Ministries and Programs

At Mayflower we believe that we have a responsibility to take care of our own, and an equal responsibility to take care of those whom we do not know, but whom Christ loved. To that end, we have a number of ministries which focus on both the needs of our own members, and those who need ministry beyond the walls of the church.

363 GROUP

Most churches are only interested in the poor and homeless on Thanksgiving and Christmas. We are there the other 363 days of the year.

WHO WE ARE

There are currently about 100 individuals who have signed up to be on our contact list. We usually have about 30-35 volunteers who come to serve the poor and homeless on the Saturdays we serve a meal. Many others in the Congregation and community support the efforts of our group in various ways.

WHAT WE DO

We serve lunch at 11:30 a.m. every other Saturday at the Homeless Alliance facility located at NW 3rd St and Virginia (Virginia is one block east of Pennsylvania). Currently we are preparing food for about 250 servings. Many of our friends who come to lunch are either homeless, displaced or living in temporary shelters downtown. Some have places to live but enjoy coming and having a good meal on a Saturday. We provide a meal, some smiling faces, new socks, underwear, personal items, and sometimes a blanket, backpack, T-shirt, or a pair of jeans. At Christmas we provide something special with warmth in mind, such as sweatshirts, hats, socks and gloves. We meet on the 1st Wednesday of every month at 6:00 p.m. in the church parlor to plan our meals and discuss issues.

WHAT WE NEED

We always appreciate monetary contributions (checks can be made out to Mayflower Congregational Church with 363 Group in the memo line). Many of our food items are provided by our volunteers, but we do purchase some items and we spend a significant amount of money on personal items, socks, underwear, etc.

We always welcome new members. If you are interested in participating in 363 please fill out the form below and we'll be in touch soon.

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Or send an email to Steve Newell.

Benevolence Board

When it comes to doing ministry on behalf of the less fortunate, Mayflower has developed a unique and highly successful means of distributing money to the best charitable organizations both locally, nationally, and internationally. A Benevolence Board comprised of nine members oversees the distribution of tens of thousands of dollars for benevolence purposes. In the most recent calendar year, Mayflower distributed nearly $70,000 to help the poor, support church missions, and provide emergency assistance to individuals in crisis.

Members are allowed to designate a portion of their church pledge for benevolence purposes, and that money is set aside, and protected--to be spent exclusively for benevolence purposes. What we have discovered is that people give more money for such purposes when they know that the money cannot be spent for other purposes. The congregation then receives a full accounting of the way in which their benevolence funds are spent.

Twenty percent of our funds go to the benevolence projects of the Kansas/Oklahoma Conference of the United Church of Christ, and the remaining eighty percent is used for charitable contributions, and for discretionary spending based on priority needs. When Oklahoma City experienced the worst act of domestic terrorism in US history (the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in 1995), the Benevolence Board received funds from all over the country, which were expended on behalf of victims and victims' families. When the most destructive tornado in US history struck the city in May of 1999, the Benevolence Board again coordinated the expenditure of money which came from churches and individuals all over the country.

The Benevolence Board and its manner of operation is at the heart of what Mayflower believes the church should be all about. Instead of building a larger edifice with the fruits of our success, Mayflower has made a conscious decision to spend more and more of its money helping the poor. Operating from a debt-free facility, our growth in membership has made it possible to increase benevolence spending from a little over $6,000 in 1985 to nearly $70,000 in 1999. Our ultimate objective is to spend at least 25% of our total operating budget for benevolence purposes. This, we think, is the model for the church in the new millennium.

To apply for a grant please complete and submit the online application.

Care Team

As a form of ministry to our own, Mayflower has formed a Care Team made up of a group of lay persons who have received considerable training in the art of pastoral care. These individuals, using strict rules of confidentiality, provide ministry appropriate to the context in which a member of the church experiences a need, and indicates that the help of the Care Team is desired. These dedicated "under shepherds" work together with the minister to extend the reach of the church in those situations when pastoral care is needed--whether it's a job change, a personal crisis, a death in the family, or circumstances which call for a concerned, empathic presence.

The Mayflower Care Team provides pastoral care/ ministry to members who need a caring presence and support during difficult times or celebration opportunities.

If you or a family member is facing surgery, illness, crisis, or any other life situation and you would like a contact from the Care Team, simply call the church office at 842-8897, to request the blessing of our outreach ministry.

Counseling and Psychotherapy

Mayflower also works closely with a group of psychotherapists whose work integrates an appropriate spiritual dimension with the most effective therapeutic techniques. Members can be referred to counseling after meeting with the minister, and the congregation works in partnership with professional counselors to ensure that people get the help they need.

Mayflower also arranges for pastoral counseling and psychotherapy for those who cannot afford to pay standard fees for such services. Through the help and generosity of therapists who are members of the church, we offer this service as a ministry to our own.

Educational Scholarships

Mayflower has established two scholarship funds, the Bridget Brewer Memorial Fund and the Richard Barnum Memorial Fund - both for the purpose of helping someone in the church, or outside it, attend the college of their choice. Three individuals are currently receiving these funds and furthering their education with the help of money donated for this purpose as a way of remembering individuals whose death was untimely but whose memory lives on in the life-changing experience of education.

Education & Youth

Mayflower's approach to education and youth programs is gentle and non-fundamentalist, operating on the principle that we are all instinctively spiritual. In this spirit, we invite and encourage a diversity of thoughts, ideas, and programs.

Sunday school for children & youth

Sunday school for two-year-olds through seniors in high school takes place during the 11:00 a.m. service. Childcare is provided for infants through two-year-olds. Parents with children ages two and above are asked to bring their children to worship services where they participate briefly in services before Dr. Meyers dismisses them to classes.

Adult classes / early service / child care

Adult classes for college-age and above take place on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. Childcare for infants, 2-year-olds and a limited number of older children is provided at the 9:00 a.m. service (which meets the Sunday after Labor Day through the Sunday before Memorial Day) and during the 10:00 a.m. adult Sunday School hour.

When your child is crying

Parents with young children: For your convenience our Nursery/Cry Room is wired for sound. If you're in the Sanctuary and your child is crying, please take them to the Cry Room where you may continue to listen to services and care for your child.

For Nursing Mothers

Nursing mothers: If you wish to nurse your child somewhere other than the Sanctuary, we provide a “comfort corner” in the Nursery, where you may nurse your child and continue to listen to services. A curtain is also available for those who prefer more privacy.

Fellowship Dinners

One of the ways that new members get acquainted with established members in this rapidly growing congregation is to participate in a program called Fellowship Dinners. Individuals and couples sign up to be randomly assigned to eat a casual dinner in the home of another member, or to host such a gathering. The host provides the table and the drinks, while someone else brings a main dish. Another individual or couple brings the salad, and someone provided the dessert. It's easy, and it's fun, and it allows members to visit one another in their homes and get better acquainted on a monthly basis.

These dinners have become a very popular way to meet people in small groups. After spending the evening this way, you will come away feeling as if you really know these people and you will feel more at home each time.

If you would care to "sample a dinner" you can e-mail Jon Trushenski, or call the church office 405-842-8897, and you will be assigned to a group that month. The lists are prepared about every 4 months, so if you like it, let us know, and you will be added to the next list when it is issued.

Please consider giving yourself the gift of 2 or 3 hours a month for making new friends and giving Mayflower the gift of getting to know you. You will not be sorry.

Thank You
Jon Trushenski, Coordinator

Whiz Kids 2010-2011

AFTER SCHOOL READING TUTORING at CROWN HEIGHTS UMC – 1021 NW 37th Street

WHO WE ARE:

Volunteer tutors from Mayflower Congregational Church and Crown Heights United Methodist Church tutoring students from Putnam Heights Elementary School.

WHAT WE DO:

We provide one-on-one reading tutoring and mentoring for Putnam Heights Elementary school students who have been identified as reading below grade level and are in need of a positive, stable influence in their often chaotic lives. These students live in an area with one of the highest dropout rates in Oklahoma City.

Each Thursday our Whiz Kids Team provides:

• A healthy after-school meal
• One hour of reading tutoring
• A 15 minute “Club Time” lesson with moral and spiritual principles

WHERE WE TUTOR:

Crown Heights UMC, 1021 NW 37th Street, OKC

No Teaching Experience Necessary. Training and Books Provided.

Our Whiz Kids Team meets on Thursdays after school. Volunteer tutors pick the students up from Putnam Heights Elementary at 2:50, take them to Crown Heights UMC, and after Whiz Kids, take the students home by 5:00.

Our tutors receive on-going training, feedback, and student progress reports from our on-site Teacher Facilitator who is also the Putnam Heights Reading Specialist.

Change lives, one student at a time, with Whiz Kids reading tutoring and mentoring.

For more information contact one of the Mayflower Whiz Kids Coordinators:

Nancy Musselman
Jana Hayes

Mayflower Medical Outreach

Mayflower's Medical Outreach project focuses on a continuing medical mission to Nicaragua. After several medical mission trips, doctors, nurses, and other non-medical members of the congregation decided to establish a permanent ear/nose/throat clinic in the small mountain town of Jinotega.

In an ambitious project spanning five years, MMO has led health care providers and lay personnel from across the nation to build and maintain a clinic to serve the medical needs of the people from the second-poorest country in the Western hemisphere. The ultimate objective is to turn the clinic over to Nicaraguan doctors who will staff it permanently, allowing Mayflower delegations to continue to visit and assist them in their work.

Otolaryngology in Nicaragua

Mayflower Medical Outreach supports a wide variety of programs in Nicaragua. Several times each year a team of otolaryngologists and nurses travel to the mountain town of Jinotega, Nicaragua to examine patients and perform needed surgeries. All of this is done in conjunction with the broader effort that includes construction and women's health care.

Summer trips focus on otology and pediatric otolaryngology, but general otolaryngologists and residents are welcome. During these trips practicing otolaryngologists and residents from Nicaragua also join us and learn surgical procedures. Their participation not only increases the manpower in the clinic, but also provides them with an excellent training opportunity. In addition, we currently support the full salary of Dr. Ernesto Moreno, who provides year-round otolaryngological services at Victoria Hospital in Jinotega and helps to triage consults and surgeries prior to our annual visits.

The Lenin Fonseca Hospital in Managua is another MMO project with at least one trip each year dedicated to improving otolaryngology at this facility. Lenin Fonseca hospital is the site of resident specialty education and is the main tertiary referral center for otolaryngology.

In Managua our efforts are mainly focused on physician and resident education. This includes staffing clinics, teaching surgical techniques, providing temporal bone dissection labs, and performing more difficult skull-base surgeries.

Last but not least, we recognize that training is of little value if the physician does not have the necessary tools and equipment. MMO constantly seeks used equipment and discarded supplies to be used at either Victoria or Lenin Fonseca Hospitals. Smaller items are hand carried with each trip and larger items, such as microscopes, are sent via shipping container. These equipment donations and MMO's training programs have had a dramatic effect on the state of otolaryngology in Nicaragua, but there is still much work to be done.

For information on how you can help please contact Mark Falk

Mobile Meals Program

Mayflower Church also runs a Mobile Meals program, delivering hot meals every Saturday to both members and non-members of the church who need this service. Volunteers deliver the meals, under the direction of Kristin Harris, who runs the program, cooks, and coordinates the delivery.
For the past fourteen years, Mayflower church has been an integral part of supplying hot meals to homebound elderly of Oklahoma City. "Mobile Meals" is a project of Oklahoma City area churches, Eldercare Access Center, Inc., and the Areawide Aging Agency. Its goal is to provide supplemental dietary care to frail elderly, by providing them a well balanced meal once a day, as many days as possible.

Every Saturday morning at Mayflower, a hot, home-cooked lunch is prepared for approximately 20-24 clients. Volunteers from our church buy, prepare, and deliver the meals. The funds are provided through the Benevolence giving of Mayflower members, and a small voluntary donation from the clients. Over thirty volunteers graciously donate their time each week to bring this all together. Because of Mayflower and other area churches, many older persons are able to maintain a safe, independent lifestyle in their own home.

The Plymouth Guild began many years ago as the principal women's organization at Mayflower. The Guild now welcomes all members and friends of the church to attend its programs and participate in its activities. Plymouth Guild has raised thousands of dollars over the years for benevolence giving in the metropolitan area and to support the work of Mayflower Congregational UCC Church and its congregation. For instance, the Guild is responsible for stocking and maintaining the church kitchen and for purchasing hymnals and pew Bibles, among other things.

Interesting and informative programs are presented the second Tuesday of each month, September through May, at 9:30 a.m. in Milligan Hall with light refreshments. Business matters are also considered at this time. For those who cannot attend a meeting in the morning, the Martha Circle of Plymouth Guild meets the first Tuesday of each month, September through May, at 6:30 p.m. at the church. This group shares a pot-luck supper and gathers mainly for fun and fellowship.

Call the church office, 842-8897, for more information about The Plymough Guild or its meetings.

Mayflower Sponsoring Committee

In 2007 Mayflower became a founding member of the Oklahoma Sponsoring Committee: a coalition of 25 congregations and non-profit groups that have come together out of a deep sense of mission and concern for the pressures faced by families in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. We're working to better understand those pressures by asking our own members to talk about the experiences of their families in the community.

To learn more visit www.oksponsoring.org

Melodie Garneau Glenda Stansbury Karen Spradlin Barbara Williams Laurie Morris Stephanie Tellen

Jim Bates Cindy Braun Debby Senior Tami Elder Lynn Barnett Jennifer Seal

Health & Wellness Ministry

One of the hot topics of our time is health care. Our present health care system leaves many without the care and/or information that they need regarding health. As a part of Mayflower Congregational UCC’s ministry to our congregation and our community, a group of us are meeting to form a program for the Health and Wellness Ministry.

THE MISSION

The Health and Wellness Ministry strives to promote the health and wellness in the congregation and the community.

GOALS:

• Raise awareness of, and encourage involvement in, our ministry among the Church Members and the community.
• Focus on providing information about preventive medicine.
• Provide information about medical resources in our community for those who are unable to pay for them.
• Provide continuing education on how people can manage chronic diseases (diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and strokes).
• Provide information and forms for Living Wills and Medical Durable Powers of Attorney.
• Education about nutrition and exercise needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
• Education about managing life’s stress.

Despite the fact that this ministry is still in the early development stages, it is rappidly becoming on e of the most visible ministries in the church. Anyone interested in the health of the church and it's members is invited to join us. We meet in the church library immediately following the 11:00am service on the third Sunday of each month. The Health & Wellness Ministry Chairman is Susie Harmon.