Local church congregations are being tapped to help the needy pay for home heating oil.

Members of Lewiston’s Roman Catholic churches received envelopes and information about a special collection Jan. 26 and 27. Money collected will be given to local social service agencies to help purchase heating oil for people and to provide a warm place for others waiting for deliveries.

Catholics in Auburn heard a request during Sunday services to announce the special collection during the next few weekends. Money collected will be used to buy heating oil for people who contact Auburn’s churches directly.

“Most people responded this past weekend,” said Gayle Johnson, chairwoman of the Social Justice Committee at St. Philips Church in Auburn. “They came right up and put money in our basket. Others, I think they’re going to go home and talk about what they can afford to give.”

Record-high prices for No. 2 heating oil, coupled with cold December temperatures, are hitting everyone hard, she said. Most churches are setting aside some money to help.

“It’s not just the poorest that are having problems,” Johnson said. “We’ve had middle-class people that don’t know where else to turn.”

Bishop Richard Malone agreed this month to let local churches collect special donations to help with oil costs. Members of Lewiston’s five parishes, the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Holy Cross, Holy Family, St. Joseph and St. Patrick, opted to collect donations over a single weekend.

“We’re not asking for our parishioners to put themselves in financial difficulty, but to do what they can afford to do,” said Chris Dube, pastoral council chairman at St. Joseph’s. “As far as St. Joseph is concerned, we have 900 families. But when you talk about all of Lewiston, we are talking several thousand people who are just trying to find an opportunity to help those need.”

The Rev. Barbara Barth, rector at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Auburn, said her church committee agreed to move money from its outreach fund into a discretionary fund in December.

“That was done specifically to help, but it was done in reaction to the price of heating oil,” Barth said. “It hadn’t gotten so cold yet.”