News

Order 'Bread for the World' Christmas Cards Today

Don't miss your chance to order Bread for the World Christmas cards! Order today to make sure you receive your cards in time to send them out before the holidays. Packs of 10 cards and envelopes are just $15, which includes shipping.   Sending Bread for the World cards to your friends and family is a great way to show you care for them and for hungry people. Proceeds from the cards support the Bread for the World Institute's work to end hunger.   This year, a special card without...

SOSA Offers Advent Study, Alternative Gift Card Program

Society of St. Andrew (SoSA), the national gleaning ministry, has two Advent programs for you and your church. Passing the Peace   This booklet is an Advent devotions and giving program to help keep us focused on Jesus' coming while we provide a meaningful gift to feed hungry children and adults here in the United States.      During the season of Advent, the Society of St. Andrew devotional booklet asks participants to reflect prayerfully on the Scriptures and...

Guest Speaker for 2012 ACS Is Featured in Latest Edition of Interpreter

The guest speaker for the 2012 California-Nevada Annual Conference Session will be the Rev. Rudy Rasmus – who is featured in the November/December 2011 issue of Interpreter, the official ministry magazine of The United Methodist Church. The article, "A Season of Hope; Will We Sing with Mary," examines the concept of finding hope in tragedy, in hunger, and in homelessness during Advent.  "I am often trying to offer a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Don't...

Third Annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner Planned at Valley Faith UMC, Sunnyvale

For the third straight year, Valley Faith United Methodist Church and San Jose Tongan Fellowship, both in Sunnyvale, have teamed up to provide a free Thanksgiving dinner for the community – complete with music, food, and fellowship. This year's dinner will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 23 from 3 to 9 p.m. The churches make a practice of reaching out to groups in the community – the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) of Northern California, the Filipino Workers...

Society of St. Andrew Advent Programs

The Society of St. Andrew (SoSA), the national gleaning ministry, has two Advent programs for you and your church. First, the free Advent devotional booklet, "Passing the Peace," will guide you toward Christmas with daily readings to aid in preparation for Christmas Eve.   During the season of Advent, the Society of St. Andrew devotional booklet asks participants to prayerfully reflect on the Scriptures and devotions, and also to join in the ministry of feeding America's...

Will You Be Counted? Register to Change the World, May 14-15

There truly is power in numbers. Doing one, two, or 20 things for the Change the World event, May 14-15, makes it possible for any church – urban or rural, large or small – to make a difference in the local community or the world. Last year more than 100,000 people from 1,000-plus churches united with a common purpose over a 48-hour period: to make a world of difference in ways both large and small, locally and globally. From California to Washington, Alabama to Mozambique, United...

An Ordinary Meal

By Kat Teraji Gilroy UMC "In the way of God, thoughts count for little, love does everything. And it is not necessary," he continued, "to have great things to do. I turn my little omelette in the pan for the love of God; when it is finished, if I have nothing to do, I prostrate myself on the ground and adore my God, Who gave me the grace to make it, after which I arise, more content than a king. When I cannot do anything else, it is enough for me to have lifted a...

'Drive-by Giving to the Homeless': A New Ministry in Action Story

"Miracles happen all the time. I had the privilege of witnessing a couple of them myself this holiday season," writes Kat Teraji of Gilroy United Methodist Church, as she begins a Ministry in Action story just posted to the California-Nevada Annual Conference website. Teraji tells an inspiring story of the impact everyday people can have, through taking simple steps in faith. Read Drive-by Giving to the Homeless.   Highlights of all Ministry in Action stories are viewable in...

Lenten Program Available From Society of St. Andrew

In keeping with the traditions of Lent, the Society of St. Andrew (SoSA) invites your congregation to participate in a program of spiritual reflection, prayer, and giving. The hunger-relief organization is making its annual Lenten devotion program available, which challenges readers to take seriously the Scriptural injunction to care for the poor, while providing an opportunity to feed our hungry brothers and sisters at the same time. Each day during Lent, a gifted writer will describe how...

Learn About Hunger Through Harvest of Hope Summer Program

Harvest of Hope is the ecumenical study, worship, and action mission trip program of the Society of St. Andrew (SoSA). This summer, there will be several opportunities for you to learn about hunger and about gleaning – which SoSA calls "a commonsense solution to the issue." Participants will: Glean fresh fruits and vegetables which will immediately, through the help of local feeding agencies, find their way onto the tables of those in need;  Experience a...

Thousands in Area of Billboard on Thanksgiving Morn

More than 27,000 people ran, walked, ambled, or moved along in some other fashion for 5 to 10 kilometers on Thanksgiving morning, to support the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services – and all had a chance to see a billboard suggesting that Sac-area United Methodist Churches can be a source of spiritual fulfillment. For the entire month of November, the billboard was located on "H" Street (150 feet west of 57th Street) at the starting point of the 17th annual Run to Feed the...

October 16 Pajaro Valley CROP Hunger Walk Invites Walkers

The call is out to all area churches, schools, civic organizations and individuals: Will you walk with us? The Pajaro Valley CROP Hunger Walk will be held Saturday, October 16 at 9 a.m., starting and ending at the Second Harvest Food Bank in Watsonville. The purpose of a CROP Hunger Walk is two-fold: To raise awareness by walking as people do around the world in search of food and water; and to raise money to combat hunger both locally and wherever there is need.    All...

SoSA Still in Running for Pepsi Grant, Asks for Your Vote

The Society of St. Andrew is still in the running for a quarter-million-dollar grant from Pepsi – and hopes you'll add your vote to help get them to the next level in the Pepsi Refresh Challenge. In September, SoSA came in at number 14, out of more than 300 organizations in its category, in the competition to receive a $250,000 grant from Pepsi. It was a strong enough showing to move the organization along and enter it into the October voting.   SoSA asks you to join in...

Society of St. Andrew Asks UMs, Churches to Help It Win $250,000 Prize

The Society of St. Andrew (SoSA) is asking United Methodists and UM churches to help the organization win a $250,000 prize being offered by Pepsi. This month the food conglomerate will grant 1.3 million dollars to fund ideas that will refresh the world. "Society of St. Andrew's approach to feeding the hungry will certainly refresh the world of those in need," according to a SoSA news release. "You can help us feed the hungry by voting every day in September for the Society of...

Churches Challenged to Raise Hunger Awareness, Take Action to End Hunger

September is National Hunger Action Month Hunger is a year-in, year-out problem. But during September hunger advocates, agencies, and alliances across the country work together to focus attention on the issue of hunger in America.    Make no mistake – there is hunger in this, the wealthiest nation on the planet! Some 49 million Americans now live with food insecurity – the situation in which one never knows from day to day if they will have enough food for their...

Bread for the World President Appears on PBS on Friday, July 16

Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, a faith-based organization which lobbies Congress to increase foreign aid and make it more efficient, will appear on PBS on Friday, July 16 on the public affairs show, "Need to Know." Jon Meacham, program host and editor of Newsweek, interviewed Beckmann about how our domestic farm policy may be harming malnourished children in the developing world. He appears in the second segment of the show....

Bishop Brown Participates in 'Change the World' During 'Rethink Conference' Stop in Visalia

By Mariah Allred Fresno District Office In honor of the global "Change the World" event (April 24-25), Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr. joined with local ministries in the Visalia, California area to distribute food to migrant field workers during his "Re-Think Conference" visit to the Fresno District on Saturday, April 24.   At the direction of the Revs. Marcelo and Corazon Escarzaga and Vanesaa Prado, those attending the Re-Think Conference event brought...

Is Ending Hunger an Out-of-This-World Idea?

New VBS mission project from an Advance hunger-relief ministry teaches youth that it is not! Big Island, VA – What if hunger didn't exist anymore? What if every person in the United States had enough food to eat? If you think this isn't possible, check out the Society of St. Andrew's new Vacation Bible School Mission Project and discover how your youth can help make an out-of-this-world idea a reality.    The Society of St. Andrew (Advance #801600) is a...

'Harvest of Hope' Mission Program Celebrates 25 Years

Program teaches youth about the problem of hunger and how to be part of the solution The Society of St. Andrew, a Virginia-based national hunger relief organization and Advance #801600, has been gleaning America's fields and feeding America's hungry for over 30 years. This year, they celebrate the 25th anniversary of their Harvest of Hope program.   Harvest of Hope (HOH) is a mission retreat program that focuses on hunger issues and the Christian response. This life-changing...

Next Step Evangelism Event Addresses Hunger; Features Adam Hamilton, Maxie Dunham

Every 3.6 second a person dies of hunger, and 75 percent of these are children. What can we do to help? Next Step Evangelism Justice and Mercy Initiative (www.nextstepevangelism.org) presents a national event, "Feasting and Famine: The Radical Middle on Hunger," March 4-6 in Atlanta, Georgia.   Keynote speakers will be the Revs. Adam Hamilton and Maxie Dunnam.   Hamilton, pastor of The United Methodist Church of The Resurrection, has a heart for helping those in...