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.”
Led by Pastor Tim, this lunchtime Bible study examines a book of the Bible one verse at a time. Bring your lunch and Bible and join us!
Young Adult Faith Group
Wednesdays at 7:30 pm.
Ongoing.
Led by Wesley Theological Seminary intern Stephanie Kimec. Contact Stephanie to see where the group will be meeting. Dinner begins at 7:30 pm with study to follow. Come join us!
Prayer Retreat
Prayer Retreat
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.
Disciple Bible Study is a series of structured classes that foster the reading of the Bible while emphasizing how to understand and apply its lessons. Each class is about 12-14 persons. Disciple is an intensive experience that helps one become a more committed disciple of Christ.
Current Disciple Classes:
Disciple I
Disciple I is a twenty-nine week overview of the entire Bible. The class meets on Wednesday mornings from 9:30-11:00 am and is led by Kevin Havens.
Lenten Retreat
WAITING IN STILLNESS FOR THE LIGHT
A Lenten Contemplative Retreat
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Missionhurst Retreat Center, Arlington, VA.
You are invited to set aside Saturday, March 3rd from the usual errands and chores to take time for your relationship with God. Mount Olivet’s Lenten theme is – Waiting for the Light. We will wait for the Light in prayer, stillness, listening and openness to God.
For many of us, contemplation and the practice of silence has not played a central part in our spiritual life, particularly compared to the emphasis on living out our faith through actions. Yet scripture tell us that Jesus often retreated to a quiet place to pray. He brought his disciples away from the crowds for rest and renewal. Jesus has set an example for us to follow. The Psalmist tells us to “Be still, and know that I am God”. (Psalm 46). We too need to come away from our work and usual daily lives for rest and spiritual renewal. Silence, seldom possible for many of us in our daily routines, is part of the contemplative retreat. Silence is the clearing of the noises that surround us and invade our daily lives. A retreat of silence and prayer allows us to be free from daily expectations and responsibilities and turn our attention and awareness to God.
Bruce Lugn and Rozanne Oliver will lead the retreat. During the day, there will be several opportunities for contemplative prayer, reflection, journaling, and walking. We will follow a Christian contemplative retreat tradition of silence for most of the day.
Missionhurst rests on 11 acres of wooded area and meadowland at 4651 25th Street N in Arlington. It is located off Old Dominion Dr. near the Arlington campus of Marymount University. The property also includes a comfortable sitting chapel, conference/meeting room, and a cottage. There is ample space for quiet, alone moments and community gatherings.
The retreat begins at 8:30 am with light refreshments. Mount Olivet members will provide a simple lunch. The retreat will end at 3:00 with a worship and communion gathering. The cost of the Retreat is $26. The maximum number of retreatants is 18.
You won’t want to miss “Honoring the Legacy,” a concert to be presented at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, March 12, as the last Lenten Evening event.
This unique program was created
to preserve the spiritual as an art form. The music is
interwoven with narrations that reflect the historical
and contemporary contribution the spiritual has made to American music and complemented with
African-American poetry.
The concert will feature noted contralto, Juanita Wallace Jackson, who has performed as a solosit in venues around the United States.
The concert is appropriate for all ages. Nursery care will be available for children age five
and under. Please come join us after the Lenten Supper on Wednesday, March 12!
Adults can chose from several studies . . .
February 13, 20, 27 and March 5
7:00 - 8:15 pm
The United Methodist Way
This class will focus on understanding who we are as United Methodists and on issues and challenges hatwill be explored at the United methodist General Conference this april. The General Conference is the legislative body of the UMC and is composed of an equal number of lay and clergy delegates. It meets every four years and is the only body that can speak officially for the denomination. The first speaker is our former Wesley Seminary intern Deborah Westbrook speaking about "Who We Are as United Methodists."
Christianity has a long and rich history of contemplative prayer. You are invited to deepen and enrich your prayer life by learning and practicing different prayer forms, including lectio divina, healing prayer, centering prayer, breath prayer, and sound and silence.
This class will use Matthew Sleeth's book, Serve God, Save the Planet , which calls Chrisitans to care for God's creation. Class members will consider Sleeth's book in light of scripture and spiritual disciplines. All are invited - from committed environmentalists to skeptics!
If you have always wanted to sign, but have been relunctant to commit for an entire 10-month season, consider this short term commitment and the rewards of singing. We meet in the choir loft each Wednesday from 7:15 - 9:00 pm. (March 12 at 8:00 pm after the concert.) NEW SINGERS INVITED!
Colliding with Christ (An Encounter with God for Youth)
Led by Andrew Book
Every year as we approach Easter, we hear about people who met with Jesus after he rose from the grave, but sometimes those stories can leave us wondering why we don’t experience Christ in our lives. However, we do not have to live with Jesus simply being a figure on the pages of the Bible—we can encounter him today! In the four sessions of Colliding with Christ we will dive into practices that men and women in the church have used to encounter God such as lectio divina, meditation and others so that each one of us can collide with Christ in a real way. Warning: Meeting with God can change your life, so be prepared! All youth are welcome.
We have special activities for children, too . . .
Cherub and Junior
Choirs
6:30 - 7:00 pm
All children in grades K through 5 are invited.
Youth Missions Play
Our 2010 missions play
Arsenic and Old Lace
raised about $20,000 with your generous support. We thank you!
Previous Plays
Youth mission plays are a yearly highlight. They raise money for
summer mission trips and
give us a chance to have fun together while working on our acting
skills!
The Real Inspector Hound - 2009
Charley's Aunt - 2007
Mount Olivet Foundation
The Mount Olivet Foundation is a small, Methodist foundation constituted to aid persons in need and assist youth in meeting educational needs.
Click Here for more information about the Mount Olivet Foundation
2008 Lenten Offering
The Lenten Offering is an annual tradition at Mount Olivet enabling us to extend our ministries from our own community to around the world. This year, the Lenten Offering will be shared by AlterNatives/Highland Project, Heifer Project International, Doorways for Women and Families, the Friends in Need Fund, and the Sierra Leone Theological College.
...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.
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