Search |
Current Opportunites for Serving the CommunityCommunity BreakfastOn the last two Sundays of each month, First UMC youth lead us in preparing, serving and sharing breakfast with the homeless in our community. We invite you to participate. Cook, serve and share breakfast with our homeless neighbors. Come at 7:30 a.m. to cook and serve at 8:45. For more information or to donate food, contact the church office. Family PromiseFamily Promise of Sacramento is a nonprofit program designed specifically for homeless families that helps them achieve self-sufficiency and regain a home for themselves and their children. Shelter for the families is provided through a unique, innovative method by utilizing an interfaith hospitality network of 16 churches and hundreds of volunteers throughout the Sacramento region. First United Methodist Church is a host church and houses Family Promise guests 4 times each year. When families are in residence at FUMC, we offer multiple opportunities to volunteers to cook meals, spend time with the children with special activities, spend the night with the families and plan special outings for our guests. If you are interested in volunteering during a week with Family Promise, please contact the church office. Faith and Homeless Families InitiativeFirst United Methodist Church is a part of a pilot program seeking to provide homeless families with limited and temporary housing assistance, mentoring, financial planning and other support services. We are in partnership with the Community Services Planning Council of Sacramento, homeless service providers, and the City of Sacramento to end chronic homelessness in Sacramento. If you are interested in becoming a mentor, please contact the church office. Sierra Service ProjectEach summer, youth travel from First UMC to a Native American Reservation and work for a week helping to improve the lives and living conditions of those in need through repair and construction projects. To pay for the trip, the youth group runs a number of fundraising projects. A Place for Everyone to HelpEach month we package needed items for people who can no longer attend church; children and families living in shelters or on the streets; and disaster kits for infants and mothers; school preparation kits for children needing supplies. These kits are then supplied to Loaves and Fishes, Maryhouse, Francis House, Side-by-Side Spiritual Ministries and others. Raising FundsSeveral concerts and other activities are held each year to benefit a number of charities, including the Make-A-Wish-Foundation, Heifer project, Habitat for Humanity and the Downtown Food Closet. Safe Ground
The FUMC Leadership Team has taken the step of faith in action to extend our ministry to our homeless neighbors by inviting Safe Ground to use our facilities once a month, beginning Jan. 29. SafeGround is a group of self-governing homeless people who build community and transition out of poverty. They are an incorporated 501.c3 and have a A year ago they began a pilgrimage to midtown churches seeking respite nights. They staff this program themselves, provide a registration station, sleeping bags as needed, guardian watches through the night, janitorial services, and assist in all of the work of making and serving the evening meal. Each month Safe Ground residents elect five of their members to be elder leaders. David Leeper-Moss, a former Associate Pastor at FUMC, serves the community and elders, and sleeps over during church nights. We will host about 60 for dinner, and about 40 to stay overnight including about 10 or 12 women who will sleep in the Library. Safe Ground has an organized approach when they come into our church. Before the homeless enter our church, the elders will require each person to sign a pledge to not do alcohol or drugs, or commit violence or threaten anyone while with us. They will gently, nonviolently enforce that pledge. A FUMC Homeless Task Force of ten church members is organizing a group of volunteers to make dinner with assistance from Safe Ground. They will do the clean up and then set up for games, puzzles and reading activities after dinner. At 8 p.m. they will prepare for going to bed and lights out at 9 p.m.. Sunday morning they will clean up, stow their gear and then help us set up and clean up and take part in Community Breakfast. FUMC now joins with Trinity Lutheran, St. Johns Lutheran, Trinity Episcopal, Pioneer UCC and The Spiritual Life Center in providing their facilities and volunteers to provide hospitality for Safe Ground and their homeless members. The other churches told us that this is a good program, these are good people and once we begin we will want to continue to work with them. Staging A Miracle
A Theatre Program for Children and Youth With Arts and
Volunteers in Mission (VIM)First United Methodist Church is part of the national and international United Methodists Volunteers in Mission offering opportunities to participate in various local, national and international relief efforts. New volunteer opportunities are posted on http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/getconnected/volunteer/ . Anyone that is interested can sign up for automatic updates as new volunteer opportunities become available. For more information about the United Methodist Committee on Relief go to http://umcor.org . If you are interested in First United Methodist Church Volunteers in Mission, please contact the church office. United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)The United Methodist Committee on Relief is the relief arm of the general conference of all Methodist Churches. Their website is new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/ . Our church supports UMCOR as part of our regular budget and with special offerings. |
Staging a Miracle (SAM) is a First United Methodist Church program developed to offer high-quality music and arts education to the children of the City of Sacramento, regardless of their ability to pay.