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
Emergency Food Needs
The food shelves are in dire need due to the Coronavirus outbreak. But YOU can help! Today, the best way to help the Interfaith Outreach and ICA food shelves 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. Do you know what your donation can do?:
- $250 fills 60 emergency bags
- $100 feeds a family of 4 for a month
- $50 provides food for 236 meals
Thank you for feeding families in this time of uncertainty. The food shelves are also in need of toilet paper, peanut butter, diapers and paper grocery bags for food distribution. Please drop off any non-perishable items or bag donations directly at Interfaith Outreach (1605 County Road 101 N, Plymouth) during their special hours: Monday and Friday only, 10 am-5 pm. It’s recommended that you call first, to be sure someone is staffing the donation area: (763) 489-7500.
Bloom families are also in need, as many have come to depend on the food Messiah was making available to them through our “Totes for Hope” program. While Bloom Early Learning & Child Care is temporarily closed, their families could still use this help. Many families are requesting items that they are not able to get from other food shelves or cannot get enough of for their family size. The most commonly requested items that we do not have on hand (or that are going fast) include:
- milk
- cheese
- lunch meat
- any meat for cooking
- bread
- peanut butter & jelly
- snacks for kids
- fresh fruit or veggies
- juice
- toilet paper
- cleaning supplies
- gift cards for $5 or $10 to Target, Cub, Aldi or Holiday
Ways you can help Bloom families:
- Donate unopened items from your own personal pantry, refrigerator or freezer. These can be dropped off at church.
- Add the above items to your own grocery list. Pick up a few extra the next time you grocery shop, then drop off at church.
- Order some of the above items using an online grocery that will deliver, and have them delivered to Messiah, Monday through Thursday 9 am-3 pm, or Fridays 9 am-noon. Please let Phil Weiler know if a delivery is expected by emailing him ahead of time at pweiler@messiahchurch.org.
Items dropped off at church can be brought Monday through Thursday 9 am-3 pm, or Fridays 9 am-noon. Leave shelf-stable food in the carts to the right, just inside the church front doors. Place perishable items in the refrigerator or freezer in the church kitchen inside Heritage Hall, labeled “any Bloom family.” Please maintain social distancing and use the available hand sanitizer while in the building.
If you would like more information on how to help the Bloom families, please contact Kami Pohl at kpohl@messiahchurch.org.
“Virtual” Easter Flowers
This Easter, we invite you to provide “Virtual Flowers” as a way of celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. You can remember or honor a family member or friend with a Virtual Easter Flower donation (suggested donation is $20). A list of those honored or remembered will be printed in the Easter Sunday online bulletin and also on screen during the service. Your gift will support our local food shelves and our “Totes for Hope” self-select food shelf outreach to Bloom families. In this way, our Easter gifts become a source of life for many. Deadline to submit your dedications for print is Monday, April 6.
Pray for our Community
Bishop Ough invites all Minnesota United Methodists to join Pope Francis and all people of faith in prayer, asking God to rid the world of the coronavirus pandemic. In the words of Pope Francis, “We wish to respond to the pandemic of the virus with the universality of prayer, with compassion and tenderness.” By praying, we are united with followers of Jesus in every time and in every place. When the church gathers in this way, we can be assured that Christ is present in the midst of suffering. People of faith are able to accomplish amazing things through the power of prayer!
Interfaith Outreach
Interfaith Outreach has taken decisive and swift action to remain in service to our community during the COVID-19 pandemic. The best way the community can help our most vulnerable neighbors is by making a financial donation. Every $1 donated = $9 of food from community partners. Click here to make an immediate online donation.
Although they cannot accept other donations right now (like clothing for Resale Select), food shelf items are in high demand. They CAN accept and NEED donations for the food shelf, especially toilet paper, peanut butter, diapers and paper grocery bags for food distribution. Click here for a complete list of their most-needed items. Interfaith Outreach is located at 1605 County Road 101 N, Plymouth. Please drop off any non-perishable items or bag donations during their special limited hours: Monday and Friday only, 10 am-5 pm. It’s recommended that you call first, to be sure someone is staffing the donation area: (763) 489-7500.
Interfaith Outreach has shifted to an Essential Services model during this virus outbreak – click here to learn what they are doing to keep their volunteers and clients safe.
Simpson Shelter is in Need
In these uncertain times, we are put under greater stress and resources are stretched. Simpson Shelter is no exception. Current needs for Simpson are similar to our household needs: bleach, hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes. If you are able to spare these items, please contact Lavinia and she will assist with a porch pickup and deliver the items to Simpson. You can also shop Simpson Shelter’s Amazon Wish List. Shop from home and items are sent directly to them.
As you can imagine, their most pressing need is for monetary donations to cover the cost of putting food on the table. With many organizations canceling their dinner serving slots, Simpson is tasked with providing the meals for their guests. Click here to make an immediate online donation, or mail a check payable to Simpson Housing Services (be sure to designate “Simpson Shelter Meal Program” in the memo line) to: Simpson Housing Services, Attn: Development Office, 2100 Pillsbury Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55404.
Thank you for your generosity during these difficult times. For more information on Simpson Housing Services visit www.simpsonhousing.org.
Meals on Wheels
Many Messiah members are involved with delivering meals as part of the Meals on Wheels program. They are currently in need of some new volunteers to fill delivery slots for one week every quarter. Each route takes about 1 hour starting at 10:30 am. Most Meals on Wheels clients live alone and are of limited means, and receiving a hot meal is the highlight of their day. If you are interested in this service opportunity, contact Messiah member Roger at (763) 553-0992. As a 5-year volunteer, Roger can share his experience and help you get signed up. Rest assured that in light of the Coronavirus outbreak, they have established procedures that will help protect both their clients and volunteers. For more information about Meals on Wheels, visit meals-on-wheels.com.
Light of Hope Gala
The 18th Annual Shine a Light of Hope Gala will be an online fundraising event to benefit the Light of Hope Home & School for Girls in Naivasha, Kenya. Support Light of Hope from the comfort and safety of your own home – Bidding on all items will be available from Wednesday, April 22 at 8 am through Saturday, April 25 at 9:30 pm. (If you have won an auction item, items can be picked up from Monday, April 27 through Thursday, April 30.) If you don’t see an auction item that interests you, but still want to contribute, there are three initiatives that need funding: help with daily bills (electricity, building upkeep, etc.), sponsoring a girl, and general donations. Click here to see available auction items, or for more information on making a monetary donation.
Light of Hope is a home and school that provides refuge, restoration and redirection for the lost and homeless girls of Kenya in a loving Christian environment. They are committed to empowering Kenyan girls and, in doing so, contributing to the global effort to end intergenerational poverty. For more information about Light of Hope, visit lightofhopekenya.org.
Imara International Charity Golf Tournament
Save the date! Tee up some fun on Monday, July 27, 11:30 am-8 pm (shotgun start at 1 pm) at Rush Creek Golf Club, 7801 County Road 101, Maple Grove, for the 9th annual Imara International Charity Golf Tournament. Enjoy golf and dinner or come just for dinner at 6 pm. Registration information for this day of golf, food, friends, and fun will be available in the spring. This tournament is a golf scramble, where two or more players form a team to play, with the rules emphasizing fun without the pressure of keeping individual scores. Each player hits a tee shot on each hole, but everyone plays from the spot of the best shot. Golfers like you make this tournament successful and keep Imara’s mission of empowering Kenya’s future through the education and nurturing of young moms and their children a reality.
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.
