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 Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ - Matthew 25: 37-40 NLT
Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. – Mark 16:15 NIV
Pell City First United Methodist Church takes seriously the commands of Christ to minister to the “least of these” and to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ throughout all creation. We invite you join with us in identifying and responding to new areas of ministry locally, regionally, and to countries around the world.
The Lay Leadershp Team will soon begin the process of nominating individuals to serve on the Church (Administrative) Council and Ministry Teams for 2012. Should you desire to serve in a particular leadership role place contact Pastor Sam, 338-3374 or srpastor@pellcityfumc.org Some of the key areas are: finance, lay leadership, staff parish relations, and trustees. For more information, click here
Servants Like Jesus
In this program, volunteers provide hands-on assistance to people in need. Types of assistance include transportation, cleaning, shopping, repairs, visitation, meals, chores, budgeting, etc. To offer your assistance, please complete the Willingness Survey and turn it in to the church office. Also, if you know of someone in need of assistance, please contact the church office to let us know of the need.
 Community Outreach
People in need in our community turn to our church every day, seeking assistance with basic needs – rent payments, power bills, medical expenses, and gas. Our church responds to these needs through the Community Outreach program. As the economy has turned down, we have experienced an increase in the number of requests for aid. In 2009, we provided over $28,000 in assistance, helping 370 families.
Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity builds basic, decent housing using volunteer labor and homeowner participation. The local chapter of Habitat for Humanity is now working on its eighth house in the Pell City area. This important ministry is included in our church budget, and many of the volunteers and local leaders are from our congregation.
Love Pantry
The Pell City Christian Love Pantry is a multi-church volunteer organization that distributes food to people in need. This ministry has been helping families in need in our community for 16 years. Each year, food is distributed to 1500 to 1700 families. The Love Pantry is included in the church budget, and many of the leaders and volunteers are from First Methodist.
Christian Outreach
Every other year, Christian Outreach holds a bazaar to raise money for their mission projects. The most recent bazaar raised about $11,000. Christian Outreach supports many local organizations providing assistance to people in need, including the Love Pantry, Community Outreach, and Habitat, plus Hospice, DHR, ADC, and Community Action. Teams from Christian Outreach also visit 10 shut-ins and 4 nursing homes each month.
Loaves & Fishes
Loaves & Fishes has begun its ninth year of providing free meals to elderly, low-income, and physically and mentally chalenged people in the Pell City area. To date, over 45,000 free meals have been provided. Each Tuesday afternoon, 11-12 volunteers cook, serve, and deliver meals to people in need.
Monthly One-Day Mission Opportunity
One Saturday each month, a team goes into the community or region for a mission project, working directly with individuals in need, as well as mission agencies needing assistance. Projects include delivering fresh produce to the elderly from East Lake Farmers' Market, serving breakfast to the homeless in downtown Birmingham, painting a cabin at Camp Sumatanga, picking up litter in a Pell City neighborhood, removing downed trees and brush after a tornado, etc.
Hurricane Relief
Our church has responded when hurricanes have hit the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. We have sent teams to North Carolina, Florida, and Mississippi in response to Hurricanes Hugo, Ivan, and Katrina. More than 35 of our church members have participated in at least one of the seven recent hurricane-response mission trips. Working side-by-side with the people we were helping, we have cleared fallen trees, cleaned out houses after a storm surge, torn out and replaced wet drywall, and helped build replacement houses.
Glenn Addie Community Church
Glenn Addie Community Church is a Methodist church in inner city Anniston. Every Sunday morning, this church opens its doors to offer breakfast for the people in the Glenn Addie community. Four times a year, our church provides the breakfast. The Methodist Men and the Children’s department team up for this project. The men purchase and prepare the food, and the children deliver and serve it.
Youth Mission Trips
Long before our church had adult mission trips, the youth of the church has gone on mission trips of their own. Over the years, our youth groups have been all over – from St. Louis to Miami, from Nashville to Brunswick, GA, and many points in between, repairing low-income housing, teaching Bible School to inner-city children, flood and hurricane relief. Like the adult mission teams, the youth learn to work together as a team, and to appreciate the blessings they enjoy. But mostly, the youth have learned the joy of sharing the love of Christ through both actions and words.
Belarus
Our church has been involved in mission to Belarus for since 1998. Our families have opened their homes to children from Belarus on summer respite visits through the Children of Chernobyl program. For eight consecutive years, members of our church have participated in an annual multi-church mission trip, working in two Belarusian orphanages, providing a Bible School, eye care, repairs to the orphanage building, and purchase of a dacha for the children to go to during the summer. Eighty-two of our families are sponsors for children in the orphanages. Our church also provides half the external support of the only Methodist congregation in Belarus.
Africa
First Methodist has been involved in mission to Africa for many years. In past years we have helped support Rev. Lewis Archer’s ministry in Kenya and Rev. John and Beth Russell, missionaries in the Wa region of Ghana. We continue to support the Olderkesi Ministry Training Institute, which provides training to native pastors in Kenya. Currently we help support Rev. Paul Messer's ministry in Senegal.
Panama
For over 25 years, Rev. Rhett Thompson has been a missionary to Panama, and during that time Pell City First United Methodist Church has helped support his ministry there. He pastors a church in Panama City, and is coordinator of the Volunteers in Missions program in Panama, in which church members from the US visit Panama for short-term mission projects. In 2007 and again in 2008, our church sent teams of volunteers to Panama to assist in the construction of a Methodist camp. In 2010, our church sent a team to provide a Bible School at the camp for the children of a local elementary school.
Gideons
Since it was founded in 1899, the Gideons have placed or distributed more than 1.3 billion complete Bibles and New Testaments in more than 180 countries around the world. The local chapter of the Gideons organization meets at our church, and our church members are active in the local chapter. Our church has helped support the Gideon ministry with a designated offering for over 40 years.
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