Stewardship
How we are Stewards of the Church's Resources
God calls us to faithful stewardship of the assets with which God blesses us during our lives. This includes both faithful giving and estate planning. Now is the time to consider how to support this church we love to ensure it remains vital in the future.
Aldersgate UMC’s strength lies in our
– Relationship with God
– Relationships with one another
– Relationship with the world and our environment.
Through these relationships we make a difference in the world and in the lives of our members and friends. Your creative gifts allow us to carry out our mission now and in the future.
Two truths go hand in hand. The first is the ministry of this place is of God and will be preserved to the end of time. The second tells us God counts on us to make that happen. Prayerfully consider the benefits of making a permanent difference through your estate planning. As we have been blessed, so may we bless those who follow in our footsteps.
Community
Through community ministry we care for each other and are visible in the community around us. During socials, movie nights, and Rally Day, we enjoy each other and welcome new friends. Sunday morning Fellowship time offers an elegant array of healthy food and beverages shared with old and new friends.
The Garden Club yields fresh healthy vegetables for members and friends. Some of our harvest finds its way to the tables of persons who rely on food pantries for their basic nutrition.
The Mighty Men frequently step up to the plate with projects to maintain and improve our property. Their annual Golf Outing is a swinging affair!
The Women’s Ministry offers women additional study and fellowship opportunities. Their projects and retreat events offer ways for current and new members to learn and grow together.
Other small groups include the Knitting and Quilting Group, Book Club, Faire Elves, Membership Groups…and others are forming!
Education
Our Christian Education ministry offers Sunday morning classes for children, youth and adults, plus weekly adult opportunities. Sunday School teachers are Safe Sanctuary Trained and use puppets, music, DVDs, arts, crafts, and stories for creative learning.
Our adult education program offers a wide variety of studies and topics. Book group, Early Bird Bible Study and Thursday morning Bible Study, in addition to our varied Sunday morning offerings. We are life-long learners!
Worship Arts offers our younger children a weekday gathering for arts, music and snacks built upon a multi-week theme introducing Christian values and choices.
The Junior and Senior High Youth groups actively engage in fellowship, mission, and spiritual growth experiences. Look for our youth serving others at the WISH Project, town celebrations and church events like Easter and Mother’s Day breakfasts. To fund their annual mission trips, we enjoy their car washes, chocolate and sub sales, and the formal dinners.
Each summer a team of volunteers directed by the education team offer a Vacation Bible School program. Combining education with outreach, VBS serves many children from the community.
Childcare each Sunday during worship includes a Biblical story and craft.
Worship
We gather for worship to celebrate God’s abundance. Grounded in scripture, we bring our experience, knowledge, and the tradition of the church to apply Biblical texts to issues and circumstances in our day to day living. We seek personal holiness and social responsibility, recognizing that love of God is expressed through love of neighbor and strangers.
Complementing our worship experiences are a variety of music choirs including the Chancel Choir, two Bell Choirs, a young children’s choir, and “YuMmE,” a Youth Music Ensemble. Our offering includes a gift of praise by our children! Acolytes and ushers serve weekly.
A dedicated group of artistic persons help to vest our sanctuary with flowers, candles, and artwork appropriate for the season. Lay readers, occasional mystery plays, and skits complement our worship services.
Mission
Volunteer time and personal donations grow our mission outreach far beyond our budget. We support Habitat for Humanity, Food Pantries, Lowell Wish Project, St. Paul’s Feeding Ministry, My Father’s House, and schools. Piles of Christmas gifts and Thanksgiving baskets demonstrate our care for others during the holidays. Weekly “Change for Change” donations support specific missions such as Prison ministry and the Global Aids Fund.
Contributions to World Communion Sunday, Blanket Sunday and UMCOR connect us to mission projects making a difference around the world.
Pastoral Care
Rev. Dr. Bob Jon (Pastor Bob) is our Pastor and lead shepherd! Our pastoral leadership and support staff coordinate both the spiritual and temporal care for our faith community.
Pastor Bob shepherds us through life events including exciting weddings, poignant funerals, holidays and special ministry events throughout the year.
Tending to families in crisis, hospital visits, and leading Bible study classes keep the pastoral role full of variety. The ministry of a faith community includes coordination and empowerment of both staff and volunteers. In a growing community like AUMC, the pastoral role functions both as leader and servant. Pastor Bob juggles these roles well, learning and growing with us.