Neighbors in Need Special Mission Offering
Neighbors in Need (NIN) is a special mission offering of the United Church of Christ that supports ministries of justice and compassion in the United States.
Offering Information
In 2021, Neighbors in Need “Unfailing Love” offering is focused on supporting organizations and projects that are serving homeless and immigrant neighbors or communities. One-third of NIN funds support the Council for American Indian Ministry (CAIM). Two-thirds of this offering is used by the UCC’s Justice and Witness Ministries (JWM) to provide funding grants to UCC churches and organizations leading justice initiatives, advocacy efforts, and direct service projects in their communities.
Most churches collect the offering on October 3, 2021 as part of World Communion Sunday, but contributions can be made at any time.
Apply for a Neighbors in Need Grant
If you’re a UCC church or affiliated organization doing justice in your community through advocacy efforts and direct service projects, you are eligible to apply for a Neighbors in Need grant. Learn about grant options and important dates. Applications open August 15, 2021.
Campaign Learning Resources
Welcome to the new Neighbors in Need Special Mission Offering (NINSMO) Portal! The 2021 campaign with feature: “the unhoused aka homeless.” Learn more about this topic at the resources linked below.
Promote Neighbors in Need “Unfailing Love” at your church.
Explore the 2021 offering promotional toolkit.
Neighbors in Need: Stories of Faith & Transformation
Read about the ministries who have received a grant and how they found success with it in their communities.
A Tiny House aims to provide big solutions for South Carolina LGBTQ community
When LGBTQ individuals near the campus of Clemson University, in the areas of upstate South…
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Hope Station Nogales to provide reverse sanctuary to deportees in Mexico
A United Church of Christ sanctuary church offering immigrants refuge in the Arizona borderlands…
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Houston teens learn wage activism from working adults like them
This summer, with a grant from the United Church of Christ’s Neighbors in Need offering, 24 high…
Read MoreShare your story.
If you were a recipient of a Neighbors in Need (NIN) grant, help us inform our members whose contributions to NIN have made your grant possible about how lives have been transformed because of their generosity.
2019 Neighbors in Need Top 10 Donors
Christ United Church
Olmsted, OH
Rock Spring Congregational UCC
Arlington, VA
Wellesley Village Congregational Church UCC
Wellesley, MA
Plymouth UCC
Grand Rapids, MI
Claremont United Church of Christ
Claremont, CA
Little River UCC
Annandale, VA
Mountain Rise United Church of Christ
Fairport, NY
First Congregational Church, Branford
Branford, CT
Saint John UCC
St. Charles, MO
First Congregational UCC
Oconomowoc, WI
About the Council for American Indian Ministry
The Council for American Indian Ministry (CAIM) is the voice for American Indian people in the UCC. CAIM provides Christian ministry and witness to American Indians and to the wider church. Justice issues that affect American Indian life are communicated to the whole UCC by CAIM.
Historically, the forebears of the UCC established churches and worked with Lakota, Dakota, Nakota, Mandan, Hidatsa, Arickara, and Hocak in North and South Dakota, Wisconsin and northern Nebraska. Today there are 20 UCC congregations on reservations and one urban, multi-tribal UCC congregation in Minneapolis, Minnesota. CAIM supports these local churches and their pastors. In addition, CAIM strives to be a resource for more than 1,000 individuals from dozens of other tribes and nations who are members of other UCC congregations and to strengthen their participation in the life of the church.
Questions? Contact UCC.
Bentley deBardelaben-Phillips
Executive Associate Justice & Local Church Ministries
216-736-3713