WEDNESDAY WORDS
FROM METRO MINISTRIES, INC.
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April 8, 2021
Thank you Metro followers, for your grace with this week's delay. I do hope you will find this week's Wednesday Words (on a Thursday) to be interesting, inspiring and helpful. And I hope you are celebrating the joy of Spring with me.
Metro Easter Moment
This year's season of Lent is now behind us, and we have been rejoicing this week in Christ's resurrection. I hope you will also rejoice in the work of this week's Metro Moment highlighted organization.
While I had planned to share this week about Southport UMC's Feed a Need program, I was not prepared to do so due to life happenings. But wouldn't you know it - God showed up by having Metro Board Member Emily Reynolds get her Metro Moment video done a week early. Please watch and listen as Emily shares about the amazing work of Servants at Work, Inc. (SAWs), and how through love and compassion for others, lives are forever changed for the better. Thank you Emily for sharing!
We will continue sharing videos throughout the rest of April, celebrating more stories of impact.
Getting Back to Lent Campaign
Oh My Goodness - you did it! You took us above and beyond our goal of $4,000 during this season of Lent! We are so grateful for everyone who donated.
We thank our "regular" donors who consistently walk alongside us, we thank our supporters who have not donated for a while and chose to do so during this campaign, and we welcome several new supporters who have connected with us and shown their support of our work. We are truly grateful.
If you have not given to Metro Ministries yet this year, you can certainly still do so by clicking on the campaign image, or by visiting our website at www.indymetroumc.org or by mailing a check to our office at 2560 Villa Avenue, Indianapolis IN 46203. Know that 100% of donations go to our Grants programs.
Call for Expressions of Interest!
Attention Central District UM Churches: If you did not catch this announcement in last week's newsletter, please read! The deadline to respond for this opportunity is April 16th.
Metro Ministries has been blessed with a generous gift from an anonymous Family Foundation with a presence in Indianapolis. The Foundation has requested that Metro Ministries be the organization that oversees the distribution of these funds to United Methodist churches in the Central District, amounts will be between $2500 - $5,000 per church.
Other stipulations from the Foundation are that the funding go to churches that directly address one or more of these target areas created or exacerbated by COVID-19 19:
- Food banks
- Housing
- Employment problems
- Education needs
For example, housing encompasses emergency needs such as rent and utilities; employment would cover expenses like car repairs, insurance and licensing to enable transportation to work; and education needs would support children and families with expenses connected with e-learning and/or summer enrichment programs.
If your church is interested in being a recipient of the funding, an Expression of Interest is needed by April 16th. The EOI (Expression of Interest) should be sent via email to metrodirector1923@gmail.com and should contain three paragraphs, covering:
- The mission or intent of the program being funded
- The purpose of the request, confirming that an existing program addressing one or more of the categories mentioned above is being enhanced by this funding
- A description of the total budget for the project and how these funds will address the need.
Keep in mind that the funding is limited, so your EOI may not result in a funding award.This is also a time-sensitive opportunity, as EOIs will only be accepted through April 16.
We have assembled this FAQ sheet about this opportunity. For clarification and other questions, please contact either Tina McAninch, Metro Ministries Executive Director at metrodirector1923@gmail.com or Jeanette Moody, Chairman, Grant Committee at lflmoody48@sbcglobal.net.
We Want to Hear from You!
Metro Ministries is planning to launch an ongoing workshop series within the next couple of months. While we have some ideas for topis that would be helpful to our churches, we want to get your thoughts.
If you have not already done so, please take a few minutes to complete this brief Survey. We will start planning our first workshop topic next week, so please let us hear from you soon!
Church Women United, Inc.
Church Women United is a racially, culturally, theologically inclusive Christian women’s movement, celebrating unity in diversity and working for a world of peace and justice. This national organization is hosting weekly ZOOM sessions on various topics. Here are the April and May flyers that include the topics and speakers for each week. The sessions are on Wednesdays at 1:00 pm.
Church Women United also invites you to join their Woman 2 Woman special online event on Saturday, April 24 at 1:00 pm. Click for Event Details, including registration information
Take a moment to check out Metro's Resources Hub on our website, where we now broadly share resources in the categories of
- Food & Basic Needs
- Children & Youth
- COVID-19
- Mental Health
- Racial & Social Justice
- Central District & Conference
If you know of other resources we should share, please let us know by emailing Tina McAninch at metrodirector1923@gmail.com
Faith and Action Project 2021
The Faith & Action Project at Christian Theological Seminary brings together faith communities, nonprofit organizations and leaders in business and government each year in a collaborative effort to turn back the tide of poverty. It does this each year through three components: 1) Spring Conference, where attendees are able to share ideas and hear from area organizations that are making a difference; 2) Faith and Action's Grant program aimed at innovative approaches to addressing poverty in Central Indiana; and 3) Fall Conference, where national experts discuss the big issues around poverty.
This year's Faith & Action Project Spring Conference is April 15, 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm. National poverty-mitigation leader Nisha Patel will offer a keynote address that will kick off panel discussion with panelists from Heart Change Ministries, Public Advocates in Community Re-entry (PACE), Edna Martin Christian Center and Arrow Street development.
This free online event is open to all who are interested in learning more about fighting obverting in Central Indiana.
Attendance at the Spring Conference is a pre-requisite for organizations wanting to apply for a Faith and Action grant in 2021. Click HERE for more conference details and to register.
These Food Resources will continue to be shared weekly here and are now available on Metro's Resources Hub. Please note the information on these linked pages is subject to change frequently. For the most current information, use the links rather than printed documents.
For Food Pantries and Community Meal information in Marion, Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Johnson, Morgan and Shelby counties, click HERE.
Farmers to Families distributions in Johnson County in April: April 9, 16th and 23rd, 9:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Note: Mt. Olive United Methodist Church in Morgan County remaining April pantry dates are April 19 and 30th, from 2-6 p.m.
