Missions

Mission Works At Hammond Street!

The Ecumenical Food Cupboard is an on-going mission here at Hammond Street. In association with eleven other churches in the metro area, the cupboard is open to ANYONE in need: Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 10:00 a.m. til 12 noon. Due to the constant and increasing demand, visits are limited to eight (8) per year. Please bring your I.D. and Social Security card for identification.

Every first SATURDAY of the month, there is a FREE BEAN LUNCHEON open to anyone who is hungry, here at Hammond Street UCC. The lunch is from 12 noon until 1 p.m. This is a hearty meal of beans, hot dogs, salad of some kind or a casserole and dessert. Folks who come to the lunch are sent home with a bag lunch for the evening meal or the next day.

The Minister's Discretionary Fund is ably distributed through the Salvation Army here in Bangor. Every year there is a Sock, Mitten and Underwear tree during the holidays to gather donations so folks can have a warmer winter and those items go to the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter and Shaw House.

In 2006 Hammond Street volunteers joined a medical mission to Honduras. They saw many people being helped and healed in this poor but vibrant country and brought back gifts of appreciation from our sisters and brothers in Christ. This was a continuation of our support of those in Honduras, since Hammond Street Congregational Church became a collection center for relief materials to be sent to Honduras after Hurricane Mitch in 1998. .

World mission and social action are an important part of the heritage of Hammond Street Congregational Church. One church member homesteaded in Kansas in the 1850's to oppose the spread of slavery; others taught former slaves to read and write. In the late nineteenth century, the daughter of a Hammond Street minister established a medical mission in China which the church supported for a number of years. This history of participation in national and world mission continues in many ways: Our support of the United Church of Christ's "Our Church's Wider Mission" is a continuation of that historic work. Our largest segment of outreach budget goes to OCWM annually.

Financial support for Church World Service, a division of the National Council of Churches, aids victims of floods, hurricanes, war, church burnings, and other disasters throughout the world, and provides material aid to the needy.

In addition to the items mentioned above, we support First Radio Parish in its Daily Devotions ministry, Bangor Theological Seminary, provide meals once a month for the Bangor Area Homeless shelter, support Habitat for Humanity, Spruce Run, Shaw House, and Bangor Spiritual Counseling and Addictions Ministry.

We also participate in the United Church of Christ's "One Great Hour of Sharing" and in special UCC appeals for Neighbors in Need, the Hunger Action Fund, Strengthen the Church, and The Christmas Fund to support retired UCC clergy.