Loving our Neighbors – Mission & Outreach at Auburn First

After being without a mission team for many years, we restarted our Mission & Outreach Committee this year. This committee has its work on our vision of Community, Compassion, and Commission. Our priority this year has been to track all that AFUMC is doing as well as to start some new activities that fit with our vision. This will give us an idea of where we can have the most impact. We can then increase in certain areas and start looking beyond our walls to make a greater impact within the Auburn Community. Here are some examples of the mission-related activities we have continued and started this year:

Project Hope: Project Hope has moved into a new home in the library, making it easier for volunteers and more like a shopping experience for our neighbors in need. Parishioners continue to be so generous with food and clothing donations. We partner with donations from the Auburn Food Bank and Food Lifeline.

Prayers Punchlist & Pastries (PPP): We meet the first Saturday of the month to have a brief devotional, donuts, and then do some work around the church. This year we have painted the hallways, cleaned up the garden beds, trimmed trees, cleaned out vents, and moved unused items to the basement storage.

Methodists Eating Everywhere Together (MEET): The MEET was a great success with six groups of six people each getting together monthly in lots of different ways to share a meal or coffee and have time to really get to know each other. Many people who participated were excited to learn more about the members of our community.

Monday Night Suppers: The number of people we serve at Monday Night Community Suppers continues to climb. We are currently serving around 60 of our neighbors, plus 50 meals to Ray of Hope’s shelter and 15 to the Rehab center. This requires many volunteers and hours of time each week, with ongoing support from the Auburn Food Bank.

RIDE. The RIDE. Team has participated in several outreach activities to our LGBTQ+ neighbors. They have been present at the raising of the Pride Flag at Auburn’s City Hall, the Seattle Pride Parade, the Auburn Farmers’ Market, and the Tacoma Pride Fest. Through these activities, we are communicating that all people are welcome, valued, and belong at Auburn First.

Livestreaming: In the Fall of 2025, we started livestreaming our worship services. This practice has helped us welcome 10 new people into our community and have trained eight people to help lead this ministry. Pastor Cara has reported that several of our members find the livestreaming option to be meaningful for them.

people around a table — Members on assembling hyigene kits

Mission Sundays: On June 28^th, we had our first Mission Sunday or Day of Service. We had 32 people join us in the social hall that day. Together, we wrote 40+ cards to our shut-ins and first responders. We also put together 71 hygiene kits and 32 feminine hygiene kits! We are planning to continue this practice through the coming year, having Mission Sundays on the 5th Sundays of the month.

Community Outreach: This was the first year in many that the church participated in Auburn community programming. This spring we signed up to be a part of the Auburn Clean Sweep. We had over twelve people participate as we painted the pavilion at Game Farm Park. Through our work, we met several people; one, along with their partner, has joined our community.

All Church Potlucks: As a United Methodist community, we know the importance of gathering around food. Thus, once a quarter, we gather after worship on Sundays to share in food and fellowship. This coming Sunday, we will be having our summer picnic with not only food and conversation but also a time of playing and celebrating the joys of the summer.

If you have suggestions for the Mission & Outreach Committee, please let us know. You can do that by sharing with J.D. Drollinger, the committee chairperson.