Wider Mission! Please join in the exciting venture of Nepal, Kenya, Honduras, Chambersburg and its surrounding communities, as well as other places yet to be determined.

TAPE MINISTRY: The Outreach Mission Ministry would like to thank the faithful members of the congregation who participate in delivering tapes each week to our homebound members. We appreciate their dedicated service to this ministry. Two of our church members tape the Traditional Service each week. Another member prepares the tapes for delivery. And several more members deliver tapes, these members deserve recognition for their many years of commitment. We have recently welcomed a new member to our team and would like to welcome more! If you feel that you would be interested in serving St. John’s in this way, please contact the church office.

2008 LENTEN PROJECT

Outreach Ministries would like to thank the congregation for supporting St. John’s United Church of Christ’s 2008 Lenten Season outreach project – The Amazon Rainforest Adopt-a-School Program. This program was suggested by members of St. John’s who learned about the Adopt-a-School program while vacationing in the Amazon and had the opportunity to visit a specific school that is in desperate need of support. Members of Outreach Ministries are very excited about this project and hope that the congregation is too - you will continue hearing more about this mission outreach in the future!

The Amazon Rainforest Adopt-a-School Program is run by the Detroit Zoological Society in cooperation with the Concervacion de la Naturaleza Amazonica del Peru (CONAPAC), a Peruvian non-profit organization. While education is a high priority in Peru, very little funding is available from government sources to provide for educational materials, school buildings and teacher salaries. Rural schools are most burdened by the lack of funding. Education is free to the students, but the students must provide their own pencils, notebooks and other basic supplies and most rural families can not afford this expense. 100% of donations to the program goes towards the purchase of supplies for students and teachers, teacher education and conservation projects in the community. If our fund-raising efforts exceed the basic funding needs of the school, the Program can assist our congregation in providing for other needs of the school and community.

What does it cost to support a school with an average of 50 students for a year? Only $350. For every additional $20 we raise, all the materials a student needs for the year – pencils, notebooks, etc. – can be provided.

The youth of St. John’s have also voted to support this program with their money and prayers. We hope all the adults of St. John’s will follow their lead and help to provide an education and thus a better life for the children of Peru and their families.

P.S: Don’t worry, we haven’t given up support of the missionary families from past Lenten projects. Support of these families has been incorporated into the general outreach budget of St. John’s.

We also invite everyone to send greetings and books to the people of Santa Thersa. Greetings may be in English; the Detroit Zoological Society will supply translation services. Books are always welcomed by the school. Please choose children’s' paperbacks in Spanish. The books and greetings will be hand delivered by the Society. Please place your greetings or books in the baskets provided in each lobby.

Scholarships are available through St. John's Sponsor-A-Camper Fund for children who need financial assistance to attend St. John's summer camping program. Call the church office for further information.

St. John's has long supported the following denomination-affiliated institutions: Hoffman Homes for Youth, Homewood Retirement Centers, and the Lancaster Theological Seminary.

Together with other UCC congregations in the Central Pennsylvania region, St John's works with Native American congregations and institutions in South Dakota. In the month of November, we collected NEW warm items for the Lakota Mission. These items were dedicated on Sunday, December 5th, 2004.

Since 1982, St. John's has had a special partnership with the congregation of the Borby Church in Eckernfoerde, Germany. Over the years, several youth and adult groups from our two churches have visited back and forth across the Atlantic. Together with the Borby Church, St. John's has conducted two special missions in Europe--the rebuilding of the St. Andreas Church in former East Germany and the creation of a study center for theological students at the University of Tartu in Estonia.