For Changing the World, One Life at a Time

A Planning Calendar A

for Changing the World, One Life at a Time N

I’m ready to change the world, one life at a time. What should I do next? G

For best results, reserve at least four weeks to plan and promote each churchwide Special Sunday with A

L offering. Follow the steps listed below and check the box as each task is completed. E

Four weeks—and every week—before the Special Sunday A

R Divide⃞ responsibilities. In some congregations, one person – the pastor or a specific lay leader – assumes most responsibilities. In other churches, a committee shares Special Sunday tasks. Involve people of all ages.

Alert⃞ your congregation to the importance of celebrating Special Sundays. When you emphasize the offerings’ uses, on local, district and conference levels and beyond, people will begin to recognize how much more we can do together as a connectional church.

Check⃞ Interpreter (English) www.interpretermagazine.org, el Intérprete (Spanish) and United Methodists in Service (Korean) as well as the website www.umcgiving.org for stories and other information pertaining to Special Sunday-related ministries. Share your findings with your congregation.

Include⃞ in your worship bulletin or newsletter the names of current and former Special Sunday offering recipients from your local church and your community. Perhaps someone from your congregation received a United Methodist scholarship or student loan. Share information about recipients’ education, career goals and current involvement in ministry.

Pray⃞ for God’s guidance and for each offering’s success. Remember the people who will experience God’s love through mission in your community and around the world because of your church’s generosity.

Provide⃞ Special Sunday- related opportunities for personal growth and learning through Bible studies, classes, discussion groups, ecumenical activities, prayer and public witness across age, gender, race and socio-economic levels. P

Obtain⃞ statistics related to your congregation’s Special Sunday giving during the past year. If you A already celebrate all six Sundays, continue the good work and strive toward an offering increase of 10 N percent per year. If you observe some – but not all – Special Sundays, allow members the opportunity to N

I nurture God’s family by giving to all six offerings. N

Ask⃞ members to pledge money to Special Sunday offerings. Set a goal for the amount your local church C

A hopes to raise. Establish a timeline for pledging and collecting, perhaps the month before each L observance. Create a large thermometer poster or display to show progress toward the goal as people give E

money to each Special Sunday offering. D

Remember⃞ $1 per person per offering makes a big difference! If your congregation does not collect R Special Sunday offerings, please put a minimum $1 per person per offering in your church budget and send that amount to your conference treasurer.

Three weeks before the Special Sunday

Contact⃞ United Methodist boards and agencies www.umc.org to learn about Special Sunday-supported ministries or personnel based in your conference. Visit area projects to show your congregation how their Special Sunday gifts are used. Tell how the ministries make a difference in the community. Explain what could happen if more resources were available. See contact information.

Cooperate⃞ with other churches in marketing Special Sundays, especially the ecumenical One Great Hour of Sharing and World Communion Sunday. Share the costs of Internet, newspaper, radio, television, billboard and transit advertising. Perhaps your annual conference communications office would assist you.

⃞ Coordinate and sponsor a Special Sunday multicultural mission fair. Begin or conclude with a meal. Focus on ministries supported by United Methodist gifts. Ask classes and organizations to be responsible for booths and displays. Invite resource persons. For free resources, call toll free 888-346-3862 or go online to www.umcgiving.org/ss

Create⃞ banners to illustrate Special Sunday themes. Begin the worship service with a banner procession or hang banners in the sanctuary.

Two weeks before the Special Sunday

Explore⃞ opportunities to assist self-help programs and leadership development among people in your community. Organize residents for action around specific neighborhood problems or municipal concerns. Such activities illustrate the philosophy of Special Sundays.

Invite⃞ a guest speaker such as a community developer, a disaster volunteer, a scholarship recipient or P

another person whose life and work are strengthened by Special Sunday offerings. Through three-minute A

“minutes for mission,” guests can address worshippers, church school classes and other groups. N

I One week before the Special Sunday N

Distribute⃞ free leaflets/offering envelopes on or before each Special Sunday. Display posters A prominently and encourage members to collect each day’s change in a specially designated bank. To L

order, call toll free 888-346-3862 or go online to www.umcgiving.org/ss N

R Send⃞ a letter from the pastor to all members and, perhaps, enclose a leaflet/offering envelope. Set a realistic goal for each offering (at least $1 per member) and challenge members to reach the goal.

⃞ Share celebrations of the interfaith Special Sundays – One Great Hour of Sharing and World Communion Sunday – with other congregations, particularly non-United Methodist churches. Sponsor joint worship services. Exchange loaves of homemade Communion bread, banners, greetings and prayers to include in each other’s worship services.

On the Special Sunday

⃞ Deliver sermons that highlight Special Sundays. Scriptural passages for 2013, all based on the Revised Common Lectionary, include: Human Relations Day www.umcgiving.org/HRD – Psalm 36:7, NRSV – “How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.” One Great Hour of Sharing www.umcgiving.org/OGHS – 2 Corinthians 5:17, NRSV – “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” Native American Ministries Sunday www.umcgiving.org/NAMS – 2 Corinthians 9:10, NIV – “Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food … will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.” Peace with Justice Sunday www.umcgiving.org/PWJS – Romans 5:2, NRSV- “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” World Communion Sunday www.umcgiving.org/WCS – 2 Timothy 1:13, NRSV – “Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are Christ Jesus.” United Methodist Student Day www.umcgiving.org/UMSD – Colossians 1:11, An Inclusive- Language Lectionary – “May you be strengthened with all power, according to God’s glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.”

Collect⃞ all six Special Sunday offerings and remit them promptly to your annual conference treasurer. Immediately after each Special Sunday, report to members the total given to each offering. Thank your congregation for their gifts. Include a thank-you note in the church newsletter. Announce the next Special Sunday observance.