The United Methodist Urban Ministries of Richmond
The United Methodist Urban Ministries of Richmond originated when several members in the Richmond community had a vision to bring the model “City of Shalom” to the Richmond area, 
changing the community by providing educational and financial support to those who are in need in the Richmond area. The Community of Shalom Program was created by General Conference of the United Methodist Church, and the original Community of Shalom was formed in 1992 in Los Angeles. The program has now spread throughout the United States and around the world. Shalom (a Hebrew word meaning peace) program has been conducting training for Communities of Shalom by holding more than forty annual conferences in the U.S. and Southern and West Africa. The General Board of Global Ministries is the global organization of The United Methodist Church. “Global Ministries seeks, on behalf of The United Methodist Church, to embody the Christian and Wesleyan conviction that all of life is within the promise of the saving, judging reign of God”.
The administrative Director of the Global Ministries and the district coordinators of the Communities of Shalom visualized taking this practice to another level by forming a City of Shalom that would link Communities of Shalom. In order to make this linkage, the Council for Creative Urban Ministry was formed. The committee meets once a month to work toward its goal. During the meeting hours the committee discusses how to arrange for providing education and daily necessities that help the community. The goal of this organization is to successfully enhance larger communities.
In 2006, the General Board of Global Ministries Communities of Shalom proposed the idea to the United Methodist Urban Ministries of Richmond of bringing different congregations together in order to bring unity to the Richmond communities so that the people within these communities could benefit from affordable housing, food security, childcare, educational supports, healthcare, and faith development. The United Methodist Urban Ministries of Richmond describes its mission as being “collaborative partnerships among individuals, congregations, and organizations to assure affordable housing, food security, childcare, educational supports, healthcare, and faith development in Greater Richmond.” Several Methodist churches, ( Belmont, Berryman Ministry Center of Mt. Pisgah, Central, Ramsey Memorial, Sherbourne, Westhampton, and Walmsley Boulevard) dedicated themselves to work with the General Board of Global Ministries to create training that would help with establishing Communities of Shalom in their neighborhoods. The program developed a design to bring healthy, locally-grown food to the hungry, and provide educational, volunteer, and economic opportunities for individuals, families and organizations in Metro Richmond.
United Methodist Urban Ministries of Richmond, Inc.
1010 West Laburnum Avenue, 3 rd Floor
Richmond, VA
(804)-266-9350
Sources:
United Methodist Urban Ministries of Richmond website
United Methodist Global Ministries website
United Methodist Urban Ministries of Richmond representative
Profile prepared by Tegest Mesfin
May, 2009
