New Organization Supports the Community Through Faith

WRITTEN BY: NANCY KLINE

Getting

The new group, Congregations of Orange Collaborative, is a collaboration of eight houses of worship in Orange. The organization came together in June of 2021 to provide avenues to educate the community of the various religions in the area, as well as support local social action projects. Our mission is Together Helping Others, and our vision is grounded in the spirit of repairing the world by encouraging our participating congregations in social action projects.

Congregations of Orange Collaborative is committed to improving the quality of life of people in need, strengthening relationships with our fellow congregants, and creating opportunities for our congregations to work together on mutual community service projects.

Faiths Participating

The congregations involved are Church of the Good Shepard, Congregation Or Shalom, Holy Infant Roman Catholic Church, Orange Congregational Church, St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church, St. Joseph of Arimathea American National Catholic Church, Temple Emanuel, and Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church.

EVENTS & PROJECTS

We had a very exciting event on May 6th, called Tour De Faith, in which the community was invited to visit and learn about two Orange Houses of Worship. The event is a way for residents to gain a greater understanding of the diversity in the community and to learn about other faiths. Houses of Worship featured were the Orange Congregational Church and Saint Joseph of Arimathea American National Catholic Church. During each onehour tour, participants learned about the core beliefs of each church and their physical structure. The May 6th event was our second Tour de Faith and a third is being planned in the fall with two additional Houses of Worship. Future tours will be organized each year, as long as they continue to be successful.

Another project the group has organized is an Orange Food2Kids

No Touch Pop-the-Trunk, a one-day food collection of perishable and non-perishable healthy snacks for children in Orange who may be food insecure. The first collection took place on December 5, 2021, and the second was on December 11, 2022. We hope to have another event this December. We also continue to campaign for residents to donate to the Orange Fuel Bank.

Books Of Interfaith

The first Interfaith Book Club was held on March 28th via Zoom. The book chosen was Snow in August by Pete Hamill and was a very touching book about the relationship that developed between a Rabbi and an Irish teen after World War 2. The Book Club is held twice a year and all the books chosen will have an interfaith theme.

Congregations of Orange

Collaborative has been successful thus far and one reason is that we work together, and we support and promote each other’s social action projects. We are looking forward to gaining more members, serving the community, and much success in the future.

If any are interested in joining Congregations of Orange Collaborative, please contact nancykline@gmail.com 