The Mission Committee is responsible for promoting the mission outreach of Trinity United Church of Christ. It coordinates the congregation’s monthly special mission offerings as well as distributes funds to various mission partners and other organizations in Tiffin, northwest Ohio, and throughout the world. These funds come from the church’s endowments which generate monies specifically for missions.
The Mission Committee promotes the inclusion of OCWM (Our Church’s Wider Mission – the basic support of the United Church of Christ on all levels) in the church annual budget of 8% of the total budget. For 2020 that was $26,270; along with $2,500 in support of CUE (Chicago, United and Eden – the three Midwestern UCC Seminaries).
Trinity is designated by our regional Association and the UCC as a Five for Five church. This means Trinity supports OCWM as well as the UCC’s special offerings throughout the calendar year: One Great Hour of Sharing, Strengthen the Church, Neighbors in Need, and The Christmas Fund.
Each month Trinity has a special mission emphasis offering collection:
- Jan. Habitat for Humanity
- Feb. Tiffin FISH/Sharing Kitchen
- Mar. One Great Hour of Sharing
- Apr. Tiffin Seneca Child Care Center
- May Diller Fairhaven Fund (Upper Sandusky)
- June Strengthen the Church
- July The Farmer Scholarship Fund at the Franciscan Earth Literacy Center (Tiffin)
- Aug. Back Bay Mission (Biloxi, MS)
- Sept. Grace Community Center (Toledo)
- Oct. Neighbors in Need
- Nov. Heidelberg University scholarships for UCC students
- Dec. Crossroad (Ft. Wayne, IN) and The Christmas Fund
In recent years, the Mission Committee has also offered financial support and/or collected items for the following mission needs:
- Weekly collection of food for FISH and Sharing Kitchen
- Council for Homelessness – “Transformation Life Center” (Tiffin)
- Tiffin Salvation Army
- Church World Service – Blankets for disasters and those in need
- Templed Hills UCC church camp
- West Ohio Food Bank (Lima)
- El Salvador NW Ohio Association support
- Solar water purification pump in Kenya (Church World Service)
- Pax Christie
- Morrison House
- Non-food items for the First Presbyterian Church outreach
- Christian Counseling Center (Tiffin)
- UCC disaster relief drives for various places throughout the world
- Trinity Good Samaritan Fund
- United Church Homes
- Fairhaven Capital Campaign
- UCC Emmaus Homes (Missouri)
- Church World Service
- Tiffin Weekday Religious Education
- Tiffin First Call for Help
- NW Association disaster response buckets and hygiene kits
The committee meets on the fourth Wednesday of every month.