Weekly “Noisy Offering” Adds Up To Make A Difference!   

Each Sunday, worshipers are given the opportunity to give their pocket change – and any spare folding money too! – to our “noisy offering.”  The Noisy Offering is collected by our children after each week’s Kids’ Time, and 100% of it is given to a selected mission or ministry.   

April’s Noisy offering will be going to the the Grand Forks area Mobile Pack event for Feed My Starving Children.  This is the third year the Grand Forks churches and community have partnered to do this.  The goal this year is to pack 410,000 meals, which will bring our three year total to 1 millions meals packed!

Noisy Offerings received inJanuary of 2013 were given to our Eastern North Dakota Synod’s “partner synod” - the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Central African Republic - for the construction of church roofs.  Donations from ELCA churches to this project have constructed 109 church roofs to date, but there are currently 28 more congregations in the C.A.R.  waiting for roofs.  Each church roof in the C.A.R. costs about about $10,000 to build.  Given the fact that we are also currently raising money for our own building expansion and new roof, this seemed to be a nice way to remind ourselves that it’s not just about “us,” but also about helping others.

February’s Noisy Offering stayed in Grand Forks to help provide transportation for new Americans to their English language classes.

In March, the Noisy Offering went to support the members of our church and community who going on an April mission trip to Ethiopia this spring in partnership with the organization “Ordinary Hero.”  (If you want to know more about the trip – or additional ways of supporting it – you can contact Kim Adams, our Coordinator of Young Adult and Family Ministries.)

It’s amazing how it adds up!  Here are the totals that were collected from Noisy Offerings at Calvary last year:            

2012  Noisy Offering Totals   

Augusta Victoria Lutheran Hospital in East Jerusalem  1,800.46

Project 61  1,939.40

Feed My Starving Children   6,796.22

ELCA Chickens   2,732.16

St. Joseph’s Summer Lunches in Grand Forks  1,342.60

ELCA Malaria Nets  766.70

New Orleans Literacy Program  1,133.29

St. Joseph’s Food Shelf  1,117.62

Hurricane Sandy Relief  2,366.19

UND Mortar Board Thanksgiving Turkey Baskets 1,415.86

Feed My Starving Children (for 2013 Mobile Pack Event)  4,722.27

Calvary’s Good Samaritan Fund for local relief  2,609.30

 2012 Total: $28,742.07