Missions

At Christ United Methodist Church, we have several mission groups.

YAM - Young Adult Missions

YAM is our annual Young Adult Mission trip to Guatemala. We serve in the highlands of Guatemala, in the region around Chichicastenago. Out teams provide medical care to rural families. We also have a construction team. In 2010, we saw over 500 patients and laid 750 concrete blocks at a Methodist camp. The 2011 trip is planned for December 31- January 10, 2011. For more information, please contact Steve Loth (srloth48@yahoo.com) or Nate Lexvold (lexvold@hotmail.com).

ASP - Appalachia Service Project

The Appalachia Service Project is a home repair and home building ministry through which volunteers and our ASP staff repair and build homes for low-income families in rural Central Appalachia (Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia).

The goal is to make homes WARMER, SAFER and DRIER, while offering transformational experiences for volunteers and homeowners alike.

for more information click here

Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN)

Interfaith Hospitality Network is a ministry in the greater Rochester Area which provides transition housing, food, transportation and social services to homeless families. Although there are other shelters in Rochester, IHN is the only one in southeastern Minnesota which serves only families.

Christ Church became involved in the early planning stage fir this ministry in 1998 as connection with the national Interfaith Hospital Network was explored. In 2000 the first guests were hosted in churches in our community.

Today the number of supporting churches is thirty-nine, and Christ Church hosts families two weeks a year. Our volunteers help host for two additional weeks a year at Pax Christi. One of the blessings of IHN is its ecumenical nature and volunteers from many denominations working together.

Volunteers provide meals and transportation. During the day, the guests are at the IHN Day Center on 7th St. NW where a full-time social worker is available to them to help find permanent housing, employment and social service to

for more information go to http://www.ihn-greater-rochester.org/Index.html

Saturday Noon Meals

Saturday Noon Meals is a ministry known throughout Rochester. Every Saturday, guests are served an attractively served, nutritious meal in a warm safe atmosphere. Members of Christ Church and volunteers from the community are dedicated to this ministry, reach between 60 and 140 people each week. To volunteer, please call the church office.

North Dakota/South Dakota Volunteer In Mission Adventure Trips

It has become a kind of tradition. Over the long MEA (Minnesota Education Association) weekend in October, a hearty group of youth and adults from Christ United Methodist Church bundle up and head west to the Dakotas to help winterize the homes on the Spirit Lake and Rose Bud Reservations.

In keeping with the changeability and flexibility of tribal life, the trip is a 'fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants' experience. We hold no preparatory meetings apart from email communiqués and only have a rough idea of the work we will be doing.

The cost is kept to a bare minimum ($100-125) and families are encouraged to travel and work together.

Typically, we leave on a Wednesday afternoon, drive to Fargo ND or Mitchell SD (depending on the destination reservation) and start work on Thursday afternoon. By Sunday late afternoon we are weary and home in Rochester.

At both the Tree Of Life Mission on the Rosebud Reservation and the Spirit Lake Ministry Center on the Spirit Lake Reservation, we stay in dorms provided. Some years we prepare our own food, other years, food has been supplied. During the day we work and in the evenings have a gathering time. Often the tribes will host us with guest speakers and cultural events.

When we first began the Dakotas VIM trips, we were cautioned that above all, we need to be flexible. Life flows with a different velocity on the reservation. And so we arrive open to the winds of change; do what seems most urgent at the time; enjoy each other and the people we meet; then return home knowing we'll do It all again next year... probably.

UMCOR

The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is a 4* charity on Charity Navigator. It is the United Methodist response providing emergency relief and long term recovery to national and international disasters and long-term needs. Each year Christ Church takes an offering in March to cover the overhead expenses of running UMCOR, thus allowing 100% of all other donations to go to direct aid. For more information, please visit http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/.