United Methodist Church
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Missions
and OutreachLocal Needs
These are special projects in our community that Harvard-Epworth supports each year through an annual appeal.
Harvard Square Churches Meals Program. The Meals Program, housed at Christ Church across the Cambridge Common, provides a free hot meal every Thursday night to over 100 people.
Our Place Child Care Center. The Our Place child care center, run by the Salvation Army, provides day care for the children of people living in local homeless shelters. This provides consistency and support in the children's lives while their parents look for permanent housing. Harvard-Epworth has had a relationship with this program for several years through our giving of individualized Christmas gifts to the children and parents of Our Place.
Shelter, Inc. Shelter, Inc. is one of the oldest shelters in the Boston area, now providing shelter for families and single homeless adults in Cambridge, Boston, and Medford.
Zimbabwe
Theological Education by Extension. Harvard-Epworth has entered into a three-year commitment to help support the restart of a theological education program in Zimbabwe, to help leaders of the African Independent Churches learn about preaching, the Bible, and their own relationship to other Christian churches. Nineteen ninety-eight was the second year of this exciting program.
Local, National, and International Missions
These are local, national, and international mission projects that we support each year from our regular budget.
Food Aid for North Korean Children. The Harvard Korean Mission Church, which meets at Harvard-Epworth, is developing a food aid program for children affected by the continuing famine in North Korea. Aid will most likely be delivered through the United Methodist Committee on Relief. Our donation supports the Harvard Korean Mission effort.
American University of Kinshasa Foundation. The American University of Kinshasa in the Congo is establishing a United States-based foundation to support the University. The president of the University, Dr. Dimandja Kasongo, is a Methodist and has come to Boston to start the foundation; he has been granted office space at Harvard-Epworth to support his effort, plus some local funds.
Boston-Cambridge Ministry in Higher Education. The Boston-Cambridge Ministry in Higher Education supports chaplains and campus ministry at universities in the Boston area. Ministry to students is a special responsibility of our church, and BCMHE works on our behalf, with an emphasis on social justice, at places such as Suffolk University, where the BCMHE chaplain is the only religious presence, as well as at Harvard, MIT, and other universities.
Orff Music Project
for Handicapped Young Adults in Cambridge Public Schools. This
is a pilot project to teach music to developmentally disabled young adults
(aged 18-21) in the Cambridge Public Schools. Students learn to sing,
improvise on Orff instruments (xylophones, tambourines, etc.), and make
music as a group, in after-school classes twice per week for one hour.
The program began in October of 1997 with 4 students; 6 students are now
enrolled. The students' regular academic skills are said to have been
enhanced by their participation in the music program.
Special
Offerings
The United Methodist Church sponsors six special
Sundays with offerings each year, to highlight special long-term missional
commitments of the denomination.
Human
Relations Day
One
Great Hour of Sharing
Africa Sunday
Peace
with Justice Sunday
World
Communion Sunday
Reconciling Sunday
Denominational Benevolences
Every United Methodist congregation contributes to the larger mission of the denomination by its support of various benevolence funds. Funds paid from Harvard-Epworth's budget go toward the following general denominational efforts.
World Service. The World Service Fund provides the basic financial resources for the core ministries of our denomination, both in the New England Annual Conference and around the world. Through the World Service Fund, United Methodists...
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Undergird a network of missionaries and others who serve in the name of Christ and The United Methodist Church around the world.
- Strengthen evangelism
efforts, stimulate church growth, expand Bible studies and nurture spiritual
development.
- Support specific local
church work with children, youth singles, students adults and older
persons.
- Enrich our congregational
life with worship resources, leader training and stewardship development.
- Continue nearly 200
years commitment to quality college and graduate education.
- Provide the
means to equip and nurture our ordained, diaconal and lay leaders through
education and professional support.
- Assure that United
Methodists speak and work to help build a more ethical, just and humane
world.
- Continue a proud tradition
of cooperation and dialogue with other faith traditions through interdenominational
and ecumenical work.
- Give our denomination
a presence in the mass media and make new communication technologies
accessible to the church.
- Express our commitment to God's reign through ministries of peace and efforts to build a church and a society that are truly inclusive of all persons regardless of race, ethnicity or gender. (Link to the World Service Fund web site)
Black College Fund. In 1972, one hundred years after the establishment of the Freedmen's Aid Society, General Conference approved the Black College Fund apportionment to provide consistent, major for the remaining historically Black colleges and universities. The mission of these schools reflects the essence of the church's Social Principles by providing academic excellence, caring communities, and social climates in which students can develop their fullest potential. (Link to the Black College Fund web site)
Interdenominational Cooperation Fund. Through the Interdenominational Cooperation Fund, we help enable United Methodists to have an effective presence in ecumenical arenas such as the Consultation on Church Union, the National Council of Churches, and the World Council of Churches. (Link to the ICF web site)
Episcopal Fund. The Episcopal Fund supports the work of the denomination's bishops in the United States and around the world. In the Unied Methodist Church, a bishop is an elder (ordained minister) who has been elected to the office of bishop by the lay and clergy delegates of a Jurisdictional or Central Conference and consecrated for the office of bishop by other United Methodist bishops.A bishop serves as a general superintendent of the denomination. As such, individually and collectively bishops give general oversight to the temporal and spiritual interests of the entire denomination.
Ministerial Education Fund. The Ministerial Education Fund supports theological education for the ordained and diaconal leadership of our church. In particular the MEF provides financial support for all thirteen United Methodist seminaries, continuing education support for local church clergy, and scholarship aid to candidates for the ministry. (Link to the MEF web site)
Focus 2000: Mission Initiative Fund. The Mission Initiative Fund provides support for four programs that are charting the course for the future ministry of the denomination. These programs are the Shared Mission Focus on Young People, the Asian-American Language Ministry Study, the Connectional Process Tem, and the Korean-American Task Force. (Link to the Focus 2000 web site)
General Administration Fund. The General Administration Fund provides financial support for the quadrennial meeting of the United Methodist General Conference and for the work of the General Commission on Archives and History, which provides vital links to our past.
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URL:http://www.gbgm-umc.org/harepumc/missions..html
Date: June 21, 2000