Each year our Mission and Outreach Commission offers Orinda Community
Church a number of opportunities for direct “hands-on” involvement with
local service projects and agencies. Members of the congregation
who serve as community volunteers connect OCC with numerous service opportunities.
Groups with which OCC has had an ongoing helping relationship include Contact
Care Center, Contra Costa Food Bank, Contra Costa Interfaith Transitional
Housing, East Bay Rescue Mission, Habitat for Humanity, Invest in Kids
(mentoring), International Rescue Committee (refugee services), Orinda
Senior Village, and South Berkeley Hunger Project. Additional helping
opportunities for families and children are provided through the Learning
Community. The youth groups also look forward to mission and service
trips of several days’ duration.
Office Volunteers:
Weekly and occasional volunteer opportunities are always available
in the church office. Working with the office manager, volunteers may answer
the phone, serve as receptionists, assist with production and mailing tasks,
and exercise any special skills or interests they may have to help Orinda
Community Church.
Parish Callers:
The Parish Callers Network works directly with the pastors to provide
caring contact and visitation to members and friends of the church who
are hospitalized, home-bound, or in need of someone to talk to. The
Network gathers quarterly for in-service training and prayer.
Sewing Circle:
Over the past 10 years the Orinda Community Church Sewing Circle has
made and donated more than 3,000 baby quilts to the East Bay Children's
Quilt Project. The tiny quilts, each one unique and beautifully constructed,
are distributed through hospitals, disaster relief organizations, and children's
support agencies to comfort infants at risk. The Circle meets Monday
mornings in their own spacious workroom at the church.
Teaching Parish Committee:
Orinda Community Church has long been an outstanding field work and
internship setting for graduate students at the Pacific School of Religion
in Berkeley and other Bay Area seminaries. As ministers-in-training
at OCC, seminarians observe, provide leadership, and gain experience while
working closely with a mentor pastor. The Teaching Parish Committee
serves as an intimate support and reflection group for these students as
they prepare for the Christian ministry.