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Mission/Outreach

Community

The Graham School Initiative
Aldersgate has had a partnership with Graham Elementary School for more than 20 years. The church supports students and their families as well as Graham Staff in a variety of ways. Graham is a year-round elementary school located in west Shelby.

  1. Graham Christmas Store provides Christmas assistance for families who would otherwise not be able to provide Christmas gifts for their children. Parents provide a wish list for each child in their home which includes gift wishes, clothing sizes, and favorite color. Shoppers from Aldersgate purchase the gifts and parents are invited to pick up their children’s gifts. They also receive stocking stuffers, wrapping paper and are invited to choose a small gift for themselves. The Christmas Store is a way to share God’s love with a wide range of families as the volunteers treat each parent lovingly. The Christmas Store usually serves more than 200 children. The 2020 Christmas Store will be open to distribute toys in the Epworth building during the week of December 13, 2020. To assist with the Christmas Store, please contact Tammy Shuford (704-473-3614, [email protected] ). Families who are in need of Christmas Assistance are asked to contact Jeanne Patterson (704-284-0937, [email protected]).
  2. Yard Sale: an annual fundraiser to provide for the Graham Christmas Store. The yard sale is scheduled for August 29, 2020. We will begin taking yard sale donated items and need help setting up Wednesday August 26th through Friday August 28th. We will also need help at the sale and for cleanup. The yard sale starts at 7:00 am and we like helpers there no later than 6:45am. Clean up begins at noon. To help with the Yard Sale please contact Tammy Shuford (704-473-3614, [email protected] ).
  3. Graham School Staff Breakfast will be on a teacher workday in July. The church will collect school supplies in the months leading up to the breakfast and these supplies will be shared with the teachers at the breakfast.
  4. Volunteering at Graham. We encourage our members to connect with students and teachers at Graham Elementary. To be a part of this vital ministry, please contact Emily Dobbins, School Social Worker at Graham Elementary School.
  5. Serving as a Compassion Care Partner: Compassion Care Partners is a new opportunity to provide friendships and holy listening opportunities for the teachers at Aldersgate’s partner school, Graham Elementary School. Many teachers at Graham care for students in their classroom who have experienced trauma, plus they are dealing with challenges with the pandemic. As a Compassion Care Partner, you will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one monthly with a teacher from Graham to listen to their concerns, offer intercessory prayer for the teacher, and provide a relationship with the teacher that is built on respect and confidentiality.  Click here to apply.
  6. Community Table Thanksgiving Meal is typically the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Volunteers are needed for set up and decorate, to prepare the meal, to serve as hospitality volunteers, to prepare desserts, and to assist with clean- up. Registration can be found by visiting this website link in October: http://www.feedingkidscc.org/

Kairos Inside is a ministry whose mission is to develop a Christian community inside prisons. The Kairos Inside program brings positive and negative leaders together, in both male and female institutions, for a 3 ½ day Weekend led by same gender Kairos volunteers. The Weekend is based on a series of talks, discussions, chapel meditations, and creating a Christian community. For many participants, the Kairos Weekend creates the desire to become a Christian, and for others the desire to continue his/her spiritual growth. Our church has been supporting Kairos Inside for 27 years. The current active volunteers from Aldersgate are serving at Alexander Correctional Institution in Taylorsville, NC. There are other programs at Foothills CI in Morganton, Craggy CC in Asheville, Avery Mitchell CI in Spruce Pine, Mountain View in Spruce Pine, Swannanoa CI (Women’s prison) in Swannanoa and Marion CI in Marion.

You can become more involved with Kairos Outside by:

  1. Making homemade cookies
  2. Your prayers
  3. Green Agape (money)
  4. Or volunteering as a team member inside a men’s or women’s prison (information at kairosprisonministry.org.

For more information, please contact Charlie Walls (704-7-472-8462, [email protected]).

Kairos Outside offers a comfortable, non-judging retreat for women to support each other as they journey through the incarceration of a friend or relative. The Kairos Outside Weekend is a 2.5-day program based on a series of talks by volunteers designed to address the pain of enduring separation from the one inside and the judgment of others from their community. Guests hear the talks in small family groups. The program is interspersed with music, prayer, and fun activities.

Volunteers can participate by:

  1. Signing up to pray for upcoming weekends.
  2. Supporting the weekend financially.
  3. Color shields: The leader of each weekend has a shield representing the theme of that weekend. Volunteers color the shields, which are displayed around the conference room to introduce the guests to God’s agape love.
  4. Volunteer for the weekend: individuals can be angels on the weekend to provide behind the scenes services including transportation for guests and setting up for special services.
  5. Serve on a team.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Jeanne Patterson ([email protected]).

Homeless Shelter Meals: our Sunday School classes, small groups, and ministry areas serve a meal on a rotational basis at our area homeless shelters. If you are not connected to one of these groups and would like to serve, please contact Garnette Walls at [email protected].

Meals on Wheels is dedicated to addressing senior isolation and hunger. Volunteers for Meals on Wheels deliver nutritious meals, friendly visits and safety checks that enable America’s seniors to live nourished lives with independence and dignity. Meals on Wheels strengthens our community, one senior at a time. To volunteer on the Aldersgate Meals on Wheels team, contact Charlie Walls (704-7-472-8462, [email protected]).

Food Pantry and Hospice Collections, we collect a variety of food pantry and Hospice items throughout the year in the welcome center at the church. Please see your bulletin and newsletter for a list of needs.

Meal for Crest Football Team each fall the Aldersgate Mission Team provides a meal for the Crest Football Team. If you would like to participate in planning or preparing this meal, please contact Carl Hughes at [email protected]

Gleaning with Society of Saint Andrew
We are hoping to participate in a gleaning project in the summer of 2020. To join the gleaning team, please contact Rev. Carrie Carpenter at [email protected]

Global

Mission Response Center Trip
More information coming soon!

Migrant Assistance Project
More information coming soon!

Project AGAPE
Project AGAPE is the collaborative effort of both United Methodist conferences in North Carolina, who have worked in cooperation with the Armenian Apostolic Church since 1993/1994, some 6,000 miles away in the Euro-Asian part of the world. This ministry of the Western NC and North Carolina Conferences serves the Kashatagh region, the sole humanitarian aid partnership licensed by the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) government. Long-standing, multi-layered conflict prevents any other humanitarian group from working with the people of this area, who struggle with this way of life. In more than two decades of ministry, Project AGAPE has shared the love of Christ by continuing early projects and adopting new efforts for and with the people of Armenia and Artsakh, as this ministry serves those in Kashatagh and in border villages. It isn’t a matter of the conferences giving time, talents and money. Project AGAPE efforts help the people learn and grow into better lives for individuals, families and the communities. The Aldersgate Missions Committee has made Project AGAPE a priority ministry. More information coming soon about an important opportunity to help supply our Armenian brothers and sisters with much needed supplies.

Rise Against Hunger is an international hunger relief organization that distributes food and life-changing aid to the world’s most vulnerable, mobilizing the necessary resources to end hunger by 2030. Our assembly process combines rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables and a flavoring mix including 20 essential vitamins and minerals into small meal packages. These meal packages are shipped around the world to support school feeding programs and crisis relief. The food stores easily, transports quickly and has a shelf-life of two years.
October 24, 2020
10:00 am
Epworth Building
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKz6QXj6V0g&t=1s