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The Change for Children program is based on the notion that the pocket change of Christians can indeed change the world for children and their families through the ministries of the Society of St. Andrew and Holston Conference churches and agencies. Hence, the program is designed around the claim that "your change can change the world for children by both salvaging food to feed the hungry AND supporting new and existing ministries with children and families who are poor in the Holston Conference." The way the program works is simple. At the end of each worship service, the congregation is invited to donate their pocket change for the "Change for Children" campaign.
The Change for Children program is intended to operate within the church year round. There is no specific monetary goal for the campaign. It is instead designed as a way for the entire congregation to be involved in ministry with the poor all year long. It is a way for the needs of the poor to be lifted before the congregation weekly, and for the congregation to respond in love to those needs on a weekly basis. Most important, it is a way for the entire church family to express its Christian love in a tangible way, showing its faith that hunger will one day be eradicated from our world in the name of Jesus Christ and that all God's children will know the love of Christ through the local ministry of the church.
Change for Children must be a priority of the church in order for it to succeed.
Your Change Can
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All money received for the Change for Children campaign will be divided evenly between the Society of St. Andrew and the Holston Conference Task Force on Children and Poverty. Immediate goals for the Society of St. Andrew half of Change for Children campaign funds include.
Establishing one new gleaning ministry in the Virginia region of Holston Conference to salvage thousands of pounds of produce left in fields after harvest and deliver it to our hungry brothers and sisters.
Organizing Potato Project "potato drops" across the Conference to help Holstonians reach out to the hungry in their communities.
Supporting hunger ministries already existing in other places.
Long term goals include:
Establishing one new gleaning ministry in the Tennessee region of Holston Conference.
Sponsoring a Harvest of Hope (see Society of St. Andrew section for more information) event for Holston youth and adults.
The half of Change for Children campaign funds received by the Holston Children and Poverty Task Force will be used for two purposes:
Grants to support new and existing ministries with children and families who are poor in Holston Conference. Local churches, clusters of local churches, districts, and Holston church agencies would be eligible to apply for funds. Once funds begin coming in, a Grants Committee consisting of members from the Children and Poverty Task Force and the Conference Missions Work Area will establish guidelines for the ministry grants, initiate an application process, and begin awarding grants. Guidelines and the application process will be widely publicized.
Ten per cent of the Holston half of Change for Children funds will support ministry with children and youth in Estonia, the current Holston global mission emphasis.
The Society of St. Andrew is an Advance Special mission project of the United Methodist Church. Forced in 1979 by two United Methodist pastors, it is a Christian ministry dedicated to meeting both spiritual and physical hungers. The Society adheres to Christian principles of good stewardship. Therefore, more than 85% of the funds raised by the Society of St. Andrew are spent on the direct delivery of food and services to the hungry. The ministries of the Society include:
THE POTATO PROJECT: This nationwide produce salvage program was begun in 1983. It provides direct relief to the hungry by transporting commercially unmarketable, yet perfectly good potatoes and other produce that are donated by farmers to hunger relieve agencies all across the United States. These agencies in turn distribute the food for free directly to the hungry. The Society of St. Andrew provides over 45 million servings of food to the hungry each year through the Potato Project at a cost of less than two cents per serving!
THE GLEANING NETWORK: Gleaning is the Biblical practice of hand-gathering crops left in the fields after harvest. The Society of St. Andrew coordinates volunteers, growers, and distribution agencies to provide food for hungry people through gleaning. The salvaged produce is taken to local food distribution centers. Since 1988, more than 30,000 volunteers have participated in gleaning events sponsored by the Society of St. Andrew.
HARVEST OF HOPE: This is a gleaning and study program with deep Biblical roots. It is designed for youth, young adults, and inter-generational groups in either weekend or week-long events. Harvest of Hope emphasizes food salvage and gleaning. It educates participants about the realities of world hunger, its causes and effects, and involves them in worship and teamwork to serve the poor.
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For more information on the ministries and other programs of the Society of St. Andrew, please write to the Society at 3383 Sweet Hollow Road, Big Island, VA 24526, or call 1-800-333-4597 or 1-804-299-5956. Visit the SoSA web site at www.endhunger.org. |
Appointed by Bishop Ray Chamberlain in early 1997, the Holston Conference Task Force on Children and Poverty, made up of lay and clergy members from across the Conference, sees its primary task as providing resources to encourage Holston local churches to become even further involved in ministry with children and families who are poor in their communities. We want to challenge and empower local congregations to model hospitality, to participate in open table fellowship, and to work with impoverished families to share God's love and find the way forward to better lives for all of us.
Among several Task Force objectives, the following seem most appropriate to mention in relation to the Change for Children campaign:
To encourage each local church to identify with the poor within their communities and implement a "personal" form of ministry, with special attention to the needs of children.
To encourage the development of ministries at the local level that empower caretakers of children.
To encourage congregations to emphasize the presence of the impoverished and children in worship/evangelism/missional programming.
To encourage local churches to seek children as participants in ministry as well as recipients of ministry.
To encourage local churches to establish more relationships with children and families who are poor in their communities.
To encourage every local church to recruit potential adoptive and foster families for children.
To assist every local church in reflecting on where and in what ways God is leading them to respond to the call of the Gospel in the Children and Poverty Initiative.
We see the Change for Children campaign as one way to help us all focus our attention on the needs of the poor and all children, and we believe that collecting change for the Society of St. Andrew, for ministries with children and youth in Estonia, and for grants for new and existing local church and agency ministries with children and families in Holston Conference is one response we can make to the call of God to reach out to the poor.
We are grateful to have joined in this wonderful response to Jesus' commands to feed the hungry and reach out to the poor (especially the children!). We pay God's blessing as we, in partnership together, Change the World for Children!
Glen Alpine United Methodist Church
3200 Glen Alpine Road
Kingsport, TN 37660
423-349-7831
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