Ecumenical and Community Ministry
The Mission Team continues to fulfill its primary role of presenting opportunities for our congregation to participate in and support local and distant missions of outreach and service. Some of the many projects include the CROP Walk, Gallatin Valley Food Bank, Intermountain Children's Home, Foster Children Christmas, Mitten/Sweatshirt tree for Blackfeet Indian Reservation, Books for Africa, and We March Together. Contact the church office at 586-5413 for more information about any of these ministries.
Local |
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Family Promise of Gallatin Valley |
Bozeman United Methodist Church is one of the churches participating in Bozeman's newly established interfaith ministry to homeless families. The program provides temporary housing in local churches while the parents gain training and seek employment so the family can move into permanent housing. Volunteers are needed when BUMC is hosting the families to prepare and serve meals, be overnight hosts, and set up rooms for our guests. Daytime volunteers are also needed at the Family Promise office/day facility. For more information and to volunteer, please contact Gloria Edwards, Program Director, at 582.7388. Visit the Family Promise of Gallatin Valley web site at http://www.familypromisegv.org/. |
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Habitat for Humanity
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Watch for opportunities to help build Habitat homes with BUMC or special build events like the annual Women's Build. The annual Ice Cream Social fundraiser in August raises funds for Habitat. The Missions Team organizes sack lunch donations for summer work teams. Participation in any of these activities is welcome. |
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Bread of Life Ministries |
This local ministry works to provide for the needs of the needy and homeless people in the area. They offer support in the form of food, clothing, shelter, and many other ways. |
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Gallatin Valley Food Bank |
Food donations are collected in the wooden crate in the parlor area every week and delivered by members of the Missions Team to the food bank. Special collection times include Pluck a Feather Fall Food Drive during November, Super Bowl Sunday soup collection, and the US Postal Service food drive in May. Volunteers can also help at the food bank. |
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HIS Soup ~ Mobile Soup Kitchen
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This is the prayer-inspired ministry of Paul Thomas to local homeless and others in need of nourishment and spiritual support. BUMC supports this ministry monetarily. The Youth have participated by making and sharing lunches and by collecting warm blankets and coats. |
| CROP walk | The CROP Walk is a locally organized, Church World Services-sponsored 10k walk, bringing together people of different faiths, diverse cultures, and all ages with the goal of raising support for more than 3,200 food banks and meal sites in the US. The event takes place in October. BUMC members can sign up to walk and raise pledges and/or support walkers for the event. |
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Faith-Health Ministry |
This outreach serves the needs of homeless people who come on Saturday mornings from 9:00 until noon and receive a meal, take a shower, and get a limited health screening and referrals to the Gallatin Community Clinic. Volunteers include nurses and non-medical helpers. |
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Parish Nursing |
A dedicated group of nurses in our congregation offer their time and professional skill serving the needs of the homeless who come to the Saturday Faith-Health clinics. They also provide health information to BUMC members during the coffee hours. |
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Gallatin Community Clinic |
Special offerings during the Christmas season help raise funds to support this local clinic that offers health care to underinsured or uninsured individuals. The Missions Team sponsored the first annual Basement Bowling and Pie Auction, planned again for fall 2006, as a fundraiser for the GCC. |
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Intermountain Children’s Home |
Intermountain Children's Home is a two-year Methodist Church-affiliated treatment home in Helena for emotionally and physically abused children. Children get intensive therapy to heal emotional wounds, attend an on-site school, and learn how to form healthy relationships. BUMC supports ICH kids through Christmas gift giving, financial support from the annual budget, and other projects that members initiate, such as the Youth group's Easter Basket and Easter Egg projects. Click here for more information: www.intermountain.org. |
| PATH | Permanent Adoptive Treatment Homes is a program associated with the Intermountain Children's Home in Helena that finds and supports adoptive families for the children who complete their two-year therapy program at ICH. BUMC collects funds annually during the Lent Offering to support this important program. |
| Foster Children Christmas Gifts | Each year BUMC members sponsor over one hundred local foster children by providing Christmas gifts for their annual Christmas party. |
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Browning, Babb and |
The Missions Team organizes the collection of gifts of warm clothes with the Mitten Tree during the Christmas season. Other outreach, such as Youth Summer Missions, sharing Sunday school curriculum, supplies for the Heart Butte Head Start, and a recent car seat fundraiser are other ways BUMC shares with these communities. |
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Hug a Highway
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Our United Methodist Men head up this semi-annual ministry each spring and fall. They begin with a safety meeting in the Youth Room and then head for our designated portion of I-90 near the Belgrade Exit. Many hands make light work and the project is over by noon. |
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Love In the Name of
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Love INC works to link resources to the needs of people in the area. Love INC could use your help in such ways as providing transportation to appointments, offering to help with financial planning, or helping with mechanical or repair projects for people in need. There is a Love INC Sunday when you can offer financial support as well as the annual community-wide fundraiser. BUMC currently needs a volunteer coordinator. |
| Personal Care Pantry | Housed at BUMC, the Personal Care Pantry takes donations of items such as diapers, laundry soap, toilet paper, and other personal care products to be distributed to those in the community that may not be able to purchase these things themselves. This is an ecumenical outreach involving efforts from more than 16 local churches and Love INC. |
| We March Together | The month of March is dedicated to ways we can recognize and honor the senior members of our congregation. Music groups share programs at local long-term care facilities; Sunday school kids make greeting cards for our senior members. A Heritage Day Lunch has honored these members in the past and currently by collecting stories to share with the congregation. |
National & International |
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| Angola Partnership | Bozeman United Methodist Church has become involved in the partnership of the East Angolan United Methodist Conference and Yellowstone UM conference. Financial support to pay pastors' salaries, donations of health care and craft supplies, educational materials for school children, water purification projects, and building supplies are ways this congregation has already impacted the poverty-stricken region of this country. Angola support has come from the Youth (Afri-cans), WOW kids, United Methodist Women, special offerings, and the Missions Team. The next mission trip is planned for the summer of 2007. |
| Books for Africa | Donations of books are boxed and shipped to this national outreach that distributes books to African countries. Donate your books anytime or during May when the Missions Team sponsors the "May we have your books?" campaign. |
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Sheperd in Mongolia |
Helen Sheperd is a registered nurse currently providing hospice care in Mongolia. BUMC has a covenant relationship to provide financial support for her ministry. A special offering is collected during Lent to meet this financial goal. Helen visits BUMC every few years when she is on furlough, providing a wonderful way to know her and hear about her work. Click here for more information about Helen Sheperd's Mongolian Ministry. |
| Volunteers in Mission | This is a program of the United Methodist Church that encourages members to participate in short-term mission activities around the world. BUMC has sent VIM teams to Chile and Angola as well as the Gulf area in the United States to help with Hurricane Katrina recovery work. Another VIM mission trip is scheduled for January 4-17, 2009. For information, attend the informational meeting on September 29. |
Other ways you
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Please bring any of the following to the church office.
Recycling: We try to recycle in our church as much as possible, and sometimes this becomes a pretty big job! If you can help with collecting the recyclables around the church, contact the office. Towel Washing: Our church provides showers for those in need, and this brings many dirty towels to be washed weekly. |