SOUPER BOWL OF CARING
Souper Bowl of Caring offering, sponsored by our youth. This nationwide collection, which was started by a church youth group, asks you to remember our hungry neighbors in need while you’re shopping for – and then enjoying – chicken wings, nachos, chips, sandwiches, pretzels, and all the rest while you watch the Big Game.
You can find more information at: https://tacklehunger.org/#
SEASON OF LENT
Beginning on Ash Wednesday, Lent is a season of reflection and preparation before the celebrations of Easter. By observing the 40 days of Lent, Christians replicate Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and withdrawal into the desert for 40 days. Lent is marked by fasting, both from food and festivities.
Some Christians find that doing without some pleasurable thing – like meat or candy or watching TV – helps them to better appreciate God’s sacrifice of His Son on the cross for our sins. Other Christians find that doing something extra, like baking cookies for your neighbors or phoning your loved ones to see how they’re doing during the winter or inviting a friend to Hawker Church or giving to Trinity retirement community. Simple acts of selflessness help us remember that Jesus calls us to be His disciples, not just names on the membership rolls.
BLANKETS
Each May we participate in Blanket Sunday. For over 60 years, Church World Service (CWS) has worked in partnership with local communities around the world to identify their needs and access the resources they need to build the foundation for a more viable future, including:
- Blankets, tents, food and other emergency supplies in the wake of a disaster.
- Tools and seeds for refugees returning home to replant their fields.
- Wells for families living in drought prone areas to provide clean, safe water to drink and to irrigate crops and gardens.
- Literacy training and micro credit for women struggling to realize their potential.
God has asked us to live as loving neighbors to all peoples of the world. When trouble comes to any part of the world, our gifts will be there to help in survival and recovery.
We collect donations that go to Church World Service for Blanket Sunday. You can find more information at:
Tools
For over 60 years, Church World Service (CWS) has worked in partnership with local communities around the world to identify needs and access the resources required to build the foundation for more viable futures.
Your support of CWS equips families worldwide with the tools that they need to build stronger futures – literally.
Here’s how:
$5 A hand saw for a family
$15 Seeds and gardening tools for a family
$25 Boots and rain jacket for a community’s agricultural specialist
$47 A support column for a house
$50 Construction training for two people
God has asked us to live as loving neighbors to all people of the world. When trouble comes to any part of the world, our gifts will be there to help in survival and recovery.
You can find out more at:
BEAVERCREEK FISH
FISH began in England in 1961, and came to the United States in 1964. Beavercreek FISH was started in May 1975 by volunteers from several local churches and has operated continuously since then. Hawker was one of the original churches in 1975, and one of the few that still contribute faithfully each year.
Beavercreek FISH consists of local volunteers providing free services and financial assistance to Beavercreek area residents having urgent needs that cannot be met by any other organization. Beavercreek FISH is a community supported, all-volunteer operated organization that does not accept government funds.
Hawker supports Beavercreek FISH by donating nonperishable food, paper products, and hygiene items several times a year. We also make monetary donations through collections for the Souper Bowl of Caring and other frequent outreach projects.
CROP WALK
The CROP Walk is an annual event usually held the first Sunday afternoon in October at the Island MetroPark in Dayton with Teams of walkers from many Churches and civic organizations. It raises vital funds for Church World Service (CWS) and also funds for our own Dayton Food Bank. We traditionally do a fund raising drive at Hawker UCC and enter a Team for the physical walk. In 2020, there was no central walk but we held our own walk around the local Hawker Church community. We traditionally encouraged walking as a Team, signing up, and/or donating online at: https://www.crophungerwalk.org/daytonoh. Another option to donate was to make checks out to CWS/CROP or give cash and drop either in the offering plate.
OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD
Operation Christmas Child, is a ministry hosted by Samaritan’s Purse which collects and distributes shoeboxes of toys, hygiene items, and school supplies for girls and boys around the world.
These shoeboxes, distributed for free to children without regard for their race, gender, politics, or religious beliefs, let them know that God loves them, He has not forgotten them, and that He cares for them very much.
Every shoebox we pack here represents a boy or girl who will experience first-hand that the followers of Jesus Christ love them because Jesus loves them. Dozens of countries that have been wracked by the coronavirus have contacted Samaritan’s Purse to ask about receiving and distributing the shoeboxes of gifts. At a time when many missionaries have had to retreat from their fields, Christians in those countries have stepped up to distribute the shoeboxes, along with pamphlets that explain the Gospel.
For more information visit:
https://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/
DISCRETIONARY FUND
Donations to the Discretionary Fund enable our pastor to provide assistance to church members, friends, and people in the community with emergency financial assistance, primarily via help with utility bills. We typically give over $2,000 in grants per year. Non-members can apply once every 24 months, and all grants are paid directly to the public utility.
PRESIDENTS' CLUB
The Presidents’ Club is a vital group with Hawker’s current and past Presidents that have a desire to continue serving our Lord, our church, our congregation and community. Meetings are held as needed to plan upcoming events. Our biggest event is the Annual Lasagna Dinner in February followed with an Ice Cream Social in September. Proceeds have benefitted local needs such as the Dayton Chapter of Secret Smiles, Feed the Creek, 4 Paws for Ability, and Hawker’s Pastor Discretionary Fund and Children’s Music Program, and Xenia’s Bridges of Hope shelter. Additional benefactors include Shriner’s Hospital, Operation Helmet, the Wounded Warrior Project, and The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James.
OUR BROTHERS' KEEPERS
Our Brothers Keeper Sewing Group delivers sleeping bags and pillowcases to the homeless through the Greene Metropolitan Housing Authority. The sewing group consisting of Dorothy Bordewisch, Pam Sowder, Bev Kunkle, Barbara Human, Sue Demmy, and Sue Doll has worked very hard this summer in this outreach. We are using up our available resources. Our greatest need is fillers (blankets, mattress pads, electric blankets, comforters, wool cloth, and knit fabrics) We also need neckties, t-shirts, men’s briefs, towels, wash clothes, socks, tooth paste, tooth brushes, combs, soap, shampoos and lotions. Place them in the Brothers Keeper Box in the hall at the church.
We meet on Tuesdays, the first, third, and fourth weeks during the winter and spring from 9:00-11:00 AM in the fellowship hall.
UNITED CHURCH HOMES
From humble beginnings dating to 1916, the mission and purpose of United Church Homes has remained the same — to provide comfortable and affordable housing and healthcare for older adults. More than 100 years later, this commitment still inspires our goal to be a leading provider of healthcare and senior living services. United Church Homes today is transforming the experience of aging for thousands of people as we build communities of residents who embrace life and seek wholeness and peace.
For more information visit:
PRAYER LIST
Pray for those who are sick, who need help, who are in nursing homes and those who serve in our military. Pray for your family, friends, co-workers and neighbors. Pray for our congregation and our Pastor.
MISSION TRIPS
OUR MISSION TEAM
Hawker UCC has been involved in mission trips to various states. One was in 2004 near Biloxi, Mississippi and the Navajo reservation in Arizona. In Mississippi we helped a family repair a roof and helped clean his shed and yard. In Arizona we helped a woman clean out her goat pen. We also helped repair the AC in one building, helped with repairing various rooms. During both trips we had spiritual meetings. Recently, we’ve gone to Tennessee to help paint houses.