Snow Angel Challenge: OCWM and Lasting Change

Everywhere we go, someone is asking us to round up our change. At the grocery store. At the pharmacy. Through mailings that feel urgent and local. A few cents here. A few dollars there. It is convenient and you feel good when you say yes to these reasonable requests to make a change in the world with some loose change.

But here is the question we rarely stop to ask. Where is that money actually going?

This winter I am inviting you into something simple, joyful, and meaningful. I am inviting you into the Snow Angel Challenge. Like the ice bucket challenge once did, this is a creative way to spread awareness, only this time the focus is on the shared ministry of our wider church.

🎥

In that video I respond to an invitation from Rev. David Ackerman of the Keystone Conference, and I pass the challenge on. I am nominating Pastor Christina, student pastor serving United Churches of Christ in Latrobe and Darlington, Pennsylvania, to make her own snow angel and help spread the word.

A Quick Word About Intentional Giving

This challenge is about awareness for Our Church’s Wider Mission, but it also opens the door to an important conversation about how giving works.

Many well-known charities and church-related organizations do real good in the world. The Salvation Army, for example, is actually a church, and I personally support our local red kettle drives because those funds stay in our own community to address the very real needs of our neighbors.

But not all donation pathways are the same.

Corporate checkout campaigns that ask you to “round up” for a cause may look generous, but they are often misleading. Those donations are funneled through large corporations, and those corporations receive the tax benefits, not you. Your spare change becomes part of their charitable giving portfolio while they continue business practices that may not reflect your values. That money does not necessarily go directly to your neighbors or even stay in your region. If I am being honest, this is predatory. Corporations know how much more generous common folk are because we know what it feels like to have need and they exploit that generosity for their own gain. We must stand against such practices to create a more just world for all.

The same caution applies to large-scale national mailings and emotional TV fundraising campaigns. While the causes may be worthy, the money often travels far beyond your community, and the overhead costs in large nonprofit structures can be enormous. A portion of every gift supports administration, marketing, and executive salaries before it reaches its intended purpose. Instead of sending money to a celebrity-backed national organization, it is often far more impactful to look up the local shelter, food pantry, or ministry actually doing the work near you.

This is not just a financial issue. It is a social justice issue. If we want to see real change in our world, we have to change what we are doing with our change. The way money flows shapes whose needs are centered, whose voices are heard, and which communities are strengthened. Thoughtful, informed generosity is one small but powerful way we live out our faith and our values.

Many church denominations, including ours, also support disaster relief, hunger ministries, leadership development, and global partnerships. The difference is that we do this through shared ministry structures rather than corporate-style nonprofit models. In most denominations, leaders are not receiving corporate-level compensation, and administrative costs are supported in ways that allow designated mission gifts to go directly into ministry.

That is one reason I value giving through the church. It is not perfect, but it is relational, accountable, and rooted in shared faith rather than marketing strategies.

And for those who do not have time to research every organization, there is still a faithful path forward: give locally, and give through Our Church’s Wider Mission.

Our Church’s Wider Mission

We are part of the United Church of Christ, a denomination that grew from congregational churches choosing unity across differences. We are not structured as a top-down hierarchy. We trust the movement of the Holy Spirit and live into Jesus’ prayer in John 17:21, “that they may all be one.”

We live that unity through Our Church’s Wider Mission (OCWM). This is how we pool our resources to support ministry beyond what any one congregation could do alone: strengthening churches, developing leaders, responding to disasters, working for justice, and partnering globally.

Through the Keystone Conference of the United Church of Christ, you can explore the ministries your giving supports and designate your gift to the areas that matter most to you.

Visit:https://keystoneucc.org

Scroll through the ministries and click the yellow Donate Now button at the top of the page to support Our Church’s Wider Mission.

The Snow Angel Challenge

A snow angel does not last long on the ground. But it can point to something lasting.

Here is the challenge: Give, pray, and/or do the snow angel challenge!

Snow angel challenge - Take a photo or video. Share it and nominate someone else to spread the word about OCWM.

That is it.

This is about awareness and real change! It's about remembering we are connected to something bigger than ourselves. And about choosing generosity that reflects our values. Let us trust that even small, joyful acts can help create real and lasting change.

Let’s turn a little winter joy into a wave of shared purpose. Let’s be snow angels whose witness lasts long after the snow melts.