Pastor:
Rev. Luis Benavides
First
United
Methodist Church
55 Fenn Street
Pittsfield, MA 01201
413-499-0866
Missions Work
Area
Missions Charter
First
United
Jesus taught us to help others in need
and share our blessings. The purpose of
this charter of the Mission Committee of
the First United Methodist Church in
Pittsfield,
Massachusetts is to define the scope of our involvement in
mission
activities of all kinds. We believe in supporting mission needs both
locally and
globally. We also
respond to disasters locally and around the world.
Our current
priority however is to support local needs to a greater
degree than global missions.
As a
congregation we made a conscious decision several years ago to retain our
“downtown” location, to make the necessary improvements to our church
building,
and to minister to those people in the community who can easily access
our
building and who have needs that we can fulfill by virtue of where and who
we are
as a congregation. We have
found that there are abundant, varied, and sometimes
overwhelming needs that we
help to address right here in our local community.
This charter is meant to be a flexible document which may change as our focus
changes.
- Harvest Table-The United Methodist Church Harvest Table Community Meal and Food Pantry provides assistance to low income families and to those with temporary financial troubles. Harvest Table seeks to build community while maintaining the dignity and self-respect of our guests by inviting them to participate in food preparation, service, and clean-up. Through this ministry, we strive to make a difference in the hunger needs within our community.
- Our Church Building is open for various community groups including NA, Scouts, Power Squadron, Augustine Fellowship, and youth programs such as Shakespeare in the Courts
- Pastor’s Discretionary Fund This fund enables the Pastor to offer timely help to those individuals who seek assistance.
- Central Berkshire Habitat for
Humanity-As
one of 14 local “Covenant” congregations that help support the work of
Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity, our church members strive to:
* participate actively in the Habitat International Day of Prayer
* pray for the Habitat ministry
* spread the word about Habitat
* promote opportunities for voluntary service
* provide financial support
* organize work parties for work sites
* select church members to be active on Habitat committees or boards
* review and renew the commitment annually
- Special requests for individuals and organizations—due to the generosity of many of our members both past and present, the missions committee is able to offer financial support to a variety of local social service organizations and occasionally to individuals who present to us a specific need.
- United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is the not-for-profit humanitarian agency of The United Methodist Church. Since 1940 UMCOR's mission-- providing relief in disaster areas, aiding refugees and confronting the challenge of world hunger and poverty-- has helped to heal the hurts of humanity in nearly 100 countries. UMCOR maintains a corps of trained disaster response specialists for quick reinforcement of national efforts and keeps a supply of relief materials in warehouses for dispatch when and where required. It also trains disaster response specialists in their own countries as part of a global ministry by a global church and works in partnership with other international agencies. When you give to the United Methodist Committee on Relief you can be sure that your money will go where you want it to go. One hundred percent of your tax-deductible gifts go to the emergency or project that you designate. UMCOR's administrative costs come from other sources, especially the United Methodist One Great Hour of Sharing offering
- Children’s
Trust Fund, Healthy Families
The
- Thanksgiving
In-gathering On Thanksgiving Sunday we invite
the congregation to come forward during worship to present their donated
food items (canned goods and other non-perishables).
These gifts are then delivered to the
- Salvation
Army—volunteers from our
congregation man a Christmas holiday kettle for a day at a retail location
in
- Relay for Life--Each June, the Berkshire Chapter of the American Cancer Society sponsors a relay as a major fundraiser. Teams agree to have at least one person walking the relay course during the entire 24 hour event. Monies raised through sponsors are used for cancer research, education, advocacy and service support. Since 2001, members of FUMC have put their faith in action and formed a relay team in support of various church members who have undergone cancer treatment
- CROP
Walk--a
community based fund-raising event to raise money for local hunger -fighting
agencies (Food Bank of
United
Methodist Youth Fellowship missions activities:
- Souper Bowl Sunday--the congregation is invited to give $1 each as they leave worship on Super Bowl Sunday. The youth select a local hunger-fighting agency to donate the proceeds from this event.
- 30 Hour Famine --youth raise money through donors and sponsors then go 30 hours without food (to experience hunger) while performing community service and learning about hunger. The money is sent to World Vision, an international hunger-relief agency
United
Methodist Women missions activities:
- Church World Service, Tools of Hope and Blanket Program, Gift of the Heart Program: Founded in 1946, CWS is a relief, development and refugee assistance ministry of 36 Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican denominations. We support CWS through monetary donations, Gift of the Heart Kits and SERRV (A Greater Gift) sales.
- Grandparents
raising Grandchildren: The
United Methodist Women provide a healthy meal twice a month to a program
supported by Children’s Trust Fund, (CTF). A growing need in
- FUMC Scholarship Program The United Methodist Women supports this scholarship program for graduating seniors from FUMC.
- SOCM scholarships We give scholarships to attendees to the Schools of Christian Mission events.
- World Thank Offering Spontaneous additional gifts can be given out of gratitude for God’s abundance and in celebration of the joys of life. An opportunity for personal Thanks-giving and learning about outreach missions
- Church Women United We support the work of CWU by having members sit on their board, by participation in their various programs through out the year and by making a financial contribution yearly.
- Preacher’s Aid Society A financial contribution is made yearly.
- NE
Deaconess Assoc.-Rockridge We
support this retirement center located in
- UM
- Habitat for Humanity Family Support We support our two families with birthday, Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter gifts and cards.
- American Stroke Association A program that trains people to walk and/or run marathons in support of ending strokes or heart attacks. The United Methodist Women are sponsors for this program.
Our missions are funded through the
Heritage Missions Fund, other restricted
funds, special offerings, through
various church groups, and from general
offerings.
We will engage our congregation to
provide them with opportunities to participate in
the mission programs and
events of our church. WE OFFER AN OPEN
INVITATION
TO ANY ONE CONNECTED TO OUR CHURCH TO BECOME ACTIVE IN ANY OF
THESE
contact anyone of the members of the Missions
Committee.
The current members are:
Alan Honig Carol Stidger Kim Kie Alice Rose Luis Coelho Joyce Lacatell
Rev. Luis Benavides Peter Sheffer
Missional
Links of Interest
The five buttons listed
below request no money - with each click,
a sponsor provides an amount of
funding towards the cause.
These links
will allow you to give a
monetary gift of your own choosing.
