LCCC COVENANT CHALLENGE: 1 L, 5 C’s

Ever wonder if God is working through you and your congregation? We are fortunate at the Conference of Churches to see people changing their lives for the good nearly every day. We know that local congregations play a significant part in that change through their faithful outreach actions of providing food, counseling, mentoring, etc., but sometimes they don’t get to see or hear about the
positive end result. The Lehigh County Conference of Churches has a plan to help bridge that gap!

It’s called the LCCC Covenant Challenge or 1 L, 5 C’s. The congregation’s action is to form a team of 2-8 people who will lead the congregation in discerning the choosing or expansion of a mission or community outreach.

The Conference of Churches commitment is to send a staff person or key volunteer once per month over a 6 month period to help that congregational team walk through their discernment process, providing information, education and referral to appropriate resources and projects. And to share with you stories of success...how

God is working through our mutual efforts to change lives. Want to connect? Call/email LCCC Volunteer Coordinator Abby Goldfarb. at 610-439-8653 or agoldfarb@lehighchurches.org. She will be the “covenant broker,” connecting your congregation’s interest with knowledgeable LCCC representatives. Check her article below:

UCC Greenawalds is the first congregation to accept the Lehigh County Conference of Churches Covenant Challenge. For their second meeting, we came together to explore Pathways. Discussion was around the types of services Pathways Housing and Referral Program provides, the way they change lives, and how each person can help. UCC Greenawalds also held a toiletry drive for the month of May to benefit Pathways clientele.

We are about to embark on our third meeting – three of six – next month. And instead of a key Conference representative traveling to Greenawalds, they have opted to come to the Conference! A group of parishioners will spend a Sunday immersed in our Homeless Supportive Services program.

THE POWER OF ASSET MAPPING

Congregations and faith communities daily face challenges both internally and in their mission to the wider community.  Rather than focusing on what we don’t have, noted author Luther Snow calls us to focus on the blessings God has given us as congregations or faith based organizations and build on our strengths, gifts and assets together.

Three immediate benefits of Asset Mapping are:
1.  Helps congregations/organizations recognize assets that otherwise may be overlooked, unappreciated, taken for granted or outside our vision.
2.  Propels us to identify beneficial relationships and build on them in collaborative action, finding ways we can get things done together that we could not get done on our own.
3.  Opportunities open up for action toward the greater good and we feel the power of being part of something bigger than all of us.

Connecting congregational and faith-based organizations in developing mutually beneficial smart partnerships has long been a key facet of the mission of the LCCC and we want to use this effective system to invite congregations to explore community ministry with us via the LCCC Covenant Challenge. 

For more info on Asset Mapping go to:  www.luthersnow.com