We welcome you to serve with us on any of these missions! For more information on a mission, please contact Rev. Colin Snider at csnider@fumc-cary.org or 467-1861
Alliance Medical Ministry
Founded by members of First United Methodist Church-Cary, the Alliance Medical Ministry has been established to honor God’s call for compassionate care for the sick and needy. It is an interdenominational Judeo-Christian, tax-exempt charitable organization which supports a medical and dental clinic in east Raleigh.
The mission of the Alliance Medical Ministry is to provide affordable primary medical care to low-income, uninsured, working families in Wake County, which is done in direct response to the Lord’s call for compassionate ministry to the sick and needy. This faith-led ministry serves families in Wake County who generally earn less than $25,000 annually and have no health insurance.
Several members of FUMCC first envisioned this ministry and FUMCC has been a part of this effort since AMM opened its clinic doors on January 6, 2003. For more information, visit www.alliancemedicalministry.org Executive Director: Sean Harrison
Angel Tree
Angel Tree is a Christmas ministry of prison fellowship. An estimated 2.3 million children have a mom or dad in prison. Angel Tree is a ministry that reaches out to the children of inmates and their families with the love of Christ. It seeks to transform the lives of these families and to reconcile them to their Heavenly Father and each other. In Matthew 18:5 Jesus said, “Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.” There are children right in our own community who are among the most at-risk children in the nation. Angel Tree provides an opportunity to connect with those families by sharing the love of Christ.
It Starts with a Gift… It Leads to Lives Transformed by Christ
For years, members of our congregation have faithfully selected angels from our trees, shopped and brought back the wrapped gifts. FUMCC partners with Front Street United Methodist Church in Burlington, NC, the community where all of our children and their families reside. Select an angel from one of the trees during Advent. Contact Sue McVeigh
ASP (Appalachia Service Project) Visit our page at www.fumc-cary.org/asp!
ASP is a home repair ministry through which youth and adult volunteers repair homes for low income families in the poorer regions of Appalachia in the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. The goal of ASP is to make existing homes warmer, safer and dryer for the families who live in them. Other important aspects of ASP are the human bonding that takes place and the opportunities there are for Christian witness through word and deed. Many volunteers have life-changing experiences and return to their homes with renewed hope and a willingness to serve in other ways.
FUMCC has been providing and supporting ASP volunteers for over 23 years. Common projects include construction of porches, room additions, wheel chair ramps and retaining walls, foundation repair, wall, roof and floor repair, insulating and underpinning manufactured homes, and digging drainage ditches.
FUMCC supports ASP through a line item in the Missions Work Area budget, which is typically about one-third of the total annual funding required. The balance of the funding is provided by volunteer fees and through fund raising events such as bread baking, Wednesday night suppers, rent-a-team projects and selling ASP stock. Individual members of FUMCC also support ASP volunteers by being their prayer partners. Sign-up for ASP is held in September each year.
Baskets of Hope
This team collects Easter baskets to be distributed to children in need so they may experience God's love. Visit our Baskets of Hope page.
Bosnian Mission
The Bosnian Mission was established in 1997, a year after the end of a war that ravaged the country and changed so many lives. At the time UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on relief) opened youth center throughout Bosnia to help children and youth of all ages cope with the aftermath of war. Each summer, volunteers from our church spend two weeks at the Omladinski Center in the town of Gornji vakuf-Uskoplje, planning, organizing, and operating a day camp for the children of the community. The camp serves 75-100 children each day. Each child participates in six to eight activities each day. All of the supplies needed for these activities are collected or purchased here and taken to Bosnia by the members of the Mission team.
This mission offers the love of Christ through its presence, its action, its compassion, and its understanding to those who thought they had been forgotten. It is the mission’s belief that the bond it has established with the community is an essential link in the long recovery process, giving the children and young people there a sense of hope, belonging, security, and the realization that someone saw, someone cared, and someone came.
Carying Place
This non-profit organization teaches homeless, working families with children life skills for independent living while providing short-term housing and support services. Their website is www.thecaryingplace.org. The Carying Place houses working families in a four month program in local apartments and pays the rent/utilities/etc while the families work with a support team to gain control over their finances and budgeting. More than 85% of its graduates maintain housing and employment after one year.
FUMCC is contributing $4,000 to The Carying Place this year. FUMCC member, Carolyn Hendricks services on the Board of Directors and Funding Committee of the Carying Place.
The Carying Place needs anything that would go into a new apartment – pillows, linens, kitchen utensils, utensil organizers, shower curtains, trash cans, crock pots, etc. Please visit www.thecaryingplace.org/wish_list.htm for a complete list of items. Contact Carolyn Hendricks info@fumc-cary.org or 467-1861
Center for Volunteer Caregiving
The Center for Volunteer Caregiving is a faith-based effort to help people live as independently as possible for as long as possible. Their mission is to provide volunteer services to help Wake County seniors and adults with disabilities maintain independence, dignity and quality of life.
FUMCC has been a part of this community effort since its inception in 1992 and at present has 20 volunteers who give of their time and caring spirits, offering door-to-door transportation, assistance with errands, light housekeeping and yard work, friendly visits, telephone assurance, occasional meals and Alzheimer’s respite care. The Center provides training for volunteers, who come from 12 Wake County faith partners and two community partners.
At present, there are approximately 400 volunteers from the various member churches who have gone through the training. These volunteers serve 450 care receivers in Wake County and there is a wait list of 135 people, waiting for a volunteer. Last year 1200 trips were provided to these care receivers, mainly for doctor’s appointments.
The Center is most fortunate to have three dynamic FUMCC members on its Board of Directors – Doug Richmond, Ellen Schneider and Helen Papageorgiou. The CVC’s information is 460-0567, www.volunteercaregiving.org
Dorcas Ministries
Dorcas Ministries' mission is “To help our neighbors who face immediate crises, using proceeds from the Dorcas Shop and donations from the members of our local sponsoring churches and the community.” CCA helps local neighbors in Cary and Morrisville who face immediate crisis. Founded on Matthew 25:31-45, volunteers carry out Christ’s command to love our neighbors.
Many FUMCC members have volunteered at CCA since it was founded under the leadership of Margaret Keller with a group of other FUMCC members in 1968. Current FUMCC members of the Dorcas Board are Elizabeth Broome and Susan Blackley. FUMCC member Jill Straight serves as Outreach Programs Manager.
Volunteers can serve in our Outreach Programs: Food Pantry, Crisis Ministry, Education Scholarship Committee, Childcare Assistance Committee; or in the Dorcas Thrift Shop as pricers, sorters or cashiers. For more information about ways to serve, contact the Dorcas Volunteer Administrator at 919-469-9861, ext 101 or info@dorcas-cary.org.
You can also help Dorcas Ministries by donating clothing, shoes, coats, small appliances, vintage items, books, floral arrangements, jewelry, audio books, toys/games, lamps, dishes at the Dorcas Shop Donation Drop-Off area.
187 High House Road in Cary, Tel. 919-469-9861
Creation Care
The Creation Care team provides information to the congregation and community about living a more ecologically friendly lifestyle.
CROP Walk to Overcome Hunger – Cary/Apex Walk
CROP (Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty) Hunger Walks help to support the overall ministry of Church World Service, especially the grassroots hunger-fighting development efforts of partner agencies in some 80 countries. CROP Hunger Walks help to provide tools of hope that empower people to meet their own needs. From seeds and tools, to wells and water systems, to technical training and micro-enterprise loans, the key is people working together to identify their own development priorities, their strengths and their needs – something CWS has learned through some 61 years of working in partnership around the world. In addition, each local CROP Hunger Walk can choose to return up to 25 percent of the funds it raises to local hunger-fighting programs. In the Cary area, the CROP Walk funds support Meals on Wheels and the food pantries of the Christian Community in Action/Dorcas Shop in Cary and Western Wake Crisis Ministries in Apex.
This 10K (6.2 miles) and 5K (3.1 miles) hunger-fighting walk is for children, youth and adults. This is a great way for families to make the world a better place together. It starts at Cary High’s stadium at 2:00p.m on October 5, 2008 (World Communion Sunday). (Registration starts at 1:00 p.m.)
In the weeks before participants gather pledges and contributions based on the distance they actually walk ($10 per mile, for example). Volunteers needed include a publicity coordinator, recruiters, team members (walkers) and their financial support team members. Training is provided in August for leadership team members by the Cary CROP Walk.
Curamericas/Youth Foreign Mission
Curamericas is dedicated to providing preventative and curative health care in developing countries. The Youth Mission Trip will focus on construction/expansion projects. For more information, check out the website: www.curamericas.org.
FUMCC sent a team of eleven youth and four adults to Guatemala in July, 2008. The mission committee budgeted $3,000 for the mission and the remaining $27,000 was raised through volunteer contributions and fund-raising activities.
Disciple Bible Outreach Ministries, Inc.
Disciple Bible Outreach Ministries of N.C. was established in 1999. Since then, Disciple Bible Study has been taught in 70 prisons throughout the state of North Carolina. More than 300 lay and clergy have been trained to lead Disciple Bible Study in prison. This ministry touches the lives of over 800 inmates each year.
This is the tenth year that FUMCC has sponsored Disciple Bible Study at the North Carolina Correctional Institute for Women in Raleigh N.C. (the only maximum security prison for women in the state of N.C.). We currently sponsor two Disciple Bible Study Classes at NCCIW. There are approximately 30 inmates enrolled in these two classes. To learn more about Disciple Bible Outreach Ministries of N.C. (DBOM), go to www.disciplebibleoutreach.org Rev. Dr. Mark Hicks, Executive Director of DBOM, at either (336)434-8612 or MCHicks@northstate.net. Contact Rev. Green.
Feed 5000
Responding to Christ’s call, all who come to FUMCC are invited to feed body and soul of our Cary and Wake County neighbors. The vision is to feed 5,000 hungry Cary residents with God’s word and with food.
This ministry was initiated at FUMCC in 2005. Principles are as follows:
·In keeping with John 6:1-14, the ministry will receive each food gift and feed the hungry in Cary. The 5,000 came for healing and to hear Jesus preach and teach the word. At the end of the day, he fed them with five loaves and two fishes.
·When you come to First United Methodist Church, you are invited to bring and present a food gift of at least one pound of non-perishable food each and every Sunday. Please attach a scripture verse of your choosing to the item in order to feed the soul of the person who will receive the food.
·As a member of Christ’s family, you are asked to pray for God’s blessing upon the food gift and for His blessing upon the family that receives the food gift.
·Under the direction of parents or the Sunday school teacher, each child coming to First United Methodist Church will write a Bible verse that will be taped to the gift of food. If a child or parent is bi-lingual, you are invited to write the scripture in both languages. This Ministry will engage children and parents to learn more of God’s word and to share His word.
·Christ said that we “do not live by bread alone.” Through God’s word, the Feed 5,000 Ministry will reach one more for Christ’s kingdom.
·If every Sunday worshiper and Sunday school student brings at least one food gift each Sunday, more than 1,000 pounds of food will be received weekly and then delivered 1) to the Christian Community Action (Dorcas Shop) for distribution to our Cary neighbors, 2) directly to families brought to the ministry’s attention, 3) through Matthew 25 ministries. The food is also used by ministry called “With Love from Jesus” which provides food for around 600 families each week 4) as housewarming gifts to graduates of the Carying Place and Wake Interfaith Hospitality Network programs.
·The ministry will operate only with volunteers. Each of us is gifted to serve God’s kingdom. This ministry will need many volunteers gifted in a variety of ways. This is a ministry, not a project, and it requires Spirit-led individuals in service.
·We welcome grocery cards that our volunteers can use to add perishable food such as milk and fresh vegetables to our food gifts.
Gracious Harvest
Gracious Harvest is a community garden that provides fresh produce to its members and people who need food in the community. Click here for more information.
Habitat for Humanity
A nationwide organization that provides materials and volunteer labor to build low income housing in the local area. The mission of Habitat for Humanity of Wake County is to develop partnerships to build healthy, affordable homes with and for God’s people in need, promote self-reliance through homeownership, affirm the dignity of family, and create sustainable communities. Families that purchase Habitat homes must contribute “sweat equity” towards the building of their home, i.e., the head of the household will work alongside volunteers to construct the home.
Over the past 15 years FUMC has been involved in the construction of at least 5 Habitat homes. Our church provides both money and volunteers for their construction. Through the 2008 mission budget of FUMC we are providing $10,000 to help pay for the materials and contract labor of our next single family Habitat home. This home will be located near the end of Waldo Street east of our church campus. Six other local churches – Apex United Methodist, Cary Presbyterian, First Baptist, Mount Zion Missionary Baptist, St. Francis United Methodist, and White Plains United Methodist – will also be providing money to meet the $70,000 budget that it currently takes to construct a Habitat home. Volunteers from all seven churches will work Saturdays to help build the home over a 5 month period. Volunteers must be at least 16 years old to work on site. For current project information.
Health Ministries
The Health Ministries Team at FUMCC is a group of people acting on faith, inspired by Christ’s witness to the healing activity of God. The team reaches out to strengthen, empower and improve the spiritual, physical, mental health of this congregation and the community we serve through increasing self-knowledge, personal responsibility and interdependence among God’s people. This ministry crosses the entire life span as well as the entire spectrum of health need. It does not replace your healthcare professional. The team strives to foster a spiritual healing presence in the local and global community and to serve as a reminder that Christ came to give us abundant life.
“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” - John 10: 10
The Health Ministries Committee sponsors monthly programs for the congregation and community covering various health, spiritual, and mental topics.
We welcome new faces and fresh ideas! Please come help us brainstorm, develop, teach/coordinate, publicize, document, and implement! Visit our page at www.fumc-cary.org/healthministries.
Katrina Relief
Volunteer work teams from the Raleigh District are helping families in the Biloxi-D’Iberville area of the Mississippi Gulf Coast rebuild homes and lives affected by Hurricane Katrina.
As part of the effort to assist families and churches in the Gulf Coast that were impacted by Hurricane Katrina, volunteers from UM churches in the Raleigh District are going to Heritage UMC in D’Iberville, Mississippi.
You do not have to have building skills to volunteer. Each team member also contributes money for food and for lodging. Many times volunteers contribute money to pay for needed items that are not available. Transportation costs have been paid by our mission fund, by the UMM or by contributions from other church members.
Meals for Moms
Join us every 2-3 months as we meet to cook meals for families following the birth or adoption of a new baby or child. You will also help with delivering meals to families 4 or 5 times per year. We also meet quarterly for committee updates and to see how everyone’s meal deliveries are going. We need volunteers 1-2 hours per month with a desire to offer support and Christian love to families with new babies. We will train you on how to cook the meals and we have suggestions for how to offer support as well. Contact info@fumc-cary.org 467-1861.
Meals on Wheels
Volunteers for Meals on Wheels deliver pre-packaged meals to the elderly and shut-ins. Second Friday of each month.
Mighty Mondays Neighborhood After School Ministry
Mighty Mondays’ mission is to reach out a hand of friendship by helping children enhance their learning skills through homework assistance. This past year we served 20 children, many of whom spoke Spanish as their first language. Mighty Mondays meets from 4-6 pm on Mondays during the traditional school year.
Volunteers provide program coordination, snacks, one-on-one tutoring, activities such as music, crafts and storytelling, van transportation and financial support. From time to time, we provide special gatherings for the families of Mighty Monday children. We currently have a waiting list of several children who would like to participate in Mighty Mondays, and so we are looking for more volunteer tutors.
Mission MinisTree
The purpose of the MinisTree is to provide a visible and constant source of opportunities for mission and service in our community as well as opportunities for ministry and service among our church members at FUMCC. The MinisTree is located in the church office lobby where you can find out how the tree works. “Apples” are placed on the tree describing a need, such as someone to prepare a meal, providing transportation to the doctor, or helping with cleaning or other maintenance. The “apple picker” carries out the service in a timely manner and returns the apple in the envelope provided to report on the service provided and any other needs that were observed.
The mission grew from a small group during the Forty Days of Community Lenten Study in 2006 and was supported in the 2007 budget with $500. The beautiful apple tree was hand painted in February 2007 by Amanda McLain, one of our church members. Please call with any questions about fulfilling a need or if you or someone you know has a need.
Prison MATCH (Mothers And Their Children) of North Carolina, Inc.
Prison MATCH provides incarcerated mothers and their children with the support and resources necessary to maintain and strengthen their family relationships. MATCH intervenes to break the cycle of children following their mothers’ path to prison, through training of the mothers and ongoing visits with their children.
FUMCC has been a part of this effort at North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh since the program’s inception more than a decade ago. At present there are six volunteers from FUMCC who give of their time to supervise mother-child visits in prison. In addition, numerous hosts are called on throughout the year, offering transportation, airline miles, assistance with food and other special needs. Several FUMCC United Methodist Women’s circles and adult Sunday school classes have supported MATCH this past year. The current pressing need is for gas money to allow families to transport children for visits with their mothers at the MATCH center.
Race of Grace
This weekend-long event is sponsored by the Raleigh District of the UMC. It has been held every April for the last five years with a goal of raising over $75,000 annually. On Friday of the race weekend, there is a golf tournament, on Saturday a bicycle race, and on Sunday a walk/run. Every year, three recipient agencies located in the Raleigh District are selected that are focused on one particular need. This year the focus was on homelessness, in particular those individuals who are who are often ignored: runaways, youth, victims of domestic violence, and families. The beneficiaries for 2008 included Wake Interfaith Hospitality Network, Haven House Services and Safe Space of Franklin County
Read and Feed
Read and Feed is a 501I (3) nonprofit corporation founded in 2006. Read and Feed is a group of volunteers who have one objective: “To bridge the gaps of reading deficiencies for low-income elementary students in Wake County, North Carolina.” With our partnerships with non-Title I elementary schools, our Feed the Reader Road Show encourages parents and children to read together on a daily basis. Our Road Show centers on three activities: 1) We assist parent and child in reading through a book together; 2) We provide an evening meal and story time program to encourage families that reading is fun; 3) We supply books for home learning and computer tutoring to engage families in their child’s school assignments.
The success of this program depends on financial support from “Partners for Reading Excellence.” These partners provide support for Read and Feed’s bookmobile, books, computers, volunteer training and evening meal programs. 100% of these funds go to the reading program, not salaries, since everyone dedicated to this effort is a volunteer. The greatest amount of funding is committed to Read and Feed’s mobile classroom that transports much needed resources to low-income families and their children.
Samaritan’s Purse - Operation Christmas Child
Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes and the Good News of God’s love. This program of Samaritan’s Purse provides an opportunity for people of all ages to be involved in a simple, hands-on mission projects while focusing on the true meaning of Christmas-Jesus Christ.
Each year FUMCC members pack shoe boxes to be delivered to children around the world. Last year over 4.6 million boxes were collected worldwide and sent out to children in nearly 100 different countries.
Pick up a brochure and fill a shoe box. A Shoe Box Coordinator (volunteer or group) is needed to copy and distribute promotional materials church wide. This includes bulletin board, bulletin inserts, and display table.
Shoes for Orphan Souls
Shoes for Orphan Souls has distributed more than 1.5 million pairs of new shoes and socks to needy children in more than 40 countries around the world since 1999. Many of these children have little or nothing, a simple gift of a new pair of shoes and socks can bring hope into their lives knowing that someone cares and that Jesus loves them.
Over the past three years FUMCC has supported this mission by donating socks and over 800 new pairs of shoes. In addition money raised from Fellowship Dinners has been used to cover shipping the shoes from FUMCC and checks have been sent to Shoes for Orphan Souls ministry at Buckner Orphan Care International.
You can:
·Pick up a pair (or more) of new shoes (any size a child from age 0-18 years would wear) and donate them to SOS by placing them in collection bins which will be placed in the high traffic areas at the church.
·Coordinate a neighborhood shoe drive. Contact a Shoe for Orphan Souls committee member to get started.
·Join our team to help facilitate all of the activities listed above.
·Spread the word to friends and family; ask them to do any of the above.
·Pray for our mission to be successful in the way that God intends it to be.
Society of Saint Andrew (Gleaning)
The Society of Saint Andrew is a Christian ministry dedicated to gleaning America’s fields and feeding America’s hungry. SOSA provides healthy, nutritious produce to society’s most vulnerable through innovative, cost effective programs. SOSA accomplishes their mission through three operating programs: the Potato Project, the Gleaning Network, and Harvest of Hope.
The third Saturday of each month volunteers from FUMCC glean produce in local fields. The gleaning location and type of produce varies, but we leave from the gravel parking lot at 8 am and usually return by noon. Food is then distributed to local food banks. Check the website for gleaning dates and to register.
Stitches from Love
“Stitches from Love” provides a tangible reminder of love and care in the form of prayer shawls for individuals who are facing life difficulties and baby blankets which are taken to Zimbabwe through ZOE (Zimbabwe Orphan Endeavor).
The group meets at FUMCC in Room 218 the first and third Wednesdays of the month from 7 to 8:30 pm to work on hand-crafted projects.
Wake Interfaith Hospitality Network (WIHN)
WIHN is a county-wide program that provides food, shelter, job resources, housing resources and support for prescreened families in transition from homelessness to housing.
FUMCC is hosting WIHN families this week at our church and typically hosts four times a year. In 2007 FUMCC contributed $6,000 to WIHN. FUMCC hosts WIHN four times a year.
Specific needs include:
·Linen Coordinator A Linen Coordinator is needed to recruit volunteers to wash and return clean linens to the church following our Host Weeks, remove worn-out linens and solicit donations of new and used linens as needed.
·Meals Volunteers are needed to provide dinner or breakfast for one day during the host week, volunteers are also needed to serve as hosts and eat dinner with the families.
·Overnight Host One male and one female host is needed to stay at church from 8:30 pm to 6:30 am to extend hospitality to guest families, wake the families at 6 am and make sure they are ready to board the church van by 6:40 am.
ZOE (Zimbabwe Orphan Endeavor)
ZOE is an initiative developed to meet the needs of children orphaned in the AIDS pandemic in Africa.
FUMCC raised more than $40,000 to send a team of 11 to Zimbabwe. With these funds, the team was able to help feed approximately 2000 children, provide 450 pounds of medical supplies, support water projects at 2 schools, roof a church, provide sewing machines to make school uniforms, provide fabric for uniforms for 300 children and provide blankets and bowls for some of the orphans. In addition, FUMCC contributed $2,500 to the ZOE advance special in 2006. This year, FUMCC is covenanting with the Mavhiza School in Zimbabwe and will contribute $10,000 annually as an ongoing commitment. This will not only support a feeding program of the children there and assist them in their education, but will help the entire community, especially providing spiritual encouragement. More than creating a partnership with a sister church on the other side of the world, FUMCC is adopting a starving African village! A member of the ZOE team would love to speak to your group.
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