Outreach is one of six non-negotiable core values of Terrace Church. Terrace seeks to connect with individuals and families in an authentic and dynamic manner, keeping our members actively involved in expressing their faith through service.
Church-Based Outreach
We have many activities aimed at supporting individuals who are in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction as well as persons living in transition or crisis. Ministry teams teach weekly spirituality classes and Bible studies, host a 12-step styled Sunday school class, provide transportation to Sunday school, worship services and 12-step support groups, share lunch weekly, organize monthly Bingo, organize monthly fellowship activities, and host Saturday Life Skills Retreats to residents of a residential drug treatment facility for women in crisis, a homeless shelter for adults without children, and an affordable housing apartment complex for women. Specifically:
- 40 women a week are attending spirituality classes, receiving pastoral counseling on request, submitting prayer requests and receiving Bibles on request.
- 50 men and women a week are attending worship services.
- 12-15 men and women are attending Sunday school classes, including a 12-step styled Sunday school class for women in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction.
- 8-12 men and women a week are learning the Bible, participating in friendly conversation and feeling loved.
- 10-15 men and women a week are interacting with church members during lunch and hearing loud and clear, “You are worth spending time with.”
- 25 men and women a month are enjoying a night of fun at Bingo and learning, “Church people like to laugh and have fun, just like me.”
- 25 men and women are provided with transportation so that they can attend a weekly narcotics anonymous meeting held at the church.
- 80 women are learning the life skills they need to live independent, God-centered, sober lives through day-long Life Skills Retreats organized on Saturdays three times a year.
- 30 women a month on average receive Life Recovery Bibles to further help them in their recovery.
- 30 women a month enjoy fellowship activities such as game night, arts and crafts, knitting/crocheting, etc., through the Ladies Night ministry.
Visit the links at top right listed under Related Programs to learn more about ministry activities at these connection points.
Family Ministries Make a Difference
Terrace also is involved in outreach through our children and youth programs. In the summer children and youth (5th – 8th grade) reached out to and served the Houston community through the Mission Possible Day Camp. Children and youth involved in this program: washed windows of senior adults; brought fun, laughter and games to residents of the Heights Autumn Grove Cottage (a memory care unit); and helped feed Houston’s needy and homeless while working with St. John’s Downtown UMC’s Bread of Life Ministry.
In November, Terrace Families raised participated in the annual Houston CROP Hunger Walk, raising $1,200 for this life-saving program that benefits efforts to end hunger in Houston and world-wide. Twenty-five percent of the money raised stays here in Houston to provide assistance to area food banks.
Families with Youth Get Involved at Thanksgiving
Every November, families with youth host a Thanksgiving Dinner at the church for residents of Santa Maria Hostel, Garden Place Apartments and the Turning Point Center. The entire congregation gets involved in the event, preparing and serving dinner to as many as 150 individuals.