First United Methodist Church - Missions Ministry

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Missions Ministry

Mission Outreach

First Church supports many organizations and causes through our Missions and Christian Involvement Ministry including the following:

Battered Women's Shelter
Chris Hena - our missionary in Kazakhstan
Equal Exchange
Ghana Missions Project
Good Neighbors
Goodwill Industries
Habitat for Humanity
Haven of Rest
Interfaith Housing Network
Methodist Christian Home - Havana
OPEN M
Prayer Shawl Ministry
Project Linus
Refugee Assistance
Afternoon Tea Ministry
UMCOR - United Methodist Committee on Relief

First Church also gives support to Henderson Settlement in Frakes, Kentucky. This includes a week-long mission trip each summer to Henderson Settlement, where First Church youth with adult counselors faithfully donate their time, labor and construction materials, in order to make life better for this Appalachian community.

Please see below for details on some of our projects/groups. For more specific information about any of the above projects, please click here

We believe in Jesus' great commission: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations...and lo, I am with you always." (Matthew 28:20)

General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church

ONGOING MISSION PROJECTS

Faith Friends

Have a friend, be a friend, how about a faith friend? The membership committee is compiling a list of persons within our church family who would like to be faith friends for the new members joining our church. Quite simply, a faith friend is a member of this church who would like to extend a faithful hand of friendship to a new member. You would be required to attend an orientation meeting to learn about the role of a faith friend. When you have been paired with someone as a faith friend, you will be asked to attend the third session of their New Beginnings classes, in order to be introduced. Those classes are traditionally on Tuesday or Sunday evenings. You must also be able to meet them on the Sunday their class joins the church at 10 a.m. in the parlor and sit with them before and during the 10:30 service. We like to match people up according to age, children or interests that may be mutual. If you would be interested, please complete the brief form below so we can begin to compile our list of potential faith friends.

Name(s)
Address
Phone
Children and their ages
Pets
Occupation(s)
Hobbies
First Church interests
I/We would be interested as a
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The Afternoon Tea Ministry is an organized system of ministering to others by sharing teatime visits with those who are homebound, grieving, disabled, recuperating, living in a nursing home or assisted living facilty, or inactive, so that they can, once again, feel connected to the church. It is simply a ministry of listening, loving and caring for God's people through the ritual of Afternoon Tea.

If you, or someone you know, is interested in a visit by the Tea Ministry, please fill out the form below and you will be contacted.

Prayer Shawl Ministry

This ministry is made up of women of faith who know how to crochet or knit, or would like to learn. Shawls are created and given to individuals who have been seriously ill, have suffered through many trials, or who are shut in and need a reminder that they are remembered and loved by the church. Each shawl is special because it has been faithfully prayed over as it is being created. Anyone can participate in this fulfilling ministry - just come to a meeting on the second Tuesday of the month at 1 pm in the church parlor from September-May.

If you are aware of anyone who would benefit from a prayer shawl, please fill out the form below.

Name of Person Requesting *
Phone *
Email address
Recipient's name *
Reason for request *	(Can list as confidential.)
Recipient's Phone *
Recipient's address *
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Good Neighbors

We support Good Neighbors in several ways. We have a permanent box in the hallway beneath the breezeway where clothing, school supplies or other items may be placed throughout the year. We also participate in their food and school drives at different times of the year.

UMCOR Coffee Project

Now you can purchase packages of gourmet, organically grown items and know that with every sip or bite you have helped a farmer in a third world country or even here in our own country earn a fair wage. We offer several varieties of coffee, tea and hot chocolate, as well as baking cocoa, large chocolate bars - milk chocolate, dark chocolate with almonds, very dark chocolate - and mini dark chocolate pieces. We also have organically grown roasted almonds and dried cranberries. The items are available for purchase in Asbury Hall and the church office.

OPEN M

Every 3 months members of our congregation serve lunch at OPEN M, a local non-profit neighborhood-based, comprehensive ministry working in the community of South Akron. As part of the lunch, church members bake and donate 25 or more dozen cookies. We also help keep their food pantry continuously supplied with boxes of macaroni and cheese and soup. On the last Sunday of each month any loose change in the offering plates (or anything specifically designated) also goes toward the OPEN M lunch program.