The Soup Kitchen is located at the Church of the Redeemer on
South Street in Morristown. This
service provides a noontime meal seven days a week for between 125 and 185
working poor and homeless people and is available to any individual in need of
a meal. The kitchen is sponsored by a
group of 34 area congregations whose members volunteer their time and food to
support the program.
A visiting nurse is available at the Kitchen on Tuesdays, 12
to 1 PM. The Mental Health Association
also has HOMI (Homeless Mentally Ill) counselors available at the kitchen. Homeless Solutions representatives are
available as needed to assist with shelter placement. The new Resource Center provides job
referrals, job counseling, and referrals to other social service agencies.
Although the Soup Kitchen receives very generous donations
of food, there is a real need for monetary donations to pay for incidental
items.
Volunteer Opportunities: Shopping,
cooking and serving the first Thursday of each month.
Agency
Contact: Teresa Connolly, Director
Church of the Redeemer
36
South Street
Morristown, NJ 07960
(973)
267-0709
Church
Contacts: Judy Haase and Edna Henry
(AIDS
RESIDENCE COALITION OF MORRIS COUNTY)
This
facility is located at the Church of the Redeemer on South Street in
Morristown. Its purpose is to provide
shelter for homeless people who have been diagnosed as being HIV positive or
who have full blown AIDS. The people
who live at Eric Johnson House are still able to care for themselves, although
they may be too debilitated to work full time.
The
residence provides comprehensive services to its residents including assistance
with employment, substance abuse treatment, buddy/companion services,
transportation, money management and mental health counseling.
In
order to be eligible for admission, individuals must obtain a physician’s
certification that verifies their ability to live independently and care for
their daily needs.
Volunteer Opportunities:
MUMC youth cook and
serve at the Eric Johnson House once a month.
44 South Street
Morristown, NJ 07960
E-mail: EJHouse1@aol.com
http://redeemermorristown.org/ericjohnson.html
Church Contact: Jimmy Lombardo
HABITAT FOR
HUMANITY
Habitat is an international charitable organization with the sole purpose of providing housing to families with low income. Habitat has affiliates in every state (13 in NJ) and in 92 foreign countries. The unique aspect of the Habitat program is that the family does not need a down payment and pays no interest on the mortgage. The house is sold to the family at cost. Each adult in the family must contribute several hundred hours to the construction of their house or similar Habitat project. The monthly mortgage payments are made to Habitat and are usually less than the family was paying for rent. Habitat forms a bond with the families and assists them in overcoming the problems associated with home ownership. For many low-income families in this expensive area, the Habitat program may be the only way to become homeowners.
Morris
Habitat for Humanity was formed in 1985 under the leadership of Rev. W. James
White of our church. The first housing
project, which built four new townhouses on Garden Street in Morristown, was
begun in 1987 and completed in 1989.
Since that date, Morris Habitat has completed housing units for 18 other
families in Morris County.
Morris Habitat for Humanity meets in our
church on the second Monday of each month. Financial support comes from individuals, corporations,
foundations, churches, and monies raised by special events. The projects are led by individuals with
construction experience but are built primarily by volunteers with minimal
prior experience.
Volunteer Opportunities:
Several hundred
volunteers are involved in each project, some for only short periods of time.
Agency
Contact: Blair Wilson
51 South Street
Morristown, NJ 07960
(973) 605-5804
www.morrishabitat.org
Church Contact: Glen Stubaus
HOMELESS SOLUTIONS
The mission of
Homeless Solutions is to alleviate the suffering of homeless people by
providing emergency shelter plus access to services that lead to independent
housing. A range of services is offered
to meet the immediate needs of homeless people while assisting them to become
self-sufficient.
There are programs
for single men, single women, and families headed by single mothers. Over 50% of those entering the Family and
Women’s Shelter are victims of domestic violence.
Homeless Solutions
provides shelter for 22 homeless men, 6 homeless women, and 20 families
averaging a total of 60 family members, and 20 Safe Haven (homeless mentally
ill) guests. Guests receive services
including case management, transportation to work and necessary appointments,
money management and employment assistance, housing search assistance and daily
living skills training. Referral
services for counseling, substance abuse intervention, and prevention are also
provided.
The transitional
housing facility, which opened in 1996, houses up to 10 families and provides
case management and referral services to help them reach their long-term goals.
Clients may stay in this facility up to
18 months.
In 1999, to
address the lack of low-income housing, the mission was expanded to include the
acquisition and development of affordable housing.
Volunteer Opportunities: Cooking
and serving, food shopping, kitchen organizing, reading to children, mentoring,
and gardening.
Agency Contact: Tamala
Reynolds
540 West Hanover Ave.
Morristown, NJ
07960
(973)
993-0833 x 13
Church Contact: Brenda Leary
IN MORRIS COUNTY
The
Interfaith Council is a collaboration of churches in Morris County that provide
short-term shelter for homeless families. These homeless individuals move from church to church spending a
week or two at each one. There are two
ways in which churches can participate. Host churches provide actual physical space in which families live
for a week at a time. Support churches
assist by preparing meals and providing overnight supervision at host churches.
To
assist families in overcoming the problems that have contributed to their
homelessness, the agency provides case management, counseling, health
screening, transportation, relocation assistance and follow-up services.
Private
sources, government funds and individual contributions fund the Interfaith
Council. MUMC regularly contributes as
a support congregation and has also “filled in” as a host congregation. For two weeks in December and two weeks in
July, St. Mark’s Church hosts Interfaith families, and MUMC assists during
those times. The other support
congregations are Temple B’nai Or, Morristown Jewish Center, and the Seventh
Day Adventist Church.
Volunteer Opportunities: Cooking/preparing
part of a meal, serving dinner, bringing lunches, overnight supervision,
transportation to showers and playing with children.
Agency Contact: Anne Murphy,
Executive Director
51
Washington Street
Morristown,
NJ 07960
(973)
644-2757
www.ichfmc.org
The Interfaith Food Pantry is located at
540A West Hanover Avenue in Morristown, and food donations can be brought to
the warehouse there, Monday through Thursday from 9 AM to 4 PM. Nonperishable items can also be brought to
the church and deposited in the Food Cart in the Narthex.
The Pantry began in 1994 by supporting five
families and currently distributes almost 4 tons of food to more than 200
families every week.
Clients are primarily senior citizens on
fixed incomes and low-income working families. Recent job layoffs and reductions in work hours have increased the
need for help. The Delivery Program for
housebound seniors and the disabled brings food, as well as the care and
concern of the volunteers, to 55 client families in more than 20 towns
throughout Morris County.
Volunteer
Opportunities: Distribute
food, make deliveries to the homebound, help restock the pantry with groceries
from the warehouse, drive bags of groceries from the warehouse to the
distribution center on weekends, supervise youth group tours and activities, or
do repair and maintenance projects or clerical work.
Agency
Contacts: Rosemary Gilmartin, Executive Director
or
Elaine
Britcher, Volunteer Coordinator
540A West Hanover Ave.
Morristown, NJ 07960
(973) 538-8049
Church
Contacts: Jim and Barbara Morris
Since
1976, Jersey Battered Women’s Service, Inc. (JBWS) has provided valuable
life-saving services to victims of domestic violence and their families. Its mission is to prevent domestic violence
through the protection and empowerment of the victim, to rehabilitate family
members, and to educate the public about domestic violence and its consequences.
JBWS
provides a 24-hour hotline, emergency shelter for victims and their children,
individual and group counseling, legal advocacy, children’s services,
transitional housing, life skills education, vocational counseling, community
education and professional training, teenage dating violence services,
counseling for the abusers, and more.
JBWS is
the mission project of the UMW Susanna Circle. They organize the Angel Tree and Spring Shower and make donations
throughout the year to help supply the shelter’s needs.
Volunteer Opportunities:
Developing the Angel
Tree at Christmas and soliciting needed personal items during the year.
Agency Contacts:
Paula Miller, Donations
Debbe Callaghan,
Executive Director
PO Box 363
Morris Plains,
NJ 07950-0363
(973) 455-1256
http://jbws.org
Church Contact: Donna Motta
The program of the Market Street
Mission is designed to help men recover from alcoholism and drug addiction
through a six-month residential program.
Components of the program include daily work in a modern industrial
center, Bible study, a daily chapel service, computer-assisted and classroom
instruction, individual counseling and group therapy, and in-house and community
12-step programs and support groups.
Although this ministry is
essentially for homeless men, it also provides short-term shelter, meals,
clothing, furniture and referrals to women, children, and families in
need. There is a van outreach program
that brings food, clothing, and blankets to homeless people. The Mission also sponsors an annual coat
giveaway and a special Thanksgiving dinner.
The Market Street
Mission maintains a 25,000 square foot industrial center, which houses a Thrift
Store and warehouse at 25 George Street off Martin Luther King Avenue. Donations are tax deductible and all proceeds
benefit the Mission. The Thrift Store
also has a program to sell selected items online via eBay and Half.com. Mission trucks operated by men in the work
therapy program collect donated items on a weekly schedule. Donations of cars that are running are
welcome.
Volunteer
Opportunities: Tutoring
residents in basic skills, computer literacy and other areas as needed; helping
with the annual Market Street Mission Dinner co-hosted by MUMC and the
Presbyterian Church on the Green.
Agency Contacts: George
Moussab, Program Director
9 Market Street
Morristown, NJ 07960
(973)
538-0431
John
Buniewicz, Warehouse
(973)
538-0427
25 George Street
Morristown, NJ 07960
Church
Contact: Rev. Carletta Aston, Associate Pastor
United
Methodist Homes of New Jersey (UMH-NJ) cares for the physical, mental and
spiritual needs of about 1200 residents aged 65 or older in 11 communities
throughout the state. Join the Golden
Circle of Friends of the Fellowship Fund with a gift covering the cost of one
day of care or more.
Residents
pay for their own care as long as they are able. If they become unable to cover their costs, the Fellowship Fund
supports them. In 2002, over $7,000,000
in charitable care was used in meeting the financial needs of 240 residents. Support for this ministry comes from members
of churches throughout the Greater New Jersey Area, residents, auxiliaries,
resident councils, foundations, businesses and individuals, and through planned
gifts, wills and bequests. Support
through service is generously offered by auxiliary members and other
volunteers, and by churches, community groups and schools.
UMH-NJ has
an annual operating budget of over $47,000,000 and more than 800 employees.
Agency
Contact: Janet Carrato
Advancement Dept.
3311
State Route 33
Neptune, NJ 07753
(732)
922-9800
Church Contact: Myra Carpenter
He has
shown you what is good;
And what
does the Lord require of you
but to do
justly, to love mercy
and walk
humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8
BISHOPS’ INITIATIVE ON CHILDREN AND POVERTY
(A Church for All God’s Children)
The Bishops’ Initiative on Children and
Poverty invites all United Methodist congregations to respond to the needs and
receive the gifts of children and the poor.
Becoming “A Church for All God’s Children” is one important and joyful
way local congregations can respond in faithful discipleship. Within MUMC this is not a separate
program. It is a unifying theme of the
church’s approach to outreach and mission ministry.
The MUMC Administrative Council responded to
the call to be “A Church for All God’s Children” in 1998. We are involved in a number of the nine
suggested activities listed below directed toward making a difference in the
lives of children and the poor.
|
ü educating the congregation about the needs of children and the poor |
ü making church facilities safe and welcoming for children and families |
|
ü reducing the risk of child abuse |
ü helping children grow as faithful disciples |
|
ü involving children in the life of the church |
ü reaching out to children in the community |
|
ü advocating for legislation and public policies that improve children’s lives and lives of poor families |
ü relating to children around the world |
|
ü building administrative supports for ministry with children and the poor |
|
Volunteer
Opportunities: Any program in this booklet
qualifies.
Web site: www.umc.org/initiative
Church
Contact: Rev. Carletta Aston, Associate Pastor
The Boarder Babies Unit of UMDNJ’s University Hospital in
Newark serves infants from a few days to a few weeks old who are waiting to be
placed in foster care. Furnished with
cribs, swings and rocking chairs, the nursery can accommodate up to 12 babies,
and is staffed by two nurses on 12-hour shifts. The babies receive excellent care, with all their physical and
medical needs met by nurses, nurse practitioners and pediatricians, who keep a
close watch on their health.
About 30 babies per month are cared for in the nursery, each
spending an average of 22 days there.
During the babies’ stay, volunteers help the nurses feed, rock and
cuddle them to ensure that they receive plenty of emotional and mental
stimulation. The infants receive
donations of clothing, toys and crib blankets, which they take with them when
they leave.
Volunteer Opportunities: Volunteering
time at the nursery to rock the babies (requires application, TB test,
background check and interview); donating t-shirts, one-piece sleepers (with
feet, newborn to 12 months), crib blankets (knitted, crocheted or stitched),
soft crib toys, crib mobiles and D batteries for swings.
Agency
Contact: Deirdre Watley
Manager of Volunteer Services
UMDNJ
– The University Hospital
150
Bergen Street
Newark, N.J. 07103
(973)
972-4064
Church
Contact: Suzanne Sidhu
Located in the United Methodist Church,
Children on the Green is committed to quality, developmentally appropriate care
for the pre-school (age 2-5) children of families living and/or working in the
Morristown area. It seeks to reflect
the diversity of the community and is committed to partnerships with agencies
that support children and families.
As a reflection of its commitment to the
community, Children on the Green supports the child care needs of families from
Homeless Solutions, the Jersey Battered Women’s Services and the Interfaith
Council for Homeless Families of Morris County. The program focuses on the individual needs of each
child and supports those needs through a small group experience. As of 2004, there are 60 children in the
program, and 30% of the children are from low-income families.
Volunteer Opportunities:
Reading and spending time with the preschoolers; answering phones, etc.
Agency
Contact: Rochelle Kelman, Director
50 Park Place
Morristown,
NJ 07960
(973) 984-0094
www.biztech.stevens-tech.edu/childrenonthegreen
Church Contact: Andrew Cattano
OF Morris AND SUSSEX CountIES, Inc. (CASA)
In the United States over one half million children are in
foster care because they cannot safely live with their families. Nearly 70,000 National Court
Appointed Special Advocates, or CASA volunteers, serve approximately 280,000 of these
abused or neglected children every year.
It is up to a juvenile court judge to decide where these children will spend their future. Sometimes that future gets lost in a child welfare system that is overburdened and understaffed. As a result, many children spend a childhood in limbo, moving from one foster home to another until they reach 18.
CASA of Morris & Sussex Counties, Inc. is a private not-for-profit corporation dedicated to advocacy for the right of each abused, neglected, or abandoned child to a safe, permanent home.
CASA, a national program, recruits, trains
and supervises community volunteers who provide a voice in Court for an
individual child or family of children who have been removed from their home
and temporarily placed in foster care or a residential facility.
CASA volunteers speak up for these children
in juvenile court. They find the
information necessary to help judges make more appropriate placement decisions
– taking into account the special needs of each individual child. The CASA volunteer's role is to thoroughly
research the child's case history, interview anyone with knowledge about the
child, and work with professionals to ensure that the child receives needed
services and placement in a safe, permanent home.
Volunteer Opportunities:
Speaking up on behalf
of abused and neglected children.
Agency Contact: Barbara Ward, Executive Director
Morris
County Courthouse, Lower Level
56 Washington St.
PO
Box 264
Morristown, NJ 07960-0264
(973)-656-4330
www.casa-mc.org
Church Contact: Yvonne DeCicco
MORRISTOWN
NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE
(“THE NABE”)
The
Neighborhood House is a non-profit agency offering educational, cultural,
recreational and social services to the children and youth of Morris
County. It is their goal "to
provide families and youth with a community-based support system which will
strengthen their ability to cope in today's rapidly changing and complex
society by providing a broad range of community services relevant to persons of
all ages and from every socio-economic, ethnic and religious background."
To accomplish this goal, “The Nabe” provides the following services:
pre-school and school-age child care programs, education enrichment, recreation
enrichment, soccer, English/Spanish classes for adults, college scholarship
program, and volunteers/community relations program.
Each day more than 500 children attend Neighborhood House
programs together with parents, volunteers, community organizations and local
residents using the facility.
Volunteer Opportunities: Tutoring.
Agency Contact: Odetta
Dumas, Volunteer Coordinator
12
Flagler Street
Morristown, NJ 07960
(973)
538-1229
Church Contact: Rev. Carletta Aston, Associate Pastor
SOUTH AFRICA
EDUCATION FUND
(SAEF)
In 1994 a group of six people met and formed the South
Africa Education Fund (SAEF) to support educational opportunities for
underprivileged black children in post-apartheid South Africa. A commitment was made to the Manning Road
Methodist Church in Durban to support the Makabongwe Pre-Primary School. At that time, the school was housed in a
trailer with no electricity or proper ventilation. In 1999 the school was relocated to a renovated old building
donated by the city.
In that same year, SAEF decided to also support the
Phakamisa project of the Pinetown Methodist Church. The main focus of the project at that point was a “Wandering
Teacher Program” that trains and sends teachers to the country to conduct open
air classes for children who otherwise would have no education. This program was, and still is, supported by
the MUMC Pre-K through second grade Sunday School children. Phakamisa has now added other programs.
The “Caregivers” program has organized women and families to
care for the thousands of children orphaned in South Africa, mostly by AIDS. Phakamisa helps train these women, most of
whom are unskilled and unemployed, to be self-supporting. There are groups that make crafts to sell,
and help is also provided to establish gardens to grow food for their families.
The core support for SAEF is from members who have pledged
support weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually and the funds raised by the
candle sale program and ADVENTure in Mission in December.
Church Contacts: Nancy Frantz and Carol Ferraro
And the King will answer and say to them,
Assuredly, I say to you,
inasmuch as you did it
to one of the least of these my brethren,
you did it to me.
Matthew
25:40
ADVENTURE IN MISSION
Each year the Christmas season becomes more and more commercial. It is far too easy to forget that this season is a celebration of the birth of Christ. Amidst the purchase and giving of gifts, we strive to respond to Christ’s message to us to love and care for “the least among us.” ADVENTure in Mission is a way for us to put the Christ back into Christmas and to help others who are less fortunate than we are.
On each of the four
Sundays in Advent, the Missions Ministry Team sets up a display in Fellowship
Hall that provides many opportunities for our church members to give to those
in need in lieu of or in addition to the traditional Christmas gifts. Some of the opportunities for giving are to
UMCOR, Heifer Project International, the Russian Initiative, Children on the
Green, Appalachia Service Project, Eric Johnson House, United Methodist Homes,
Homeless Solutions, and the Community Soup Kitchen.
For sharing Christmas cheer we also have an Angel Tree. Each angel on the tree contains a wish of a
needy child. Church members can take an
angel from the tree and buy a gift of a toy or clothing (or both) for a child
from Children on the Green or the NJ Battered Women’s Shelter.
The South Africa Education Fund Children’s Mission Project
offers candle jars and crafts made by our pre-K through second grade Sunday
School classes. These gifts support the
ministry of the Pinetown Methodist Church to children in the poorest townships
in South Africa.
Volunteer Opportunities:
People are needed to
set up, work at the tables and collect money before and after church services.
Church Contact: Rolf
Frantz
APPALACHIA
SERVICE PROJECT
The Appalachia Service Project is a Christian home-repair
and home-building ministry, open to all people, through which volunteers and
staff repair and build homes for low-income families in rural Central
Appalachia. Our goal is to make homes
warmer, safer and drier, while offering transformational experiences for
volunteers and homeowners alike.
Each year, ASP achieves its goals with the assistance of nearly 15,000
volunteers. ASP provides housing services to economically disadvantaged
people in 24 counties in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. All of these counties have poverty
rates well above the national average, and many of these counties are
classified as "distressed" by the Appalachian Regional Commission.
Founded in 1969 by a
United Methodist pastor, ASP is affiliated with the Board of Discipleship of
the United Methodist Church. Over
200,000 volunteers from across the nation have worked on thousands of homes
and, in the process, both volunteers and these Appalachian families have been
immeasurably blessed.
In 2003, ASP's 34th year, over
10,000 youth and adults spent a week of service to repair more than 330 homes. Sixteen youth and 10 adults from Morristown
United Methodist Church participated. They
earned approximately $8,000 from various fund-raisers and corporate donations,
and each paid $100 to defray costs.
ADVENTure in Mission 2003 raised funds that went toward this mission
trip. The total budget for the 2003
trip (transportation, supplies, ASP fees, etc.) was approximately $11,000.
In
2004, 28 youth and 14 adults will participate in a week of mission, July 3 –
11, in Jonesville County, Virginia.
Volunteer Opportunities:
Accompanying youth on
mission trips.
Agency Contact:
Susan Crow, Exec. Director
4523 Bristol Highway
Johnson City, TN
37601
425-854-8800, x 241
www.asphome.org
Our
church has been conducting outreach to the community and our own members by
television since about 1982. Every
Sunday afternoon the prior week's church service appears at 4 PM on cable
channel 21 as "Lift Up Your Hearts."
Joe
Replogle coordinates this ministry, assisted by teams of volunteers. Three volunteers tape the 10:15 AM service
on video and audiotape. The video is
professionally edited and delivered to Cablevision for broadcast on the following
Sunday. There is no charge for airtime.
Audiotapes
are available for sale at $2.00; video tapes are $10.00. The church maintains a permanent file of
audio tapes. Videos are not retained
for long periods because of the cost of tapes.
Anyone requesting a videotape should do so within a short time after the
service.
This ministry is funded by the general budget and by sales of tapes. The equipment is also available for taping of weddings and other special events, with the proceeds going back into the video account to support this ministry.
Volunteer
Opportunities: There is often a need for volunteers to tape Sunday services.
Church Contact: Joe Replogle
The Center for Student Mission (CSM) exists to bring students and adults
to the inner city for ministry. It is
an experience in which students use their gifts to promote the Kingdom of God
and come to know God in new ways. By
participating in people-to-people ministries, students make new friends and
become involved in the lives of city dwellers.
Those from MUMC who have participated in CSM have found it to be all
these things and much more.
CSM does not create its own projects, but rather
partners with churches and agencies that have a long history of service in
their neighborhoods. Each student
mission group provides invaluable assistance in the continuation of these local
ministries. Indeed, CSM provides to
urban centers across North America more than 300,000 hours of volunteer work
annually.
Ministry opportunities include: Rehabilitating apartments for low-income
residents; serving food and building relationships with hungry men, women and
children at soup kitchens and homeless shelters; planning and conducting
weekend and week-long Backyard Bible Clubs for inner-city children; joining
inmates for worship and Bible study in a prison chapel service; delivering
meals to impoverished home-bound folks; joining street savvy urban Christians
in evangelistic outreach into their local neighborhoods; worshipping with
African-American, Latino, and other believers of color in their local churches;
and much more.
In the summer of 2003, the CSM
group from MUMC included nine junior high students, one high school student,
and four adults. They traveled to
Washington, DC, for a five-day experience that introduced them to some of the
challenges of the inner city and the people they affected. And they experienced first-hand the
importance of the CSM motto: being flexible, available, and teachable (FAT) to
all people in need.
Web site: www.csm.org
Church
Contact: Sharon Yarger, Director of Youth Ministries
First Call For Help connects
families and individuals in need of help to many community resources, such as
financial assistance, emergency food assistance and shelter, affordable
housing, abuse/neglect, child care, disability, education, emergencies,
employment, health/medical care, mental health, special transportation needs,
substance abuse treatment and prevention services.
Using a carefully maintained, comprehensive database, First Call assists
clients (and those organizations working to help them) to obtain proper help in
a timely fashion. First Call 2-1-1 is
available to people of any socio-economic status, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual
orientation, religion, age, physical ability, or language.
2-1-1 is the new telephone number to reach First Call. Calls to 2-1-1 are toll-free.
First Call also has available for
purchase a comprehensive Directory of Human Services in Morris and Passaic
counties on CD.
Volunteer
Opportunities: First Call is managed by
a volunteer board of directors and welcomes new members to help with the
oversight of the agency, fund raising, program development, etc.
Agency
Contact: Frances L.
Palm, Executive Director
1259 Rt. 26E, Bldg. #2
Parsippany,
NJ 07054
1-800-435-7555
Web: www.firstcall.org
E-mail: fpalm@firstcall.org
Church Contact: Jane Long
GENERAL
ADVANCE SPECIALS
The Advance is an
official, second-mile channel for designated giving in the UMC. The Advance is called “second-mile” giving
because the first mile, or priority, is for local churches to support their
World Service and other apportioned funds and conference benevolences. The Advance is called “designated” because
it works through individuals, church groups, congregations, districts, and
annual conferences, which select specific ministries to support voluntarily.
There
are 2,000 projects available for support in the United States as well as other
countries around the world. These
projects include such efforts as many ministries to children, Africa Church Growth and Development, Global
Refugee Response and Women’s Leadership Training Centers. When you give to
Advance, 100% of your gift goes to the ministry of your choice. The catalog of General Advance Specials is
available through the church office.
Volunteer
Opportunities: Available through the General Board of Global Ministries.
Agency
Contact: William T. Carter, Director, The Advance
General
Board of Global Ministries
The United Methodist Church
New York, NY 10115
(212) 870-3790
http://gbgm-umc.org/advance
Church
Contact: Rev. Carletta
Aston, Associate Pastor
The Hunger Walk is sponsored by the Community Soup Kitchen of Morristown. It replaces the CROP WALK, a national program organized by Church World Service. Held in the fall, the Hunger Walk covers a three-mile route through Morristown, beginning and ending at Church of the Redeemer. By getting sponsors to give money in support of walkers, the event raises funds to support the Community Soup Kitchen.
In
recent years Morristown United Methodist youth groups have walked as one of
their local mission projects. In 2003,
six youth and four adults raised more than $500. See COMMUNITY SOUP KITCHEN information on page 5 for more
information.
Volunteer Opportunities: Sponsor a walker with financial support or
join the walk yourself and get friends, neighbors, family and coworkers to
sponsor you.
Church
Contact: Andrew Cattano
(Greater NJ Annual Conference Committee on the Russian Initiative)
Through the Greater NJ Annual Conference, our church
participates in the Russian Initiative, founding new – and reviving previous –
Methodist churches in the former Soviet Union. Our connection began in 1992 when a 36-member MUMC delegation, led
by Dr. W. James White, then Senior Pastor, traveled to Kerch, a city of 165,000
people at the eastern tip of the Crimean peninsula in Ukraine. Approximately 20 visitors from Kerch were
hosted in Morristown that fall. Nurtured by a series of visits by numerous smaller teams, the
Kerch United Methodist church continued to grow and eventually became a member
of the Annual Conference covering the states of the former Soviet Union.
The church in Kerch is now served by an ordained graduate of
the United Methodist seminary in Moscow, Pastor Zhenya Kozarenko. Over the years, support for the Kerch
congregation has expanded to include other churches in the former Northern NJ
Annual Conference, including Basking Ridge, Boonton, Caldwell, Cranford, and
Wyckoff. This ministry has also been
shared with First UMC of Hershey, PA. MUMC has also provided gifts of Bibles, Christian education and
worship materials, medical supplies, shipments of clothing and food, and
contributions by individuals to the Church Builders Fund that allowed the
congregation to purchase a building and begin converting it into a house of
worship. We also help support current
needs by contributions to ADVENTure in Mission.
With the formation of the Greater NJ Annual Conference,
responsibility for the connection with Kerch moved to the Conference Committee
on the Russian Initiative. This
Committee also oversees the work begun by the former Southern NJ Conference in
the Russian city of Smolensk. Working
with a Bible Study group there, the former SNJ committee sends work groups from
NJ to help refurbish a boarding school for at-risk children, hosts youth
groups, and shares in Bible studies and outreach activities, eventually
building toward the establishment of a United Methodist church.
Volunteer Opportunities: Join a delegation visiting Kerch or
Smolensk;
provide hosting,
transportation, or other support for delegations from these
cities
visiting New Jersey; knowledge of Russian language is frequently
needed to
help translate letters or interpret for visitors.
Agency Contact: Nancy
Shervanick, Chair, GNJAC Committee on the
Russian Initiative
(732) 846-8725
Church Contact: Rolf Frantz or Jack Scharf, members of the
Conference Committee, or any member of a past delegation
Since 1961, MUMC, the
Presbyterian Church on the Green, and St. Peter’s Episcopal Church have
provided ecumenical worship services to residents of what was originally the
Morristown Rehabilitation Center. This
center was bought out, renovated, and renamed The Spring Hill Assisted Living
Center of Morristown a few years ago. The
services are led by lay members of the churches and provide scripture, prayer,
words of encouragement, and hymns.
In 1997, the original
three churches invited Calvary Baptist Church to join in this ministry. They accepted and we now have four churches
involved in these services.
In addition, beginning
in May and June of 2000, the Calvary Baptist and United Methodist Churches
agreed to hold worship services at the Morris Hills Center on the first two
Sundays of the month that follows the month they hold services at the Spring
Hill Assisted Living Center.
At
the Spring Hill Assisted Living Center of Morristown, we hold Sunday morning
services at 9:30 A.M. in January, May, and September.
At the Morris Hills Center, we hold services on the first two Sundays in
February, June, and October.
A brief history, from the late Hollis Richardson:
In 1961, Hal Terwilliger
of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church talked with Al Raff, the Methodist Men Leader,
about a joint mission to provide a lay worship service for the residents of the
Morristown Rehabilitation Center. An
alternating monthly Sunday morning service was started in the following order:
Morristown Methodist, Morristown Presbyterian, and St. Peter’s Episcopal. Ben
White was coordinator of the Methodist worship leaders. He was assisted by Ruth Resseler who
coordinated the piano players and the pre-service musical program. She would arrive early and sing and play some
old favorite hymns on her harpsichord while the residents gathered for the
service. One of her favorites was “In
the Garden”.
Volunteer Opportunities:
There is always a
need for additional volunteers to either lead, assist, sing or play hymns
during the worship services at either location.
Church Contacts: Howard Leach and Carol Parkerson
Now the one who plants and the one who waters are
one,
and each will receive his own reward
according
to his own labor.
For we are God’s fellow workers;
you are God’s field;
you are God’s building.
I Corinthians 3:8-9
MARTIN LUTHER
KING DAY OBSERVANCE
Since
1985 the Martin Luther King Observance Committee and the Morris Area Clergy
Council have sponsored the Morris Interfaith Breakfast to honor the birth of
this great American. The Morristown
community has long recognized and acknowledged the invaluable contributions Dr.
King has made through his compassion, his love for peace, and his belief in the
dignity and worth of all people. Dr.
King's use of nonviolent strategies to address the injustices existing in our
nation has inspired many persons of good will to embrace these methods all over
the world.
The breakfast is held
on the Monday celebration of Dr. King’s birthday. It is followed by an interfaith service at Calvary Baptist Church
in Morristown.
Volunteer Opportunities: Serving on the planning committee and helping with preparations for community events
Program Contact: Dr.
Felicia Jamieson
Church Contact: Rev. Carletta Aston, Associate Pastor
MORRISTOWN ONE
COMMUNITY
The mission of Morristown One Community is to bring the people of
Morristown together to create a better community and improve the quality of
life for all. This non-profit,
non-political organization seeks to do this through programs that foster
discussion among a wide variety of groups and individuals. They create forums where people are able to
speak their minds, listen to each other, and discuss critical issues.
Morristown One community targets two elements of community building:
community dialogue and citizen action. Current
programs and initiatives include:
-
Morristown 2020 Vision – An effort to engage the whole community in
creating a vision for its future
-
Community Gatherings – gather feedback on the state of the town and input
into programs
-
Community Builders – a network of townspeople to build stronger
communication and collaboration
-
Conversations Dialogue Series – a safe, non-politicized domain to air
concerns on critical issues
-
Community Connections Newspaper – a bilingual paper, published quarterly,
featuring useful information and opportunities to get involved
-
Websites for the community – www.onecommunity.net and
www.unacommunidad.net
-
Community celebrations, including the annual Interfaith Thanksgiving
Service and the Farmers’ Market
-
Community Resource Bank – including a Community Advisory Board, Speakers
Bureau, and Internship & Volunteer Database
-
Small Sparks projects – initiated by individuals and neighborhood associations
with funding from Morristown One and other partners
Volunteer Opportunities: Assisting with any of the above programs
Church Contact: Rev. Carletta Aston, Associate Pastor
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom my soul delights.
I have endowed him with my spirit
that he may bring true justice to the nations.
Isaiah
42:1
MORRIS COUNTY
Literacy Volunteers of America believes that the ability to
read and write and to comprehend and speak English is critical to personal
freedom and the maintenance of a democratic society. The Mission of LVA, Morris County, is to promote increased
literacy and fluency in English for adult learners in this area through the
effective use of volunteers, the provisions of support services for volunteers
and learners, and through collaboration with individuals, groups and any
organization desirous of fostering increased literacy.
LVA has been serving Morris County for over 20 years. It is a non-profit organization that provides
one-on-one or small group tutoring in Basic Literacy and English as a Second
Language to adults in Morris County. LVA currently serves over 500 students. Students meet with a tutor for one hour a
week, for a minimum of one year. There
is no cost to the student for tutoring or materials.
In recent years, over 130,000 immigrants have settled in New
Jersey. For many, learning English is
the chance to get a job, establish financial independence and to further their
education. For many of these people the
one-on-one tutoring offered by Literacy Volunteers is their best chance to
learn to read.
Volunteers work either with one student or a small group of
students and help them to realize their goals.
Many of life’s simple achievements require proficiency in English. Volunteers work to help students reach these
milestones. For example, passing a
licensing exam, being able to visit a doctor, handling an emergency, or
speaking with a child’s teacher depend on adequate English language skills. Many volunteers have professional careers,
while others are retired or working at home.
Volunteer Opportunities: Literacy
and ESL tutoring.
Agency Contact: Debbie
Leon, Executive Director
36 South
Street
Morristown, NJ 07960
973)
984-1998
email:
lvamorris@yahoo.com
Church Contacts: Jim MacHale and
Ginny Kelcec
New
York Methodist is a voluntary acute-care teaching hospital and was the first
Methodist hospital in the world. It is
located on 6th Street, Brooklyn, between 7th and 8th Avenues (Park Slope
neighborhood), and is affiliated with New York Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical
Center. New York Methodist Hospital
houses over 600 in-patient beds (with bassinets), and admits over 24,000
in-patients each year, including several thousand newborn admissions. The hospital logs approximately 300,000
outpatient visits and services annually.
The
annual Red Stocking campaign occurs during the Advent season. All donations help cover the cost of charity
care provided at New York Methodist Hospital.
Special
Requests/Needs: Please
contact the hospital directly.
Agency Contact: Mary Oberman
Director of Development
506 Sixth Street
Brooklyn, NY 11215-9008
(718)-780-5342
www.nym.org
Church
Contact: Lauralee Barrett
UNITED
METHODIST COMMITTEE ON RELIEF
(UMCOR)
UMCOR is the not-for-profit international humanitarian
aid organization of The United Methodist Church, active in many parts of the
world bringing hope, providing relief from hunger and disasters, and teaching
peace.
UMCOR serves millions of people around the world. It responds to catastrophic disasters such as
flooding, civil unrest and violence, refugee crises, landslides, earthquakes,
and famine. When the emergency ends,
recovery work begins. UMCOR continues
its ministry long after the media attention and public interest has faded. These
ministries are administered in the spirit of Jesus Christ and provide
assistance without regard to religion, race, nationality or gender.
Funding for UMCOR projects includes gifts from individuals
and organizations, proceeds of One Great Hour of Sharing, churchwide appeals
and other sources. Our church
contributes to UMCOR through One Great Hour of Sharing and our December
ADVENTure in Mission.
Volunteer Opportunities: Available
through the General Board of Global Ministries.
Web site:
www.gbgm-umc.org/umcor
Church
Contact: Marion Rapp
One way our church supports and encourages other faith- and
community-based organizations is by providing space for meetings and
gatherings. Among the programs that
have called our church home are an outplacement support group, training for
peer counselors at Morristown High School (church contact: Alicia Motta) and
the Walk to Emmaeus (church contact: Jack Scharf).
Church
Contact for Sharing Our Space: Mona
Lindemann, Administrative Assistant