Outreach Programs
If you have a heart inclined to outreach ministries, we have a place for you! Ebenezer participates in many ongoing outreach projects, both near-to-home and abroad. We are also involved in many seasonal and one-time projects throughout the year. We invite you to look over our projects, jump in to participate, and feel free to suggest new projects.
This is how we grow as disciples: by being the hands and feet of Christ to meet needs and expand God’s kingdom here in West Knoxville. Below you will find a list of some of current outreach projects. This is just a partial listing, as we are always expanding our horizons.
Magnolia Avenue Food Pantry – We have partnered with Magnolia Avenue United Methodist Church to operate a food pantry out of their facilities in downtown Knoxville. The food pantry is open one Monday a month during the time that Magnolia Avenue EUMC offers a free meal and clothing closet to the needy in their community. Ebenezer volunteers help stock the shelves, make up food bags to give out, and interact with food recipients.
Water Angels Ministries – Ebenezer provides a worship service, music ministry, and meal for a downtown church that serves the homeless. We “adopt” the service up to 4 times a year, and everyone participates in whatever way they can on that particular Sunday. Many member families participate together.
Four times a year, Ebenezer UMC opens its facilities for a week at a time to serve as temporary housing for homeless and displaced families. Volunteers are needed to help welcome our guests by cooking meals, spend time with them in the evenings, and stay overnight. We also participate in the Family Promise Pasta and Bluegrass fund-raising event every year.
Every year, Ebenezer UMC participates with the 900+ other congregations in the Holston Conference to send much-needed supplies to those in need in other parts of the world. In 2015 we put together backpacks filled with school supplies for children in Zimbabwe. The backpacks went to Annual Conference to be added to other items collected; then they traveled to Zimbabwe.
This is for the purpose of sharing the gospel in a tangible way and developing lasting relationships between the community and the church. In addition to reaching children in poverty, the program works with area youth to develop them as leaders in the church. Youth are provided leadership and childcare training and serve as assistant counselors.
The mission for the Give Hope Campaign is to spread awareness about hunger, give people the opportunity to make a difference, and together feed hungry people around the world. There are millions of people dying every day because they do not have enough to eat. This is happening not only over seas, but right here in America.
The Angel Tree program is to get new toys and clothing into the hands of needy children during the holiday season. Ebenezer’s Angel Tree not only benefits inner-city children, but also some low-income elderly people in our community.
Each month our adult friends with autism and their caregivers come to Ebenezer for a worship service on a weekday morning. After worship our friends, their caregivers, our pastors and volunteers from the church participate in dancing or games, crafts, and cap off our time with lunch together. In addition to our monthly gatherings, a team of runners participates in the annual Run for Autism that’s held every Spring.
We love the opportunity to bless our neighbors in Morgan and Scott Counties at Christmas by providing gifts for the Christmas store that’s operated by the Morgan Scott Project for Cooperative Christian Concerns. Parents visit the store to select one “big” gift and one “small” gift for their children, as well as some stocking stuffers. We have provided gifts for middle and high school youth in the past, and look forward to continuing this wonderful ministry.
Our annual Santa breakfast provides a morning of free holiday fun for families in our church and in the community. Join us for breakfast, story-telling, crafts, and an opportunity to meet and have photos taken with Santa. This event is free; everyone is invited.
We celebrate the arrival of Spring each year with a free festival on the church grounds. We have a petting zoo, games, crafts for the kids, live music, prize drawings and lots of fun. All the activities at this event are free, and we have a variety of food trucks on hand to offer items for purchase.
Each Fall we invite our neighbors to celebrate Autumn with a free fall festival on the church grounds. We provide inflatables, hayrides, games, music, crafts for the kids, and lots of other fun. All the activities at this event are free, and we have a variety of food trucks on hand to offer items for purchase.