Make an Impact
Messiah Church is a church of compassion and community outreach. Members and friends of Messiah devote their time and talents to support local, national and global missions. From serving at the local food shelf to traveling to developing countries we serve through mission, there is a place for you to get involved! Sign up for any of these service opportunities and community outreach programs at the Missions area in our lobby. For more information, contact Linda Seaton, Missions Committee Chair.
Messiah Church is committed to supporting several organizations consistently and long-term. Each month, we do a “Second Mile Offering” to support a specific organization, and when you visit for the first time, you can elect to have Messiah make a donation to one of several organizations on your behalf.
Current Needs & Volunteer Opportunities
September Second Mile Offering: 2020 Minnesota Annual Conference Love Offering
Our September Second Mile Offering supports the 2020 Minnesota Annual Conference Love Offering for Missions. The Love Offering is gathered within Minnesota United Methodist churches and benefits Minnesota missions of love, compassion, and justice. Funds from this year’s Love Offering will go to four projects: Simpson Housing Services (works in the Twin Cities metro area, partnering with landlords and developers to find affordable housing for families and individuals), Emma Norton Services (provides transitional housing for women and families in St. Paul and Maplewood on their journey of recovery), Joyce Uptown Foodshelf (serves over twelve thousand individuals in South Minneapolis) and Committee on Native American Ministry (CONAM) (the Conference is sponsoring a diaper drive to families on each of the eleven reservations in the state). Click here to learn more about the Love Offering, and the four mission projects this year’s gifts will support.
Give throughout the month of September, online by selecting “Annual Conference Love Offering,” by texting a dollar amount to (763) 333-2673 and following the prompts, or by mailing a check (indicate “Love Offering” in the memo) to: Messiah Church, 17805 County Road 6, Plymouth, MN 55447.
The Great Snack Challenge
Our partnership with Oakwood Elementary School continues this fall – and we want to bless them with 5,000 SNACKS. Here’s the GREAT SNACK CHALLENGE: Now through the end of September, we are collecting snacks – 5,000 individual serving size packages of goldfish crackers, teddy grahams, cheez-its, popcorn or chocolate chip granola bars to bless the school with this fall (please no snacks with peanuts or peanut butter). Look for the table in the atrium to place your donations. These snacks will be used for all students, as we help to minimize food insecurity for children. Snack donations can be dropped off at Messiah Monday through Thursday 9 am-3 pm or Friday 9 am-noon. Please wear a face mask, maintain physical distancing and use the available hand sanitizer while in the building. Even though we’ve met our goal, keep the donations coming! Thank you for the 5,589 snacks already donated!
Become a Youth Leader
Messiah Youth Ministries is looking for leaders for Wednesday Night Youth Groups! Explore the Old Testament through videos, guided discussion, games and activities with Middle Schoolers…or lead a small group of High Schoolers who are getting to know what it means to be a follower of Jesus through study of the Gospels and New Testament Letters. Caring adults coming alongside teens is central to adolescent faith development. Be who you needed when you were younger! Contact Sami Tierney, Director of Youth Ministry, for more information at stierney@messiahchurch.org.
Interfaith Outreach Needs You
Explore new volunteer opportunities and find your irreplaceable role at Interfaith Outreach this fall! Volunteers are needed to help operate the Interfaith Outreach Food Shelf, Resale Store and help with health screening before people enter the building. Find details and open shifts at iocp.volunteerhub.com to help with Food Shelf distribution and inventory, Resale Select customer service, donation sorting and receiving, and the new Greeter and Health Screener position. Contact Ashley at (763) 489-7505 or awyatt@iocp.org with questions.
Soles4Souls Fall Shoe Drive
Many people are using their “social distancing” time to tackle projects they’ve been meaning to do…like cleaning out closets. If that’s you, we’re guessing you’ll stumble across some shoes you forgot you had and will never wear again. If you do, we’ll take ‘em! By donating shoes, you can give someone a life-changing opportunity. Shoes you donate get funneled to developing countries, where people start small businesses to sell them. By selling shoes, business owners have money to provide for their families, and people who need shoes the most get them at a price they can afford. By re-purposing discarded shoes you keep them out of landfills and help promote sustainability!
We’ll be collecting your gently used shoes through the fall. Shoe donations can be dropped in the marked bin just inside the church entrance Monday through Thursday 9 am-3 pm or Friday 9 am-noon. Please wear a face mask, maintain physical distancing and use the available hand sanitizer while in the building. For more information, visit www.Soles4Souls.org.
Serving Opportunities
Looking for opportunities to serve our neighbors? Check out the following organizations that are now accepting some volunteers:
- Second Harvest Heartland: www.2harvest.org
- Feed My Starving Children: www.fmsc.org
- Interfaith Outreach: www.iocp.org
- Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity is looking for volunteers at work sites and at their ReStore locations: www.tchabitat.org
All organizations have safety protocols in place.
Simpson Shelter is in Need
As you can imagine, COVID-19 has caused Simpson Shelter to experience an even greater need in order to meet the needs of their guests. Currently their biggest request is for t-shirts and gift cards to Cub or Aldi (any amount is welcome). Gift cards are used to purchase breakfast items – usually cold cereal, juice and milk. All sizes of t-shirts for both women and men are needed. (If your company has t-shirts with logos from a past event and is looking to donate, please contact Lavinia to see if they can be used.)
To see a current list of ways to help Simpson Shelter, visit: www.simpsonhousing.org/ways-to-help/give-supplies. Instructions for monetary donations, links for shopping their Amazon Wish List, and a complete list of current needs can all be found here. Donations can also be labeled and left in the church atrium to the left of Heritage Hall and arrangements will be made to deliver them to Simpson. Items can be dropped off at Messiah Monday through Thursday 9 am-3 pm or Friday 9 am-noon. Please wear a face mask, maintain physical distancing and use the available hand sanitizer while in the building. Or contact Lavinia to schedule a contactless pick-up. Thank you for your partnership with Simpson Services.
Contact Lavinia with questions. For more information on Simpson Housing Services, visit www.simpsonhousing.org.
Stock the Birthday Shelf at Interfaith Outreach
Thanks to your generosity, a birthday cake, a gift and party supplies are given to families who might not otherwise have the means to celebrate their children’s special day. The Interfaith Outreach Birthday Shelf is especially low on paper plates, napkins, and frosting as they help families celebrate summer birthdays. Unopened items can be brought directly to Interfaith Outreach (1605 County Road 101 N, Plymouth) during their summer hours: Monday and Friday only, 10 am-5 pm. Click here for more information.
Resale Select is Now Taking Donations
Resale Select is in need of gently used or new items you no longer need. Their doors are open for those high quality donations you have been stashing away. However, there are limitations on what they can accept at this time. Click here for a list of accepted donations and the COVID-19 drop-off process. Please drop your donations directly at Resale Select (1605 County Road 101 N, Plymouth) during their summer hours: Monday and Friday only, 10 am-5 pm.
Resale Select has also launched an online shopping site. Click here to see this new, creative way to shop their store. Since 2011, Resale Select has provided stellar merchandise at thrift store prices. When the public shops, everyone wins – proceeds benefit Interfaith Outreach programs and services.
Needs at Local Food Shelves
The best way to help the Interfaith Outreach and ICA food shelves right now is with your generous donations. Click here to make an immediate online donation to Interfaith Outreach. Click here to make an immediate online donation to ICA. Your gift during this crisis provides essential services for our most vulnerable neighbors. Every $1 you donate allows them to source $9 of food and goods from their partners. Thank you for feeding families in this time of uncertainty.
Local Missions
Bloom Early Learning & Child Care
Bloom is an accredited, award-winning, non-profit early learning center housed in Messiah Church. Because poverty early in life is a proven barrier to success later on, Bloom passionately strives to break the cycle at the start through nurturing care and exceptional early learning programs.
By providing scholarship assistance to half the children in our center, Bloom enables low-income single mothers and families to work or pursue education to improve their futures while giving their children the best possible start in their lives.
- Serving children 6 weeks through Pre-K
- Providing a nurturing, safe and intimate environment
- Using values-based programs and excellent curriculum with stellar outcomes
- Dedicating 50% of enrollment spots to children from families living under the poverty level in the Plymouth/Wayzata area
Our Shirley Robinson Scholarship Fund is a memorial to the wife of former Messiah Church pastor, Rollie Robinson, who originally challenged his congregation to help break the cycle of poverty through the provision of high quality, affordable early learning and child care. Gifts from individual donors, grants and fundraising events, as well as those from corporations, public organizations and faith communities, help Bloom assist children of low-income families. Contact Mary Olsen at (763) 449-0600 or visit www.bloomearlylearning.org.
Interfaith Outreach
Messiah Church has been an important partner in Interfaith Outreach’s efforts on behalf of the community to serve at-risk families in Hamel, Long Lake, Medicine Lake, Minnetonka Beach, Orono, Plymouth and Wayzata. For opportunities to get involved, contact Linda Seaton.
Interfaith Outreach was launched in 1979 by a small group of believers who envisioned a way for our community to respond to the unmet needs of struggling families and individuals in our midst, and to help them move toward self-sufficiency. From its modest beginnings in a church basement with no budget and a volunteer staff, Interfaith Outreach has grown to a sophisticated direct service provider and respected community catalyst. To learn more about Interfaith Outreach, visit www.IOCP.org.
Habitat for Humanity
A Christian non-profit organization, supported in the Twin Cities by Messiah UMC for more than 20 years. Habitat provides guidance, materials and volunteers to help owners restore their houses, protecting their investment in the home and restoring pride of ownership. Additionally, Messiah supports, “Brush with Kindness,” a ministry of Habitat to help 125 families each year to rehab their homes. Habitat is supported at Messiah through volunteer workdays periodically throughout the year.
For more information, please call the church office at (763) 473-6968. To learn more about Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, visit www.tchabitat.org.
Simpson Housing Services
Messiah partners with Simpson Housing Services by providing many service opportunities including serving meals at the Emergency Shelter, working as an overnight volunteer at the Emergency Shelter and tutoring children. They are also in continuous need of donations such as socks, T-shirts, underwear, toothpaste, toothbrushes and deodorant.
For more information on Simpson housing services contact our office at (763) 473-6968, or visit www.simpsonhousing.org.
The mission of Simpson Housing Services is to provide free shelter and affordable housing with support services to homeless men, women and children. They assist individuals and families in their effort to improve their life situations and advocate for their human and civil rights.
The Simpson Center for Servant Ministries (Simpson CSM)
Simpson CSM is a ministry that seeks to cultivate holistic vitality in the urban community by building relationships with neighbors and partnerships across urban/suburban/rural communities. Messiah Church partners with Simpson CSM by volunteering their time and talents through community meals, food pantry, clothing store donations and produce fairs.
The CSM carries out its work through Health and Wellness activities, service opportunities and through the Poverty and Justice Institute. For more information on Simpson CSM, call the church office at (763) 473-6968 or visit www.simpsoncsm.org.
Imara International
Messiah Church is proud to be in partnership with Imara International and to support its Executive Director, and Messiah member, Carol Erickson, through its prayers, and donations of time, talent, gifts and service. To find out about the next mission trip opportunity, and ways you can help, contact the church office at (763) 473-6968 or visit www.imarainternational.org.
Imara International is a U.S. based non-profit 501(c)(3) organization working in Kenya. Imara’s purpose is to provide an opportunity for teenage mothers to earn a high school degree and learn marketable skills to support themselves and their children. Imara fosters a safe, healthy environment where respect, faith, and teamwork are a central focus. Infants and children who are part of the Imara family are provided healthcare and early childhood education. Imara’s program is structured to teach life-sustaining skills that build strong families and communities while breaking the cycle of poverty. To learn more about Imara International, visit www.imarainternational.org.
Light of Hope
Light of Hope provides care, shelter and education to Kenyan girls in need. They develop leadership skills and help girls realize and reach their potential. For information about Light of Hope, visit www.LightOfHopeKenya.org or contact John Harmon at (612) 298-2069 or at jpharmoncpa@msn.com.
Feed My Starving Children
Feed My Starving Children is a non-profit Christian organization committed to feeding God’s children hungry in body and spirit. Messiah Church partners with FMSC by providing financial resources and countless volunteer hours packaging healthy meal-packs. To learn more about Feed My Starving Children, visit www.FMSC.org.
The approach is simple: children and adults hand-pack meals specifically formulated for malnourished children, and we ship these meals to nearly 70 countries around the world.
United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)
UMCOR is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to alleviating human suffering around the globe. UMCOR’s work includes programs and projects in disaster response, health, sustainable agriculture, food security, relief supplies, and more. UMCOR is a ministry of The United Methodist Church through the General Board of Global Ministries.
Messiah Church supports UMCOR through various project (health kits, flood buckets) as needed by the organization. To learn more about UMCOR, visit www.umcor.org.
