God's Mission Our Gifts: Your March Mission and Service Stories and more!

Scroll down for congregational stewardship news! Your March Mission and Service Stories PowerPoint slides for each story are available on the Mission and Service in Worship page.

March 1 Grandmothers Leading with Love [Image credit: Lindsay Glennie]   In Kenya’s Rift Valley, grandmothers are doing what grandmothers do best: loving fiercely. Many are raising their grandchildren while grieving children of their own. Through Mission and Service partnerships, they’re sitting down with pastors, sharing their stories, and helping their churches choose compassion over stigma. Change begins with listening — and it’s already happening. March 8 Partnership in Bloom [Image credit: Jelena Safronova]   Spring doesn’t tiptoe in. It pushes through. And so do Mission and Service partners. When wildfires force families from home, when food costs soar, when isolation weighs heavy, they’re already showing up. Every gift strengthens work that is steady, practical, and rooted in community. Hope is growing — and we’re part of it. March 15 A Steady Flow of Care [Image credit: Silver Spire United Church] At Silver Spire United Church in St. Catharines, something as ordinary as a shower becomes extraordinary. While guests wash, their laundry tumbles clean next door. Fresh clothes. Donated toiletries. A chance to exhale. It’s simple. It’s practical. And it reminds people they matter. March 22 Local Knowledge, Global Transformation [Image credit: Asian Rural Institute] Two hours never feels like enough at the Tomken Grove Afterschool Program. Neighbourhood children gather in an electronics-free space for play, movement, shared snacks and responsibility, building connection and community beyond the school day. March 29 Steady Presence on the Northern Landscape [Image credit: Hillcrest United Church] In Fort Nelson, British Columbia, Hillcrest United Church reflects the strength and generosity of rural ministry. Through worship, community gatherings, and everyday care, this vibrant congregation offers connection close to home while participating in a wider movement of hope across Canada and beyond. Congregational Stewardship and Generosity   It seems so simple, yet we too often forget. SAY THANK YOU! Whenever you can. However you can. With the annual tax receipts. At your annual meeting. Sunday worship. Board/Council meetings. Wherever you meet people. Just say thank you. For all they do. For all they give. For all they are. Tell them they matter. Tell them they are making a difference. Tell them they are appreciated. Tell them God loves them. And just say thank you. Take care. God loves you! Thank you for all you are and do. Let’s Get Ready! It’s Tax-Receipt Time! Write a nice personal message to include with the tax receipts you send to say, “Thank-you” to people for their 2025 gifts. Share a couple of inspiring highlights from the past year of how their gifts made a difference in people’s lives and increased discipleship. The most important phrase to use is, “Your gifts made this possible.” You can get sample letters by downloading the “Stewardship Digging Deeper” free Stewardship Resource Kit from the Encouraging Generosity in Your Community of Faith webpage.   Lenten worship resources Look no further. Worship, Liturgy, Sermon, Kids Activities, for all 5 weeks of Lent are all available in the Loving Our Neighbours: Worship for Five Sundays of Lent file on the Stewardship in Worship webpage.   Easter is coming When you have a fuller house for worship on Easter Sunday, family, friends, people you have never met, it's really important to tell your story. People want to know, what is your Community of Faith doing, what makes it different, because of Jesus’ resurrection? Connect the dots for them. And hopefully one of those stories is about generosity as a spiritual practice.   May is PAR Month How will you Inspire, Invite and Thank people who are not giving consistently to try it, by using PAR (Pre-Authorised Remittance) to give monthly? How will you Inspire, Invite and Thank people already using PAR to increase their monthly giving?   PAR month resources will be available under Downloads at the bottom of the United Church PAR webpage in March. Resources You Need!   NEW Free Capital Campaign Resource kit In secular fundraising they say that if done well, capital campaigns can raise 10 times the annual amount given for operating. Think of the church or ministry you love. What would it mean to raise 10 times your annual donation amount? Improved facilities? New programs?  There is a lot of untapped potential generosity if your Community of Faith hasn’t engaged in a capital campaign in a while. Get the free Capital Campaign Resource kit. Ideas, plans, samples. And don’t forget the Stewardship Starter Kit, Digging Deeper Kit, Stewardship Program Kit, Planned Legacy Giving Kit.  All available on this web-page: Free Stewardship Resource kits. Stewardship Seconds (NEW Update for January-June 2026!) Short, pithy sayings that pack a punch, to help infiltrate stewardship thinking into your community of faith. Add them to newsletters, worship, announcements, webpages, wherever people gather!  Find them at the Stewardship in Worship webpage. Offering Introductions & Dedication Prayers (NEW Update for January-June 2026!) The offering time in worship is NOT about collecting money! It is about growing generous disciples and stewards. These Offering Introductions, and Dedication Prayers, for each Sunday of the year, will help. Find them at the Stewardship in Worship webpage. 2026 Lectionary Worship Starters UPDATED Sermon ideas, theme hymns, RCL based. Five-week worship series on giving and generosity. Available now on the Stewardship in Worship webpage. Get the Stewardship Support You Need Team Changes. Welcome to the Rev. Sarah Giles!! Sarah will be covering for Vicki Nelson while she is on medical leave. Those of you in the Prairie to Pine, Living Skies, Northern Spirit, Chinook Winds, and Pacific Mountain regions can reach Sarah at sgiles@united-church.ca Beginning on January 1, 2026, The Rev. Roger Janes has retired! We will seriously miss him, but wish him the best. Those in his regions are still welcome to reach out using stewardship@united-church.ca. We hope to have a staffing update for you, soon. In both cases for the short-term, other members of the team are covering. For the longer term, more information will be coming when we know more. The people and resources to help you succeed are here. Gifts with Vision News Our small but mighty Gifts with Vision catalogue – featuring the gifts currently on the Gifts with Vision website – is being updated! Brand new gifts, as well as your existing favourites, will be available March 5, 2026! The website will be unavailable from March 2-6 to allow for these updates.   Questions? Email Gifts with Vision. You can also call us at 1-844-715-7969. Why be a Mission and Service Volunteer? What do you feel called to do? There's a place for you! You might be part of the Outreach Committee: you’re looking for new outreach ideas, but nothing is really clicking. We can help you find new partners to support through Mission and Service (and also Gifts with Vision!) and share their stories with your community of faith.  As a volunteer, you’ll receive Mission and Service stories for each month well in advance, so you can see what you might want to emphasize in your work and also have talking points to share. You can also virtually meet other Mission and Service volunteers and learn what works for them!    Contact us today to learn more!    Mission and Service Volunteer Program   The United Church of Canada   ms@united-church.ca   1-800-465-3771  GOD’S MISSION, OUR GIFTS is your newsletter. We want to provide news and information that you can use in your community of faith, whether you’re a minister, a board member, an administrator, a treasurer, or anyone else who wants to make a difference.   What else would you like to see? What can we do to help your community of faith get where it needs to go? Send us your thoughts! Donate Facebook Website Email Instagram YouTube LinkedIn   Your generosity enables the United Church to love, serve, and minister in the world. Make an online donation or learn more about your options to support the work of the church.

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