Local Outreach
Feeding Ministries
Centreville UMC is active and engaged in caring for the needs of those in the local community. We offer prepared food for the unhoused through the Hot Meals, Teens Opposing Poverty, and New Hope Fellowship ministries. Groceries are provided through the Centreville library distribution, GRACE Ministries, Holiday Food Baskets, and non-perishable food collection ministries. Children at local schools are provided weekend food bags through the U Feed Others program.
CLICK HERE to learn more about these feeding ministries.
Immigrant and Refugee Ministries
English as a Second Language teaches adult students how to read, write and communicate in the English language. All nationalities are welcome. Classes are offered on Tuesday and Thursday mornings or evenings. We offer 2 semesters of classes. Fall classes run September-December and Winter classes run January-April. CLICK HERE to learn more about our ESL program.
Refugee Support Ministries
CUMC continues ongoing efforts to support refugees from Afghanistan, Ukraine, and other areas. We provide food, clothing, furniture, and other essentials as needs come to our attention. Volunteers are needed to collect and deliver supplies to refugee families, as the needs arise. If you would like to help with refugee support, contact Phil Mohr at pmohr@centreville-umc.org.
Homeless Ministries
The Hot Meals program is a consortium of many area churches to provide no-barrier food distribution that offers a nutritious meal every night, 365 days of the year. Hot Meals is open to all in need. On the third Tuesday of each month CUMC provides a hot dinner meal for over 100 unhoused men, women and children living in local motels and on the street. The cooking team prepares and packages the meal between 2:00 – 5:00 PM. The delivery team takes the meal to parking lots along Rt 29 in Fairfax where families experiencing homelessness can come to receive a healthy and warm dinner.
CLICK HERE for more details about Hot Meals.
CUMC Youth can serve the homeless in DC through Teens Opposing Poverty. Youth prepare, package and distribute food and talk with homeless people through TOP’s street ministry. Our TOP team goes out on Sunday afternoons once a month throughout the school year, typically on the first Sunday of each month.
For more information, click HERE to visit our Youth Missions Page or contact Sean Gray at sgray@centreville-umc.org
NEW HOPE Fellowship Church is a Fairfax congregation mostly comprised of unhoused persons. Senior Pastor Windy Walton is quick to point out that New Hope is not a homeless church. "We are a loving ministry that welcomes everyone regardless of their circumstances." New Hope strives to meet everyone's needs where they are by speaking to the whole person, mind, body, and spirit. They also provide transportation, meals, clothing, shelter, and access to resources through several ministerial partners.
CUMC supports New Hope Fellowship by providing lunch, toiletries, and necessities throughout the year, most often on a monthly basis. Upcoming dates for CUMC to provide these items for New Hope Fellowship are September 25, October 23, and December 25. Volunteers are needed to provide necessary items and to serve the meals. We also support New Hope Fellowship Church by providing gifts as part of our Angel Tree at Christmas.
For more information, contact Dick Formica at rp4mica@gmail.com
Hypothermia Shelter
The Hypothermia Prevention Response Program provides a warm place to stay on cold winter nights during the winter months. Churches open their doors to host the shelter and provide all the food, supplies and people to run the shelter each night. Centreville UMC partners with St. Stephen’s UMC in Burke, VA to host the shelter one week each winter.
If you would like to participate in Hypothermia Shelter opportunities, contact Phil Mohr at pmohr@centreville-umc.org.
The Lamb Center is a daytime drop-in shelter for individuals who are experiencing homelessness in Fairfax, Virginia.
Centre Ridge Elementary School Partnership
Centre Ridge Elementary is a school located less than a mile from our church, and more than 50% of its students are considered to be living in poverty. We support this school in a variety of ways, such as providing them with U Feed Others (UFOs) weekend food bags and back to school backpacks. In 2019, we began a mentoring partnership with Centre Ridge. Mentoring was paused during the pandemic, but was restarted in the 2022-2023 school year.
The greatest need for these students is for caring adults who are willing to serve as a mentor. This is simply an adult who will give 30 minutes once a week throughout the school year to sit with their student and ask how they are doing. Not to teach or tutor, just to listen and love. As their neighbor, it is our joy to be able to serve these students with the love of Christ. Prayerfully consider serving as one of our mentors. This small time commitment could make a significant impact on the life of a student.
If you would like to become a mentor for a Centre Ridge student, contact Phil Mohr at pmohr@centreville-umc.org.
Other Local Ministries We Support
Western Fairfax Christian Ministries (WFCM) is a local organization providing food and financial support to those at risk of hunger and homelessness. Centreville UMC was one of the twelve founding churches of WFCM in 1987, when we identified a need for services in our community. 35 years later, our partnership with WFCM remains strong. We continue to support the work of WFCM financially and through material support. In addition, we work closely together to meet the needs in our community, seeking to provide for basic needs and to offer hope and pathways out of poverty.
The Brain Foundation provides affordable housing for those suffering from serious and persistent brain diseases such as schizophrenia and bi-polar disorders and who are homeless or vulnerable to becoming homeless. CUMC member, Trudy Harsh, founded the Brain Foundation in 2003. Trudy was driven to establish the Brain Foundation based on her experience with her daughter, Laura who suffered a brain tumor when she was 8 years old and the resulting surgery left her stunted emotionally and physically. In October 2006, the Virginia Housing Development Authority awarded the Brain Foundation a loan to purchase its first home in Fairfax City, Virginia. Since then, the Brain Foundation has bought 8 houses located in Fairfax County and Fairfax City, VA for a total of 9 houses.
Our Local Mission Partners
There are many organizations who work with us to meet the needs of our local community. Here are some of our regular strong partners:
- Korean UMC of Koinonia: KUMCK is our sister congregation who shares our facility, and we work together in many of our mission outreach efforts.
- Capital Area Food Bank: We are a long-time partner ministry of CAFB, and over the years we have received hundreds of thousands of pounds of purchased and donated foods from CAFB for use in our food distribution ministries.
- Northern Virginia Food Rescue: NOVA Food Rescue regularly provides perishable foods to us for our food distributions.
- The International Mayan League: The Mayan league partners with us in our food distribution efforts as we seek to meet the needs of the indigenous and immigrant communities in our area.
- The Church of the Latter Day Saints, Centreville Stake: The LDS church partners with us to provide needed toiletry and household pantry items for our monthly food distributions.
- Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax: UUCF conducts regular periodic food drives in support of our food distribution ministries.
- Gracing Spaces Furniture Ministry: Gracing Spaces, a ministry of Lord of Life Lutheran Church, provides furniture, clothing and household basics for our clients in need.
- Panera Bread Company: The Panera Bread Company store in Clifton, VA provides us with their excess breads and bakery products weekly for use in our food distributions.
- Supermarket Fiesta: The Supermarket Fiesta in Manassas, VA provides fresh milk and eggs each month for our GRACE Ministry distributions.
