Sample Letter To Members

Dear members,

One Great Hour of Sharing has been a treasured tradition at _______ Presbyterian Church since it began almost sixty years ago. For many of us putting coins in our OGHS boxes throughout Lent is among our earliest church memories. This offering has always been central for us because we know that through One Great Hour of Sharing a persistent voice of hope continues to be heard in places around the world where our brothers and sisters are experiencing need and pain. Our gifts help make God’s love for all people real and tangible by welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, and helping the hungry find food.

One Great Hour of Sharing supports three programs that work together to help our neighbors both in this country and throughout the world with a broad spectrum of needs from the immediate to the chronic. Through One Great Hour, we stand with those who have been stunned by the sudden violence of earthquake, tornado, or hurricane as well as with those whose lives are almost numbed by hunger, disease, and lack of education, job opportunities, or safe shelter. To those whose circumstances make it difficult to feel God’s presence, our gifts help transmit the clear message that God’s healing love is at work in their world through the hands of neighbors they may never meet.

I want to invite you to join in celebrating and supporting the work of this offering. In order to help meet increasing needs throughout the world, our session has approved a goal of ____, 10 percent more than we gave last year. We will be receiving the One Great Hour of Sharing offering on three Sundays beginning with March 9. That Sunday after worship we will have a potluck where we will watch a brief presentation about the offering, and Tom and Jeannette will help us explore the unfamiliar image you see at the top of this letter.

Remember that this offering is our one opportunity to support this witness that continues throughout the year. After nearly sixty years, the light of hope that One Great Hour of Sharing lifts up still shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. But the gifts we give in the next few weeks are vital to keep that light burning strong. Without them, this witness of compassion and justice could be dimmed or even extinguished. With them, this light of hope can continue to reach people at the time of their greatest need.

Yours in the love of the risen Christ,

Rev. ______________