Shady Grove's Mission Committee is working hard to do God’s work in our community as well as throughout the world. Our goal is to bring our church’s light and promise of Christ’s love to those in need. We ask that you remember that Christ teaches us to go out and be “fishers of people” as well as to care for those who find themselves in less fortunate circumstances than ourselves.
Mission opportunities are a vital part of the Shady Grove UMC Youth Ministry. The largest part of our youth missions are our summer mission trips. In 2024 our middle school will be heading to Asheville, NC and our high school to Winston-Salem, NC. Other youth mission events have been packaging meals for Rise Against Hunger, collecting items and packing boxes for Operation Christmas Child, putting together UMC Healthcare Kits, CARITAS and many other community outreach activities.
Come Dig in the Dirt! Shalom Farms is a regional food security, community development project of United Methodist Urban Ministries of Richmond (UMUMR). And Shalom Farms is a non-profit community farm project with the goal of helping low income inner city neighborhoods in Richmond with food security. SGUMC regularly sends a team of volunteers.
Shady Grove is involved with the UMFS for various projects throughout the year, such as back-to-school backpack collection for students, painting of cottages, providing Christmas gifts and gift cards, and more.
For those living on the streets, CARITAS is a haven of safety, providing food, shelter and social needs to individuals and families who are experiencing a housing crisis. Shady Grove began its efforts with CARITAS in 2002.
Shady Grove supports missionaries and mission efforts around the world. Visit the the Global Missions page for more information.
ASP provides one of the most rewarding structured service opportunities in the nation — bringing thousands of volunteers from around the country to rural Central Appalachia to repair homes for low-income families. Since 1969, they’ve made homes warmer, safer, and drier for families and provided transformational service experiences for volunteers. Each year, more than 15,000 volunteers serve with ASP, providing critical repairs for more than 350 families. Shady Grove has had adult mission teams serve with ASP.
Habitat for Humanity is an nonprofit Christian organization committed to eliminating substandard housing through the rehabilitation and building of simple, decent homes for those in need. Habitat works in partnership with qualified families and community volunteers, including businesses and organizations, to build and sell houses with non-profit, interest free mortgages. Shady Grove is proud to be a part of this effort. Volunteer opportunities include working on a construction site, in the Restore and recycling opportunities.
Provides free clothing for people in need from people who care. We have several agencies whose clients are served by our closet, including United Methodist Family Services cottages and foster families, Fresh Start for Single Moms ministry, and others. In February 2021, we moved from the campus of Shady Grove UMC to expand and consolidate our efforts into one location and are now located on the UMFS Campus.
STEP’s main purpose is to defeat physical and spiritual poverty in Richmond by focusing systematically on one specific community at a time. There are various opportunities to serve at STEP, here are just a few of the ways Shady Grove serves.