Planned Giving
Leave a legacy of hope and healing through a planned or estate gift.
Find an Advance Project or MissionarySupport a missionary or project that matches your passion and interest.
[Body lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit nunc vulputate libero.]
Maria Chavalan Sut, a refugee fleeing violence in Guatemala, found sanctuary and was a beneficiary of a Mustard Seed Migration Grant at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Photo: Courtesy of Maria Chavalan Sut
UMCOR’s Mustard Seed Migration Grant program encourages U.S.-based United Methodist churches to engage in community-based ministries with migrants and refugees in their midst.
Tiny mustard seeds, as Jesus described in his parable, have the potential to grow into something big or pervasive that spreads throughout a field. By learning more about migrants in local communities and addressing their needs through these grants, we hope that the “seed” of welcoming strangers might be planted in new ways in United Methodist congregations around the country.
“Welcome the stranger” in your community with a grant of up to $2,000 for a new, one-time community-based service project and ministry focused on migrants and refugees. Applications will be reviewed and approved on a rolling basis within 30 days of submission.
Watch these videos to discover how participating churches across the country have used their Mustard Seed Migration Grants to care for vulnerable migrants and refugees in their communities.
In Bismarck, South Dakota, Legacy United Methodist Church is supporting Ukrainian refugees through shared meals and transportation assistance.
Emory Fellowship, a United Methodist congregation in Washington, D.C., hosted a free clothing shopping event for 100 migrant families at a local school.
A coalition of United Methodist churches in Albany, New York provided transportation to refugee families for employment, shopping and general transportation through their Bicycles for Refugees program.
Read Stories
of Impact
Learn how we provide support for migrants and refugees around the world.
McDowell County is one of the poorest in the U.S., and the communities of Anawalt, Leckie and Gary are some of the hardest hit by the current six-year water crisis. All have Methodist churches that are part of the Welch Charge.
To ease the burden of residents who have to purchase many gallons of drinking water weekly, the Welch Charge contacted the West Virginia Conference Disaster Response Coordinator, Jim McCune, for help. McCune’s United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) connection put him in touch with Global Ministries’ Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) program.
A WASH grant allowed them to obtain a 500-gallon “water buffalo.” The conference disaster response team arranged to fill the portable water buffalo from the Welch water system, the county seat of McDowell, and transport it to Gary, where residents have been supplied with refillable containers. Residents of all three towns can come to get water, and volunteers will also continue deliveries for those who need it. Meanwhile, residents, including church members, continue to advocate state and local officials for a permanent solution to their aging, compromised water infrastructure. Full Story
