Mission Offering for May: Baptist Peace Fellowship (5/4/17)

Our May Special Mission Offering is for the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America. The Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America (BPFNA) web site has this to say about the organization: “What comes to mind when you hear the word Baptist? Do you think peacemaker? How about folks who care for the poor, resist racial discrimination, speak out about worldwide injustices and care for the environment? If that is not your vision of Baptist, then we invite you to stay a while, find out more about us and learn what the word Baptist means around here. The Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America works to gather, equip and mobilize Baptists to build a culture of peace rooted in justice.

For further information, see the website at bpfna.org. FBCPA is a charter member congregation of BPFNA. We urge to you give generously.

Our goal is $500.

Mission Offering for April: ABSW

Our April Special Mission Offering is for the American Baptist Seminary of the West (ABSW). ABSW is located in Berkeley, and is affiliated denominationally with ABC USA and the Progressive National Baptist Convention, and admits students from a variety of denominational traditions. A multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, evangelical, and ecumenical institution, ABSW offers its students resources through the Graduate Theological Union (GTU), the largest partnership of seminaries and graduate schools in the United States. ABSW students may take classes at 9 other GTU seminaries and have access to one of the finest theological libraries in the world, a faculty of distinguished scholars, and the resources of UC Berkeley.

Many of our own church’s leaders and prominent members have been associated with ABSW: Pearl Pe’s father, the Rev. U. Than Pe from Burma (now Myanmar), was a visiting scholar for a year.  Rick Mixon is a graduate, as are the late Jim Shepard (CBTS), E.Y. Fung, Dona Smith-Powers and Lynn Hunwick.

Our goal for this offering is $750, which will be used for student financial aid and will be matched by the ABC Home Mission Society.

Mission Offering Update: America for Christ (3/22)

March is the month when we take our America for Christ Offering. The theme for 2017 is “Cultivating leaders, Equipping disciples, Healing Communities.”

“Through your generous donations and partnership, American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS) is committed to cultivating dynamic Christian leaders who are culturally and spiritually competent, in touch with their churches and communities, and passionate about ministry and helping people. Highly developed Christ-honoring leaders are called to advance the mission of peace, hope and love in their churches and communities with resilience, faithfulness and proficiency.”

We have received $615 of our $850 goal. Please be as generous as you can in our effort to support the work of ABHMS.

March Mission Offering: America for Christ 2017

March is the month when we take our America for Christ Offering. The theme for 2017 is “Cultivating leaders, Equipping disciples, Healing Communities”. Dating back to 1824, American Baptists have a legacy of mission and ministry, declaring the good news of the Gospel through words and deeds. The work of the Home Mission Societies cultivates “leaders and disciples who impact the continually changing society in the United States and Puerto Rico with the Gospel that heals and transforms.”

“Through your generous donations and partnership, American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS) is committed to cultivating dynamic Christian leaders who are culturally and spiritually competent, in touch with their churches and communities, and passionate about ministry and helping people. Highly developed Christ-honoring leaders are called to advance the mission of peace, hope and love in their churches and communities with resilience, faithfulness and proficiency.”

With this year’s focus on developing leadership, the offering reminds us that service is a way of life for Christ’s church and cultivating leaders to help us in that call is an important part of the work.

We have received $450 of our $850 goal. Please be as generous as you can in our effort to support the work of ABHMS.

February Mission Update: Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy

Our Special Offering this month will be directed to support the work of the Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy of Santa Clara County (C.I.C.) C.I.C. is a non-profit corporation founded in 1962 that operates with the local governmental agencies involved with corrections work. The ministry works directly with the men, women, boys and girls incarcerated in our county jails and juvenile facilities.  The funding for this ministry comes from Santa Clara County, individuals, and through the support of churches such as ours.  Just as Jesus ministered to those in prison, we can do likewise with our financial giving. “I was in prison, and you visited me.” Matthew 25:36b.

We have received $517 toward our goal of $600.

January Mission Update: 10 Books a Home

Our January Mission Offering will go to 10 Books A Home (10BH), a nonprofit organization that offers a new early education solution to families in High Poverty Communities who are dissatisfied with the high rate of student failure in their community and who want to prevent their children from suffering the same fate. According to student report cards we collect, 100% of children to go through our free preschooler home tutoring program in the past two years have outperformed their student peers.

We have received $517 toward our goal of $600.

January Mission Update: 10 Books a Home

Our January Mission Offering will go to 10 Books A Home (10BH), a nonprofit organization that offers a new early education solution to families in High Poverty Communities who are dissatisfied with the high rate of student failure in their community and who want to prevent their children from suffering the same fate. According to student report cards we collect, 100% of children to go through our free preschooler home tutoring program in the past two years have outperformed their student peers.

We have received $345 toward our goal of $600.

January Mission Update: 10 Books a Home

Our January Mission Offering will go to 10 Books A Home (10BH), a nonprofit organization that offers a new early education solution to families in High Poverty Communities who are dissatisfied with the high rate of student failure in their community and who want to prevent their children from suffering the same fate. According to student report cards we collect, 100% of children to go through our free preschooler home tutoring program in the past two years have outperformed their student peers.

We have received $125 toward our goal of $600.

January Mission Offering: 10 Books A Home

10 Books A Home (10BH) was founded in East Palo Alto in 2009 based on the belief that every child has intrinsic learning motivations, and that if discovered and cultivated, children will realize their full potential.

The Need: 10BH is a home tutoring nonprofit that positions high poverty preschoolers and their families to enter kindergarten above grade level. It is not enough to be “at” grade level in high poverty school communities. Children in these communities enter kindergarten more behind, fail more, and fall into poverty as adults more than any other student group. High poverty students must be “above” grade level to compete in the real world. Shockingly, 24% of the nation’s students are high poverty, up from 20% in 2010 and 12% in 2000.

December Offering: Retired Ministers & Missionaries (12/14/16)

Our special offering for December is the Retired Ministers and Missionaries Offering. This year the theme is Faith through Gratitude. Through the simple act of giving, we are called to be faithful servants of the gospel and to live out the ministry of Jesus in word and deed. The gratitude that we have for Jesus’ gift to us is the seed from which springs the gratitude that manifests toward the people of God, and reminds ministers, missionaries, and widowed spouses who served so faithfully that they are remembered with love and gratitude. The offering supports those who have dedicated their lives to God’s service by providing emergency assistance in times of need, and a thank you check at the end of each year. It is hoped that RMMO can continue to serve as a joyous tradition for ABC congregations, and that you will be greatly enriched this season by Faith through Gratitude.

We have received $625 toward our goal of $750.