Pastor Kathleen Athey is the clergy team member who guides our mission efforts, working in conjunction
with our Missions Ministry Team. We hope to give everyone in the church the opportunity to serve in a way that fits his or her interests, passions, and
needs. For more information or to share ideas, please contact Pastor Kathleen at 602-840-8360 ext.130 or
via email.
Please refer to our calendar
for information on scheduled mission opportunities.
The mission of the Paradise Valley United Methodist Church Missions Ministry Team is to be disciples of
Christ in our community, state, country, and world by educating and providing our Church family with opportunities
to share personal service, prayer, and financial gifts that demonstrate God’s love in action.
| Audrey’s Angels |
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Audrey’s Angels seeks to enrich the lives of the elderly by providing stimulating
interactions through a unique sharing of art and music in adult care homes in the Phoenix
metropolitan area. Founded in 2001, Audrey’s Angels minister to more than 100 adult-care
homes and 11 adult-care centers. Audrey Alderson is a Paradise Valley UMC member, and she
would be happy to share opportunities for ministering with you. Contact her at the
Audrey’s Angels website.
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| Bethany United Methodist Church of New Orleans |
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Following Hurricane Katrina, Paradise Valley UMC partnered with Bethany UMC in New Orleans.
As a result of that partnering Paradise Valley UMC helped raise money for Bethany to rebuild
its Sanctuary, continues to pray for the pastor and members of Bethany congregation and occasionally
sends work teams to New Orleans. If you are interested in helping, please contact
Pastor Kathleen Athey.
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Children’s Missions
Children’s Ministries offer opportunities for children to experience the joy of giving, sharing, and
doing for others. Please contact Andrea Andress to
volunteer. Children’s mission opportunities include:
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Club 56 Care Packs for the Homeless (All year) Children package water,
socks, personal products and treats in zip-lock bags for the homeless. These packs can
be kept in the car and handed to homeless individuals standing at intersections.
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Annual Used-School-Supply Drive (May) Children bring gently used classroom
supplies from their schools for distribution to mission centers and for the children at Wesley,
UMOM and out-of-country mission trips.
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Mission Events (June-August)
These one-hour events occur on selected dates during summer Sunday School. Children participate
in hands-on projects to make things for others such as sack lunches, blankets, birdhouses,
step-stools and gifts.
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Vacation Bible Camp (July-August)
Vacation Bible Camp is the largest annual opportunity for children’s mission, when children put
"love into action" over the five-day period.
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Annual Pancake Breakfast (November)
Children flip pancakes for charity with their parents between services on Sunday morning.
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Christmas Stockings for Sidewalk Sunday School (December)
Sidewalk Sunday School is a mission led by the Desert Southwest Conference for "at risk" children
in underprivileged neighborhoods.
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| Guatemala Ministries |
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Paradise Valley UMC has established a connection with various communities in Guatemala. Members have
worked to build a church, provided programs for children, and offered medical and dental care. If you would
like to be part of a team headed to Guatemala, contact .Pastor Kathleen Athey.
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| Habitat for Humanity |
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Paradise Valley UMC is part of the Mighty Methodist Coalition which helps to build homes for the
disadvantaged in the Valley through Habitat for Humanity. For more information please contact
Bob Mitchell.
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| Helping Hands Housing Services |
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Helping Hands Housing Services is a local non-profit organization that provides permanent and
truly affordable housing to very low-income families. Additionally they provide free support
services designed to uplift the quality of life for the residents, all in an effort to break
the cycle of poverty. Paradise Valley UMC supports three families with a monthly rent subsidy.
If you are interested in learning more about how you can help, please take a minute and view the
HHHS website at or call the office at 602-381-6363.
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| Homeward Bound |
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Homeward Bound is a private, non-profit 503C corporation which seeks to break the cycle of homelessness
and poverty for children and their families. Homeward Bound provides affordable apartments and houses
to rent, day care, classes and counseling in money management, life skills and child rearing. Paradise
Valley UMC helps support Homeward Bound families. For volunteer opportunities visit the
Homeward Bound website or call 602-263-7654.
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| Open Table |
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In the spring of 2005, the youth of Paradise Valley UMC decided they were going to do something to help the hungry and
homeless in downtown Phoenix. A mission outreach program called "Breakfast Club" was born, and our youth
began taking breakfast food to CASS (Central Arizona Shelter Services) on Saturday mornings. It was during one of
these Saturdays that a man named Ernie approached the youth and asked if he could worship at our church. The obvious
question arose: "What more can we do to help this amazing man journey from homelessness to wholeness?" And
thus, the Open Table was founded through a unity of adults and youth, professionals and students. For more information
about Open Table contact Jon Katov.
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Out-of-Country Missions
Each year Paradise Valley UMC provides opportunities for members to participate
in mission work outside the United States.
| Paradise Valley UMC Missions Gift Shop |
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All profits from the Paradise Valley UMC Missions Gift Shop go toward mission efforts, as directed by our Missions
Team. The Gift Shop is open on Sunday mornings from 9:00 a.m. until noon during the school year.
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| Rebuilding Together |
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Rebuilding Together events provide opportunities for families, individuals and groups to work together helping senior citizen home
owners maintain their homes. To volunteer, please contact Bill Kidwell. Founded
in 1988, Rebuilding Together is the largest volunteer home-rehabilitation organization in America. The Phoenix chapter, "Valley of the Sun",
launched in 1991. To date the "Valley of the Sun" affiliate’s over 42,000 volunteers and 600-plus sponsoring companies
have worked on more than 600 homes and 40 plus community projects, providing over $4.9 million in repairs to the community and to Valley residents.
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| Refugee Resettlement |
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PVUMC works with Lutheran Social Services and Church World Service to settle refugees into life in the U.S. You can help by joining others
in making a six-month commitment to be a friend to a refugee family. Our team provides used furniture and household items, initial groceries,
and when the family arrives, helps them learn what they need to know about living in the Phoenix area. Contact
Pastor Kathleen Athey.
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| Thanksgiving Turkey and Pie Drive |
- Each November, we collect frozen turkeys for the homeless (UMOM, Helping Hands for the Homeless, Homeward Bound) and pumpkin pies for Salvation Army.
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| UMCOR |
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UMCOR goes anywhere there is a natural disaster or humanitarian crisis –
blizzards, floods, fires, famine, drought, plus tornado and hurricanes zones. A
special offering is taken each year to support this great work.
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| UMOM New Day Centers |
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The mission of UMOM is to provide homeless and low-income families with food shelter and the tools to build a bridge to self-sufficiency.
There are many opportunities at Paradise Valley UMC to serve:
- Donate canned food on the first Sunday of the month. Food is collected on the
church campus and taken to the UMOM pantry
- Serve dinner at UMOM on the second, fourth and fifth Saturdays each month.
- Donate your gently used clothes and household goods to the UMOM thrift store
- Christmas Gift Cards make great gifts and provide shelter and hope to a
homeless family at UMOM. Cards are sold at the church gift shop during the
Christmas holiday season.
To learn more about volunteer opportunities at UMOM call 602-275-7852 or visit
their website.
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| Wesley Community Center |
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Wesley is a mission institution of the United Methodist Church serving the
South-Central Phoenix neighborhoods since 1950. Wesley Center provides:
- School backpacks, supplies and nutrition program to over 200 children
- ESOL, GED, and other education classes
- Emergency food and other supplies to low income families
Centro de Salud is Wesley’s health center for low-income, uninsured individuals and families.
For more information call 602-252-5609 or go to the Wesley website.
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Youth Missions
"Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." 1 Timothy 4:12 (NIV)
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Mission opportunities are a regular part of our youth
ministries and are a great way to give back to others. Currently, the youth at
PVUMC are involved in several mission outreach opportunities, including:
Breakfast Club, Open Table, Compassion International, UMCOR, One Life
Revolution, Center for Student Missions, AMOR Ministries, Rebuilding Together,
UMOM, St. Vincent de Paul, Justa Center, Read to Me, Souper Bowl of Caring, and
others! Thank you, students, for setting an example for the believers! For more
information regarding youth mission opportunities, please contact John Kouns.
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The Souper Bowl of Caring is a youth-led, grassroots movement of caring ... the result of thousands of
young people joining together to fight hunger and poverty in their communities. Since 1990, $33 million has been raised
for charities across the country. Every Super Bowl Sunday, our youth collect a special offering following each Sunday
morning service to raise money to fight hunger. Our collection from Paradise Valley UMC specifically benefits the Justa Center.
Be a part of the nation's largest youth-led weekend of giving and serving!
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