Outreach

At Circle of Mercy, we believe that service to others, both in our local community and in ways that have a wider reach, is a central part our calling as followers of Jesus. While our members volunteer to help others in a world of different ways, we also find ways to serve together. Among the many mission projects Circle of Mercy pursues as a community are:

• Building and nurturing a relationship of friendship and sharing with our sister congregation, Iglesia Getsemani in Camaguey, Cuba, through mutual prayer, regular correspondence, and visits.

• Participating as a founding congregation in Christians for a United Community (CUC), a local interdenominational and multiethnic organization committed to addressing issues of racism and discrimination and to embracing Jesus’ vision of justice and reconciliation. Circle of Mercy members serve on the CUC board, staff, and action committees; volunteer in its hands-on projects (including a Habitat for Humanity home-building effort, a Living Wage Campaign, and demonstrations in support of exploited workers at North Carolina’s Smithfield meat-processing plant); and join in worship with other member churches.

• Sharing with Asheville’s First Congregational United Church of Christ the work of hosting Room in the Inn, an itinerant shelter for homeless women, twice each year.

• Reaching out to inmates through Easter worship in a maximum-security prison, sharing worship and meals with incarcerated youth, and helping our children create hand-made greeting cards and decorate hundreds of Christmas cookies to bring cheer to people in prison.

• Honoring the generous spirit of St. Nicholas by joining with our children to pack and secretly deliver food baskets to families in need each year on the saint’s December 6 feast day.