You can keep on top of “All Things Mission” in the United Methodist Church by going to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) hotline website at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/.

On Tuesday September 28th, our Outreach Commission will be sponsoring a community spaghetti dinner from 5pm until 7:30pm in Wesley Hall in the basement of our church. It will take place during regular West End Farmers’ Market and West End Food Pantry distribution hours, and just prior to the Church Council meeting. Patrons of the food pantry are invited to join us for supper without charge. For all others, a free will offering to benefit the food pantry is suggested. Join us for an evening of good food and good fellowship…To volunteer for a one hour shift (or more!) please contact Steve Derby or Gretchen Vivier at 860-233-5657. We need help setting up, cooking, serving, and cleaning up.

Reading experts agree that a child who is unable to read adequately by third grade probably will not go to college. Given a reasonable amount of time and support, reading by third grade is an obtainable skill for most children. Our church has made a commitment to Noah Webster Micro-Society Magnet School to participate in a tutoring program for students in Kindergarten through grade 4. The students love the tutors and think it is a special privilege to have the full attention of a “grown-up” for 30 minutes. For those of us who tutor, we KNOW that we are the lucky ones and being with “our own” 3 children (one at a time) is the special time of our week. Each of these children brings something rich and rare into our lives…An open orientation for tutors and prospective tutors will take place at Noah Webster School from 9 to 11 AM, breakfast included, on September 14th. Tutoring begins on September 20. For more information you may call Pastor Bryan at the church office, Barbara Howard at 860-561-9830, Jackie Berg at 860-523-9807 or Alberta Elliott at 860-232-0169. Consider joining us for a giving (for the students) and rewarding (for the tutor) experience.

This summer ecological disasters around the globe have impacted thousands of people. UMCOR (The United Methodist Committee on Relief) is engaged in efforts to provide needed services and assistance in many of these places. You can make a contribution to a particular area of concern either directly through the UMCOR web page (http://www.umcor.org) or by making out a check to United Methodist Church of Hartford and indicating the Advance Number for the area of concern. Some examples are: HAITI-Continued relief efforts in the wake of the January 12 earthquake. Advance #418325; NORTH AMERICA STORM RESPONSE-Midwest floods have destroyed homes and wrecked local economies. Advance #901670; PAKISTAN-Flash floods have rendered many in need of basics like food and water. Advance #982450; CHILE-A massive earthquake claimed hundreds of lives and made thousands homeless. Advance #3021178.

A new website inspired by the generous spirit and life of Britney Gengel,, niece of our own Linda Gengel, is providing an opportunity for you to support it’s mission through Britney Gengel’s “Poorest of the Poor Fund”. BeLikeBrit.org’s mission is to serve the children of Haiti by establishing a safe, nurturing and sustainable orphanage in an environment where they can grow, learn and thrive. Just hours before her own death in the Haiti earthquake, Brit emailed her family “I want to move here and start an orphanage myself.” By visiting http://belikebrit.org/ you can learn more about the program, donate, and purchase t-shirts, hats and stickers that will support the effort.

Our local UMW unit contributed at School of Christian Mission to “Nothing But Nets,” a campaign to save lives by preventing malaria, a leading killer of children in Africa. “Nothing But Nets” is a partership which includes the United Methodist Church, the United Nations Foundation, Sports Illustrated, the National Basketball Association, Millenium Promise and the Measles Initiative. Through “Nothing But Nets,” a $10 donation will provide a family with an insecticide treated, anti-malaria bed net that will save lives. To learn more, or to make a donation, please go to this web site.

Our church supports several different hunger ministries. The West End Food Pantry (see picture) provides groceries to hungry families. Loaves and Fishes supplies hot meals to Hartford’s hungry at a location on Woodland Street. And the South Park Inn, for which we periodically prepare food, serves hot meals to people in downtown Hartford. Your support of these programs financially, and your volunteer service, is essential to their success. While you can give to the individual programs, giving to our overall Hunger Fund allows us to allocate the money to whichever program is most in need at the time.

The United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM) currently send mission teams to the following countries: Biloxi, Iowa, Chile, Haiti, Ghana, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Mozambique, Youth Ambassadors, Thailand/ Cambodia. For a schedule of missions, dates, leaders and contact information click here to go to the NYAC Web site mission page and click “Volunteers in Mission Trip Opportunities 2010″ in the left column or click on the country in which you are interested.

The 27th Annual Walk Against Hunger, which took place on Sunday, May 2, raised over $548,000 for Foodshare, a portion of which will directly benefit our own West End Food Pantry. More than 4000 walkers, including a team from United Methodist Church of Hartford, navigated the three-mile route from The Hartford west on Asylum, south on Girard and back to The Hartford on Farmington Avenue.

On March 28 we sorted and rolled $78.00 of change from the “spare change jars” during the coffee hour after church. These jars reside in the back of and outside the side door of the sanctuary on Sunday mornings so that worshipers can contribute spare change to help our hunger programs. In addition, the jars are available at all church meetings during the week. So as you come for worship, or for a meeting, please check your pockets for spare change (or spare bills) to help feed the “spare change jars” and help feed hungry people in Hartford.