Jesus set the example for servant ministry.  In his life and ministry he gave priority to the least, the last, the lost and the left out.  We follow in his steps by serving the needs of people locally, nationally, and internationally.  The Holy Spirit equips us for service by giving us gifts for ministry and by giving us a passion for serving the needs of others.  We encourage one another to invest our lives in ministries of compassion and justice, moving towards God’s vision of shalom (peace, wholeness, and loving kindness) for all creation.   We pray that our service creates a ripple of grace that touches and transforms people’s lives throughout the world.  

Serving Ministry Coordinators:  Jennifer and Bob Miller 

Local and National Mission-Evangelism

Alcoholics Anonymous                                                         Contact: Dave Cailler

Grace Church provides space in Owen Hall for several weekly meetings of AA.

Abused Women’s Shelter                                                     Contact: Eva Foster

Donations of soap, lotions, and personal items are collected in a basket at the rear of the sanctuary and distributed to an emergency shelter for victims fleeing abuse.

Blanket Ministry                                                                   Contact: Paul Moore

Each year Grace Church collects a special offering to support the “Tools and Blankets” program of Church World Service. This is a ministry of first response that goes into action after any type of disaster or major hardship strikes anywhere in the world. Blankets have been provided in the aftermath of hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods. Long-term recovery efforts have included tools and training in trades, such as masonry and carpentry, so that people may rebuild their communities.

Brown Bag Program                                                            Contacts: Susan Ricketts, Susan Tanna

The Brown Bag Program began at Grace with the purpose of filling the gap of serving meals to the needy and hungry persons of the Gaithersburg community when the Lord’s Table Soup Kitchen closed for the summer months. Lunches are prepared weekdays between June and September at Grace and distributed to the needy and hungry persons in the Gaithersburg community. Volunteers help with the program by serving as kitchen workers, shopping volunteers, collecting community donations, calling volunteers with reminders of their scheduled support. Through this program, people receive not only a lunch, but the hospitality of Grace.

 Community Based Shelter                                                    Contacts: Bob and Jennifer Miller

Jesus said: “…for I was hungry and you gave me food,” [Matthew 25:35]

The Community Based Shelter (CBS) was formed in 1983 by a group of congregations providing emergency shelter to men during the harsh winter months. In 1992, CBS became a Community Ministry of Montgomery County program and the first level in the Continuum of Care for homeless adults willing to accept rehabilitative treatment. We rotated among our host congregations for many years and moved into a permanent facility in January 1997.

The CBS serves up to 35 women. These individuals are in residence between the hours of 5:00 pm and 7:00 am and attend professional or treatment programs during the remaining daytime hours. The CBS residents are expected to work diligently on the issues related to their homelessness with a goal of moving to a long-term transitional shelter or supported house within a few months. The shelter serves over 300 residents per year.

The CBS could not operate without the involvement of the 60-plus congregations and community groups who provide all of the meals, serving supplies, kitchen volunteers and miscellaneous items requested. Each group serves one week and provides breakfast foods, bagged lunches and dinner each evening. The facility does not have a full kitchen and food is prepared at home or church and brought to the facility.

ESL ~ English as a Second Language                                 Contacts: Peggy Rhorer, Paul Moore

“I was a stranger and you welcomed me” Matthew 25:35c

Knowing how to speak English is essential to living in our community. Grace Church first offered ten weeks of English as a Second Language (ESL) classes in January, 2009. A second set of eight classes is currently planned for Monday evenings from 7:00 to 9:00 pm, running October 19 through December 7, 2009. Volunteers teach small groups of students according to the needs of each student. All classes are taught in English, so speakers of any other language are welcomed as students. We continue to need more teachers in order to carry on this ministry.

Gaithersburg Elementary School                                        Contact: Susan Tanna (Liaison)

The primary function of this ministry is to coordinate the once per year school supplies/backpacks donations of the Grace UMC congregation with the Gaithersburg Elementary School teachers and students. We also respond to requests throughout the school year when the new students enter the school and need supplies. This is a school with many parents who have low and very low income.  Some have difficulty providing their children with any school supplies at all. The secondary function of this ministry is to provide the congregational members the opportunity to contribute to a fine cause within the local community.

The congregants of Grace UMC are asked to use a list of supplies provided for each elementary school grade to purchase supplies for the new school year. The Kids Club of Grace UMC does a project called Stuff-A-Backpack to combine the supplies received by grade into the individual backpacks. Then volunteers take the grade-specific packed backpacks and the boxes of other supplies (tissues, hand-soap, etc.) to the school.

Gaithersburg HELP                                                             Contact: Dan Muller

Gaithersburg HELP provides community residents with emergency food, infant needs, prescriptions, and transportation. A Grace member serves as a delegate to the HELP Board of Directors. Grace Church supports the mission of HELP with the first Sunday of the month non-perishable food collection, committing of funds through the church budget and individual contributions by the congregation.

Going Green at Grace                                                          Contact: Bill Ruff

This is a ministry concerned with our world and how humans treat it. We want to build awareness and advocate conservation to our members and friends, in an era of global climate change and habitat destruction. Participants help to find ways to reduce Grace Church's ecological footprint while also enabling us to find better ways of living in our world.

Activities around the Church include recycling, tree planting by the Youth, energy conservation in the buildings through improved insulation and weather sealing, and a monthly newsletter item suggesting important issues for everyday living. We also highlight news items on new green technologies, for home and Church. Members are advised of local meetings that specialize in this area and might be of interest.

Contact Bill Ruff if you have suggestions, ideas, or want to join the team in this effort. Young members are especially needed and all are welcome.

Help the Homeless Walkathon                                             Contact: Dan Muller

The Help the Homeless Walkathon is traditionally held the first Saturday of October at the Washingtonian Center in Gaithersburg and on the Saturday before Thanksgiving Day in downtown D.C. All proceeds from the registration go to all participating non-profits, including Gaithersburg HELP.

 Lord’s Table                                                              Contact: Carole Wells, Linda Prandoni

(Volunteer Coordinators: Linda Prandoni, Linda Eisenhut)

Once a month, on the second Thursday of the month from 1:00-5:00 p.m., Grace Church volunteers serve dinner at the Lord’s Table to an average of 100 people per afternoon. The kitchen is located at St. Martin’s Catholic Church in Gaithersburg. From 1:00-3:00 p.m. our kitchen volunteers prepare the meal of soup, buttered bread, a main course with vegetables, and dessert. From 3:30-4:30 p.m. more volunteers serve the meal to the hungry people waiting to receive it.

This serving ministry is a great blessing to those who receive; those preparing for the service have a great time of fellowship and community with each other. Volunteers are always needed to help in the kitchen, serve the meal and help with clean-up.

 National Church-wide Mission Trips                                  Contact: TBD

God instructs us to listen to the cry of the needy, to minister to those who need help. Through church-wide mission trips the body of believers at Grace UMC will experience a time full of hope, light, grace, and wonder as we Love Out Loud! Let us love in deed and truth as we work together ministering to those who need help. The hope is to plan 1-2 mission trips each year: the trips might be local and 1-2 days in duration or further away and as long as a week.

 Rebuilding Together                                                             Contact: Spring Project/TBD

Members and friends of Grace Church join together each year on a Saturday in April to support the Montgomery County Rebuilding Together program. It is a volunteer organization that works in partnership with the community to address the needs of low-income homeowners, primarily the elderly, disabled, and families with children. It is committed to helping Montgomery County residents who have worked hard to own their own homes but whose failing health or fixed income does not allow them to cover the extraordinary costs of home repair. Volunteers perform home repairs, such as painting and minor associated repairs, and home modifications, such as the installation of wheelchair ramps and grab bars to improve safety and accessibility.

 Share Your Love                                                                   Contact: Diane Tarka

Jesus Christ calls us to be disciples and share with others: “He who gives to the poor will lack for nothing” Proverbs 28:27.

Since 1998, the members of Grace UMC have participated in Gaithersburg City’s Share Your Love program at Thanksgiving and Christmas by donating cash or checks toward assistance for families in our community. Through these donations, the city purchases food gift cards which are given to refered families in need, giving them the opportunity to purchase the kinds of foods they prefer.

 Thanksgiving in February                                                   Contact: Susan Tanna

The primary function of “Thanksgiving in February” is to provide monies to local charities, especially Gaithersburg Help. The secondary function is that of a Fellowship Activity for congregants of Grace UMC. Interfaith Works coordinates this giving event with about 100 restaurants in the Gaithersburg area. The restaurants that participate give a percentage of each tab that they receive on a designated Tuesday in February.

International Mission-Evangelism

Caring Hands for Liberia                                                    Contact: Nazarene Tubman

Grace UMC has provided contributions for medical and technological supplies through member Nazarene Tubman. Formerly from Liberia who is a U.S. hospital employee, she established a non-profit organization (based in Maryland, U.S.), Caring Hands for Liberia, to improve on the health needs of Liberia.

International Missions Ministry                                           Contact: Jeff O’Neal

This ministry rovides the opportunity for members of Grace UMC to actively participate in providing support for and/or participating in international mission trips sponsored by the United Methodist Church. Past mission trips have included: Nicaragua where the team members were from several Maryland United Methodist churches and the project consisted of putting the finishing touches on an elementary school in a rural village, and Bosnia where again the team members were from several United Methodist churches and the project consisted of finishing work on a community center in a small village serving people still recovering from the ethnic civil war centered in Bosnia. Currently the focus for this ministry has been Africa, in particular Zimbabwe, where the UMC has many on-going projects. Jeff O’Neal has currently been participating with Bel Air UMC on a project involving the establishment of a medical facility in Munyarari, a rural village in Zimbabwe.

 Nicaragua Missionary Nan McCurdy                                 Contact: Jeff O’Neal

This area of ministry includes support for missionary Nan McCurdy and her husband Miguel Mairena who are sponsored in part by Grace UMC. Support has included money for their salaries and in recent years, additional money in support of programs in Nicaragua in which Nan and Miguel have been actively engaged: the Little Snails which is a pre-school and the 14^th of September Baseball Academy which are both programs for disadvantaged youth in the urban setting of Managua, the capital city of Nicaragua. This ministry also facilitates communication between the missionaries and Grace UMC concerning finances and the status of programs supported by the missionaries. It also encourages and aids those wishing to visit the missionaries in Nicaragua and/or participate in mission trips to Nicaragua.

Samaritan Home Relief                           Contacts: Diyana Sanders Gunaratnam, Kanya Sanders

The Samaritan Children’s Home was founded in 1994 in Sri Lanka by Dayalan Sanders to care for orphans left by Sri Lanka’s 20-year civil war. On Dec. 26, 2004, the powerful Asian tsunami destroyed the Samaritan Children’s Home and all its belongings leaving only the rubble and debris. Miraculously everyone at Samaritan Children’s Home was saved. Grace Church contributes toward the needs of housing, transportation, clothing and household items for the home and children