God is Still Speaking – particularly during these difficult times!

Over the past year, the God is Still Speaking Initiative has encouraged all of us to work together to spread the word about the United Church of Christ to those who may be seeking a spiritual home.

In the coming weeks and months, many of our congregations will be communicating with local media outlets about Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief efforts. Although the most important function of such communications is clearly to generate as much assistance as possible for those affected by the storm, they also provide an opportunity for our churches to be visible to those in our communities who have heard about the denomination through the StillSpeaking campaign and may be seeking a United Church of Christ congregation.

To assist this important work, the Massachusetts Conference is providing to local congregations the following “talking points” that can be used when communicating with the local media about Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief efforts. Please be sure when identifying your church to the media to mention that you are a part of the United Church of Christ.

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS / DONATIONS

If your church is raising funds to be donated to hurricane relief through the UCC, you may want to include the following in your publicity materials:

Funds raised will be donated to the Hope Shall Bloom Campaign, a $3 million hurricane relief initiative by the United Church of Christ. Donations to this fund will be used in the relief, recovery and rehabilitation phases of this disaster in what is projected to be a 5-10 year response.

Trained UCC Disaster Network Coordinators will work with the devastated communities to identify the un-met needs of their people – in other words, to catch the folks who might otherwise fall through the cracks. Funds will also be contributed to Church World Service, the relief ministry of 36 Protestant, Orthodox, and Anglican denominations in the United States , including the United Church of Christ.

More information about the United Church of Christ initiative can be found at: ucc.org/disaster/hopeshallbloom.htm, where anyone interested can also make an online contribution.

More information about Church World Service can be found at www.churchworldservice.org.

CHURCH WORLD SERVICE GIFT OF THE HEART KITS

If your church decides to either raise funds or collect materials for Health, Cleanup, Baby or School kits for Church World Service, you may want to include the following in your publicity materials :

Gift of the Heart kits are small assistance packages that can make a big difference to those in need. Basic materials such as soap, toothpaste, band-aids, paper, pencils, and diapers seem small, but make a huge difference in an ongoing development program or when disaster strikes. These kits are assembled and distributed by Church World Service, the relief ministry of 36 Protestant, Orthodox, and Anglican denominations in the United States, including the United Church of Christ.

More information about the contents of the kits, and how to contribute, can be found at: www.churchworldservice.org/kits.

Please remember to also keep the Massachusetts Conference posted on your efforts. You can share your story with Marlene Gasdia-Cochrane, Conference United Church News and Spotlight editor, at cochranem@macucc.org.

If you have questions or comments about this article, please contact Tiffany Vail, Associate for Communication & Technology, at vailt@macucc.org.