Welcome to POP Lutheran

Social Ministry

The members of Prince of Peace are very generous in both time and money towards our Social Ministry mission. We offer a variety of service projects for members to participate in and we support many organizations through donations of goods, time and money. Our ministry focuses on three areas: Congregational Concerns, Local Concerns and Global Concerns.

The calendar for 2007-2008 projects are listed below:

September/ October – Peanut Butter and Jelly donations drive and Walk to Help the Homeless. All proceeds will go to Gaithersburg Help. Prince of Peace will hold a walk during the Sunday School Hour to help raise money through sponsors and awareness of the plight of the homeless. www.gaithersburghelp.org. Gaithersburg Help provides emergency assistance to families in the Gaithersburg area. Its largest function is providing food, but it also provides financial and prescription assistance in transportation to medical appointments and social service agencies, helps pay for prescriptions, matches , provides guidance on other public programs, and contributes to the Upper Montgomery Assistance Network. www.uman-mc.org

Also in October – November – Giving Tree for children sponsored through the City of Gaithersburg in a chosen elementary school www.gaithersburgmd.gov

Also in November – The Adopted Family – Also through the city of Gaithersburg, www.gaithersburgmd.gov, Prince of Peace adopts a family for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays providing food and gifts of clothing and toys for the children.

December – Gifts of Hope – Prince of Peace give its members the opportunity to donate money for an item for a charity and send a card to friends or family showing the donation has been made in their honor. http://www.lutherplace.org/giftsofhope/index.htm

Also in December–Toy drive to collect toys for delivery to area children. Any and all new toys are collected and given to shelters and organizations that help children.

January – World Hunger Appeal - www.elca.org/hunger ELCA World Hunger improves the lives of people in need in the United States and around the world by providing relief for people in poverty, assisting communities, advocating for changes in laws and educating members of the ELCA.Prince of Peace donates money and makes additional appeals for the collection of change and educates our members. Change boxes will be collected in early October.

Also in January – Casseroles for N Street Ministries in Washington DC. – Prince of Peace makes (or buys pre made) casseroles, dinners and freezes them for deliver to the N St. Ministry. These casseroles are used as needed by the shelter. www.lutherplace.org

February - Souper Bowl Sunday - collection of soup and beef stew to help Gaithersburg Help feed the hungry in our area - www.gaithersburghelp.org

Also in February - Lenten Sharing Bags
Each year Prince of Peace picks several charities to sponsor with donations of products for each. Grocery bags are given out with a list of items to be purchased and brought back to the church for collection and distribution.

March – Food sorting at the Capital Area Food Bank – www.capitalareafoodbank.org. The areas largest, public food bank supplies food to over 700 member agencies. Prince of Peace members sort food that has been collected after a brief tour and history of the agency.

Also in March – Coffee will be pre-ordered from the ELCA – Fair trade program - www.elca.org/hunger/resources/fair-trade.html The Fair Trade Coffee Project ensures that more of the money you spend on coffee reaches the farmers who actually grow it. Fair trade coffee is a simple solution that means the difference—quite literally—between surviving and not surviving for small-scale coffee farmers.

April – National Lutheran Home Auxiliary- www.nlha.com
Focuses on getting members to join the auxiliary of the National Lutheran Home to provide the residents with “special” gifts throughout the year. Also visit the National Lutheran Home’s website at: www.nlha.com

May –United Lutheran Appeal - www.metrodcelca.org/united_lutheran_appeal.htmThe purpose of the Appeal not only is to provide a once a year coordinated in gathering of financial support for these ministries, but also to educate congregations and their members concerning the broad range of ministries active on their behalf throughout the synod. Prince of Peace solicits its members to donate money.

Also in May - Mother’s Day gifts for the mom’s in the shelters. Bring any kind of toiletry gift, such as perfume, hair supplies, nail polish to the church and we will deliver the gifts on Mother’s day to the moms who are in Stepping Stones Shelter. www.steppingstonesshelter.org

June – Prince of Peace yard sale. The Goals of the Prince of Peace Yard Sale are to be an outreach to the community; to provide an opportunity for fellowship and participation for members; to raise money for benevolences; to witness Christian fellowship in our community; which we contribute toward; to offer goods at very reasonable prices to people who need them; to recycle and reuse and lastly to raise money for Prince of Peace.

Also in June – Father’s day gifts for dads in shelters. Bring any kind of toiletry gift such as cologne, after shave to the church and we will deliver on Father’s day to Stepping Stones shelter to the dads. www.steppingstonesshelter.org

July – School Supply donations – Prince of Peace collects school supplies for distribution in area schools to children in need. The program has been very successful in the past and is the focus of the Prince of Peace vacation bible school children.

Prince of Peace works with many organizations in our community and nation to help assist those in need. Those listed below are just a few of those:

Community Family Life Services – www.cflsdc.org

Community Ministry of Montg. Co. - www.communityministrymc.org

Gettysburg Seminary - www.ltsg.edu

Lutheran World Relief – www.lwr.org

Heifer Project International – www.heifer.org

Lutheran Social Services – www.lutheranservices.org
Camp Safehaven

Navajo Evangelical Lutheran Mission – www.nelm.org

University of Md Campus Ministries - www.wam.umd.edu/~lutheran

Lutheran Missionary Partnership – Sally and Tom Roach http://www.elca.org/missionarysponsorship/misspons.pdf#search=%22elca%20missionary%20partnership%22

Lutheran Volunteer Corps – www.lutheranvolunteercorps.org

Equal Exchange – Fair Trade Coffee, Chocolate and Tea – www.equalexchange.com

The members of Prince of Peace are very generous in both time and money towards our Social Ministry mission. We offer a variety of service projects for members to participate in and we support many organizations through donations of goods, time and money. Our ministry focuses on three areas: Congregational Concerns, Local Concerns and Global Concerns.
The calendar for 2007-2008 projects are listed below:
September/ October – Peanut Butter and Jelly donations drive and Walk to Help the Homeless. All proceeds will go to Gaithersburg Help. Prince of Peace will hold a walk during the Sunday School Hour to help raise money through sponsors and awareness of the plight of the homeless. www.gaithersburghelp.org. Gaithersburg Help provides emergency assistance to families in the Gaithersburg area. Its largest function is providing food, but it also provides financial and prescription assistance in transportation to medical appointments and social service agencies, helps pay for prescriptions, matches , provides guidance on other public programs, and contributes to the Upper Montgomery Assistance Network. www.uman-mc.org
Also in October – November – Giving Tree for children sponsored through the City of Gaithersburg in a chosen elementary school www.gaithersburgmd.gov Also in November – The Adopted Family – Also through the city of Gaithersburg, www.gaithersburgmd.gov, Prince of Peace adopts a family for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays providing food and gifts of clothing and toys for the children.

December – Gifts of Hope – Prince of Peace give its members the opportunity to donate money for an item for a charity and send a card to friends or family showing the donation has been made in their honor. http://www.lutherplace.org/giftsofhope/index.htm Also in December–Toy drive to collect toys for delivery to area children. Any and all new toys are collected and given to shelters and organizations that help children.
January – World Hunger Appeal - www.elca.org/hunger ELCA World Hunger improves the lives of people in need in the United States and around the world by providing relief for people in poverty, assisting communities, advocating for changes in laws and educating members of the ELCA.Prince of Peace donates money and makes additional appeals for the collection of change and educates our members. Change boxes will be collected in early October.
Also in January – Casseroles for N Street Ministries in Washington DC. – Prince of Peace makes (or buys pre made) casseroles, dinners and freezes them for deliver to the N St. Ministry. These casseroles are used as needed by the shelter. www.lutherplace.org
February - Souper Bowl Sunday - collection of soup and beef stew to help Gaithersburg Help feed the hungry in our area - www.gaithersburghelp.org
Also in February - Lenten Sharing Bags Each year Prince of Peace picks several charities to sponsor with donations of products for each. Grocery bags are given out with a list of items to be purchased and brought back to the church for collection and distribution.
March – Food sorting at the Capital Area Food Bank – www.capitalareafoodbank.org. The areas largest, public food bank supplies food to over 700 member agencies. Prince of Peace members sort food that has been collected after a brief tour and history of the agency.
Also in March – Coffee will be pre-ordered from the ELCA – Fair trade program - www.elca.org/hunger/resources/fair-trade.html The Fair Trade Coffee Project ensures that more of the money you spend on coffee reaches the farmers who actually grow it. Fair trade coffee is a simple solution that means the difference—quite literally—between surviving and not surviving for small-scale coffee farmers.
April – National Lutheran Home Auxiliary- www.nlha.com Focuses on getting members to join the auxiliary of the National Lutheran Home to provide the residents with “special” gifts throughout the year. Also visit the National Lutheran Home’s website at: www.nlha.com
May –United Lutheran Appeal - www.metrodcelca.org/united_lutheran_appeal.htmThe purpose of the Appeal not only is to provide a once a year coordinated in gathering of financial support for these ministries, but also to educate congregations and their members concerning the broad range of ministries active on their behalf throughout the synod. Prince of Peace solicits its members to donate money.
Also in May - Mother’s Day gifts for the mom’s in the shelters. Bring any kind of toiletry gift, such as perfume, hair supplies, nail polish to the church and we will deliver the gifts on Mother’s day to the moms who are in Stepping Stones Shelter. www.steppingstonesshelter.org
June – Prince of Peace yard sale. The Goals of the Prince of Peace Yard Sale are to be an outreach to the community; to provide an opportunity for fellowship and participation for members; to raise money for benevolences; to witness Christian fellowship in our community; which we contribute toward; to offer goods at very reasonable prices to people who need them; to recycle and reuse and lastly to raise money for Prince of Peace.
Also in June – Father’s day gifts for dads in shelters. Bring any kind of toiletry gift such as cologne, after shave to the church and we will deliver on Father’s day to Stepping Stones shelter to the dads. www.steppingstonesshelter.org
July – School Supply donations – Prince of Peace collects school supplies for distribution in area schools to children in need. The program has been very successful in the past and is the focus of the Prince of Peace vacation bible school children.