Sacred Activism
Outreach and Social Action

  • We believe that we are called to do much more than just show up for an hour every Sunday: we are to be God's hands, feet, and voice in this hurting world. Therefore we are dedicated to doing our best to be of service and value to the greater community.

    This is why we believe giving our youth direction and orientation and being of service to others is so important. And it is why we do our best to engage our youth in activities of this nature. After all, we are how God shows up!

    Center for Food Action - In our ongoing effort to help end hunger among our neighbors in Bergen County, we collect canned, boxed and jarred non-perishable food items which we deliver to the CFA distribution site in Englewood, NJ. In addition, each year our children and youth purchase and donate supermarket gift cards with the funds they’ve collected in their weekly “Sunshine Bank” offering.

    Christian Overcomers – This unique ministry provides caring and compassionate outreach programs for adults with developmental or physical disabilities. Each year we collect much needed supplies and monetary donations to help fund three week-long summer/fall retreat camps where people with disabilities can enjoy outdoor activities and fellowship at a retreat in the Poconos that seeks to eliminate physical barriers and share God’s message of love.

    Dumont Snowflake Program - During the Christmas season, we provide gifts for needy families in the Dumont vicinity. We supplement our gifts with an abundance of gloves, mittens, scarves and hats that we have collected on our holiday "Mitten Tree". A second batch of winter accessories is delivered to Eva’s Village in Paterson.

    Bergen’s Place Youth Shelter– Our cookie cans, decorated and filled with cookies baked by the congregation, represent a little holiday joy for youth at the state licensed residential crisis and homeless shelter in Teterboro, NJ. The shelter, accessible 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for ages 11 to 17, provides assistance for runaway, homeless and at-risk youth and is a safe and welcoming environment for LGBTQ youth.

    Heifer International – We join with our Ministry for Children and Youth each Lenten season to sponsor "Fill the Ark", a missions giving program that seeks to help end hunger and poverty in communities around the world. Children learn the importance of animals, agriculture, and the environment and how "Passing on the Gift" helps people around the world lead more productive, self-reliant lives.

  • The success and sustainability of the United Church of Christ's national ministries relies on contributions from UCC congregations nationwide for basic operating support and special missions. We are “5 for 5”, meaning that we are a congregation that supports all of our denomination’s efforts

    Our Church's Wider Mission - In Christ we are invited to be transformed and to work with God to make a more peaceful, just, and loving world. Our Still-Speaking God invites us to be bold, to think creatively, and to be innovative in our ministries.

    Our covenant with one another in the United Church of Christ means learning to be United even when we disagree, Church together even when we worship in different ways, and to see Christ revealed in beloved community. As over 5,000 local congregations across the country, together with the wider movement of UCC agencies and international partners, we strive to be a faith-forming, multi-racial and multicultural, open and affirming, globally minded movement to transform ourselves and our world.

    In isolation, no single UCC congregation can be the church the world needs today. To be that world-changing church, we work together through Our Church’s Wider Mission Our Church's Wider Mission to support and inspire each other.

    One Great Hour of Sharing – In conjunction with several other Christian denominations, the United Church of Christ participates each spring in the One Great Hour of Sharing “Week of Compassion”. The funds we collect provide hunger relief, clean water, health care, education, agricultural development, refugee ministries, emergency relief, and domestic and international disaster response. For those displaced by violence or poverty or affected by natural disasters, our gifts provide global support through both immediate relief and long term recovery.

    Strengthen The Church – Supporting church growth, pastoral and lay leadership development and youth and young adult ministries, this special offering is collected each year on Pentecost Sunday. By pledging our support to Strengthen The Church we invest in the vision to reimagine and build the future of the United Church of Christ. As God calls us to be the “church” in new ways, our donations help plant new churches, awaken new ideas in existing churches and develop the spiritual life of our youth and young adults.

    Neighbors In Need – This offering, collected each fall, supports ministries of justice and compassion throughout the USA. One third of the offering aids the Council for American Indian Ministry in providing Christian ministry to UCC congregations on reservations throughout the mid-west. Two thirds is used by the UCC’s Justice and Witness Ministries to support a variety of justice initiatives, advocacy efforts and direct service projects. Neighbors In Need grants fund projects including community organizing and advocacy to address systemic injustice.

    The Christmas Fund – Providing financial assistance to retired and active UCC authorized ministers, lay employees and their surviving spouses, this offering includes pension and health premium supplementation, emergency assistance and Christmas “thank you” checks to low-income retirees. By giving to this fund, we participate in God’s promise of renewal by enabling a ministry of compassion and care. The Christmas Fund gives us the opportunity to brighten the lives of those of God’s servants who are facing a time of personal need.

    Matthew 25:35-36“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

    “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” ` Matthew 25:40