Welcome to Oak Hill United Methodist Church—where everyone is a minister. We believe that all of us are called to ministry—to be the hands and feet of Christ in a world that desperately needs encouragement and help. We’re all about doing for Jesus. Whether the work involves pots and pans, hammers and nails, paint and brushes, needle and thread, shovels and rakes—we are ready to put our gifts and graces to work honoring God by serving his people.

We find ourselves walking side by side with the homeless and the poor, those that need a friend and those who are eager to be a friend. We love to pour out God’s love on our brothers and sisters in Christ whether they live in Oak Hill, in other areas of Austin, somewhere in Texas, in Haiti, or beyond—anywhere God’s people could use a hand, a smile, a voice of hope. 

Vicki Matustik
Director of Service & Connections
vicki@oakhillumc.org

If you are interested in joining one of the ministries below, contact Vicki to get connected, or visit the Connection Station after worship or the church calendar to find the next service date and information.

Central Texas Food Bank  - join us to work in the warehouse sorting and packing food.  Sign up here:  http://oakhillumc.cafb.volunteerhub.com/  (generally the 3rd Thursday morning of the month). Contact: Vicki Matustik

Foundation Communities Supper Club  - sign up to bring part of a meal for approximately 75 people at Garden Terrace Apartments, an affordable housing community. (Once a month, date varies.) Contact: Christina Hall

Feed My Sheep at Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center (Sunrise Church)  - sign up to bring part of a meal for approximately 120-150 people, to be delivered the third Tuesday of the month. Contact: Meryl Kettler

Esperanza Community Meal - help cook or serve a meal for 100-120 people without homes living in the Esperanza Community, a ministry of The Other Ones Foundation. (second and fourth Fridays of the month) Contact: Jon Nelson or Richard Reeves

CROP Walk – join with us in the spring as we join folks from around the planet in raising awareness of world hunger through walking and collecting funds.

Hands on Housing - help repair and/or paint a home of a family in need. We join with Interfaith Action of Central Texas (iACT) twice a year for this activity, usually in April and October. Contact Matt Bales.

Habitat for Humanity – help build a home for a family in need. There are opportunities to serve  on the 2nd Saturday of each month.  Every other year, we participate in theMethodist Build with other Austin-area Methodist Churches to raise funds for and build a house. Contact Ernie Rebuck
2023 dates (click on dates for more information and to sign up):  Saturday, March 11 and Saturday, April 8.

Fresh Start Resettlement –  serve families that find themselves having to start over by providing donations of household goods and furnishings.  Through this ministry, refugee families, moms and kids escaping domestic violence, and people moving from sleeping unsheltered, get assistance with furniture and household items.  Because the apartments for these folks are typically very small, they do not accommodate large pieces of furniture, so please no extra large sofas or chairs and no king-size beds or linens. For newly arriving refugee families, volunteers can help create a welcoming environment by setting up an apartment with household items and groceries. Donations can be new or gently used and this link will take you to a list of items needed. We also welcome Walmart and HEB gift cards to supplement the donations. Household items may be left in Room 10 of the Missions Building and gift cards left at the church office.  We often help with the actual setup of the apartments and would love to have more folks join our team. We partner with agencies including Refugee Services of Texas and Interfaith Action of Central Texas. For more information contact June Johnson.

Disaster Recovery – help tear out, clean up, and rebuild homes after disaster. Working with the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), Oak Hill UMC responds with supplies, money, and manpower to field teams to disaster recovery areas in Central Texas. Want to join our list of responders or get trained for an Emergency Response Team? Contact Ron Kettler or Vicki Matustik.

Flood Buckets – build 5 gallon buckets of cleaning supplies to give to people whose homes have been damaged through flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires and other disasters.

Homeless Ministries Freeze Shelters – with our partner churches in the Oak Hill Community Alliance, we sponsor a shelter from freezing temperatures to neighbors experiencing homelessness.  The shelter is currently housed at Austin Oaks Church.  Oak Hill Methodist volunteers help with transporting supplies and guests to the site, setting up the shelter, making and serving hot meals for dinner and breakfast, helping guests find clothing among our donated items, and cleaning up after guests leave.  Contact: Adam Matustik

Feeding Programs at Esperanza and Sunrise (see above)

Breakfast Tacos and Cocoa – help take a hot breakfast to residents in area homeless camps on nights when the temperatures are below freezing, but we are unable to open the freeze shelter. Contact: Vicki Matustik

Clothing Donations – we receive and distribute clothing donations from members including socks from the youth-sponsored Sock Drive as well as warm and cool weather clothing donated by members. Contact: Vicki Matustik

Burke Center for Youth – sponsor a young man at Pathfinder’s Ranch by delivering him a birthday cake and gift as well as Christmas gifts. Approximately 3 dozen young men make their home in this residential foster care program managed by the Burke Center for Youth.  Contact: Alison Talbert

Gifts for the Christ Child – For the past two years, our Christmas giving program, Gifts for the Christ Child, has benefitted the Central Texas Food Bank.  Taking advantage of matching grants from Food BAnk donors, we provided more than 500,000 meals to our neighbors in the Central Texas area.

Easter Egg hunt at Foundation Communities’ Southwest Trails and Live Oak Communities – Eggs, crafts, and the Easter bunny help provide a fun celebration for the children of these two communities as well as their families.

Holiday Party for Brown Santa Families – The Travis County Sheriff’s Office sponsors Brown Santa to provide gifts to area families, particularly children, when parents are unable to do so.  We have hosted a party for these children to experience some of the joys of Christmas with cookie decorating, arts and crafts, story time, and free teddy bears to all children attending.

PJs for Kids – Working with the Precinct 3 Community Center, families sponsor a child with a new pair of pajamas for the holidays.  This program is primarily coordinated through the Preschool and Children’s Ministries Program. 

We partner with these organizations:  

Burke Center for Youth

Central Texas Food Bank

Foundation Communities

Habitat for Humanity

The Other Ones Foundation

Refuge Services of Texas

Rio Texas Conference United Methodist Church Disaster Response

Sunrise Navigation Center

Travis County Community Center at Oak Hill.

We Are Blood  (Contact Jennifer Freelfor upcoming Blood Drive dates at Oak Hill UMC)