Special Offering in Lent: One Great Hour of Sharing


Around the world, millions of people lack access to sustainable food sources, clean water, sanitation, education, and opportunity. The three programs supported by One Great Hour of Sharing — Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the Presbyterian Hunger Program, and Self-Development of People — all work in different ways to serve individuals and communities in need. From initial disaster response to ongoing community development, their work fits together to provide people with safety, sustenance, and hope.

Received during the season of Lent, each gift to One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) helps to improve the lives of people in these challenging situations. The Offering provides us a way to share God’s love with our neighbors in need. In fact, OGHS is the single, largest way  that Presbyterians come together every year to work for a better world.

Nassau Presbyterian Church will receive this offering on March 25, 2018, Palm Sunday, along with the “Fish Banks” the church school children will be bringing forward that day. Resources for families, below.

One Great Hour of Sharing, makes a difference in the world. Read more by clicking the links below.

PRESBYTERIAN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (PDA)

  • Works alongside communities as they recover and find hope after the devastation of natural or human-caused disasters, and support for refugees
  • Receives 32% of funds raised

PRESBYTERIAN HUNGER PROGRAM (PHP)

  • Takes action to alleviate hunger, care for creation, and the systemic causes of poverty so all may be fed
  • Receives 36% of funds raised

SELF-DEVELOPMENT OF PEOPLE (SDOP)

  • Invests in communities responding to their experiences of oppression, poverty and injustice and educates Presbyterians about the impact of these issues
  • Receives 32% of funds raised

Resources for Families

“Fish Banks” are handed out in church school on the first Sunday of Lent, February 18, and collected in Worship on Palm Sunday, March 25.

Use the placemat and interactive map (at pcusa.org/oghsmap) to guide your family’s conversation about One Great Hour of Sharing. Download  OGHS18-Place-Mat (pdf)

Moments for Mission:

Prayer Litany (from Isaiah 58, The Message)

Dear God,

Sometimes you need to shout at us to tell us what is wrong.
*We pray for our community.
We can be busy, busy, busy, trying to be faithful, and we complain that you don’t even notice. We bicker and fight.
*We pray for our community.
God, you call us to break the chains of injustice,
*May we be repairers of the breach.
Get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
*May we be healers of the wounded.
Free the oppressed,
*May we be fixers of the broken.
Cancel debts,
*May we be restorers of fortune.
Share food with the hungry,
*May we be providers of meals.
Invite the homeless poor in,
*May we be welcomers of all.
Put clothes on the shivering,
*May we be givers of warmth
Be available to our families.
*May we be present to those who know us best.
God, you will turn our lives around and show us where to go.
*May we be followers of the light.
We will be known as those who can fix anything, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again.
*We pray for our community.
And we will all be free to enjoy God!
*AMEN.