How We SERVE

SERVE fulfills Christ' s mandate to love one another, help those in need, and make new disciples. We believe our faith must be accompanied by our actions. Working together, we can make an impact and truly build bridges in our community by sharing the love of Jesus Christ. 

we serve through:

  • Missions - giving our time, skills, and money to others
  • Service - working alongside those in need, sharing our time and talents
  • Outreach - building relationships through our service by sharing the love of Jesus, thereby bringing others into a relationship with Christ.

our ambition is to:

  • Be incarnational (hands and feet of Jesus) and contextual (what's needed here and now).
  • Involve each person at CUMC in some aspect of SERVE.
  • Work together, with community partnerships, to make an impact and truly build bridges in our community by sharing the love of Jesus Christ.

we focus our serve projects on:

  • Housing and shelter
  • Food and hunger
  • Children

Through each of these we will provide opportunities for Missions, Service, and Outreach at the local, as well as the national and international levels. Our aim locally is to partner with already existing community agencies to enhance their work and outreach. Our aim is to support United Methodist endeavors for national and international projects.

our partners:

God has placed us in Carlisle, PA to make a difference in this community. We believe that we must partner with the "experts" who understand the needs of our local community. To learn more about our local partners, visit Serving Locally.

our leaders:

Our leaders make things happen! They connect the passion of CUMC to the needs of our community to serve together, getting our hands dirty, and improve where we live. Serve leaders are the critical key between our church, our partners, and our volunteers.

All our leaders serve as volunteers in programs learning the ropes before moving into a leadership position. Our goal is to have co-leaders of each team to have shared responsibility and not burn out one leader.

up, in, and out - how we serve...

Serve teams work together in groups of 8-25 people to build relationships and make a meaningful impact in our community. The teams us the "up," "in," and "out" model to build community and invite people to be disciples of Christ simultaneously.

UP - Worship, giving praise to God, is foremost in our lives as disciples of Christ. SERVE teams hold each other accountable for attendance at Sunday worship, worship with their SERVE community, or find another time to worship and give praise to God together.

IN - Connect with each other by nurturing relationships. This can occur through prayer, sharing a meal together, and building community. This may occur as a team or with those you serve beside.

OUT - Service with our gifts, talents, and hands to meet the needs in our community and beyond. This is the partnership with the community partner, making a difference and building relationships in each area.

i want to get involved...

Check out the pages of each of our SERVE ministries and read the volunteer descriptions to see what fits best with your gifts and your time. There are options for 9-year-olds to 90-year-olds, there are opportunities for everyone to SERVE in and beyond our community.

If you have questions, or can't decide which is best for you, email Pastor Mira at  or call her at 717.249.1512.