2 more churches named welcoming congregations, 2 renew status

Two more Southwest Texas churches were recognized in June as Certified Welcoming Congregations for 2005.
Two others renewed their certification for the second straight year.
Pharr UMC and Trinity UMC, McAllen, became the 10th and 11th certified welcoming congregations in the Southwest Texas Conference.
First UMC, Schulenburg, and First UMC, Mission, renewed their certification.
Certification, which is to be renewed annually, means a congregation has systematically evaluated its hospitality and intentionally embraced a lifestyle of inviting and welcoming newcomers.
Southwest Texas has more certified welcoming congregations than any other conference. Only about 200 of the nearly 37,000 United Methodist congregations in the United States have earned certification.
Of the 13 certified congregations in Texas, 11 are in the Southwest Texas Conference. The McAllen District is home to nine of those. Two more are in the Victoria District.
The certification program, run by the General Commission on Communication, is part of the denomination-wide Igniting Ministry hospitality and image campaign.
Certified congregations receive a plaque and a special designation on the Find-A-Church database at www. unitedmethodist.org. That’s the Web site United Methodist television commercials list for people seeking a church.
To earn certification, congregations must qualify for at least 100 points on a yearly checklist of welcoming activities. Those include having a designated welcoming coordinator, training the majority of church members in welcoming techniques and doing various things around the church to make it more inviting to visitors.
District superintendents must sign each checklist to confirm the information reported.
“On behalf of the entire Igniting Ministry team, we thank you for all you do to ensure that newcomers know the people of The United Methodist Church have open hearts, open minds and open doors,” said Royya James in letters to the Pharr and Schulenburg congregations. James is certification coordinator for the communications agency.