Community Involvement
Through active community involvement, Bethany United Methodist Church encourages volunteer service and financial support of several organizations and projects that provide immediate assistance to those in need and/or create long-term solutions to improving the lives of people in need. Opportunities include: work teams, special offerings, emergency appeals, and our Simple Gifts program.
The Playing Field
The Playing Field (TPF), partnering with Early Head Start and Bethany United Methodist Church, opened a child care and early education program in August 2015. TPF seeks to create a unique model that will educate children experiencing homelessness alongside children from more advantaged backgrounds. Read much more about The Playing Field using the link above and also check out its Facebook page. And, there’s this article from the Madison Community Foundation.
Check out The Playing Field video here.
Check out photo galleries of getting The Playing Field ready for opening, finishing the playground, and some of the first kids enrolled.
Bethany continues to support The Playing Field financially and spiritually. We are proud of the strong partnership we have created. Each year Bethany has a workday where volunteers help to prepare The Playing Field for a new school year by cleaning classrooms and freshening up the playgrounds.
Allied Dunn’s Marsh Food Pantry
Bethany delivers food and grocery items to the food pantry in the Boys and Girls Club in the Allied Drive area. Donations should be put in the bins by the elevator. The list of items in most need can be found here.
Monetary donations are also accepted using Bethany’s Giving Financially page.
Thanks for helping our neighbors who need our assistance.
Domestic Abuse Intervention Services (DAIS)
The mission of DAIS is to empower those affected by domestic violence and advocate for social change through support, education and outreach. Their vision is a nonviolent community that actively promotes safety, peace, justice and hope.
DAIS offers a wide array of crisis intervention and community education/prevention programs, including a 24-hour Help Line, programming for children from violent homes, legal advocacy, support groups, emergency safety planning, and the only domestic violence shelter for all of Dane County
Just Dane (formerly Madison Area Urban Ministries)
JustDane is a private, 501 (c) 3 non-profit agency that offers an array of direct service programs for individuals and families involved in the criminal justice system. These services include prison reentry programs and services for children who have an incarcerated parent, community events designed to help people understand what it’s like to walk in the shoes of someone newly released from prison, and jail and prison in-reach programs.
Just Bakery, an initiative of JustDane, is a 12-week educational and vocational training program. The program works with individuals who are experiencing significant barriers to employment (homelessness, criminal conviction history, lack of education, and/or a lack of work history or skills). Every other month, Bethany hosts JustBakery where items may be purchased to help in support of this program.
Luke House
Luke House provides a community meal program serving 75 to 150 people at each sitting, with most dealing with some aspect of poverty. Lunch is served Monday through Thursday, and dinner Sunday through Thursday. Bethany is one of about 40 faith communities taking responsibility for shopping, preparing, and serving a noon and evening meal each month. Bethany teams currently provide and serve lunch on the fourth Tuesday of each month, and provide and serve dinner on the fifth Tuesday or Thursday of each month.
Porchlight
Porchlight strives to reduce homelessness in Dane County by collaborating with the community to provide shelter, affordable housing, and supportive services that eliminate barriers and empower the individuals and families we serve.
The Road Home Dane County
In collaboration with local faith communities and organizations, The Road Home Dane County is committed to the empowerment and long-term success of homeless families with children, and to serving each family with dignity and respect. The Road Home follows the Housing First approach, which prioritizes providing people experiencing homelessness with permanent housing as quickly as possible — and then providing voluntary supportive services as needed.
Simple Gifts
Bethany’s Simple Gifts program designates an organization or project each month to receive currency or checks placed in mission envelopes and loose change in the offerings.
Simple Gifts for September: Mujila Falls Agricultural Center in Zambia
Simple Gifts collected in October are going to support our longtime Global Mission Partners in the African nation of Zambia, the Mujila Falls Agriculture Center, which is led by Temba Nkomozepi.
Bethany has a long supported the Mujila Falls Agriculture Center, where men and women of the Lunda tribe learn sustainable and appropriate methods for growing crops and managing livestock. People across a large area benefit from the eggs and plentiful food produced on the farm.
Mujila Falls has been in its current location since 2000 and was led for most of that time by Paul Webster. However, Webster returned to the United States in October 2018, and Mujila Falls for the past six years has been led by Nkomozepi, a missionary with the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries.
The original goals and objectives of the Mujila Falls project was to increase protein, minerals, and vitamins in the diet to reduce the very high infant mortality and low life expectancy of the Lunda people. It was also to help them increase family incomes by becoming more effective and efficient farmers.
Nkomozepi leads efforts in a range of agricultural, education, and health projects, as well as church growth and development. Mujila Falls raises essential crops, such as corn, and engages in small animal husbandry, cattle and goat milking, fruit culture, tree nurseries, fish culture, and research.
Please consider giving generously as your contributions will make a difference in real and relevant ways. To contribute put loose coins in the collection plate or put a check or currency in a Missions envelope. You may also contribute online here
Simple Gift Offerings for 2024
- January: The Beacon
- February: Africa University
- March: Bolivia Project
- Ash Wednesday: Open Doors for Refugees
- April: Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice
- May: The Playing Field (General Fund)
- June: Allied Drive Food Pantry
- July: JustDane
- August: Reconciling Ministries Network
- September: Road Home Dane County
- October: Temba Nkomozepi (Global Mission Partner – Mujila Falls, Zambia)
- November: Community Action Coalition
- December: Porchlight
- Christmas Eve Offering: UMCOR Disaster Response
Special Sunday Offerings
Over the course of each year, Bethany participates in several special offering Sundays sponsored by the broader United Methodist Church.
These church-wide Special Sundays collect offerings that enable United Methodists like you to: offer refuge in times of disaster; promote peace and justice; provide scholarships and student loans; reach out to the community; teach skills to encourage self-sufficiency; and share the love of Jesus Christ with God’s people.
In addition to the mailed envelopes, or special envelopes in the Bulletins on these Sundays, you may also contribute on line under Giving Financially.
2024 Special Sundays
- Jan. 14 – Human Relations Day strengthens United Methodist outreach to communities in the United States and Puerto Rico, encouraging social justice and work with at-risk youth.
- March 10 – UMCOR Sunday, previously known as One Great Hour of Sharing, enables the United Methodist Committee on Relief to reach out through worldwide ministries of food, shelter, health and peace.
- April 14 – Native American Ministries Sunday nurtures mission with Native Americans and provides scholarships for United Methodist Native American seminarians.
- May 26 – Peace With Justice Sunday enables the United Methodist Church to have a voice in advocating for peace and justice through a broad spectrum of global programs.
- Oct. 6 – World Communion Sunday provides scholarships for U.S. racial- and ethnic minority students, and international students, on both undergraduate and graduate levels.
- Nov. 24 – United Methodist Student Day furnishes scholarships and loans for students attending United Methodist-related and other accredited colleges and universities.