ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING
CELEBRATES 70 YEARS OF CHRISTIAN GENEROSITY
Having grown up at Ardmore Presbyterian Church, I vividly remember One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS)! I was born in 1947 and OGHS offerings began in 1949. I remember the banks that were handed out at Sunday School, how our family would try to put all our change into the bank on the kitchen table, and how exciting it was to bring the banks back full of change and then to walk down the long church aisle with the other children proudly carrying our banks to the front of the church.
Now at 71 years of age I am grateful to the visionary people who gave birth to OGHS and I stand in awe of how our God has blessed this offering that unites Christians in a common cause. Monies from OGHS continue to transform lives around the nation and the globe – from South Sudan to South Carolina, from Puerto Rico to the Philippines and to so many, many more places.
Currently 20 denominations receive the OGHS offerings that make the love of Christ real for individuals and communities around the world who suffer from the effects of disaster, violence, and/or severe economic deprivation. When you give to OGHS YOU are helping to renew lives in Christ’s name through the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Hunger Program and Self-Development of People ministries. Your gifts provide safety, sustenance and hope to individuals and communities in need. Gifts to OGHS can be given during Lent. Checks can be made out to APC and noted: OGHS and placed in the offering plate or sent to the church office (Attention: Financial Manager). OGHS offerings will be dedicated in worship on Palm Sunday, April 14, 2019 when special OGHS envelopes will be in the pews.
Mighty and merciful God, in Jesus Christ you opened the doors to us. Make us a church whose doors open so that we go out to join in mission and ministry with all our neighbors in need. Through the gifts we offer to One Great Hour of Sharing, may your light break forth before us, and may we be called repairers of the breach, restorers of streets in which we live.
Joanne Poorman for the Mission Awareness Committee