Christ Church is active in our community and provides many mission and outreach opportunities for our members.
One mission project of the Outreach Committee of Christ Church focuses on “Meals for Others” where members of the congregation participate in the preparation of meals to be served at First Reformed, UCC in Lancaster city. We currently serve these meals to those in need, on a Tuesday, four times a year. Volunteers can get involved by watching for articles in the Weekly Net when there are sign up opportunities to help serve the meal and bake brownies.
The Christ Church (CC) Green Team (GT) continues collecting material for composting at the Wittel Farm here in Elizabethtown. Over the past few years the GT distributed 5-gallon plastic buckets to participating members of the congregation. CC has collected over an estimated 2,500 pounds of waste for composting at Wittel Farm.
On the farm organic waste collected is placed in piles and in the warmer months digested by microorganisms over several weeks to form a ‘compost’ material. Once compost is formed, it is then blended into the soil and used to fertilize and grow food crops. The harvested crops are donated to assist individuals and families in need through the partnership with Hunger-Free Lancaster County.
Again, compost is organic material from your home and yard. The needed ‘green’ compost materials include: vegetable scraps, fruit rinds, coffee grounds, egg shells, etc. This material is placed in a bin at Wittel Farm, mixed with ‘brown’ materials (e.g., tree leaves), and broken down by microbes to form a rich soil-like material.
Compost is a natural fertilizer, attracts earthworms, enriches and improves soil, controls soil-borne disease and pests, promotes drainage in clay soil, and equally important – it keeps these methane generating organic materials out of landfills. Methane is a potent ‘greenhouse gas’ and concern related to climate change.
Fatty food waste, oils, whole eggs, dairy products, bones, meat, fish or poultry does not compost.
The GT will continue to distribute and collect the plastic buckets at the church every other week through November 3rd. On behalf of the GT, thank you all who have collected ‘green’ compost materials from your home in 2024. And, stay tuned for more details in early spring 2025 when we plan to restart this effort.
LiFT (Ladies in Fellowship Together)is a team of women getting together, as needed, to plan events for the females in the church. Friends are always invited to join us. Such events that took place are: making Easter candy together to sell as an outreach project, picking wildflowers, a date to go to the movies or out to eat, making Christmas candy to sell as an outreach project, a Christmas tea, etc. We welcome new faces to serve on this committee. We usually meet in February to plan events for that year.
At the Annual Meeting on January 17, 2019, Christ Church UCC adopted an ONA (Open and Affirming) Covenant joining the more than 1800 other UCC churches in an effort to be a community of faith that welcomes all marginalized people groups. We open every service with our mantra…”No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.
In June of 2020, the Social Justice Team was formed, and from the beginning the team determined to devote its time and energy to the goal of educating our congregation regarding the issues of the day that affect the marginalized.
We are not “flag or banner wavers”, we are not “shouting in the square” we exist solely to provide our congregants with the tools necessary to be able and/or willing to advocate through activism on the issues that discriminate.
The Social Justice Team exists to confront the anger, fear, misinformation, and injustice in our community and society. We meet to learn, listen, and share information about today’s issues. We engage with our congregation and others through conversation, articles in the our weekly newsletter the “NET”, alerting our members to educational events and from time to time offering relevant film studies.
If the discriminatory issues of the day offend, evoke concern, or anger you then join us…we meet online on the third Monday of each month at 7:00 PM. Drop the church an email and we will be excited to have you connect with us.
Social committee is comprised of volunteers that meet, as needed, to plan and execute social events for the congregation of all ages. Here is a list of some of the events that took place: making Pysanky eggs, Easter egg hunt for the children, Spring, and Fall congregational picnics, bus trip to a major league baseball game, Threads and Treads fundraiser, potlucks throughout the year and Christmas caroling. We are always looking for new ideas and new faces to serve on the committee.
Monday - Thursday: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Closed for lunch from 12 noon - 1:00 p.m.