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Outreach
Let your light so shine before men . . .
Outreach is one of the most
exciting and rewarding areas of participation at Mountain View. It creates many
opportunities for church members to choose how they can be actively involved
in service to others. All members are invited to suggest outreach ideas and
to use this committee as a resource for getting their projects going. We
focus on meeting both the physical and spiritual needs of those we serve. In
addition to many local and Peace with Justice opportunities, we continue to
support traditional missionary work around the world and are a Mission Covenant Church.
SPECIFIC SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES
Community
Table
Meals are
served at no cost to anyone needing and wanting fellowship with others around
a dinner table. Mt.
View hosts Community
Table every Wednesday evening, including driving our church van to gather
those who need transportation. Volunteers from Mt. View
greet guests, set up, prepare, serve and clean up on the third Wednesday of
the month. Contact Duane and Muriel McIntire, Trudy Gygi or Kay Lathrop.
Homeless
Shelter Meals
Various
groups within Mt.
View prepare and serve
meals at the Boulder Homeless Shelter once/month. Contact Kay Lathrop.
Community
Food Share
Continuous
food drive, focusing especially on canned meats, fruit peanut butter.
Donations can be left outside Larissa Hoffman's office. Contact June Huss.
Clothing
Drives
Mt. View collects gently used clothing
year-round, sorts the clothing and donates it to one of three organizations:
- Shiprock, New
Mexico Native Americans -- churches in this area distribute
much-needed children's clothing
- Colie's Closet --
locally-organized youth organization that raises money for depression
and suicide counseling for youth through used clothing sales
- Step 13 -- Denver-based
Christian organization helping homeless adults get back on their feet
In addition
to donating gently-used clothing, we welcome help at periodic clothes-sorting
parties. Contact Dave Wait.
Boulder United Methodist Mission Partners (BUMMP)
Mt. View is one of a group of fourteen area
UM churches that provide mission opportunities jointly through BUMMP. BUMMP
has existed for 30 years, beginning with projects such as building chicken
coups to allow persons in Haiti
to be self-supporting. In 2005, BUMMP coordinated the continuation of a rural
hospital construction project in Bolivia, with multiple medical
team members who supplied a pharmacy and treated patients. This project
involved 60 persons over a period of 6 weeks. Their work continues to support
rural medicine in Bolivia
through donations to "Adopt-A-Doc". Local opportunities often
include "fix-it" or construction tasks. One means of BUMMP
fund-raising is a large Salmon Dinner and Silent Auction held each October.
Contact Bonnie Strand, Don Wisdom, Bill Youngblood or June Huss.
Habitat
for Humanity
Habitat has
been very active in Boulder
County, and can provide
opportunities for the professional and the beginner. A new series of houses
is under construction in Broomfield and a
project in North Boulder is planned. Contact
Dave Beaty at 303-443-1495.
Emergency
Family Assistance Association (EFAA)
ECHO House,
an EFAA project, provides homeless families with temporary housing. Mt. View
maintains and supplies paper goods, cleaning supplies, etc. for one
apartment. Contact Duane and Muriel McIntire, 303-447-3509.
Covenant
Missionary Relationship
This United
Methodist program matches missionaries with local churches who will
"covenant" with them in support of their ministry. Mt. View
supports Yema Luhahi, serving as a nursing instructor in Kenya, with prayers, funds and
communication. Contact Bonnie Strand.
Restorative
Justice Healing Circles
These
circles are hosted at Mt.
View and provide
victim/offender restoration opportunities. Contact PJ Hyrnik.
Jail
Ministry
Used paperback
books are collected for the Boulder County Jail. Place your donations in the
box labeled "Jail Ministry" in the narthex, or contact Duane and
Muriel McIntire.
Fair
Trade Products
To help
provide a sustainable wage to those who grow our coffee and tea, Mt. View
serves products that are fair-trade certified. We also make information
available on how to purchase fair trade products for home use. Contact Bonnie
Strand.
CROP
Walk and Blanket Sunday
Church
World Service (CWS) provides emergency assistance to suffering peoples
throughout the world. They are often the first on the scene of a disaster
with temporary shelter, clean water and food. Mt. View participates in CROP
Walk, a walk where participants gather pledges and raise money for CWS hunger
ministries, and Blanket Sunday where a $5 donation buys a blanket for someone
in need. Contact Ray and Margot LaPanse, Kay Lathrop or Bonnie Strand.
Blood
Donations
Mt. View
members are encouraged to donate blood through Bonfils Blood
Center. The Bonfils staff
is very helpful to first-time donors. When you donate, indicate that you are
donating in the name of Mt.
View United
Methodist Church,
Group 82. Questions? Contact Chuck or Elaine Morrison.
Grocery
Card Sales
King
Soopers and Safeway gift cards are offered for sale on Sunday mornings. As a
result of our volume purchases and our non-profit organization status, we
receive a 5% discount on these purchases from the grocery stores. This
difference is used to fund Mt. View Outreach activities. Purchase cards
(checks or cash please) between services in the narthex, or contact Glen
Strand.
Soup
Labels
Labels from
Campbell's, Swanson's, V8, Pace,
Franco-American, Prego and Pepperidge Farm containers are collected in a box
in the Narthex and sent to McCurdy School, Espanola,
New Mexico. The school redeems
their large collections of labels with these companies for school or
playground equipment (they have obtained 3 vans through this program!)
Contact Elaine Morrison.
Family-To-Family
and Share-A-Gift
Since their
inception, Mt. View has been instrumental in these
two holiday activities serving Boulder County Social Services client
families. Family-to-Family provides specific new gifts selected by individual
clients, while Share-A-Gift collects new clothing and toys, gently used toys
and stuffed animals for distribution to the children of these families.
Opportunities to clean and sort toys, wash stuffed animals and gussie-up
gently-loved dolls begin in November. There are also opportunities to work at
the distribution location, helping parents choose gifts for their children,
translating for non-English speaking parents and wrapping gifts. Contact Kay
Lathrop or Bonnie Strand.
Support
for UMCOR
The United
Methodist Committee on Relief, UMCOR, is often one of the first agencies on
the scene of disasters, and one of the last to leave. UMCOR manages United
Methodist relief projects all over the world. We support the work of UMCOR
not only through monetary donations, but also by periodically providing
Health Kits, Sewing Kits, School Kits and mission teams.
Christmas
Stockings
This is a
once/year opportunity to contribute to a special holiday "extra
giving" fund for Yema Luhahi, our Covenant Missionary in Kenya.
Look for the stockings and Christmas cards between church services throughout
December.
Local
Mission
"Trips"
In addition
to meeting needs in locations far from home, needs of local agencies are
great as well. In 2006, Mountain
View offered a week-long summer set of opportunities
to serve locally, and plans to continue these opportunities in the fall and
spring.
Bread
for the World
Letter-writing
in support of the work of Bread for the World has coincided with Peace with
Justice Sunday in 2005 and 2006. Bread for the World is a Christian
organization focusing on hunger relief worldwide.
Christ's
Carousel (children through Grade 5), Crossfyre (youth), United Methodist
Women and United Methodist Men
All of
these age and/or gender-specific groups conduct outreach activities. Leaders
within these groups can provide current information.
Worship
Lifting Up Christian Work in the World
Outreach
activities are highlighted each year in worship opportunities such as One
Great Hour of Sharing (benefiting UMCOR), Peace with Justice Sunday and Mission Sunday.
And
Many More. Following are some of the other Outreach programs being done
by members of Mountain View
United Methodist
Church. The list below
is not all-inclusive, as our members continually find new ways to serve their
community and the world.
- Sunday Forum explores particular
social issues.
- Letter-writing campaigns.
- Work days at Wesley
Foundation.
- Recycling at church.
- Mission studies.
- Craft sales to the El
Salvador People of Hope program
- Church World Service:
CropWalk and Blanket Sunday.
- Church lawn Peace Pole, Peace
Camp for 5th and 6th graders.
Additional volunteers are always needed, and
are most welcome. If interested, please contact the church office. Phone:
303-494-5025.
E-mail: mountainviewumc@mtview.org
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