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The Read
the Salt Shaker, the LBCCC
LBCCC Board and Officers |
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WHAT DOES LBCCC DO?... We cross racial, social, and economic lines so that we can work together as one body to promote Christian unity, a greater understanding among faiths, and a fuller ministry to all God’s people. Rather than being a council of churches with official representatives of congregations, our style of ecumenicity is to bring motivated Christians together from different congregations for the praise of God and for study and action on concrete issues. The center joins with others to identity and work on community issues. such as the needs of the poor, welfare reform, and issues confronting youth. We help Christians act with love and justice as they bridge the gap between faith and life. To fulfill its goals, the center sponsors workshops, festivals, dialogues, colloquia, retreats, and other opportunities for study, prayer, fellowship, and action. Each fall (and sometimes more often), we put on a Toolbox for Ministry program. These help new clergy, old clergy, and lay leaders alike discover those community resources that can assist their ministries. We encourage observance of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity each year in January, and we schedule events to assist in that process. Save Friday evening, January 23, for our annual Christian Unity Retreat, and Saturday morning, January 24, for the wonderful Christian Unity Breakfast . We promote the national Children’s Sabbath of the Children’s Defense Fund each year in October, mobilizing congregations to act on the critical needs of America’s children. We hold an annual Festival of Sacred Music, usually In the spring. Currently, the center has two ongoing projects, Welcoming the Stranger-WTS and For Love Of Children - FLOC. Welcoming the Stranger began in 1999. Led by the Rev. Sturgis Poorman, this program reaches out to the large number of immigrants and refugees in the lower part of the county, offering friendship, English lessons, computer training, and citizenship education. For Love of Children (FLOC) is a volunteer task force that advocates with elected and appointed officials – county, state, and federal – on issues that impact on children, especially on needy children. Among current FLOC issues are early education programs in Pennsylvania , child care, violence, children's medical and dental care, and welfare funding and reform. FLOC also has an electronic advocacy team, the FLOC Advocates, who get email alerts on current issues . Individuals can join the advocates by emailing maben730@aol.com . FLOC was instrumental in helping to see that the children of the poor in Bucks County had access to dental treatment, which was long not available in the county. An ongoing FLOC project provides Tooth Fairy Kits, colorful bags of health and dental essentials to school nurses for needy school children. All kits are donated by volunteers, most of whom are from church and women's organizations . LBCCC also aims to help congregations become more welcoming of our newer neighbors through the Welcoming the Stranger program. The center prizes lay leadership and is highly dependent on volunteers. We have a minimal staff. Membership is open to both individuals and congregations. We are broadly ecumenical and urge all people of good will to participate on our board, committees, and task forces. The board meets monthly.
A Prayer for Christian UnityHeavenly Father, we praise and thank you for the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ, and for the gift of your Holy Spirit, who raises us up and makes us one. We bring before you the brokenness of our world and, within that world, the divisions among us who call upon your name. Send forth afresh the gift of the Spirit who is love, so that through our growth in unity the world may believe. Amen.
Both individuals
and congregations can be Click here for the Donation Form. The center is a non-for-profit 501 (c)(3) organization, founded in 1989. A copy of our official registration may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling 1-800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement. |
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