September special events bring people to UM churches

Child Fest Video Clip

By Rachel L. Toalson
Staff Writer
September’s Open House Month ended well, many Southwest Texas Conference congregations reported.
First UMC, Victoria, introduced its new Children’s Ministry Center to the community.
First UMC, San Benito, attracted an unchurched visitor to Sunday worship.
Winchester UMC reported a new sense of enthusiasm in the struggling congregation.
As part of Open House Month, First UMC, Victoria, celebrated completion of its 23,000-square-foot Children’s Ministry Center. It provides space for the Methodist Day School and other ministry programs that benefit children.
The church played host Sept. 16 to ChildFest, a carnival-type event with games and activities geared toward children. About 500 people attended. Most weren’t connected to the church, said the Rev. J. Jason Fry, senior pastor.
“It really turned out to be a wonderful, positive experience,” Fry said. “We’ll probably make it an annual event.”
The 1,362-member church, which sits in downtown Victoria, scheduled the event to “make an effort to reach the young families for Christ” who had moved into the area, Fry said.
ChildFest included games, music, a clown, and free popcorn, snow cones, soft drinks and ice cream. Volunteers sold other food at a nominal cost, Fry said.
Church leaders provided tours of the new building, and the Methodist Day School sponsored its annual Scholastic Book Fair as part of the event.
Fry said names and contact information of those attending the event were collected through door-prize registrations. Church members plan to follow up with a letter within two weeks and then later as special events are planned.
The event was deemed successful, Fry said.
“Not only was it well attended by precisely the people we hoped to reach, but the visibility of our congregation and its commitment to children and young families will be far broader,” he said. “It energized our own congregation to work together and to be more attentive to the guests in our midst.”
In San Benito First UMC scheduled a similar community event at the beginning of September to celebrate both Open House Month and Hispanic Heritage Month. More than 100 people attended the weekend event, said Danny Longoria, associate pastor of the 251-member congregation.
“We had a lot of community people show up,” Longoria said. “We had one gentleman who drove up on his Harley. He was a tall guy. He told us he lives behind us one block over. He was watching the football game but heard the music.
“He said, ‘Wow, I never realized there were Hispanics coming to this church.’”
The man, a Cameron County constable, visited church the following Sunday, Longoria added.
Weekend activities featured Hispanic music and traditions. The church sold food associated with Hispanic culture.
Next year, Longoria said, the church hopes to make the celebration even bigger, adding more Hispanic cultural elements such as folklorica dancers.
“We’re letting the community know that we have open hearts and doors and minds,” he said. “The church has always been inviting and has always had its doors open to the community. But the Hispanic community has viewed it as mainly upper middle class, thinking they were not invited.
“That’s not the reality. That weekend we celebrated the gifts the Hispanic people bring to the church. I hope (the event) will be a tool the Lord will use to bring people to the church.”
Winchester UMC celebrated Open House Month with a covered-dish lunch following the worship service Sept. 3.
Personal invitations were mailed to members and visitors, said Doris Orr, wife of the Rev. Harold Orr, pastor of the 18-member congregation. Articles about the event were published in newspapers from four surrounding communities.
Many of those attending the Sept. 3 service were visitors, Orr added.
The response was a huge encouragement for a congregation that had dwindled to a membership of four adults and one child and had faced the possibility of closing in 2003.
“We hope to have more people worship with us in the weeks ahead,” Orr said. “There’s a spirit of excitement as we continue to welcome more visitors.”
The church currently has an average attendance of 28, Orr added. Services are scheduled on the first and third Sundays of the month at 9 a.m. on FM 153 northwest of La Grange.
Other Open House Month reports included:
> Epworth UMC, San Antonio, kicked off the month with a welcoming table holding nametags and refreshments. Laborers were recognized Sept. 3, followed by teachers Sept. 10. Civic leaders were recognized and prayed for Sept. 17. Agape gifts and words of encouragement were delivered Sept. 24 to nursing home workers across the street.
> Floresville UMC rewarded members with stars for their name badges for every visitor they brought during September, said Rosalie Lloyd, church secretary. “We did have a lot of visitors,” she added.
> First UMC, Bertram, invited parents of Bertram Elementary School students to a coffee time called “Good Cheer” on the first day of school. That was an effort to show parents they had a safe place to talk about their anxieties or celebrate that the summer was over. The church also played host to a kickoff hamburger dinner celebrating the start of the school year. It was advertised as a free event, but church members asked the community to donate school supplies or cash for children in need.
> First UMC, Luling, staged a barbecue banjo bash Sept. 9 to reorganize and revitalize the United Methodist Men group. About 30 men attended.
Members also recognized local first responders during a church service in Longer Park Sept. 10. The Rev. Nancy Day and evangelism chairperson Gene Myers presented Strength for Service devotional books to firefighters, police officers and emergency medical service workers.
> St. Paul UMC, San Antonio, had a prayer vigil Sept. 6 from 7:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. Sept. 18 and 19 marked the church’s revival, with the Rev. Tyrone D. Gordon of St. Luke “Community” UMC, Dallas, providing the message. Sept. 24 was celebrated as Men’s Day 2006 and featured guest speaker David Robinson, former player for the San Antonio Spurs. The church’s Oct. 8 service featured a sermon in song from the St. Paul Voices of Grace and Men of Faith choirs.
The church plans a gospel music concert Sunday.
Leaders of St. John UMC, Rio Grande City, decided to extend the church’s Open House Month until mid-November. The 59-member church’s focus will be “Being Kingdom,” with an emphasis on praying, healing, forgiving and serving.
The World Wide Communion Sunday service Oct. 1 in Rio Grande City incorporated different cultural elements—such as scripture in Spanish, music from Italy and Germany and a children’s presentation of “Jesus Loves Me” in the Navajo language.
A fundraiser Oct. 22 is planned to benefit the NOMADS, a Volunteers in Mission program that has helped rehabilitate homes in Starr County.
The church’s annual barbecue, scheduled for Nov. 18, is to close out the Open House extension.