VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 11/29/07) - The Advisory Council of the Retired Ministers and Missionaries Offering (RMMO) selected the Brewster Baptist Church, Brewster, Mass., to receive the 2007 Widow's Mite Award. The award is given in recognition of the congregation's consistent and outstanding level of giving to the RMMO for 10 consecutive years. The amount given by Brewster Baptist in 2006 was $9,830. The Rev. Dr. Douglas Scalise is the church's senior pastor.
The Rev. Dr. Hazel Roper, regional representative for The Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board (MMBB), will present the award to the congregation on Sunday, December 16, 2007. MMBB promotes and administers the offering.
The Widow's Mite Award commemorates the anonymous gift in 1981 of a Vietnamese refugee woman worshipping with the First Chinese Baptist Church of Fresno, Calif. Not knowing the full intent of the offering, but understanding the words "thank you" printed on the offering envelope, she slipped off her wristwatch, her only possession of value, and placed it in the envelope.
Through the RMMO, American Baptist congregations express their love for and gratitude to the denomination's retired ministers and missionaries, as well as their widowed spouses. The offering provides "Thank You" checks to over 3,000 recipients, based on 15 or more years of ABC service, and emergency and other financial assistance, based on financial need.
Most ABC congregations will receive the RMMO on December 2, 2007, and many continue promoting the offering throughout December.
Contact Judson Press at 800.458.3766 for free 2007 offering materials, or visit www.abc-usa.org/missions/retired.aspx for online resources. A brief profile of the Brewster Baptist Church and a photograph of Doug and Jill Scalise appear in the 2007 issue of ABC People magazine, published by MMBB. Contact MMBB at 800.986.6222 for a free copy.
Andrew C. Jayne American Baptist Churches USA Mission Resource Development http://www.abc-usa.org/