Our church has sponsored this scout troop since 1967 (perhaps the oldest of our ministries). Scouting was developed to provide educational programs for boys and girls to build character, encourage citizenship, and develop personal fitness. Over 400 boys have participated with over 50 attaining the highest rank in Scouting, that of Eagle Scout. The Troop has logged over 12,000 community service hours, has camped at most state parks within 100 miles, and has been to England four times to participate in World Camporees. In August 2006 the Troop hosted 24 British Scouts and their leaders, showing off Texas (NASA, Houston Astros Game, Missions, Fiesta Texas, The Lexington in Corpus Christi, etc.) This year they are planning a return visit to their sister troop from South Downs, England. If you are interested in scouting or know anyone who is interested, contact Jim Woody.
The Greater Randolph Area Services Program, Inc. (GRASP) offers emergency assistance to economically disadvantaged individuals, families and children who live in areas of Bexar or Guadalupe Counties. Emergency assistance may in include rent, utilities, food, and medicine. The GRASP Thrift Shop provides clothing and housewares to needy families in crisis. The agency provides emergency financial assistance, food, senior transportation, daily activities and nutritious meals at the GRASP Community Center in Converse.
Construction has begun on the 600th house built by Habitat for Humanity of San Antonio since its inception in 1976. Several groups have joined HFHSA in recognition of this milestone by becoming sponsors of the home near Palo Alto College. Sponsors of the house, which will be the home of a young couple with 2 small children, include Bartlett *censored*e General Contractors, Republic National Distributing Company, Frost Bank and Concordia Lutheran Church. The 600th house is one of 50 on tap for HFHSA in 2009.
HFHSA builds houses in partnership with people in need, and then sells the houses to the homeowner partners. Homeowners are selected based on their need for housing, ability to repay a no-profit mortgage and willingness to partner with Habitat in building the home. Mortgage payments contribute to a Fund for Humanity, which in turn provides the money to build more houses. Because of Habitat’s no-profit loans and because the houses are principally built with volunteer labor, mortgage payments are affordable for low-income partners.
Mark Mueller is our church representative to Habitat and can answer any questions you have about the organization and how you can lend a hand with the building. Let’s show our neighbors we really care and give generously to this most worthy cause.
This ministry started in Jan. 2003 when the United Methodist Women expressed a desire to do something with their hands while they were having meetings. Pat Gregg had heard about the need for pillows for surgical patients to hold against their body to help with the pain of coughing. She called the Director of Volunteer Services for the Methodist Healthcare System, Karri Neely, and told her we would like to help. She said God must have been listening to her prayers because she really needed help. Karri and Pat got together and worked out the details. The Methodist Healthcare System provides the material and pattern to make the pillows, which are heart-shaped. We cut out and sew the pillow covers leaving a 6-inch opening in the side for stuffing. Next Karri has a printer who puts the hospital's name and logo on the outside of the pillow for free, and then she returns them to Pat with the stuffing to fill them. Pat puts a notice in our newsletter, the Saltshaker, telling the Methodist Women that there are pillows ready to be stuffed and completed. We will have completed 1,186 pillows by August 2006. This is an ongoing project that has brought benefit to members of our own congregation. If you have surgery at a Methodist Hospital in San Antonio or Live Oak and receive one of these pillows you will know the United Methodist Women of Universal City United Methodist Church made them with love and prayers. This is an example of a ministry that requires no money but just willing hands and hearts to help others. Please contact Pat Gregg for more information or to help with this important project.
Love Notes is a music ministry comprised of three dedicated Christian women joined together by our love of music in praise of God. We enjoy singing and playing gospel, spiritual, traditional, and contemporary music. We have led music at Emmaus gatherings in our local church, and we have served as the music team for several New Life and Bluebonnet Emmaus walks. Love Notes has also provided the music for our church Women's Retreat and we have offered special music at worship services.
We are hoping to expand our ministry to include bringing the joy of music to hospitals, retirement homes, and nursing homes. If you have a special occasion planned, please consider inviting us to provide some uplifting Christian music.
As we completed “Forty Days of Purpose”, three women prayerfully searched for a new way to serve our local community. At the same time, a Christian Senior Services coordinator prayed for volunteers to start a new Meals on Wheels program in the Randolph metroplex area to relieve an overburdened program in the Nacogdoches Road area. God brought these women - Carol Prescott, Marilyn Birmingham and Daylene McEathron together with Christian Senior Services at an “Opportunity Fair” at UCUMC. The seed was planted and the ladies coordinated development of the Meals on Wheels program for the Universal City and Converse area. To maintain quality and accountability, the volunteers attend training and turn in route sheets to Meals on Wheels of San Antonio. Delivery of meals began shortly before Thanksgiving of 2004 and the program at UCUMC now uses 24 volunteers to deliver to 13 clients at 10 stops daily, for a total of 65 meals per week. But this program is much more than just supplying food to people age 60 or older who are homebound, unable to go to a senior nutrition center for lunch, and unable to prepare a lunch for themselves. The volunteers also check on the condition of each client and in some cases, the Meals on Wheels volunteer is the only human contact the client has that day. This program is growing and providing a much needed service to God's sheep in this area.
Overview of Missions and Missionaries
We support a specific mission project every month. Some of these are projects our church has undertaken (Shoebox Ministry), others are ministries we partner with (Randolph Area Christian Assistance Program), and still others are ministries whose good work we have recognized and we want to help (Children’s Bereavement Center). For more info. about Mission of the Month, click on that title under Ministries and Missions. Many other outreach ministries are also covered under Ministries and Missions.
Various small groups in the church undertake their own ministry projects such as collecting school supplies for RACAP or sponsoring a family during the holidays or throughout the year. Our Youth do a week long summer mission project each year either in San Antonio or another city in Texas. They often work through an organization in that city and assist with fixing homes or working with children.
For many years, we have also supported now-retired Southwest Texas Conference missionaries Bill and Diana Upchurch who worked first in Zaire and more recently in Guyana. Through our pledges and offerings, a portion of which goes to the Southwest Texas Conference, we also support a number of missions and ministries globally. We have had some individual young adults work as short term missionaries with our sister church and its ministries in Volgolda, Russia. We would like to have someone prepare and lead a group on a project to Guyana in the near future.
UCUMC provides ongoing support for the ministry of one of its members, Kim Buck, through prayer and the financial donations of many members and groups in the church. Kim has been a member of UCUMC from 10 years of age, and now serves as a missionary with Campus Crusade for Christ.
Kim became involved with the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ as a student at Texas Tech University. During her senior year of college, at a prayer time for short term missionaries in Russia, Kim began to sense the Lord speaking to her heart about going to Russia as a missionary. She vowed to the Lord that she would go where He wanted her to go and do what He wanted her to do to help people come to know Jesus and grow in their faith. It gradually became clearer that God was calling Kim to go to Russia. She spent 2 years in Moscow, Russia as a short term missionary. As Kim says, “I saw the Lord do amazing things in Russia, and He used my time serving Him there to call me onto full time staff with Campus Crusade for Christ.” It was difficult for Kim to leave Russia, as she felt a strong sense of calling that God wanted her there for the long-term. Russia is a hard country and is very much still unreached with the Gospel message, and she didn’t want to leave that place where there was so much need. But, she was praying and waiting on the Lord’s timing to return.
Kim has spent the last few years serving in Austin, Texas training and mobilizing new short term missionaries to reach people for the Gospel all over the world. She has also continued ministering to college students at the University of Texas at Austin.
In August of 2008, Kim returned to Russia! She is thankful that God has called her back to this nation to serve and minister to those who have no idea who Jesus Christ is, and the sacrifice that He has made for them.
“Campus Crusade is committed to the things that I have become most committed to in my own personal ministry: evangelism, helping others to grow in their faith, and the fulfillment of the Great Commission. Joining staff with Campus Crusade for Christ was simply my next step in that commitment I made to God a few years ago...I'll go anywhere, and do anything you call me to do, Lord. Here am I....send me!!”
Campus Crusade for Christ International is an interdenominational ministry committed to helping take the gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations. They cooperate with millions of Christians from churches of many denominations and hundreds of other Christian organizations around the world to help Christians grow in their faith and share the Gospel message with others. Campus Crusade has ministry projects with virtually every segment of society. In addition to the campus ministry and these many other areas of ministry, they undertake humanitarian aid projects across the globe.
If you would like to talk personally with Kim about her ministry, please email her at kim.buck@uscm.org. All Campus Crusade staff members raise their own financial support for living and ministry expenses by developing a team of committed ministry partners. Kim is but one example of a ministry worker who has grown up in this church. Not everyone is called to this type of ministry, but we are all called to serve and minister in some way.
Greeting cards on sale in Fellowship Hall every Sunday. 25 cents for a beautiful recycled Get Well, Birthday, or Sympathy card. Proceeds go to missions.
Card Recycle Workshop is held every month on the second and fourth Tuesdays at 9 a.m. and is located in Education Bldg., Room 16. We take old cards and recycle them for those who are sick or in nursing homes, etc. Contact Corrinne Berkland (659-5555) for more info. .
The Kids’ Closet at Universal City United Methodist Church is a new community outreach program. This program will service local elementary schools by providing quality clothing for children in need. We will work in conjunction with teachers to find children whose lives will be enriched by clothing that they will be excited to wear. Children are faced with immeasurable obstacles on a daily basis, and sometimes the simple joy that can be found in feeling good in an outfit can change an otherwise hard day. The Kids’ Closet will try to put a smile on the faces of as many children as possible.
But in order to make kids smile, we need your help. We will take donations of children’s clothing in good condition, ranging in all kids’ sizes. Any donation will be eligible for a tax deduction, so please consider us the next time you are cleaning out closets! To donate clothing or for more information, please contact Dixie Shaw-Tillmon kidscloset@ucumctx.org.
Randolph Area Christian Assistance Program
RACAP NEWS:
Check out the web site for RACAP at: www.racap.org
The Randolph Area Christian Assistance Program (RACAP) is a Christian Ministry that was established by church and civic leaders to serve the unmet needs of their community. Founded in May of 1983, RACAP continues this ministry today, accepting food and financial donations from member churches, individuals and local organizations.
RACAP provides many forms of assistance:
Emergency Needs (updated 6/23/09): Flour, Sugar, Jelly, Peanut Butter, Canned Fruit, Juice, Canned Meats, Spaghetti Sauce & Pasta.
Did You Know:
Month in Review
April 2009 Results
Total # of Families Assisted: 84
Total # of People Assisted: 256
Total # of Pantry Visits: 72
Total # of people fed: 208
Total Cost of Food Given: $6,310.
Hours of Operation: Monday – Friday, 1 – 3 PM
Jane and Skip Little started our SHOEBOX MINISTRY program about 12 years ago. The purpose of the ministry is to ease the discomforts of the homeless in San Antonio by providing them with simple toiletries that promote basic hygiene. Other past leaders of the ministry include Pat and Bob Gregg as well as Richard and Gloria Weers.
Members of the congregation support the SHOEBOX MINISTRY with their prayers, financial support and being members of our Ministry Team. The congregation also provides donations of personal items they have acquired while traveling or purchased from local stores. It is very exciting to see where our supporters have visited. There is a yellow rolling cart in Fellowship Hall where you can place these donations. We are grateful for all the support that is provided.
We collect items throughout the year and quarterly bag up approximately 240 bags of toiletry items to take to the homeless. The First Presbyterian Church at 404 N. Alamo invites the homeless into their church as guests for dinner the last Sunday of each month and every Sunday in December. This gives us a wonderful opportunity to meet and help the homeless. We are very grateful to Robert and Linda O’Nave and the members of the First Presbyterian Church for opening their Church doors to us as well as the homeless. Help in filing the bags and in distributing them to the homeless is always welcomed. Membership in our church is not a requirement! It truly is an awesome experience. Those of us who have helped with this ministry consider ourselves extremely fortunate to be able to serve those in need.
During the winter months we also collect and distribute blankets and coats to the homeless.
If you are interested in helping or have questions please contact Phill Swinney or other team members.
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Items in Our Shoebox* |
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Bar Soap |
Shaving Cream |
Razor (Disposable) |
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Lotion |
Toothbrush & Toothpaste |
Hand Towel |
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Washcloth |
Cotton Socks (Ladies & Men) |
Shampoo |
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Hair Conditioner |
Christian Literature (Upper Room) |
Deodorant (Ladies & Men) |
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Small Cross |
Candy |
Comb |
WE ALWAYS ARE IN NEED OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO SUPPLEMENT DONATED ITEMS!
* All items should be travel size or very small. Often we put a special item in the bag such as sun glasses or underwear. We also make up children’s bags with small toys, coloring books and stuffed animals. Donated items not included in the bags are placed on a table available to anyone who may want them.
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Phill & Gail Swinney - Chair |
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Richard & Gloria Weers |
Claude Kucinskis |
Leon & Carol Smoot |
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John & Vickie Helkey |
Dave & Vivian Wagoner |
Pat & Bob Gregg |
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Bob & Margaret Tarleton |
Bob & Sue Miller |
Kris England |
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Meem Baumgartner |
Bob Buck |
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The entire UCUMC Congregation!!! |
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We are an Angel Food Ministries host church. Check the News page or Headlines for the current order and delivery dates. Joanne Lawrence, Maria Gaytan, and Chrys Baier are the ministry team for this very special new ministry of our church. To learn more about Angel Food Network, please go to www.angelfoodministries.com. You can order on the Angel Food website or in person. There is a $1 convenience charge for online orders. This program is meant to stretch a family’s food budget. This is top quality food including meat, can goods, frozen goods and fresh products. Approximately $60 of food for a cost of $35. Everybody is encouraged to participate in this program. If you have more questions, would like to volunteer, or would like to place an order please call one of the ladies on the team. We now offer a collection of single serving meals - good for seniors, working folks, or those who don't want to cook.
July 2008 ... our one year anniversary
444 basic food boxes sold
150 different families served
Multiple boxes per month donated to RACAP or others in need
Boxes of food donated to families at Christmas
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF THIS IMPORTANT MINISTRY!!
The Care Team Ministry started in 2004. A group of willing servants wanting to minister to the hospitalized and homebound attended several training classes. Several other individuals have joined the Ministry Team since then and attended training.
The Care Team has a twofold purpose: Part of our team visits people in the hospital. When the church is notified that a church member is in the hospital, the coordinator of the Care Team is notified and the message is put out on e-mail. One of the members of the team will go see the person in the hospital, share a prayer with them, and then report back to all the other member. This also keeps the pastors notified. We do this as long as the person is in the hospital. Our mission is to uphold all those that are ill in prayer and comfort them with our presence and words of assurance. If they are in the hospital on Sunday we will also take Holy Communion to them if able.
The other part of our team visit people that are homebound. This includes people that are in assisted living, nursing homes or people that for one reason or another can't get to church, perhaps recovering from a serious illness or injury. We call them, visit, send cards, etc.
The Care Team is periodically taking communion to our homebound members.
We want to know when you are hospitalized! Please call the Church Office, 659-5555, when you know you are going to be admitted or when you know someone in our community of faith has been admitted. The pastors, Care Team, and church family want to pray for you, and when appropriate, visit you. The pastors are setting aside Tuesday and Friday as the primary days for hospital, homebound, and special needs visitation. We desire to visit nursing home residents about once a month, primarily on those days as well. The pastors’ hospital visits are not limited to those days; when there is a need we want to be at your side whenever we can. Please call the Church Office to let your pastors and the Care Team know when you desire a visit or have a special need.
Last Updated Tuesday, April 20 2010 @ 01:28 PM CDT|334 Hits 
