Extra Commitment Opportunities

There is a channel through which gifts can be designated for specific items that support the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s work around the world. These are called Extra Commitment Opportunities (ECOs). You can give directly to an ECO account online or by mailing your check designating the name and account number of the particular item you have chosen to:

PC(USA) Individual Remittance Processing
P.O. Box 643700
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700

Your gift will go directly into the ECO Account designated, and you will receive a letter indicating that your gift has been received and will be used for the purpose intended.

Below are some ECOs related to Czech Republic. For a complete listing visit Mission Funding's Web site and type Czech Republic into the search box.

Church Renovation/Construction

Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren (ECCB), New Church Building and Partnership with Social Service Agency

The ECCB has taken an exciting new step, building a church in the heart of a huge apartment complex (which has about 100,000 residents) and (upon invitation) entering into a partnership with the social service agency that will be the church's next-door neighbor. The shelter next door provides housing and services for victims of domestic violence, the homeless, refugees and others in need. The new church building will provide a unique opportunity for its congregation (named after the Czech reformer Milic of Kromeriz) to minister to a large "neighborhood" and to the residents of the shelter, for whom the congregation will serve as a kind of bridge to the larger society.

Education

The Protestant Theological Faculty of Charles University Prague 

Since the overthrow of the Communist regime in 1989, increasing numbers of laity are seeking theological education along with those preparing for various professions in central Europe . The Protestant Theological Faculty of Charles University is an interdenominational, ecumenically open theological school. Funds will aid the seminary in training new ministers for service in the region.

Health

Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, Hospice

In the Czech Republic the needs of the dying often go unmet, and even unrecognized. Diakonie (the social service arm of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren) is creating a hospice facility that will provide direct care to the terminally ill and respite care to their family caregivers. It will also serve as a much-needed (first of its kind) training center for health care workers from around the country.

Other Support

Czech Republic Mission Network

The General Assembly Mission Councilapproved the formation of a Czech Working Group (CWG) in September 1995. The CWG works closely with the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren to improve and expand the PC(USA)'s relationships with the Czech church and to enhance the two churches' mutual work of evangelism and sharing in the body of Christ. Gifts to this ECO will under gird CWG program expenses.