11 more churches join welcoming list

Eleven more Southwest Texas churches joined the list of welcoming congregations in recent weeks.
The Southwest Texas Conference begins 2007 with 97 certified welcoming congregations—28 percent of the 345 local churches in the conference. That total is the most of any conference in the United States.
New welcoming congregations are:
> Rolling Hills Community Church, Lago Vista, Austin District, certified Dec. 18.
> First UMC, Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi District, certified Dec. 20.
> Highland Lakes UMC, Buchanan Dam, Kerrville District, certified Dec. 20.
> Shepherd’s Gate Community Church (formerly Palm Heights UMC), San Antonio, San Antonio District, certified Dec. 20.
> St. Paul UMC, Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi District, certified Jan. 2.
> First UMC, Portland, Corpus Christi District, certified Jan. 2.
> Faith UMC, Woodsboro, Corpus Christi District, certified Jan. 4.
> Oak Meadow UMC, San Antonio, San Antonio District, certified Jan. 4.
> Northwest Hills UMC, Austin, Austin District, certified Jan. 4.
> First UMC, Luling, Austin District, certified Jan. 4.
> First UMC, Cuero, Corpus Christi District, certified Jan. 4.
The count of welcoming congregations by district now stands at Austin, 17; Corpus Christi, 14; Kerrville, 14; McAllen, 21; San Angelo, 7; San Antonio, 15; and Victoria, 9.
Conference Lay Leader Jay Brim called on district lay leaders in June to help all current welcoming congregations renew their certifications. Welcoming certification must be renewed annually.
Brim further challenged lay leaders to inspire at least half the remaining churches in their districts to be certified before next June.
Granted by the General Commission on Communication, certification means a congregation has systematically evaluated its hospitality and intentionally embraced a lifestyle of welcoming newcomers.
The certification program is part of the denominationwide Igniting Ministry hospitality and image campaign. Certified congregations earn a plaque and a special designation in the “Find a church” database at www. unitedmethodist.org.
To earn certification, congregations must qualify for at least 100 points on a yearly checklist of welcoming activities. Those activities include designating a welcoming coordinator, training church members in welcoming techniques and doing various things around the church to make it more welcoming to visitors.
Checklists are available at ignitingministry.org.
District superintendents must sign each checklist to confirm the information reported.