Impact: Locally, Regionally, Globally

Locally

We encourage our members to get involved locally. You may find some of our people serving on community committees or volunteering with Hearthstone Communities, Woodstock Area Community Ministries (WACM), the local food pantry, the county jail, scouts, sports, adopt-a-highway, and serving in so many other ways. We also work to serve the community of Woodstock as a congregation through organized service projects, financial support for other organizations, and as a place where you may feel welcome to join us.

Regionally

In our resource room, it is common to see bins for food, coats, clothing, and various other seasonal collections. These are just a few of the ways we work to provide for the needs of others in the greater Chicagoland area. We also partner through giving with Informed Choices, a crisis pregnancy and parent support agency serving the northern suburbs, and are excitedly renewing a partnership with Olive Branch mission on Chicago’s South Side.

Globally

John Wesley, the founder of Methodism was an ordained Anglican Priest, but for much of his ministry he was not assigned to a particular parish. Instead, he traveled the countryside on horseback preaching in the open air, often three times a day, most days of the week throughout his relatively long life. In his words: “I look upon all the world as my parish.” The WFMC is a local community with a heart for Woodstock and the Chicagoland area, but we also strive to join in the heritage set by Wesley by seeing the entire world as our parish.

There are three ways in which we are making a global impact: praying, giving, and going. Every Wednesday morning, we have a team of people committed to praying for global needs. As part of a connectional system of Free Methodists, we are part of a world-wide community and commit to praying regularly for our sisters and brothers serving in other countries. We also have a number of friends in Eastern Africa who pray regularly for us and for the community of Woodstock.

As part of our regular budget, we give to missionaries and special projects in Eastern Africa, South-Central Asia, and Eastern Europe. In addition, we also support children through the Free Methodist International Childcare Ministries in Eastern Africa. Some of our members have even gone to serve overseas on short-term mission trips. We are currently and prayerfully exploring ways in which we might go to serve in our world-wide parish.