Mission
Mission is the way that we individually an collectively live out God's kingdom purpose in our world. In Matthew 25, Jesus tells of the separating of the sheep and the goats and asks, when did we see him hungry, naked, sick, and the like and care for him? If practices like worship and prayer are ways that we love God with out head and heart, mission can be imagined as the way we love God with our hands. Mission is rooted in our abundant life in Christ. Because God first loved us, we are free to love the others in our homes, in our communities, and in our world. While many people at Salem are involved in mission in a myriad of ways, below is a sampling of some of the mission work we have been involved in locally and globally over the past couple of years. If you would like to get involved or if you are in need of assistance yourself, please do not hesistate to contact Pastor Paul.
Local Mission
- Loaves and Fishes: Loaves and Fishes is a ministry in New Milford that feeds people who are homeless. A group from our church prepares and serves dinner here on the first Friday of each month.
- Coat Closet: In partnership with the coat drive lead by the student council at Shepaug High School, we have a collection of winter gear available for people in need in the Washington area.
- New England Seafarer's Mission: The Seafarer's mission is a ministry to the ship workers from all over the world who visit the ports of New England. We support this ministry financially and have occasional volunteer groups go. Our next group from Salem will be going in October of 2011.
- Children's Home of Cromwell: The Children's Home is a state-of-the-art residential treatment center, special education school, and family treatment center. In addition to financial support, we routinely collect and sends gifts and school supplies for the children at the Children's Home.
- Susan B. Anthony Project: The Susan B. Anthony Project promotes safety, healing and growth for all survirors of domestic and sexual abuse and advocates for the autonomy of women and the end of interpersonal violence.
Global Mission
- Covenant World Relief: Covenant World Relief is the humanitarian aid ministry of the Evangelical Covenant Church. We participate in God’s transforming mission in the world through disaster relief and community development among the most vulnerable. We work with Covenanters and other partners around the world to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable who suffer from extreme poverty, hunger, disease, and injustice. Our mission is to love, serve, and work together with the poor, the powerless, and the marginalized.
- Covenant World Mission: CWM is the missionary arm of the Covenant Church. In our mission partnerships around the world, we are committed to culturally relevant evangelism and the formation of communities of Christ followers, to spiritual formation and equipping God’s people for ministry and leadership, and to transformational ministries that demonstrate the whole gospel by seeking to address the spiritual, social, emotional, mental, physical, and justice needs of people.
- One Day's Wages: ODW is a new grassroots movement of people, stories, and actions to alleviate extreme global poverty. ODW promotes awareness, invites simple giving, and supports sustainable relief through partnerships, especially with smaller organizations in developing regions.
- ONE Campaign: ONE is a grassroots advocacy and campaigning organization that fights extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa, by raising public awareness and pressuring political leaders to support smart and effective policies and programs that are saving lives, helping to put kids in school and improving futures.
- Not for Sale: Not for Sale equips and mobilizes Smart Activists to deploy innovate solutions to re-abolish salvery in their own backyards and across the globe.
