Serve

Hands & Feet

How can I humbly serve others?

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Our Mission

S.U.M.C. Health Ministry, as part of the vision of this congregation, strives to demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ through compassionate and diversified ministries; and endeavors to guide all people towards health and wholeness of body, mind and spirit.

Our Goal

Our goal is to lead all to the Great Physician, Jesus Christ, and the ultimate healing in the resurrection.

Health Wholeness

Achieved through: Health Education Seminars, Blood Pressure Screenings
As a liaison and referral source to congregational and community resources and services
(Please note: Health Ministry does not provide hands-on or invasive treatments)
Parish Visitors Program for our “Members at Home”
Volunteers to assist in short term situations with transportation, meals, visitation at home and hospital and other situational needs.

Supported Missions

Missions in Which We Serve Jesus

SUMC emphasizes hands-on involvement with serving others as the hands and feet of Jesus. Following are some of the missions in which we serve the Lord. If the name is underlined, click on it to take you to the website for that mission.

UMARMY
UMARMY-300x137

United Methodist Action Reach-Out Mission by Youth sponsors an annual summertime hands-on work camp in the United States with many of our youth and adult leaders participating in a life-changing experience of serving others in Northeastern and Middle Atlantic United States.

New Hope Ministries
New-Hope-Ministries

Mechanicsburg area local food bank for which we donate food the second and fourth Sundays of each month. Donated food can be placed on the designated shelves in the lobby of the Fellowship Center and just to the left of the sanctuary platform in the Sanctuary Building. The ministries also provide tutoring and financial assistance to needy persons and families.

Red Bird Mission
Red-Bird-Mission

Red Bird Mission and Clinic of the United Methodist Church have been providing ministries in this region of the Appalachian Mountains since 1921. Today the need remains critical in this isolated, rural distressed area. Chronic poverty, lack of jobs, poor housing, and rugged mountainous terrain provide obstacles to a fuller life for the residents of this area. Red Bird Mission strives to meet these needs through ministry in five areas: Education, Health and Wellness, Community Outreach, Economic Opportunity, and Community Housing Improvement. SUMC has had a long history of participating in an annual mission trip to the mission.

Mechanicsburg Meals on Wheels
Meals-on-Wheels

Feeds families in need throughout the year. A number of our congregation distributes food to seniors in the area who otherwise would not have access to a hot meal.

Bethesda Mission
Bethesda-Mission-300x103

Since 1914, Bethesda Mission in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, has been a missionary arm of the local church, reaching out to men, women and children of all races, nationalities and creeds, providing the poor and homeless with shelter, food, clothing, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ and discipling them in the Christian life. Our congregation has served food in both the soup kitchen of the mission and to the homeless at night where they live.

Faith Promise Pledge Contributions

SUMC has had a long history of sharing its financial resources with a variety of mission projects both in the United States and in other countries. A large portion of our giving is allocated in various proportions to these ministries:

 

Cathy Bidelspach:

China Outreach Ministries at Penn State Main Campus at University Park, Pennsylvania.

United Methodist Home for Children:

For over ninety years, the United Methodist Home for Children, located just outside Shiremanstown, has provided a caring environment for Central Pennsylvania’s children in need. Originally a home for orphans, today the Home is a refuge for children who are the victims of a negative social environment.

Daystar Center for Spiritual Recovery:

A ministry of the Susquehanna Conference of the United Methodist Church, Daystar empowers persons to overcome the devastating effects of substance abuse through spiritual resources, positive relationships, therapeutic counseling, and practical aid in the greater Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, area.

Fruitbelt Farmworker Christian Ministry:

In Adams, Franklin and Cumberland Counties and under the leadership of the Rev. Roddy Runyan through the Pennsylvania Council of Churches, FFCM serves the migrant and seasonal farmworkers who harvest apples, peaches and cherries.

China Outreach Ministries:

Based in Mechanicsburg, COM shares Christ’s love with Chinese students and scholars from North American campuses, serving them, reaching them with the Good News, discipling them, and helping them become godly leaders for Christ who share their faith with others.

Joetta Lehman:

Missionary from the Mission Society – works partly in Haiti with the children and the rest of the year in the United States doing administrative work for the Society.

CURE International:

CURE is a network of charitable hospitals and surgical programs that delivers life-changing medical care and the good news of God’s love to children and families with treatable conditions.

Rainbow Christian Missions:

Founded by Ruth and Chubb Dietz, professing members of SUMC, Rainbow Christian Missions is a non profit 501(c)3 organization that was formed in 2005 to provide Christian-based humanitarian aid to those in need in western Kenya.

Annual Mission Emphases
Operation Christmas Child:

Since 1993, more than 100 million boys and girls in over 130 countries have experienced God’s love through the power of simple shoebox gifts from Operation Christmas Child. Samaritan’s Purse works with local churches and ministry partners to deliver the gifts and share the life-changing Good News of Jesus Christ. Shoeboxes are distributed to the congregation to be filled with various items during Advent each year.

Church World Service:

Blankets+ is a special mission opportunity for all ages. Some 8,000 congregations and groups across the U.S. hold Church World Service Blankets+ events, providing funds to help people in need around the world. Funds are solicited from the congregation once a year to purchase blankets, mosquito netting, etc.

Families in Need Project:

helps local families with special needs during the Christmas season. The pastor administers this fund for needy persons and families on the West Shore and SUMC participants. All disbursements are known only to the pastor, the church administrator, and the church treasurer. The fund is audited every year, along with all other church funds.

Mission Central:

Mission Central is the mission warehouse affiliate of the Susquehanna Conference of the United Methodist Church, based in nearby Mechanicsburg. We help supply Flood Buckets, Health Care Kits , School Supplies, etc. This has also been one of our hands-on projects when we visit the center to assemble supplies for transport to missions both in the United States and abroad.