News

Monday Is Registration Deadline for November SSP Youth Service Weekends

Monday (Oct. 10) is the deadline to register for the Sierra Service Project's (SSP) November Weekend of Service sessions for junior and senior high youth groups. SSP has scheduled six of these sessions, all of which will take place at the Oak Park United Methodist Church in Sacramento. Session dates:  Nov. 4-6, 2011 (Sr. and Jr. High) Nov. 11-13, 2011 (Sr. High only) Jan. 13-15, 2012 (Sr. High only) Jan. 27-29, 2012 (Sr. and Jr. High) Feb. 10-12, 2012 (Sr. and...

Reminder: Register Soon for SSP Weekends of Service

Register by Oct. 10 to take part in one of the November Sierra Service Project (SSP) Weekend of Service sessions, being offered in Sacramento for junior and senior high youth groups. The program was introduced last winter and proved popular and very successful.   SSP has scheduled six sessions for weekends in November 2011 and January and February 2012, all at Oak Park United Methodist Church in Sacramento.   Registration Deadline is Oct. 10, 2011 for the following dates:...

SSP Schedules Youth Service Weekends

The Sierra Service Project (SSP) has scheduled six Weekend of Service sessions for junior and senior high youth groups this winter. The sessions will take place at Oak Park United Methodist Church in Sacramento. Last winter's pilot programs were very successful, according to Executive Director Rick Eaton.   The Weekend of Service sessions run from Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon. Youth engage in challenging local service work, learn about Sacramento, and worship and grow...

SSP Accepts Registrations for Summer Programs in Guatemala and Honduras

Study and serve in Central America with Sierra Service Project! SSP is accepting registrations now for its summer service and service/learning programs in Guatemala and Honduras. These are challenging, extremely rewarding and life-changing experiences for mature young people, enabling them to learn about Central American culture and social justice while putting their faith into action. Spots are now available, but teams are expected to fill up by April 1. To learn more call the SSP office,...

Sierra Service Project's Weekend of Service: Spaces Still Available!

Sierra Service Project (SSP) still has space available for two of the three faith-rich service weekends it's offering in Sacramento at the beginning of the new year. Like SSP's summer projects, these weekends will combine a challenging, hands-on service project with fun fellowship with youth from other youth groups, and a strong focus on understanding how we can all live out our faith in the world around us. Each weekend will start on Friday afternoon and end on Sunday afternoon. Work projects...

SSP Launches Sacramento 'Weekend of Service'

Sierra Service Project (SSP) is excited to launch its first ever Weekend of Service program which will begin in January 2011, in Sacramento. This weekend-long service experience for junior- and senior-high youth will introduce volunteers to urban Sacramento while taking on a challenging service project. Programs will run from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon and are scheduled for the weekends of January 7 and 28, and February 25. Participants will stay at the Oak Park United...

Would You Like to Change the World? You Can, Starting in April!

Want to change the world? Members of more than 175 United Methodist churches in 49 states, including California and Nevada, do – and they're planning to emphasize that commitment on the weekend of April 24-25. Your church can join them! Change the World is a two-pronged movement to engage 11 million United Methodists around the world in service in their local communities on that weekend, while uniting them globally to fight malaria – a preventable, treatable disease which kills one...

Alternative Spring Break for Youth, Young Adults

Are you exploring the possibilities of a meaningful alternative spring break – filled with service, fun, faith, and learning – for your campus ministry group or high school youth group? Sierra Service Project will host three Alternative Spring Break sessions at its South Los Angeles site (one college session and two high school sessions). Volunteers will stay at the Vermont Square United Methodist Church. Work will include renovation of a church community center to make it usable...

Honduras Service: Learning Opportunity for Youth, Young Adults

Sierra Service Project (SSP) will send four teams of young people, motivated to put their faith into action, to build homes in Honduras this summer. Participants will have the opportunity to be immersed in the culture and life of one of the poorest countries in the Americas. Volunteers will work alongside Hondurans to build two simple, but safe and dry homes. In 2010, SSP will send volunteers June 23-July 7 and July 14-28. There will be two groups in-country during each of these sessions. One...

Honduras Service: Learning Opportunity for Youth and Young Adults

Sierra Service Project (SSP) is excited to announce the dates for the 2010 Honduras Service Project. Sierra Service Project, the United Methodist-affiliated youth ministry organization, is organizing four teams of high school juniors and seniors, and young adults, for a service-immersion experience in Honduras in 2010. Trip dates are June 23-July 7, 2010 and July 14-28, 2010.   Participants will have the opportunity to be immersed in the culture and life of one of the poorest countries...

Souper Bowl of Caring Is in February - Spread the Word!

What would happen if every American who watches the Super Bowl donated one can of food or $1 to fight hunger and poverty in their local community? The result would be an astounding $90 million in cash and cans to help feed the hungry and provide shelter to the homeless. Join the Souper Bowl of Caring and help make this vision a reality! For more than 20 years, congregations have joined forces across America to demonstrate the power of caring, while sharing God's love with our neighbors in...

Interpreters, Translators, Other Volunteers Needed for WCC Event in November

The World Council of Churches is seeking interpreters, translators and other volunteers for this year's United Nations Advocacy Week, hosted by the WCC November 15-20 in New York City. While they will be primarily helping with the logistics of the event, volunteers will have the opportunity to learn about capacity building and formation on advocacy within the UN system, hear theological reflection and analysis, and attend panels and discussions on advocacy focus areas.   Volunteers...

GBCS Says, 'You Can Make a Difference For Justice!'

Jim Winkler, General Secretary of the General Board of Church & Society (GBCS), is urging United Methodists to "make a difference for justice" through The United Methodist Church's Social Justice Ministries Endowment Fund. Giving to the fund, Winkler says, will "ensure that The United Methodist Church will continue its visionary advocacy ministry into future centuries."In a letter this week, Winkler writes, "United Methodists have a glorious heritage of being front and center in the great...

UM Phone Cards: The Perfect Gift for U.S. Servicemen and Servicewomen

With the holidays coming up, don't forget to thank the men and women serving in the U.S. military by giving them the perfect gift from home – a conversation with a loved one.  Started by United Methodist Chaplain Lt. Col. J. Maddox Woodbery, the Phone Card Project, five years old this November, has donated more than 13 million minutes of conversations with loved ones to U.S. servicemen and servicewomen serving overseas. And, with Christmas right around the corner, many serving in...

CWS combats poverty with fall hunger walks

Global humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS) announced that it expects some 2,000 communities to join in hunger walks in the coming year under the banner of CROP: Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty. This month marks the 60th anniversary of CROP – the community hunger appeal of CWS – and the beginning of the CROP Hunger Walk season in the United States in which tens of thousands of people will sacrifice a few hours to raise money and show solidarity with impoverished people...