wfn.org | UCC ups its commitment, pledges $300,00 to aid tsunami victims

[powellb@ucc.org]

United Church of Christ
Barb Powell, press contact
(216) 736-2175
<powellb@ucc.org>
<http://www.ucc.org>

For immediate release
Jan. 4, 2005

United Church of Christ ups its commitment, pledges $300,000 to aid tsunami
victims

Says 'extravagant welcome' must be matched by 'extravagant generosity'

CLEVELAND -- Saying its outspoken commitment to "extravagant welcome" must
be matched equally with an outpouring of "extravagant generosity," the
United Church of Christ announced today (Jan. 4) that it is pledging
$300,000 to assist victims of the disastrous Dec. 26 tsunami that has left
millions homeless, injured or dead throughout southern Asia.

In addition to $93,000 in assistance shared within hours of the tragedy,
the 1.3-million-member United Church of Christ is raising an additional
$207,000 from church members and friends to support the denomination's
long-established ecumenical partners in the affected regions.

"The fact that we were able to wire funding on Monday, Dec. 27, within
hours of the disaster, is because UCC people had given generously last
year
to One Great Hour of Sharing [the UCC's special mission offering that
supports disaster response]," says Susan M. Sanders, the UCC's Minister for
the Global Sharing of Resources. "Now we turn to our members and friends to
expand our response and to express the UCC's commitment to extravagant
generosity."

The UCC has established the Asia Tsunami Relief Fund to supplement its
relief, recovery and rehabilitation efforts in the region, Sanders said,
with almost 600 UCC members and friends already contributing nearly $70,000
through the church's initial, online appeal.

In the past week, Sanders said, the UCC has relied on additional staff
assistance at its national offices in Cleveland to process church members'
extra contributions, offered online and through the mail.

On Sunday, Jan. 2, many of the UCC's 6,000 congregations received special
offerings in support of the denomination's efforts, Sanders said, and
several congregations were preparing "health kits" for the ecumenical
Church World Service (CWS), of which the UCC is a founding member. CWS
already has airlifted 40,000 health kits to serve tsunami victims.

"In the UCC, there is a long-standing, ecumenical value that affirms that
we can better serve by joining with others rather than believing we can do
it all by ourselves," Sanders said. "We are able to share the love of
Christ far further."

The UCC is also a founding member of Action by Churches Together, an
international entity that is working with dozens of denominations to
coordinate and expedite faith-based disaster response.

As part of its recovery plan, the UCC is partnering with church bodies
in
Southern Asia with long ties to the U.S. denomination: the Church of North
India, Church of South India, the Jaffna Diocese in the Church of South
India (Sri Lanka), the Church of Christ in Thailand and the Church's
Auxiliary for Social Action in India.

"We weren't trying to find out last Sunday who to call," Sanders said.
"We
work with long-term, established partners. The system is there, and it's
well-developed."

Global Ministries -- the joint mission board of the UCC and Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ) -- has two foreign missionaries serving in
affected regions of Sri Lanka. As part of the two denomination's relief
efforts, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has pledged $250,000 in
disaster recovery assistance, in addition to the UCC's $300,000 commitment.

"Anyone who is in need is who we serve," Sanders said. "In our eyes, when
it comes to need, there is no race, creed or caste. If you are in need, we
stand willing to respond."

Sanders said church members are praying for tsunami victims, but also
providing much-needed financial resources that will provide food, clothing,
shelter, clean water, medicine, medical care, trauma counseling and housing
reconstruction for those struggling to recover from the disaster.

The United Church of Christ was formed in 1957 by the union of the
Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church.

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