Missions

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. ³² All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. ³³ And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: ³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ ³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? ³⁸ When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? ³⁹ Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ Matthew 25:31-40 NKJV

At Burns Memorial we seek to live out Jesus command to love the “least of these” as if they were Jesus. There are a variety of mission opportunities available for the church community to actively engage with others beyond our walls, to bring a message of hope and love through our gifts and presence. As the founder of Methodism said,

Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can.

I. Individually. We encourage of church members to live with eyes open the needs and with willing and generous hearts. We think it is better to help someone than to call a committee meeting about it! And there is so much ministry carried out by our members in a given week that it would be impossible to list it -- people giving rides, bringing food, helping neighbors, and simply living out their faith.

II. As a Community. Some things are just better when worked at as a group.

A) Charity. We take a special collection on the first Sunday of each month to help the poor in the community. These funds are available at the church office, where we often help people with utilities, rent, other needs. There are limitations of course, and at Burns a stipulation -- you just attend a worship service before receiving church charity. We want to help people; we also want to encourage them to join us in worship!

B) Nursing Home Ministry Team. We have a traveling worship team that visits a nearby Nursing home for a monthly chapel service. We sing, have a devotional, and offer holy communion. This ministry has been going on for over 25 years and many wonderful relationships have been formed! The annual Christmas party at the nursing home is a highlight of the year!

III. Strategic Partnerships. We strongly support the work several Christian organizations here in Augusta with who we share a common purpose. Yearly we make monetary donations and wells having collections of needed goods to such organizations as The Salvation Army Center of Hope Homeless Shelter, Compass for Hope (formerly known as “Mission Dogs”, a ministry to the homeless population in Augusta), Toys for Tots, and I-Care (ministry to victims of sexual trafficking). Most recently we prepared 150 care bags to be given to the Augusta homeless population at a dinner on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, 2019. We feel that when we support these valuable ministries their ministries become our ministries too!