Grace United Methodist Church encourages everyone to actively participate in Outreach. Missions and community involvement are not an option in the church, but the foundation for spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. Grace UMC is committed to serving Christ by ministering to the spiritual, physical and emotional needs of our community and the larger world.

United Methodist Women has two circles. The Friendship Circle meets on the 4th Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. The Susanna Circle meets on the first Friday of each month at 10:00 a.m. These groups have a short program and work continually to support global ministries and educate our congregation on the joy of missions.

“Men of Grace” is a group of men that meet periodically for breakfast and enjoy various projects and workdays to help equip others in ministry.

Madison Community Band meets at Grace UMC on Tuesday nights. We consider this an outreach ministry as well and consider it a privilege to support our community. Information on the Madison Communtiy Band may be found at http://m-c-b.org.

Relay for Life with the American Cancer Society is supported by our congregation here at Grace. For several years we have had the honor of being one of the top non-profit fundraisers in our city.

Blood drives for the American Red Cross have resulted in an outstanding number of units of blood to help those in need.

CASA (Care Assurance System for the Aging) has several programs that we support. The TEMPS project allows our church to winterize homes for the elderly. We also work in the CASA Gardens each spring and fall, where the food is grown and distributed to the elderly and homebound. We have members that help with ramp building as much as once a month and serve as drivers to transport the homebound.

Outreach to the Providence K-8 School is organized by providing tutors each year for students learning to read and by collecting school supplies each year to be given on “Providence Sunday” to guest teachers and faculty.

Food Pantries are supported by Grace UMC. We collect an average of 1500-2000 pounds of food a year. The Missions Ministry Team encourages us to bring a food item each month. This food is kept in our food pantry and distributed to local agencies in our community.

Annual Christmas Families supports families in need each year and the mentally ill of Alabama by giving Christmas gifts of toys, clothes, and essentials.

“The Vine” Pastoral Counseling Center is supported by our church as a sponsoring organization. More about “The Vine” can be found at www.vinepcc.com.

Using gifts to the Joel Curry Soup Kitchen Fund and gifts of bologna and bread, a group of volunteers makes sandwiches for the Salvation Army Soup Kitchen on the third Monday of each month.

 

Special award received by Grace UMC for 17 years of service to the Salvation Army Soup Kitchen.
 

On the third Friday of each month, a group of Grace servants deliver lunches for Meals on Wheels. We have 7 routes that help feed the homebound elderly hot meals at noon.

Each year we collect Emergency Health Kits that are distributed to over 125 victims of fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. Members collect and assemble these items that are distributed throughout the world.

We collect Campbell Soup Labels to support the Henderson Settlement in Kentucky, and collect health and beauty aides to give to the Blount House, the Huntsville Hospital Hospitality House.

The children attending Vacation Bible School receive Missions Offerings to help reach out to our community and world. VBS participants support missions such as United Methodist Children’s Home with gift bags, the local school nurses with first aid supplies, and collect pet food and supplies for The Arc, a shelter for homeless animals.

Our church is involved in Missionary Support, directly assisting United Methodist Missionaries such as John and Suzanne Funk in Bolivia.

The Youth Mission Trips of Grace UMC happens during the summer months to help build and remodel homes. They have been to places such as Henderson Settlement in Kentucky, Hurricane Relief in Mississippi, and Urban Ministries in Birmingham to do scraping and painting, roofing, and siding and other projects of mercy.

Grace UMC Youth doing Gods work through missions.

Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts–Grace United Methodist Church supports both Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Meetings are held throughout the week for Girl Scouts of all ages, including the adult leadership.

As a United Methodist congregation, we have the joy of participating in connectional giving. Together we provide ministries of sharing the love of Christ that we could never do by ourselves!

Connectional Giving/World Services

Global missions of community development, health and welfare, disaster assistance, and hunger relief, including over 1,000 missionaries!

Educational grants to seminary students, African American students, and others in 123 Methodist schools.

Africa University development of a new United Methodist college and seminary in Zimbabwe.

Ministry programs for youth and children, social action, pastoral counseling centers, communications and media.

Leadership training and guidance for ministers and church leaders.

Congregational development through establishing new churches, transformation and relocation of churches, and ethnic minority congregations.

Campus Ministry and Wesley Foundations at both United Methodist and public institutions, as well as scholarships for Methodist students at Birmingham-Southern College.

Camp Sumatanga retreat center and camping ministries, as well as Southeastern Jurisdiction ministries at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina.

Staff housing, administration and offices at the United Methodist Center.

Clergy support through pastors’ pensions, salary supplements for churches with limited resources, District Superintendent and Bishop’s salaries and expenses, and providing homes for retired pastors.

Various other ministries supported by Connectional Giving can be explored by visiting www.northalabamaumc.org or www.umc.org.