When Asbury United Methodist Church was established in 1986, its founding members and clergy decided that on top of the 10% it gives to The United Methodist Church for ministries and outreach through connectional apportionments, Asbury would give 10% more to Birmingham and its community partners through its Missions in Action program. More than three decades later, Asbury continues this practice and MIA distributed more than $440,000 for missions and outreach in 2022 alone.
The outpouring of missions work at Asbury is hard to measure at it comes from every corner of our church and reaches so many in our community. Here are just a few highlights of the work done during 2022:
– Assembled over 2,500 Brown Bags for Jefferson and Shelby County children facing food insecurity
– Supported WE Learn at Urban Ministry with 20 trained volunteers providing weekly tutoring and mentorship to children in Birmingham
– Provided nearly 500 bags of food to our local community through Asbury’s Food Pantry
– Donated more than 30,000 diapers to Bundles of Hope to support families in Birmingham
– Cooked and packaged more than 100 meals for Grace Klein to feed our neighbors
– 37 adults and students went to Costa Rica, helping CRMP complete a community center and hosting VBS
– Donated more than $11,500 to Urban Ministry to support WE Learn and other initiatives through VBS
– Welcomed the Sozo Children’s Choir back to Asbury and donated more than $40,000 to support their ministry and mission
– Packed 410 shoeboxes for Mission Bulgaria to ensure children have Christmas
– 200+ adults, students, and children served at 7 nonprofits across Birmingham during our first Asbury Serves Day
– Provided more than 500 gifts and thousands of dollars through the Angel Tree project in December;
– Packed 50,112 meals with and donated $19,000 to Rise Against Hunger to help with food insecurity
– Provided 6,000 volunteer hours and over 94 days of respite care for more than 30 families with someone living with memory loss;
– And so much more!
Because of you, Asbury has been the hands and feet of Christ in our community. But we aren’t done yet! As we begin 2023, we invite you to get involved and find a place to serve if you haven’t already. Our Mission of the Month is a great way to get started and find something that is meaningful to you. You can also check out our 2023 Missions Book to learn more about our community partners and how you can get involved!