Ministries

Mission Ministry

The mission of Fredericksburg United Methodist Church is "Go FISH!" The first command is, "Find others for Christ." That is what we do through Missions, and the opportunities are many. Our outreach ministry begins in the city and surrounding communities and extends across our nation and abroad.

FUMC mission teams have helped bring relief to hurricane, tornado and flood victims in several Atlantic seaboard states and across the southeast to the Gulf coast. Our missionary outreach cuts across ethnic and cultural lines, touching the lives of Native Americans in South Dakota, Hispanic families in Pachuca, Mexico, Haitians, and Guatemalans. We reach out to the homeless in and around Fredericksburg and help feed families who sometimes depend on our church food pantry for their next meal.

Our mission is to serve and support the people we come to know and love. It is our hope that you will find a place at FUMC to demonstrate your faith through Christian outreach to those in need.

"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, at all the times you can, to all the
people you can, as long as ever you can."

- John Wesley

Mission Map

Stop Hunger Now

March 17, 2010 — Over 300 members of Fredericksburg United Methodist Church packaged 60,000 meals on March 14, 2010 for Stop Hunger Now. Together with partners from Ebenezer UMC, Regester Chapel UMC, Front Royal UMC and Vale UMC a total of 142,000 meals were packaged to be sent to The Robert Ford Orphanage and School, Grison-garde, Haiti.

 

 

Community Missions

Micah Ecumenical Ministries

FUMC is one of several area churches serving the chronically homeless in the city and surrounding communities. You will find opportunities to serve at the Micah Hospitality Center located at Trinity Episcopal Church. The Center provides hot meals, bath facilities, financial aid and help with gaining access to social services. Micah needs volunteer help with its cold-night shelter, open when the temperature falls below freezing.

Thurman-Brisben Center

FUMC is committed to on-going financial support for Thurman-Brisben, the area's only coed shelter for the working homeless. You can help when our congregation has responsibility for evening meals several days throughout the year.

Rebuilding Together

Every April, FUMC takes part in a community-wide program to make repairs to the homes of families that lack the means to help themselves. The work can range from structural repairs to building handicap ramps to extensive interior and exterior painting. Every job requires 15 to 20 volunteers, both skilled and unskilled. This is another way you can extend a Christian hand to those in need.

Church Food Pantry

Our food pantry, located just inside the Charlotte Street entrance, is open to all in the community who need help feeding their families. You can help with donations of food of all types ... especially canned goods, pastas, sauces and cold cereals. You might also have an opportunity to assist with operating and maintaining the pantry.

Christmas Wish Tree

The annual Christmas Wish Tree offers our church family opportunities to share God's love and the gifts He has given us. The Angel and Dove ornaments that trim our tree represent two distinct ministries. Angel tags describe a Christmas wish of a child whose mother or father is in prison. Many of these children live in homes where meeting their basic needs is a challenge. Yet another very important aspect of this program involves building or restoring family relationships. Your gifts are an assurance that these children have not been forgotten by their absent parents. Dove tags list a Christmas wish for a teen or an adult receiving mental health services and who are not supported by a loving family. Your gifts may be the only ones they receive. You may also help prepare the Angel and Dove tags that will trim our tree, assist those selecting tags from the tree before and after Worship services, sort gifts and ready them for delivery and deliver the Angel gift bags the week before Christmas.

English as a Second Language

Since March of 2004, the United Methodist Women and the Mission Committee have sponsored English as a Second Language classes on Tuesday evenings at FUMC. Training to participate as a leader in this program involves a six-hour, two-day training session.

Rappahannock Region VOAD

FUMC is a founding member of Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD). This community service organization is comprised of about 40 churches, health, social and civic groups, and government entities dedicated to educating and preparing Fredericksburg and the surrounding counties to cope with natural or man-made disasters. You might play a role by responding to the call for help with storm damage cleanup, emergency shelter operations, food and water distribution, among other urgent needs.

National Missions

Disaster Response

Natural disasters are a reality that demand our faith commitment to mission. In recent times, FUMe members have joined recovery teams sent to coastal areas of Virginia, North Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana that were devastated by hurricanes or tornadoes. Tens of thousands of families are still without homes along the Gulf Coast where the United Methodist Church is in the forefront of rebuilding efforts that depend on missionaries like you. Our mission commitment is to send one or two teams to the region each year.

Rosebud Mission

FUMe has a long-standing commItment to an annual Christian mission to the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Each July, several of our members join a work team for a week-long effort to help repair the homes of Rosebud families, participate in community activities and address a variety of humanitarian needs. There could also be a place for you.

International Missions

Mexico

Since 2003, FUMC has sent three mission teams to Pachuca, Mexico, to help with the construction of small United Methodist mission churches being established in mountain communities surrounding the city.

Haiti

In conjunction with the United Methodists Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM), The Haiti Mission (THM) sends medical mission teams to Haiti on a quarterly basis. Teams of at least four doctors a dentist, two nurses and non-medical support people travel to one of two clinics for a one-week period. Since 2001, FUMC has had members join in one of the teams. FUMC supports this mission in its budget, combining with another United Methodist Church in the Methodist connectional system to sponsor one of the four annual trips.

Guatemala

For a decade, FUMC has been sending teams to the highlands of Guatemala with the Richmond-based Highland Support Project (HSP). The goals of HSP include building community leadership among local women, building up community involvement, and even building health stoves in the homes of rural Mayan families. We contribute to these goals with our presence, our labor and our encouragement. Teams have built stoves, planted trees for reforestation (stoves are wood-burning), shared crafts, songs and games with the kids, and most recently built homes in the wake of Hurricane Stan. No special skills are needed. The only requirement is a willingness to do God's work among His people in Guatemala!

Missionay Support

Through The Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church, FUMC provides funding to support the mission work of Dr. Elma Jocson, whose medical ministry most recently has served the needy in Nepal and Cambodia. Your financial gifts to this program will help assure that Dr. Jocson's ministry can be continued, along with those of almost 300 other
missionaries now serving in 62 countries.

Congregational Care Ministry

Fredericksburg United Methodist Church responds to the spiritual and prayer needs of the church family and community through various ministries within the church. If you have a prayer need, are experiencing a life issue and need someone to talk to, are homebound and wish someone would visit, or want to make contact with members who like to get together for short day adventures, see if one of these ministries fits your need. If you feel called to volunteer with one of these ministries, call the church office.

Visitation Ministry

Our mission is to keep our membes who are unable to attend corporate worship connected to Fredericksburg United Methodist Church. This includes members incapacitated by ill health, agin issues or any life situation that prevents them from actively participating in church activities. We want thse members to know that we are from the church, that we are the church, and that we care. Most importantly, we want to share the love of] esus Christ with those whom we visit. We visit members where they reside ... nursing homes, assisted living facilities, apartments or homes. We visit members in the hospital or in rehabilitation facilities.

"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. "
- John 13:35

Prayer Ministry

The Prayer Ministry of FUMC consists of a group of people dedicated to the prayer needs of our church, our community, and the world. We gather local prayer needs via phone requests, prayer request forms from Church services, and email requests. The prayer group prays over these requests in Pastor Nancy's office on Sunday morning during the Sunday School hour.

We also conduct a Wednesday Prayer Service from 12:00-12:30 p.m. in the second floor Chapel. It is led by our Pastors or Lay Speakers, during which time we pray for everyone on the list and any other needs we have discussed. Persons may request a hardcopy or emailed copy of the weekly church prayer list by contacting Church Secretary Michelle Cooper ad 73-9021, ext. 23. Whenever possible, we mail prayer cards to let people know they are in our thoughts and prayers. Anyone wishing to participate in this important ministry is always welcomed and appreciated.

The Merry Makers

The mission of the Merry Makers is to provide day-trip travel opportunities and Christian
fellowship for Fredericksburg United Methodist Church senior citizens. Membership in the Merry Makers is open to all members and friends of FUMC. Destinations are planned using suggestions from the membership as well as an advisory committee. Travel plans are announced in the monthly FUMC newsletter, The Open Door, and the weekly announcements Yellow Sheet. Trips are financially self-sustaining through fees set by the advisory committee to cover all expenses. Contact either of these Advisory Committee members to participate: Margaret Mock or Julia Tubbs.

Stephen Ministry

Is anybody listening when you or someone you know is hurting? FUMC is a Stephen Ministry Congregation. A Stephen Minister is a trained lay member of the congregation who will visit with you weekly, listen, offer resources and referrals, if needed, pray with and for you, and offer Christian love and support.

Stephen Ministers are caring, supportive Christian people who have a desire to be with you in a time of need, grief or crisis. How do you know if you or someone you know needs this special type of help? Ask yourself these questions.

A typical comment from a care receiver: "I didn't know what to expect '" but he put me at ease ... really cared about me ... showed me how to work things out for myself and had the patience to let me do it." If you or someone you know is in need a Stephen Minister, contact the church office.

Prayer Shawl Ministry

This ministry provides beautiful, handknitted or crocheted shawls to comfort persons during times of illness or spiritual need. Prayer shawls cannot be bought. They are created with love, talent and prayer and are given to the recipients with love. Nearly 500 shawls have been given since the Prayer Shaw Ministry began at FUMC in February 2004.

Volunteers meet one Thursday and one Sunday afternoon each month to knit/crochet. Shawls can be created at home as well. Knitters!crocheters range from novice to experienced. We will teach you to knit and help you with knitting problems. We invite all who are interested to join us in this rewarding ministry.