Support for the Deer Isle Sunset Congregational Church

Thank you for donating to our church. Without your support, it wouldn’t be possible to make a positive impact in our community through spreading the Gospel and missions outreach. Learn more about how we use your gift and ways to give.

The Power of Your Gifts

How your gift will be used

Outreach and community services

As a community church we are called to serve our local and wider communities. Therefore we maintain several funds which may receive direct contributions through the church.

These funds include:

Island Heating Assistance Programs
The Deacons’ Fund
Belize Scholarship Program
The Gotwals Music Fund
The Village Green Memorial Garden Fund
The United Church of Christ Programs (see information below)

At our Sunday Suppers, we usually accept donations for a specific community program, such as Island Angels, Memorial Ambulance, Deer Isle Fire Department, Fishermen’s Wives, and various after school programs.

General operation of the church

These funds are used to pay for the day to day church functions. It includes the cost of salary and benefits for our full-time minister, a part time administrator, utilities and maintenance of the church, the Fellowship Hall, Parsonage and Grounds.

Capital Improvements

These funds are used to pay for expenses of more than $3,000 to maintain and preserve our historical structures. The Trustees of the Church have developed a 5 year plan to restore and preserve the buildings and grounds of our campus. The church maintains a capital budget, to which you may contribute directly.

If you wish to contribute to a specific church activity please indicate your choice at the time of donation. Donations which are unrestricted are applied to our operating budget.

Ways You Can Give

By Cash or Check – weekly, monthly, annually – by putting the cash or check in the collection plate or mailing a check to the Deer Isle Congregational Church, PO Box 292, Deer Isle, Maine 04627.

Electronic – card or bank account via PayPal

You can make a distribution in pre-tax dollars from your retirement account Required Minimum Distribution – “Qualified Charitable Donation.” Have your financial advisor mail the check to the Deer Isle Congregational Church, PO Box 292, Deer Isle, Maine 04627, making sure your name is shown somewhere in the correspondence.

Other ways to give

Our Church’s Wider Mission Basic Support (OCWM)

OCWM Basic support enables associations, conferences, the national setting, and some of our affiliated partners to continue providing the care and services that are vital to the United Church of Christ. OCWM Basic support is generally given at local churches, where the funds are then sent to their associations and conferences before being forwarded to the national offices in Cleveland. (Individual donors are encouraged to give through their local churches for Our Church’s Wider Mission Basic Support)

Strengthen the Church

Strengthen the Church is a special mission offering to reimagine and build the future of the UCC. Shared at the conference and national levels, STC largely supports youth ministries and full-time leaders for new churches in parts of the country where the UCC does not have a strong presence. It also provides support for existing church’s new initiatives.

One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS)

One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) works with international partners to provide sources of clean water, food, education and health care, small business micro-credit, advocacy and resettlement for refugees and displaced persons and emergency relief and rehabilitation. OGHS also supports domestic and international ministries for disaster preparedness and response.

Neighbors in Need

Neighbors in Need supports ministries of justice and compassion throughout the United States, including the Council for American Indian Ministries (CAIM), justice and advocacy, and direct service projects supported by Justice and Local Church Ministries.

This offering is received on First Sunday of October as part of World Communion Sunday.

The Christmas Fund

The Christmas Fund for the Veterans of the Cross and the Emergency Fund is a Special Mission Offering that congregations have been supporting for over 100 years. The offering is administered through the United Church Board for Ministerial Assistance, the charitable arm of the Pension Boards. Funds provide direct financial support to those who serve the church and are facing financial difficulties. Active and retired clergy, lay employees, and their surviving spouses may be eligible for the Supplementation of Small Annuities, Supplementation of Health Premiums, Emergency Grants, and/or Christmas “Thank You” Gift Checks. This offering is received on the Sunday before Christmas.