2011 will mark the 70th anniversary of the Broome County Council of Churches. Seventy years ago we began as the United Churches of Broome County with a total membership of twenty-six churches. CHOW, FIAV, Jail Ministry, RAMP IT UP, CHOW Farm, Hospital Chaplaincy were all just faint dreams of those original members. They merely were exploring ways to work together and to make cooperative decisions that impacted the life of our community.
Today we have grown to encompasse many more congregations than those original twenty-six. We have hundreds of volunteers who make a difference in the lives of the hungry, the poor, elderly and chronically ill. We have more volunteers and partners who work with the prisoners and pray with the sick and their families. I wonder if those original members who began this work seventy years ago would have ever imagined what we have been able to accomplish?
This website, our twitter, facebook and blog accounts are all attempts of living up to their legacy of involvement. Seventy years ago no one would have dreamt that diverse congregations would be able to come together to create something as profound and meaningful as what we have in the Broome County Council of Churches.
Today we are trying to do a better job of communicating what we do in our community and we’re hoping that you will find something in this web site that will spark your own dream or vision for what is possible. Then like those original folks who gathered seventy years ago to talk about how they could share ministries and do some profound things in our community, we would like to know how we might partner with you to make these dreams a living and breathing reality.
We’re excited about Broome County. We love living here and doing ministry for the diverse populatins that live here. We’ve been here seventy years and we’re not going away anytime soon.
Peace and towels,
Joe Sellepack