Epworth Missions & Ministries Outreach Programs
Free Community Suppers, Tuesdays 5:30 - 6:30pm (doors open at 5pm)
      Nourishing meals are prepared by hand and served free of charge to the community in our downstairs Fellowship Hall. Menu is posted each week on our What's Happening page.     
Free Lunches, Saturdays 11:00am - 12:30pm  
      Vegetarian lunches are provided at no charge by the Des Moines Friends of SAI every Saturday.
Epworth Quilting Group
      This ministry team meets every other Tuesday at 9:30 am to cut, sew and tie quilts, which are then donated to Hawthorne Hill. Hawthorne Hill is an organization dedicated to assisting homeless youth who are in the Des Moines schools. We also donate quilts, as requested, to neighborhood elementary school children. The Epworth Quilters donate over 100 quilts each year. Check our What's Happening page for scheduled Tuesdays!
Spring & Fall Basement & Bake Sales 
     We have two annual Basement & Bake Sales (Spring and Fall). They are an effective and highly valued neighborhood community service. The proceeds from the baked goods helps fund our Quilting Group. The basement sale proceeds helps to fund our other church ministries. Our 2021 Spring Sale was a huge success and so was our Autumn Sale!! Blessings to all who volunteered and donated goods, and to all who attended!      Join us again on October 14, 2023 for our Fall Sale!
Stuff The Bus
     Stuff The Bus is a United Way of Central Iowa yearly children's book drive in which Epworth participates. We collect new and gently used children's books June-May each year and donate them to help "Stuff The Bus". In May 2022, over 32,000 books were collected and distributed to Central Iowa children! Debby Grimm, one of our Community Suppers volunteers, delivered the books collected and purchased this past year to West Des Moines on 5/23/23. Thank you Deb! We are now collecting funds and books for May 2024!
Annual Free Health Clinic Day - Next clinic will be in September 2023
      Early in the fall, Epworth in cooperation with the Des Moines SAI Fellowship (a Hindu/Christian organization of physicians from India) organizes, publicizes and hosts a free health screening day with the presence Physicans, Polk County Public Health nurses and the Visiting Nurses Association. Many neighborhood and greater Des Moines residents come to take advantage of a free health screening, a free lunch, free reading glasses and no-cost consultation with physicians in several specialties.
Kidz Haven
      Epworth’s Kidz Haven (KH) mission, in collaboration with Harding Middle School (HMS) and Oak Park Elementary staff, discreetly helps the students of economically challenged families by providing clothing and personal self-care items through a Comfort Closet.
      During the summer, KH also sponsors students to attend summer music camps and has helped subsidize financial expenses for HMS’s summer program which is designed to engage kids in many activities other than watching television and playing with electronic devices/games.
      HMS, our neighborhood middle school, is in the lowest performing ten percent of America’s middle schools; it faces some of the toughest educational challenges in our country. KH strives for creativity, open-mindedness, and inspiration to implement new ideas to strengthen school reform efforts, boost academic achievement, and increase student engagement.
      Founded in January 2011, our KH mission is in constant change as HMS and our world situation also changes. With the exception of a very few sporadic donations, KH’s success and funding has been totally dependent upon the generosity of the annual Matthew 25 grant.

All of these ministries are led by volunteer, lay members of the church. They are funded through Epworth’s United Methodist Women, the Missions Evangelism Committee and individual gifts.  If you wish to volunteer, please contact the church office.