Our Ministries…find your place
Music Ministries.
A vital part of the life of the church provides musical leadership for our worship experience.
Chancel Choir sings at 10 am worship October through May. We rehearse Wednesday evenings; singers 6th grade through senior adults are welcome. College scholarships are available to high school and college-age choir members.
Jubilate Handbells are a five-octave handbell choir that plays about four times a year, rehearsing Wednesday evenings September through May.
Faith Formation. Growing as disciples, we learn about God, ourselves, and the ways God calls us to live in the world. Classes and small groups are open for children aged 3 through adult. Whether it’s nursery care, Sunday school, or a short-term study for adults, we offer ways to support you in your faith journey.
United Women in Faith (UWF) is a faith-based membership organization of women within The United Methodist Church. UWF members are committed to growing as disciples of Jesus Christ in community with other women and advocating on behalf of women, children and youth around the world. United Women in Faith has been in mission for more than 140 years. They are a community of women whose purpose is …
- to know God and to experience freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ
- to develop a creative supportive fellowship
- to expand concepts of mission through participation in the global ministries of the church
UWF members meet once a month. Please check out our calendar for dates and consider joining us!
Savvy Seniors. This is a social group open to singles & couples over 55 that meet the first Monday of each month for lunch at a local eatery enjoying food, conversation and laughter. Check out our calendar for dates and locations. We would love to have you join us! Questions? call Vicki at 715-571-3009.
Claire’s Critter Closet offers food, litter, and supplies for dogs and cats whose people are going through financial hardship. It is open the 2nd Tuesdays from 1-3pm and the 4th Saturdays from 9-11am every month.
The Personal Needs Closet. Since 2010, our church has sponsored a Personal Needs Closet – something like a food pantry, but offering instead the household and hygiene supplies that are not available through most food pantries or with food stamps. We have helped hundreds of families stretch their budget since we opened. The PNC is supported entirely by donations, and run entirely by volunteers. Open the 2nd Tuesdays, 1-3pm, and 4th Saturdays, 9-11am, every month.
Prayer Shawl Ministry creates shawls for people of the church and the wider community who may be going through a difficult time.
The Missions Ministry Team plans, coordinates, and implements mission projects, programs, and education, locally and afar, hands-on and by prayer or financial support. Some of our monthly missions include:
- Community Meals. First Presbyterian Church, half a block away from us, hosts a Sunday evening community meal, open and free to anyone. We have been a partner in this meal from the beginning and currently serve it on every 5th Sunday throughout the each year. Contact Jen or Mark Johnson if you’d like to volunteer.
- The Open Door offers help to current and released inmates and the homeless populations. This includes clothing and a safe place to have coffee and receive assistance from volunteers to help them find resources in the community. Our UWF group works in providing weekly prepackaged meals for Open Door.
- Hagar House is a new mission added by our missions team in 2024. They exist to free single moms from cycles of crisis through a Christ-centered community in the central Wisconsin area. They offer spiritual, emotional, physical, financial, relational, and life skills to these mothers to provide them the necessities to build a new home.
- Red Cliff. This mission serves residents of the Red Cliff reservation and deepens our relationship with the native community. Donations provide supplies for the early childhood program and clothing for the children.
- Christmas Dinner. Donations support the annual Christmas Dinner at St. Paul’s UCC on Christmas Day. Volunteers from throughout the Wausau community will be serving a hot dinner with all the fixings. Everyone is welcome and there is no income verification or questions.
- Ramp Up Marathon County. To be honest, this one isn’t even something we started as a church, though one of its founders is a member here and serves on our Missions Team. Many of our members have gotten involved in this ministry to build wheelchair ramps – making it possible for people to remain longer in their beloved homes – that it feels as if it’s one of ours. At any rate, we can connect you.
The Aesthetics Ministry Team works to maintain and enhance the beauty and function of church property, indoors and out.
The Worship Design Ministry Team works with the pastor to plan creative worship which engages us to grow as disciples.
Our Refugee Co-sponsorship Teams provide a warm welcome and empowering support to our new neighbors who were forced out of their homelands and are rebuilding a safe and meaningful life here. We help with setting up a home, education, jobs, transportation, social events, and healthcare
Partnerships Around the World.
As rewarding as person-to-person service in the community is, we try to remember the wider world as well, through partnerships with various programs and ministries. Among these are:
Africa Education and Leadership Initiative. A school in South Sudan, founded shortly after that nation first became independent as a girl’s school – because girls have traditionally not had the opportunity for education in that area. The Africa ELI school has proven so effective that they’ve had to open up their classrooms to boys as well. A planned 2014 mission trip to South Sudan had to be postponed because of the civil war there, but we continue to support the work with financial pledges and prayers.
Mission Guatemala. A ministry in the mountains of Guatemala that offers medical care, food, child care, and education to the Mayan people. Our church participates in periodic trips to assist in construction projects and to be educated in the Mayan culture.