Messiah Lutheran Church, Knoxville TN

A small load of pumpkins is due to arrive on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 9:00 am. The Pumpkin Patch will be opened on a limited basis, likely 4:00 pm til dusk, until the second and larger load of pumpkins arrive on Monday, Oct. 13.

Any and all volunteers are needed to help unload pumpkins on Monday, Oct. 13 beginning at 4:00 pm. Dinner will be served to workers upon the completion of the unloading. Although it is tiring work, the fellowship with other Messiah members, friends, Boy Scouts, and U.T. students is always rewarding. (NOTE: This date and time are subject to change depending on arrival of the pumpkin truck.)

Beginning Oct. 14, the Pumpkin Patch will open for sales from 10:00 am until dusk. Messiah members are asked to consider times when they can serve and sign up when the volunteer chart is posted. 

The proceeds from the 2008 Pumpkin Patch sales will benefit Tyson House Episcopal and Lutheran Campus Ministry and the Interfaith Health Clinic. We will request and anticipate Thrivent matching the proceeds as they have in the past.

KARM (Knox Area Rescue Ministries)

Once every seven weeks, volunteers from Messiah plan, acquire, prepare and serve lunch for 200 to 225 residents of KARM and area homeless at Knox Area Rescue Ministries.

Serving dates in 2008 are:

February 2
March 22
May 10
June 28
August 16
October 4
November 22

Six to eight cooks/servers are needed for each date. Cooks should arrive at KARM to unload groceries and start cooking no later than 10:30. The first person there signs in at the front desk. Servers need to be there by 11:00 am. KARM residents are served first at 11:45. The homeless are fed after the residents have cleared the facility. The staff wants us out no later than 1:00 PM. We do not clean up after serving.

If you would like to help in this ministry, a sign up chart is posted in the Narthex about two Sundays prior to the serving date. You may sign up to contribute food, help serve, or both.

Donations of food must be delivered to the church kitchen by the Wednesday prior to serving. A container marked KARM is placed in the refrigerator to collect meat donations. An inventory of the food contributions is taken on Wednesday evening in order to determine additional needs.

If you are interested in serving in this ministry, please call Ann Rita Ditmore or the church office for more information.

MMMMM… MMMMM… Good! - Serving June 28

Come share your cooking and serving talents and your smiling faces at KARM on Saturday, June 28.
We plan to serve our famous spaghetti lunch for approximately 200 of our hungry friends. Please keep an eye out for the sign up sheet in the narthex beginning the week of June 15. Our menu is:
Spaghetti*
Rolls
Salad
Dessert
*sauce and ground beef needed; we have the pasta
Please bring your food donation into the church kitchen, marked for KARM, by Wednesday evening, June 25.
Call Ann Rita or Floyd (938-8745) for more information.

Messiah holds a monthly devotional birthday celebration at Lakeshore Mental Health Institute every third Tuesday at 2:30 PM. Consumers (residents) celebrating birthdays during that month are honored by everybody singing Happy Birthday and providing them a present of their choice, either a T-shirt or cap. A brief devotion is conducted by the pastor followed with birthday cake and soda served by the residents.

Donations of women's and men's T-shirts (L & XL) are always needed. There is also a need for three birthday cakes and one diabetic cake each month.

All are invited to join the Lakeshore ministry. If interested in serving in this ministry, please contact Jan Buck for more information.

The name FISH is derived from a Biblical-day symbol of the fish which was sometimes used as a sign of distress, a plea for help from one's neighbor:

FISH of Knox County is an all-volunteer organization, with no paid staff, founded in 1972. FISH attempts to help those in emergency and distress situations in an unselfish, non-judgmental and giving way. FISH is non-denominational and helps anyone of any race or creed.

Working daily through twenty-nine community churches and the FISH Hospitality Pantries, the FISH volunteers responded to some 82,000 calls for help during the last year. Volunteers who work in the collaborative organization are dedicated to showing God's love to our community by helping those who are in need.

Messiah serves in this ministry one day each month. Volunteers from Messiah family members and friends serve as phone answerers and screeners, bag packers, and delivery drivers. If you are interested in serving in this ministry, please call our FISH Pantry coordinator Bill Boys or the church office.

For food assistance, call the FISH Help Line at 523-7900.