3 more congregations earn welcoming certification

Three Austin District churches joined the list of certified welcoming congregation in recent weeks.
Two McAllen District congregations renewed their certifications last month for the second straight year. Welcoming certification must be renewed annually.
New welcoming congregations are:
> First UMC, Austin, certified March 26.
> Wimberley UMC, certified March 26.
> First UMC, Bastrop, certified April 5.
Congregations renewing their certifications March 28 were:
> First UMC, Harlingen.
> First UMC, La Feria.
The Southwest Texas Conference now has 116 certified welcoming congregations. That total is the most of any conference in the United States.
The count of welcoming congregations by district now stands at Austin, 22; Corpus Christi, 24; Kerrville, 16; McAllen, 23; San Angelo, 7; San Antonio, 15; and Victoria, 9.
Granted by the General Commission on Communication, certification means a congregation has systematically evaluated its hospitality and intentionally embraced a lifestyle of welcoming newcomers.
Conference Lay Leader Jay Brim challenged district lay leaders to inspire at least half the churches in their districts to be certified before the June 6-9 annual conference session in Corpus Christi.
He called on district lay leaders to help current welcoming congregations renew their certifications.
The certification program is part of the denominationwide Igniting Ministry hospitality and image campaign. The goal is to help congregations do a better job of relating to visitors and encouraging them to return.
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.
To earn recertification, welcoming congregations must earn an additional 100 points doing things they didn’t do the first year.
Checklists are available at ignitingministry.org or umcswtx.org.
District superintendents must sign each checklist to confirm the information reported.