Each year, churches in the Minnesota Annual Conference take a Love Offering for missions in conjunction with our Annual Conference Session.
The theme of the 2023 Annual Conference— which took place May 31-June 1—was “Encounter. Transform. Respond. The Emmaus Experience.”
Bishop Lanette Plambeck invited congregations to pray about and participate in the Love Offering as an expression of our gratitude for God’s blessings in our lives. Our Love Offering this year will tangibly share God’s extravagant love with a hurting world by addressing the growing mental health needs in Minnesota.
Sixty percent of the Love Offering will fund a new grant that will support churches that have partnerships with mental health services offered in local schools or communities.
Thirty percent of the Love Offering will go to three Minnesota nonprofits engaged in mental health education and advocacy: Mental Health Connect, Mental Health Minnesota, and Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health.
Finally, 10 percent of the Love Offering each year goes to Volunteers in Mission scholarships, which support first-time mission trip participants.
At our Annual Conference, we collected $40,001.30 for our Love Offering. Donations can continue to be made to the Love Offering throughout 2023.
If you wish to donate by check, send a check to Minnesota UMC, 122 W. Franklin Ave., Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55404. Be sure to put "Love Offering" in the memo line.
You can use these free materials as you promote the Love Offering in your congregation.
Letter from Bishop Lanette
PowerPoint
Social media graphics
Bulletin insert: color / black and white
Promotional video
60 percent of the 2023 Love Offering
Your gift to the 2023 Love Offering will help our churches offer mental health support to their communities. Congregations receiving funds from this grant will begin or expand a partnership with a local school, food shelf, meal program, shelter, or other entity that provides mental health services to community members. Churches could also become a member of a local National Alliance on Mental Illness organization and host meetings and educational events.
This grant will be coordinated by the Minnesota Conference’s Mission Promotion Team. Funds will be distributed beginning in Summer 2023. Grant funds will be seed money for new programs or expansions of existing programs.
10 percent of the 2023 Love Offering
Mental Health Connect is a collaborative of faith-based communities working together to support community-based resources, provide support and education, improve access to mental health services, and connect individuals and families with the services they need. There are now 30 faith communities in the collaborative.
10 percent of the 2023 Love Offering
Mental Health Minnesota was founded in 1939 as the state’s first mental health advocacy and education organization. This non-partisan organization is an affiliate of Mental Health America. Its mission is to advance mental health and well-being for all, increase access to mental health treatment and services, and provide education, resources, and support across Minnesota.
10 percent of the 2023 Love Offering
The Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health (MACMH) provides education and resources to professionals, families, and youth throughout Minnesota and beyond. Founded in 1989, MACMH aims to promote positive mental health for all infants, children, adolescents, and their families. Among other things, it offers guidebooks for teachers and free mental health fact sheets.
Volunteers in Mission (VIM) ScholarshipsRecipient of 10 percent of 2023 Love Offering
United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (VIM) participants of every age serve in all 50 states and more than 100 countries. Most teams from Minnesota spend up to two weeks working on hands-on projects in construction, disaster response, teaching, health care, and packing supplies for overseas shipment.
Team members pay their own way, and every year, 10 percent of the Love Offering goes to help offset the cost for first-time participants. Scholarships awarded range from $100-$400 per application.
In addition to the Love Offering, congregations can collect supplies and make any kits requested on either the Midwest Mission Distribution Center (MMDC) or United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) websites. MMDC is also requesting folding walkers, crutches, canes, wheelchairs, knee scooters, sewing machines (electric in good condition or treadle) and gently used/new non-electric tools (i.e. rakes, brooms, and shovels).
There will be a truck at Annual Conference on May 31 and June 1 ready to be filled with donations. It is helpful if supplies and kits are boxed up with the donating church’s name and address marked, as well as whether the box should go to MMDC or UMCOR.
Questions: Contact Rev. Lyndy Zabel lyndy.zabel@minnesotaumc.org / (952) 465-2140
Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church
122 West Franklin Avenue, Suite 400 Minneapolis, MN 55404
(612) 870-0058