About Us
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.
Matthew 25:35-36
Several years ago, the clergy from Greece Baptist, Greece United Methodist, Messiah Lutheran, Trinity Episcopal and John Knox Presbyterian began meeting to support each other and to share ideas on ministry in our area. They had seen how together with other churches we had cooperated to build several Habitat for Humanity houses in Rochester. They wondered if there were other activities that we might be able to do as a group that might be too large for one of us to do alone, or if individual churches had activities that might grow with additional volunteers. Out of that desire to work together came ROCUbuntu as a place to discuss community needs and possible ways to meet them.
Our first activities were cooperative efforts to create backpacks filled with items needed by the newly released detainees at the Batavia Detention center. About that time volunteers from the various churches helped to staff the Respite Care at Greece Baptist Church and the silent vigils at our churches in support of Justice after the death of George Floyd. There were also pulpit exchanges and joint Lenten meals and worship activities. We have studied books on systemic racism and the barriers that some face in purchasing a family home and sponsored a seminar led by Dr. William Wilkerson and Rev. Alan Daley. Last year members from the group of churches started to volunteer at Rise Community School in Rochester. We welcomed an Afghan family to Rochester and helped them acclimate and get settled. We studied books on restorative justice to see how churches could minister to the families of both victims and those incarcerated.
It is hard to look back at those activities and not see how the Spirit is leading us as a group of churches to a mission together to help meet the needs of our community.
To help us discern where we feel the Spirit leading in the future, lay members of each church were asked to join in a visioning group. We have discussed our churches, the beliefs we all share, our hopes for the future and some of the limitations we face. We all share the call of Matthew 25, to feed the hungry, welcome the stranger and the marginalized, clothe the naked, visit the sick and incarcerated, and in general meet the needs of others. We all share a common mission field. While the question is how the Spirit is calling us into those ministries, we believe the Spirit is calling us to do it together.
So now is the time for a larger group to help discern a Spirit-led future. What are the needs of the people of Greece, and how could we meet them? Will it be an expanded food ministry? Or participation in the Prison Ministry’s Angel Tree Program, a year-round outreach to the children of incarcerated, expanded Bible and Book study programs, increased opportunities for seniors and other groups to socialize and stay active, programs that allow marginalized groups to have a safe place to meet? We are confident that a larger group focusing on categories of inclusive love, compassionate service and restorative justice will discern that call.
Join one of our informational sessions for an opportunity to learn more about us and be a part of this discussion and process. For more information or if you would like to be added to our email list, please click here.