About Us - Council of Churches

We Are #MoreThan the Council of Churches. We are nine outreach services working closely with 72 member congregations from 17 different religious affiliations. The Council of Churches of the Ozarks assists with basic services — food, shelter, clothing — a comforting hand to help in times of need. Committed to the idea of serving the community through collaboration with churches and other agencies, compassion and outreach to the most vulnerable, and empowering volunteers and donors to find new ways to help fulfill the needs in our community. We do this by cultivating a listening relationship with the communities we serve to discern and develop programs and services in keeping with our shared mission. As complex community issues, such as child abuse, poverty, homelessness, and hunger arise, CCO and its outreach services, in partnership with member churches, engage these issues, offering service and a faith-based voice. We offer an example of unity-through-service in addressing the needs of the community while leading the charge of being ONE…ONE Community, serving ONE God, Reaching Out in Compassion to the ONES in Need.

Our History

The Council of Churches of the Ozarks was founded in 1969 in Springfield, Missouri. The founder, Rev. Dorsey Levell, saw a rising number of families in poverty. Area churches were receiving more requests for assistance and Dorsey took a lead to get churches collaborating together for a common cause and a greater impact on poverty in the Ozarks. Crosslines was the first outreach service of the Council of Churches of the Ozarks with a mission to “Serve God’s People in Need” through a food pantry. Since that time, many services have developed within the Council of Churches family to offer a solution to poverty issues in our community. Today, the Council of Churches of the Ozarks is dedicated to our mission to serve our most vulnerable neighbors through a collaborative model that unites nine unique outreach services, each one helping to address the growing and urgent needs of our community. We are a membership organization, with over 80 member churches from a variety of denominations and backgrounds that come together for the common call to serve.