9:30 am - Sunday School for children, youth, and adults
11:00 am - Worship (Sanctuary)
4:00 pm- Afternoon Sunday School for adults
5:00 pm - Celebration Worship
6:00 pm - Young Adult Dinner Gathering - meet in the Gathering Space
6:30 pm - Youth Fellowship - off for the summer
7:00 pm - Youth Fellowship - off for the summer
Childcare for children under 6 is available at all worship services.
Ministries
Special Offering
Lent 2010 Special Offering
The
past 12-18 months have been difficult for everyone in Northern Virginia, and
especially difficult for those who may be unemployed, underemployed, or
homeless. We can ask ourselves the
questions: Do I have shelter to protect
myself, food to keep me nourished, and clothing to keep me warm? Most of us have these basic necessities, but
as the recession continues, the number of people in Northern Virginia who do
not have these necessities is increasing rapidly. As we enter the season of Lent and prepare
for the death and resurrection of Jesus, it is important to help those who are
in need. To honor that commitment, we
have selected the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) and the Arlington Street
People’s Assistance Network (ASPAN) as two of our Lenten recipients.
Mount Olivet also serves the Lord by
helping others more directly through our many mission efforts. We are blessed with an active mission program
that allows children and adults to reach out to our local, regional and international
community and actively be the hands and feet of Christ. To honor this commitment, our third Lenten
recipient is a fund to help provide scholarships to youth and young adults who
might not otherwise be able to participate in upcoming international mission
trips.
AFAC
AFAC
is an incorporated 501c(3) non-profit organization dedicated to providing
supplemental groceries to Arlington residents who cannot afford to purchase
sufficient food to meet their basic needs. While
its only mission is to feed the hungry, by relieving the food budget of its
clients, AFAC helps prevent homelessness and allows its clients to make other
necessary purchases without sacrificing their health, housing and nutritional
needs. AFAC is run
entirely by a volunteer Board of Directors, a staff of ten employees, and more
than 400 volunteers from families, businesses and religious organizations. AFAC
fits neatly into the comprehensive system of service delivery that
characterizes the work done by the agencies and churches in Arlington. It
provides groceries to over 1200 families each week referred to it by the
Arlington County Department of Human Services, other social service agencies,
and the churches of Arlington. More than half of the people served by
AFAC are children. AFAC obtains surplus
food at a minimal cost from the Capital Area Food Bank and at no cost from
private donors, local bakeries, supermarkets, farmers' markets and food drives. Mount Olivet has regularly held food drives
for AFAC providing many boxes of food. With
our Lenten offerings, we can do even more to help see that our neighbors in
Arlington don’t go hungry.
ASPAN
Arlington Street People's Assistance Network is an organization that
provides service to assist people with their basic needs. Their four major
programs are Homeless Bagged Meals, Opportunity Place, Transitional Employment
and Life Skills Training, and Permanent Supportive Housing. Through these
programs Arlington residents are provided with counseling, clothing, food, help
with employment searches, shelter, assistance obtaining personal
identification, and other services.
Mount Olivet has been in ministry with ASPAN for many
years. You may remember a time when you made soup and/or sandwiches or a time where
you walked in a Help-the-Homeless Walkathon. These are among the ways we
supported ASPAN in the past. We continue our ministry by supporting ASPAN
during Lent this year.
Scholarships
for International Youth and Young Adult Mission
Mount Olivet has worked to provide regular
opportunities for high school youth and young adults to participate in
international mission trips. These
mission trips provide unique opportunities to serve Christ. Working with our neighbors in other countries,
each with its own unique culture and language, while building relationships, is
transformative. Of course, these trips
generally are more expensive that the mission trips that Mount Olivet takes in
the United States. Sometimes, that extra
cost is an obstacle to some of our younger members being able to participate. The Outreach Team is establishing a
scholarship fund for our international mission trips. We have designated the fund as one of our
Lenten recipients so that we may assist worthy candidates who might otherwise
not be able to go on an international mission trip.
This year, there will be an international Youth Habitat Trip to
El Salvador, involving 10 Mount Olivet youth and 4 adults. They will work with a poor family in a
village of El Salvador to build a house in a week! While in El Salvador,
the team will also meet with one of the 14 churches of the fledging Evangelical
Methodist Church of El Salvador, the partner church of the United Methodist
Church. Past trips have
transformed the lives of the youth who went on the trip, strengthened their
faith, and gave them a chance to work side by side with the poor in a
neighboring country. The cost for the trip includes airfare for the youth,
their housing, food and transportation in El Salvador, and the materials needed
to build a house.
This year about 10 Mount Olivet
adults and youth also will embark on our first mission trip to Mikulov, Czech
Republic to work with our new partner church. Working with the local pastor, we
will run an English camp for 40-50 people from the community. The camp will involve lessons, songs, and games,
including using Bible stories to help teach English. In addition, in the mornings, some of the
team will have the chance to work with the pastor’s wife with her group of
mothers and young children to help teach them some English. We also will have the chance to build our new
partnership with the congregation, do daily devotions with them and worship on
a Sunday in the newly refurbished church in Mikulov. The cost for the trip includes airfare,
housing, food, transportation, and some materials. Your donation will allow youth and young
adults who could otherwise not go on these trips to join the team.
Consider the Scripture when deciding on your Lenten
offering:
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was
thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me
in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I
was in prison and you came to visit me.' "The King will reply, 'I
tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of
mine, you did for me.”
You are invited to welcome in the Advent Season by attending a
Contemplative Prayer Retreat on Saturday, December 1 from 8:30 am to
4:00 pm at the Missionhurst Retreat Center in Arlington. We will
explore our Advent theme through scripture, prayer and silence for the
day.
...a homespun Mount Olivet service project first started 23 years ago.
Over the years the number of families we've been able to help has grown.
This year we have the opportunity to help 12 local families through
GRACE Ministries by providing food and gifts. You can contribute in many ways!
~ Give a Gift: Each
ornament on the Giving Tree represents a gift for
someone, everything from clothes to toys to housewares.
Choose an ornament, purchase the gift, tape the ornament tag to the
gift and return to church by Sunday, December 14th.
How Else Can You Help?
~ Contribute ~
Give a financial gift to the Advent Offering,
a part of which will go to to help our families.
~Volunteer ~
We need volunteers to wrap,
organize, sort gifts and help deliver to the families. We also
need a volunteer to coordinate the collection and delivery of furniture.
~Attend~
Come to the GRACE Ministries prayer service with the recipient families on
the afternoon of December 20th
~Pray ~
Join us in praying for these families this Advent Season.
Join your Mount Olivet family congregation for a delicious
Christmas Potluck Dinner. The church will supply turkey, ham, and dessert.
Please bring a salad or side dish to share, enough to feed 10-12 people.
To let us know you're coming for dinner, click here!
After dinner, you are invited to theChoral Candlelight Celebration concert in the sanctuary.
Alternative Gifts Fair
Sunday, December 2
Noon - 4:00 pm
Fellowship Hall
Empower thousands of impoverished lives with your purchases from artisans around the globe. Shop from a selection of hand-made crafts from Fair Trade artisans in South Amerca, Asia and other impoverished regions around the world.
There will be handicrafts, jewelry, pottery, woven bags, hand made cards and even knitware.
Help those in need with a donation in your loved one's name. Make a donation in a loved one's name to support those less fortunate both near and afar -- through Heifer Project International, GRACE Ministries, the Mount Olivet library and others.
Enjoy a light lunch or snack and support a local shelter. Lunch and snacks will be available throughout the Fair and proceeds will go directly to Doorways for Women and Families, an Arlington shelter for abused and homeless women and children.
Advent begins in just a few weeks. To make the many events of Advent happen, we need your help. Please sign up online to help with an Advent event of ministry area. Thank you for your gift of service.
ONLINE SIGNUP ALMOST READY....COME BACK SOON!
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