NUMC Church & Society

Church & Society Upcoming Events
Don't Miss this Movie about Family Life Church and Society will screen A Better Life on February 27, from 7 to 9 PM in the Kendall Build-ing. From the director of About a Boy, A Better Life is a touching, poignant, multi-generational story about a father's love and the lengths to which a parent will go to give his child the opportunities he never had. This film is unique among Hollywood productions, as it is set in an Hispanic community and features an almost entirely Hispanic cast. Demian Birchir, who
Save the Date: Annual Bike-A-Thon at North Valley Caring Services- March 24
Recent Events
Children's Christmas Mart
A big thank you to all who participated in the Children's Christmas Mart through your gifts or service. All your work was very much appreciated by the children and parents. There were 290 children and 123 families participating. We had 35 volunteers from Northridge UMC, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. As soon as we have the photos available, we will post these on the website and in the Methodist. The next Children's Christmas Mart will be on December 15, 2012.
CROP Walk
Twenty-six walkers from NUMC assembled in Sherman Oaks on November 13 to walk in the 36th annual San Fernando Valley CROP Hunger Walk hosted by the Congregational Church of the Chimes. Preliminary reports indicate that NUMC collected at least $3,500 to be used here in the Valley and in areas around the world to assist in alleviating hunger and providing tools for hungry people to feed themselves and their families. Many thanks to the walkers and the generous donors for participating in a very successful effort to help the hungry!
Saturday Morning Breakfast/Sepulveda Rebuild Team
The recent Saturday Morning Breakfast program featuring Ivette Pineda, Executive Director of North Valley Caring Services, a non-profit organization working in the densely populated area of North Hills and focusing on the needs of low-income residents. The program was co-sponsored by Outreach Ministries. This marked the closing of a week spent working to improve North Valley Caring Services by the Sepulveda Rebuild Team, with volunteers from Northridge United Methodist Church, North Hollywood United Methodist Church, Knollwood UMC and Chatsworth UMC. You can see photos from the rebuild at these sites: Northridge United Methodist Church - Facebook page Northridge United Methodist Church - Shutterfly Photo page (you will be prompted to request access to this page) You can also find out more about North Valley by going to their website at http://www.nvcsinc.org/


Ballona Freshwater Marsh Tour
	See more pictures of this event on our Northridge United Methodist Church facebook page
Program on Tolerance and Religion with Azerbaijani Visitors
Our recent program, co-hosted by People to People International, with a discussion of religious tolerance featuring six visiting Azerbaijanis.	Rev. Steve Petty accepting a prayer rug from one of the guests from Azerbijian.

Azerbijian guests with Rev. Steve Petty,the translator and speaker Soraya Deen.	Our Azerbijian guests, their translator and hosts (including Frank and Freddie Lu McGinnis and Mike and Nancy Easterly).

Feast of Ashure celebration with members of the Pacifica Institute. This is an organization founded by the Turkish-American community to promote cross-cultural awareness. For more info on the organization, go to:http://www.pacificainstitute.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
	Christmas Tradition- The Children's Christmas Mart. A Big Thank You to all who participated in the Children’s Christmas Mart, sponsored by Church and Society on December 18, 2010. Despite the rain, 88 families and 202 children participated in the Christmas Mart. We had over 25 volunteers from NUMC, North Valley Caring Services, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Also, a big thank you to everyone who donated gifts and wrapping paper.
	Church and Society's recent Christmas Potluck.
CROP Walk a Success! Hunger Walk Twenty three walkers from NUMC assembled in Tarzana on November 7 to walk in the 35th annual San Fernando Valley CROP Walk hosted by St. Paul’s United Methodist Church. Preliminary reports indicate that NUMC collected about $3,500 to be used here in the Valley and in areas around the world to assist in alleviating hunger and providing tools for hungry people to feed themselves and their families. Many thanks to walkers. Thanks also to the many generous donors for participating in a very successful effort to help the hungry! more pictures

These are from our recent Beach Clean Up Day, which was co-sponsored with the Family Ministires Team, where we volunteered through Heal the Bay. A group of 29 attendees participated in this event at Will Rogers State Beach. If you are interested in attending one of Heal the Bay's future monthly beach clean-ups, go to http://www.healthebay.org/volunteer/htbcleanup/default.asp


Recent discussion of Fair Elections (public fianancing of elections).	Church and Society's recent trip to see the Cesar Chavez Memorial in San Fernando.

The Mission of the Church and Society team is to “Live our faith and to seek justice by promoting awareness of social concerns, ”

The Purpose of the team is to work, in accordance with the Book of Discipline, on issues of “peace and world order, human relations, political and economic affairs and health and general welfare.” The team often works with other members of the church and community on local social action projects. In this way, we follow the NUMC mission statement “to extend the hospitality of Christ to the San Fernando Valley” through participating in projects such as the Christmas Mart and CROP Walk. The team also informs the congregation of pertinent issues through movies, books, speakers and special events.

The Structure of the team is consistent with other such committees within the local UMC. The chair of the team is nominated by the Leadership Development Team, with consent of the Pastor and concurrence of the Church Council. The members of the Church and Society team confirm this appointment by open vote. The members of the team consist of the Chair, members responsible for various events and concerns and members who express an interest in the objectives of the committee.

The opinions expressed on various issues by Church and Society are the views of that committee and do not necessarily represent the position of the Northridge United Methodist Church.

Contact NUMC Church and Society