Outreach Ministries & Opportunities

Alcoholics Anonymous	PRISM
St. Anne's Place	Cherish Our Children	Social Ministry Committee
Dinner At Your Door	Thrift Center	Kinship
Thrivent	Loaves and Fishes

Alcoholics Anonymous

MONDAY

Tradition 5 AA Group
6:15 PM

Closed Mixed Big Book

Tradition 5 AA Group
7:30 PM

Beginners

Tradition 5 AA Group
7:30 PM

Closed Mixed Step (speaker on last Monday of month), Child care

TUESDAY

Basic 12 AA Group
6:00 PM

Closed Mixed Big Book

Basic 12 AA Group
7:30 PM

Beginners

Basic 12 AA Group
7:30 PM

Closed Mixed Step (speaker on last Tuesday of month)

Abbreviations and Terms

Closed meetings are open only to those with a desire to stop drinking.

Open meetings are open to anyone.

Step meetings study a different step, from AA's 12 Steps, each week.

Big Book meetings include reading and discussion of the book "Alcoholics Anonymous".

Contact Information:

AA anytime, 24 hours per day, at 952.922.0880, or send e-mail to info@aaminneapolis.org (E-mail is monitored during office hours.)

The AA Minneapolis web site serves the AA groups of Minneapolis and suburbs in carrying hte Alcoholics Anonymous message to those who suffer. This web site gets its legitimate authority from, and is responsible to, the member groups which it serves. In all of its activities, policies, and proceedings, Intergroup observes the practice and spirit of AA's Twelve Traditions and Twelve Concepts for World Service, as well as its three legacies of Recovery, Unity, and Service.

The AA Minneapolis web site is www.AAMinneapolis.org

Cherish Our Children

Valley of Peace is one of three pilot churches in the Minneapolis Area Synod for this ELCA initiative. In a nutshell, this program is an attempt to provide ways to be more intentional about caring for youth.

The first component of the initiative is prayer. Every child from birth to age 22 is paired with a VOP member who prays for that child by name each day.

Another component of the program is education for kids and parents. Internet safety is addressed. Wise as Serpents has been used with confirmation students.

Finally, it is the intent of the congregation to cherish children in our community by partnering with Kinship to mentor neighborhood children and by “adopting” our local neighborhood elementary school, Noble Elementary to help at risk youth.

Dinner At Your Door

Northwest Suburban Dinner At Your Door provides hot nourishing meals to people who are homebound and unable to prepare food for themselves. This service allows residents to stay in the comfort of their own homes longer. Clients are referred to DAYD by their doctors. Valley of Peace members are scheduled to drive every 3rd and 4th Tuesday, every 2nd Wednesday, and every 2nd, 4th, and 5th Friday. Drivers for this vital service are needed. If you can help, please call the church office at 763.588.4611.

Kinship

Kinship of Greater Minneapolis helps children ages 5-15, in need of additional support, to realize their God given potential through adult friendships. Kinship also provides a unique service opportunity for individuals, couples and families to put their faith into action on behalf of children. The goal of these relationships is to provide children with trusting, positive adult role models. These relationships, in turn, enhance the children’s ability to overcome barriers to healthy development.

Kinship of Greater Minneapolis is a member in good standing of the National Kinship Affiliate Network. Its main office is located at 3210 Oliver Ave. N., Minneapolis. Its phone number is 612.588.4655.

The Kinship web site is www.kinship.org

Loaves and Fishes

The mission of Loaves & Fishes is to provide nutritious meals to the hungry of the Twin City Metro area in an atmosphere of hospitality at site locations where the need is greatest and develops joint ventures/partnerships with like-minded organizations to assist guests with additional basic needs key to becoming self-sufficient.

Loaves and Fishes operates a number of sites around the Twin Cities. Valley of Peace members prepare and serve food six times a year at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in north Minneapolis. If you wish to participate in the program, please contact the Valley of Peace office, 763.588.4611.

The program's main office is at 1917 Logan Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612.377.9810.

The website for the program is www.LoavesandFishesMN.org

PRISM

PRISM is a social service organization offering support to low-income residents of Golden Valley, Crystal, New Hope, Robbinsdale, Plymouth, and Brooklyn Center. PRISM’s philosophy is "responding to people’s needs . . . walking alongside them on the road toward self-sufficiency." Services include emergency and supplemental food, financial assistance, clothing, senior transportation, and ongoing caseload work.

At Valley of Peace, food is regularly donated to PRISM throughout the year, with special emphasis at Thanksgiving and during Minnesota FoodShare month in March. Prior to the beginning of the school year we collect school supplies, and our "Giving Tree" in December provides the opportunity to share books and toys for children in the community.

PRISM has moved to a new location, with greatly increased space, in order to better serve clients with food and clothing shopping and other services, and to open an affordable auto repair shop to working families. Its new address is 730 Florida Ave. S., Golden Valley; 763.529.1350.

You can connect with PRISM at its web site, www.prismmpls.org

St. Anne's Place

St. Anne’s Place was established in 1990, in response to an intensifying demand for emergency shelter in North Minneapolis. St. Anne’s Place, located in the former convent of St. Anne’s Church, provides short-term housing for up to sixteen homeless women and their children. Families are referred to St. Anne’s Place through the Hennepin County voucher program, which provides emergency assistance for residents of the county.

Programs at St. Anne’s Place are geared towards developing strong and stable families through support services for parents and youth activities for children. The small residential setting enables St. Anne’s to work individually with families and link them to the resources they need in order to achieve independent living. Women staying at St. Anne’s Place are also assigned an advocate upon arrival and are given access to a range of on- and off-site supportive services. We also encourage our residents to work on the issues that have lead to their homelessness. Advocates also work with the children to ensure they are attending school, receiving any necessary tutoring or therapy, and participating in leisure activities and art projects, to lend balance and bring joy to their lives. Families stay an average of one to two months and St. Anne’s Place houses approximately 150 families per year.

Valley of Peace members participate in the St. Anne's "Adopt a Family" program at Christmas time, providing a family with gifts they could otherwise not afford.

You can connect with St. Anne's Place at its web site www.StAnnesPlace.org

Thrift Center

Bibles For Missions Thrift Center, located at 36th and Noble in Robbinsdale, has sent tons of clothing to Eastern Europe, and over $3,000,000 to Bulgaria for church development. It raises funds through its store, which sells furniture, books, household goods, clothing and miscellaneous items. For information call 763.522.1786.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent is the result of the 2002 merger of Lutheran Brotherhood and Aid Association for Lutherans. It is a financial services organization with a 100-year tradition of serving Lutherans and their communities.

If you are a Thrivent policy holder or associate member, you may wish to exercise your ability to receive matching funds for the Valley of Peace Lutheran Church All God's Children Learning Center, or perhaps for your college or seminary. Thrivent will match contributions from $25 to $100. Contribution forms are available in the Valley of Peace church office or at All God=s Children Learning Center located at Valley of Peace. Thrivent also gives a congregational matching fund each year of $450 to a group within the church and these funds are often matched for youth or missions programs at Valley of Peace.

For information from Thrivent call 800/372-8236.