Service

Serve

FaithWorks at MVNU is all about putting your faith into action by connecting what you learn in the classroom with the real needs of the world around you.

Through local and global service opportunities, students are invited to respond compassionately to poverty, injustice, and human suffering. Whether you're building a community center in Guyana, sponsoring a child's education in Belize, or writing letters to residents in a nearby nursing home, FaithWorks provides meaningful ways to serve others and live out your faith.

Serving doesn’t always look the same, but it always makes a difference. So ask yourself: what mark are you making? If you’re not sure — now’s the perfect time to start.

CoSMO Groups

MVNU’s Community and Service Ministry Opportunities (CoSMO) groups inspire students to actively serve the local and surrounding communities while discovering their own passions for giving back. These groups are entirely student-led and student-initiated, reflecting the heart and creativity of MVNU’s community. Living in an area with many needs, CoSMO groups have been developed over the years to address specific challenges and opportunities throughout Knox and the neighboring counties. Through CoSMO, students can make a tangible impact while growing in their faith and leadership.

Lunch Buddies

Where: Local elementary schools

Partner: Pleasant Street Elementary School & Columbia Elementary School

What: MVNU students are matched with a second-grade student, and they have the opportunity to mentor them, play with them at recess, and have lunch with them.

Escape Zone

Where: Escape Zone, 1 Old Mansfield Rd

Partner: The Escape Zone

What: Spending time with at risk youth of Knox County through providing a safe place to hang out on Friday nights. Rooms are full of ping pong tables, pool, board games & basketball.

Mandate

Where: Various surrounding cities

Partner: Various non-profits and Churches

What: An urban ministry focused group that partners with ministries and organizations through weekend trips and various kinds of service projects.

PB&J Club

Where: Vernon Ridge Apartment Complex

Partner: Vernon Ridge Apartment Complex

What: Assembles bagged lunches & travels to the apartment complex to build solid relationships, teach Bible lessons, play games, make crafts & eat the prepared PB&J lunches with the children that live there!

SCHA (Society of Christian Health Care Associates)

Where: Birch Lobby E

Partner: Various Partners

What: Nursing students coordinate various community events throughout the year, including screenings, first aid stations, blood drives, etc. The group also visits a local nursing home each week.

Daughters

Where: The Laurels of Mount Vernon Nursing Home

Partner: The Laurels of Mount Vernon Nursing Home

What: This group matched female MVNU students up with female residents at a local nursing home. Our students can encourage the residents, but also be encouraged by them.

Second: Red Cross

Where: MVNU Campus

Partner: American Red Cross

What: Students recruit and assist with the function of various Blood Drives on campus for our students, faculty, staff and Mount Vernon Community.

Hola

Where: Mount Vernon Nazarene University

Partner: Mount Vernon Nazarene University

What: Students have the opportunity to serve the Latinx community in Mount Vernon through tutoring the children of the families, offering homework help, and teaching basic skills, while their families are receiving support.

Crafting for Kindness

Where: MVNU Library

Partner: Various Partnerships

What: Students can knit and crochet hats, blankets, and things of the like for local hospitals and other organizations.

Cougs for KSP

Where: MVNU Campus

Partner: Knox County Starting Point

What: Students fundraise and collect donations to support the ministry of Knox County Starting Point Pregnancy Services.

Justice Together

The Justice Together program is a service of the Office of Spiritual Life. It exists to educate, engage and practice Justice. Each semester we will cover one theme that will educate our students. You can engage in campus wide conversations through Justice Talks, opportunities to serve, and other events in partnership with the Social Work Department and the Fairbanks Center for Global Engagement.

Faith Works Trips

See the world in a new light — travel to learn, travel to serve, and go with friends who quickly become family. At MVNU, you can live in the jungle, repair homes, learn from new cultures, build classrooms, visit the border, camp in the mountains, or even skateboard with kids. Our Service Learning Trips offer students the chance to immerse themselves in local and global communities different from their own, gaining meaningful experiences that shape both heart and perspective. These trips are open to all students during spring and summer breaks. Are you ready to make a difference?

Recent Trips:

San Jose Succotz, Belize — Worked with Alivin Young High School to update the technology in the school.
Los Angeles, California — Worked with LA First Church of the Nazarene and learning about the Unhoused community on Skid Row.
Reykjavik, Iceland — Served Refugee and Asylum seeking populations through the Salvation Army in partnership with Compass Path.