6 more churches join welcoming congregation list The count of certified welcoming congregations in Southwest Texas reached 42 during January. Six more churches joined the list of certified congregations during the first three weeks of the month. In addition, First UMC, Don-na, renewed its certification Jan. 6 for the second straight year. The six newly certified congregations were notified of their new status on the following dates: > Crestview UMC, Austin, Jan. 9. > St. John’s UMC, Corpus Christi, Jan. 9. > First UMC, Yorktown, Jan. 13. > St. John’s UMC, Austin, Jan. 13. > First UMC, Harlingen, Jan. 17. > First UMC, Johnson City, Jan. 18. Southwest Texas has the most certified welcoming congregations of any conference in the eight-state South Central Jurisdiction. The count by district is: > Austin—4. > Corpus Christi—5. > Kerrville—5. > McAllen—16. > San Angelo—2. > San Antonio—5. > Victoria—5. Lay Leader Jay Brim set a goal of having at least 200 Southwest Texas congregations certified by June. He announced that goal during his lay leader’s report to the 2005 annual conference session in Corpus Christi. Granted by the General Commission on Communication, certification means a congregation has systematically evaluated its hospitality and intentionally embraced a lifestyle of welcoming newcomers. Congregations need to renew their certification annually. The certification program is part of the denominationwide Igniting Ministry hospitality and image campaign. Certificated congregations earn 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. District superintendents must sign each checklist to confirm the information reported. Checklists are available at http://www.ignitingministry.org.