Cornerstone UMC
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Leading People to Jesus.

Missions

A Missions Warm Welcome

 
Let us welcome and introduce you to the Missions Ministries at Cornerstone UMC.  We feel privileged as we minister to people in our church, in our community and in the world.
 
The purpose of the Mission Ministry is to demonstrate God's love for our world community by reaching out and giving to those in need.  We accomplish this through a wide variety of ministries.  Please browse through some of our mission ministries, located on the home page.
 
In addition to those ministries, the calendar year is filled with other events.  Here are some of our additional events for this year:
 

On-Going Mission Projects:   

  • Souper Bowl of Caring is a fundraiser which includes an opportunity for you to purchase a prepared lunch on Super Bowl Sunday.  This fundraiser helps the Missions committee to purchase items for our food pantry.
  • Act of Kindness Month: To help boost the morale of 90 St. Charles County Deputies and Detectives, the Missions team combined with the F.A.I.T.H. Wired Kids and crafted hand-made cards and a "goody bag" for each deputy and detective.
  • Job Shadowing: The Ft. Zumwalt Schools participate in this program from October to May.  Special-needs students work in our food pantry beside Cornerstone volunteers.  We currently have 3 teams participating.  This experience provides opportunities for students to improve their communication skills and to stay on task.  Contact Jill Hofstetter (379-1849). 
  • Festival of Sharing: This yearly program benefits others outside our community.  We donate bookbags, backpacks, lap quilts, etc. and a quilt is donated for an auction.  We also prepare health kits, personal hygiene and student dental kits for distribution to disaster areas in Missouri. Contact Iva Norris (272-1729).
  • Food Pantry:  This program provides food to low income people in O'Fallon.  Food is distributed every Wednesday morning from the in-church pantry to about 30 families.  The Boy Scout food drive supplies over 18,000 items each November.  We also receive generous food donations from the Postal Workers drive and other local churches.  Hope School also sponsors an annual Empty Bowls chili and soup lunch benefit.
  • Visitation Team to Twin Oaks Center: Monthly visits include occasional distributions of lap quilts.  Contact Mary Graves (397-5306)
  • Back to School Project:  Cornerstone's Vacation Bible School provides school supplies for our Food Pantry clients and local grade schools.
  • PET:  Personal Energy Transportation (PET)s are hand cranked carts for people without the use of their legs.  This mission of the United Methodist Men supplies the wooden parts for about 150 childs PETs per year distributed to 32 foreign countries.  Contact Bob Scherer (379-2080).
  • No Hunger Holiday: This program provides a turkey dinner to our Food Pantry clients at Thanksgiving, supported by the Knights of Columbus.  
  • Christmas Adopt-a-Family: Cornerstone families adopt a Food Pantry family to provide Christmas dinner and gifts for all members of the family.
  • Habitat for Humanity: Cornerstone volunteers participate with other St. Charles County United Methodist Churches in building a Habitat for Humanity house every summer.  Contact Bob Dighton (561-2881).
  • Pharr, Texas Mission: Volunteers go to Pharr, Texas every spring for a one-week mission to repair or build additions to homes for residents of this town near the Mexican border.  Contact Joe Rolen (577-7503).
  • Volunteers in Mission:  Volunteers repair or remodel homes or churches in Missouri or Iowa, some damaged by floods or storms.  Contact Bernie Groharing (542-8828).

Monthly Programs:

  • The Bridge: This is a program to feed the homeless and low income people in St. Louis City.  Four Cornerstone volunteers help prepare and serve lunch to about 200 people the first and second Mondays of each month.  Other support of this program includes delivery of Welcome Home boxes containing used kitchen and other utility needs for people moving into apartments. Used furniture is occasionally also donated to these people.
  • OASIS:  This is a food bank for low income people in St. Charles County which provides 4 or 5 bags of food to clients once a month.  Cornerstone volunteers operate the food pantry on the third Saturday each month.  Teams of drivers also pick up food donations from Schnucks very Wednesday to stock the food pantry, and one person stocks the food pantry from food deliveries every Tuesday.
  • Monthly Collections:  Items are collected on a monthly basis for our Food Pantry and other local agencies, such as canned food, childrens books, furniture, toilet paper, tissues, paper towels, baby food, diapers, baby clothes, deodorant, socks, shoes, mittens, hats, and small toys.

International Programs:

  • Mozambique: Cornerstone is a covenant partner with Central UMC in the Funholouro District of Mozambique.  We support them with a yearly monetary donation and other donations from our church school classes.  Contact  Lavon Gilliland (279-3455)
Contact Mabel Dighton at church (379-5334) for information obout any of these ministries.  

 

As you can see there are many mission opportunities in which Cornerstone participates.  We pray that through our love for God and the blessings he has given us that we will be able to share our blessings with others.