The Connection

“The reason CUMC’s mission is so successful is because everyone in our church is involved.” — Michelle Formica, Mission Director, Centreville United Methodist Church

Most churches are involved in various missions, and Centreville United Methodist Church (CUMC) is no exception. Describing the church’s congregation as “generous and mission-driven,” its mission director, Michelle Formica, recently discussed several of the church’s missions.

One of them is GRACE Ministries, an outreach program serving low-income, immigrant families in the local community. On the second Saturday of each month, they come to the church and receive food, clothing, diapers, household items, toys and children’s books.

“We serve 100-200 families a month – some 400-700 people,” said Formica. “It takes 80-100 volunteers, and we’re able to do it because of the community’s donations of both items and money. People learn about it through word-of-mouth, and we accept donations, Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., the week before the second Saturday.”

Then, the Friday before the big day, volunteers get up early and sort the donations, set up tables and rooms with items in various categories, such as food, toys, diapers, etc. At 6 a.m., they prepare a light breakfast for the families who’ll be attending.

Since 95 percent of Grace Ministries clients speak Spanish, the registration team checking in each family is bilingual and fluent in Spanish. And the children do crafts projects while their parents are registering.

Then, after the families have browsed around and chosen what they need, volunteers help distribute the items to them and bring them to their cars. “It’s like a yard sale, but free,” said Formica. The volunteers come from throughout the community and range from middle-school students through adults.

“Right now, we’re taking donations of fall and winter clothes,” said Formica. “And we especially need strollers because they go quickly. Many parents we help don’t have transportation and have to walk, instead. Grace Ministries is very successful; but without the donations from the church and community, we wouldn’t be able to serve people in need.”

CUMC also partners with Western Fairfax Christian Ministries (WFCM) to collect food each week for WFCM’s food pantry. “And we collected more than 200 backpacks for three local schools before school started in September,” said Formica.

“We’ll also partner with them to feed hungry families over the holidays,” she said. “We’ll provide 180 food baskets at Thanksgiving and 180 for Christmas. This program is run by our lead volunteer, Chris Granberg. Because of his leadership and passion, he gets more than 200 volunteers to package and deliver everything. And last year, he raised more than $26,000, just for those holidays, plus staple items to get the families through for a week.”

Each summer, a CUMC mission team of youth and adults travels to Sneedville, Tenn. It’s a small town in one of the poorest counties in the U.S., and the volunteers serve throughout the community, wherever help is needed. And for the holidays, they do angel trees to fulfill gift wishes for Sneedville children and nursing-home residents.

They do the same for Our Neighbor’s Child, which provides new toys and clothing for low-income families in the Centreville-Chantilly area. Meredith Smith is the volunteer lead, also overseeing CUMC’s angel-tree efforts for Leland House in Centreville. Leland House provides short-term intervention and stabilization for children, 12-17, who are in crisis and can’t remain in their homes or current residential settings.

“The reason CUMC’s mission is so successful is because everyone in our church is involved,” said Formica. “We also have a preschool, the Centreville Day School, that meets here, under Director Patricia Granberg. It participates in mission every month, collecting items for different mission programs throughout the year, including the Thanksgiving food baskets.”

In addition, said Formica, “Our children’s and youth ministries and United Methodist Women and Men — and all of our small groups — participate in mission, too, and that’s what brings our church together.”

ESL classes comprise another successful, local mission, with 100 students attending Tuesday and Thursday in the mornings and 100 in the evenings. Sessions run from September-December and January-April. Patricia Franck and Marvana Bennett are the lead volunteers who direct the classes, with help from volunteer teachers from both CUMC and the community.

“One of our largest local missions is UFO, You Feed Others,” said Formica. “It’s a weekend, backpack, meal program for Centre Ridge, Deer Park and Bull Run elementaries. We provide enough food to fill 900 backpacks. Each child receives two breakfasts, lunches and dinners, two snacks and a drink.”

But it wouldn’t be possible, she said, without the efforts of Jean Josefson, who spearheads it. She’s also a CUMC volunteer staff member and, under her guidance, a team delivers the food to the schools. “We also deliver to the children’s homes during spring break and summer vacations,” said Formica. “The spring deliveries are cool because we also deliver fresh produce and milk, along with other staple food items; it’s called UFO-XL.”

“The families are so humble and appreciative,” she continued. “And even though there’s sometimes a language barrier, you can tell how much it means to them and that they don’t take it for granted.”

Formica said many of CUMC’s volunteers have been working in mission programs for years. “They find their niche and their passion,” she said. “We also partner with FACETS to prepare and deliver hot meals to the homeless in Fairfax City. FACETS has three stops within the city, and we do it the third Tuesday of each month. We serve a hearty, beef-vegetable soup, cookies and a banana. Other churches do it, too, so different food is provided each day.”

CUMC also does international missions. It partners with Helping Haitian Angels, which helps a school in Haiti. “We supplied many books for their library and helped the efforts to build the school and keep it running,” said Formica. “Jeanne Furcron is our volunteer leader, and she and her volunteers do a great job of raising funds. We’re currently collecting notebooks and colored pencils for their Christmas totes.”

Pleased with the generous spirit of his congregation, CUMC lead pastor Will Montgomery said, “When I ask people what the church is known for, they say, ‘Missions.’ Some 70 percent of our volunteers go to this church or have attended here; another 30 percent come from the community.”

Anyone wishing to participate may contact Formica at mformica@centreville-umc.org or 703-830-2684 or come to worship services at 6400 Old Centreville Road, Sundays at 9:30 and 11 a.m.