Cobeleskill UMC has greatly increased their giving. For Human Relations Day, their congregation gave $65 in 2017, and $366 in 2018. And for UMCOR Sunday, they went from $420 in 2017 to $650 in 2018! Click here to find out exactly how Cobleskill UMC accomplished this increase in generous giving.
According to Cobleskill UMC pastor, the Rev. Dr. Nancy Hale, "We used the resources from umcgiving.org to increase awareness about how the donations for Special Sundays are put to use. The "explainer" videos were particularly helpful, and we used them in our PowerPoint presentation in worship. We also used graphics from that website on our Facebook page and in our worship presentations for a week or two before the Special Sunday.
Our Outreach chairperson spoke about Human Relations Day during worship, and we offered a special prayer for the various mission projects that we support through Special Sunday giving before we took up the offering.
We also reminded people about how our own region (Schoharie County) benefitted from UMCOR during the catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Irene, and we encouraged people to see our Special Sunday giving as a way to "pay it forward" so others can be helped in times of need.
Finally, we stressed our connectionalism as United Methodists, and how we can do more together. It all paid off in an amazing increase in generous giving!"
Shannon Hodson, Upper New York AC
The United Methodist Church has designated six churchwide Special Sundays with offerings. These special Sunday offerings provide scholarships, administrative costs in times of disaster, benefit peace with justice ministries annual conferences, equip seminary students who will honor and celebrate Native American culture in their ministries, benefit neighborhood ministries, community advocacy and work with at-risk teens.
When you give generously, you help change lives of individuals around the world. Give now.
