Greetings and salutations! We hope you enjoyed our first publication
of this newsletter. As always we look forward to your comments, suggestions,
articles and commitment to our mission.
Speaking of our mission, below you will find the texts of the Stewardship
Committee’s Mission and Principles Statement and our Vision Statement.
Through these statements, we hope to educate FUMC’s members as to the purpose
and goals of the Stewardship Committee. “As every man hath received
the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of
the manifold grace of God.” (1 Peter 4:10)
Your
obedient servant,
JoLynn D. Burrow
Chairperson, Stewardship
Committee
|
|
Mission & Principles
Statement
We, the members of
the First United Methodist Church’s Stewardship Committee, are a committed
body of believers in Jesus Christ whose mission and principles are as follows:
-
To educate people regarding
stewardship in order that they will alter their perceptions, expectations
and attitudes about giving. We must tithe, work and give of our talents
and skills to God out of gratitude, obedience and worship. No matter
if we give a little, or a lot, in the end the results of our giving all
belong to God. We are all members of the body of Christ. We
are NOT in competition, but all should work toward the greater good.
Our faithfulness to God is determined by our productivity, not our success.
We must shift from thinking about fund-raising to developing disciples
of Christ and saving lost souls.
-
To instruct people about
stewardship and its principles in order to create and promote a climate
of enthusiasm and pure spirit of giving.
-
To teach people about
stewardship so they will be financially healthy, which in turn, will make
for a financially healthy church.
Additionally, we strive
to provide an atmosphere of openness, opportunities and incentives for
all who are called and lead to serve and glorify God through their faithful
stewardship of their gifts.
Stewardship
Committee, 2000
|
|
Vision Statement
We, the members of
the First United Methodist Church’s Stewardship Committee, set forth our
vision and goals as follows:
-
To honor the Lord with
our giving (Proverbs 3:9-10).
-
To teach people stewardship
and its awesome responsibility so they can teach others (Luke 6:38).
-
To provide a strategic
plan of stewardship emphasis.
-
To help meet the needs
of growing a church financially.
-
To educate church leaders
in the areas of stewardship.
-
To encourage, through
sound biblical teaching, those who do ministry to overcome frustration
and stress.
-
To be a resource and model
of tried and tested stewardship.
-
To teach others to be
living examples of stewards to their families at home as well as to their
church families.
-
To provide vital information
through stewardship education so stewardship principles will become engrained
in order to create and promote a climate of responsible and healthy giving.
-
To give people the opportunity
of joyful obedience and servitude for the glory of God.
Stewardship
Committee, 2000
|
The Stewardship Committee
is still looking for those who are willing to give of their time to God’s
church. We have immediate openings in the following areas:
Secretary
Phone Committee Coordinator
Divorce Group Coordinator
Technology Committee
Christmas Project Committee |
Kids Money Chain Coordinator
Faith Partners Coordinator
Out-Reach Coordinator
12-Month Project Coordinator
Mentor Project |
|
|
Did you know? ...
“The word servants, from the Greek word doulos,
is the same word the apostles Paul and James used when they referred to
themselves as the bond slaves of Jesus Christ. The chief function
of a servant of Christ is to communicate the gospel of the grace of God.”
Excerpt from
“Soul Harvest”, by Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins
|
Destination Thinking
Begin. Simply begin.
Celebrate your progress.
It builds momentum.
Break the journey down
into small enough parts to make it manageable.
Focus on where you want
to go.
Be creative. Creativity
is simply the ability to look at something that has always been there and
see something that has never been seen before.
Remind yourself regularly,
even daily, about why you are moving toward this destination. An
important enough why makes the how a whole lot easier.
Enjoy the trip.
Even if it’s only the satisfaction of hard work, finding ways to enjoy
the trip keeps you going.
Focus on what you will
be able to do, that you can’t do now, when you achieve the goal.
Ask: In how many
ways can I accomplish what I want and enjoy the trip?
Follow ditch thinking,
and you end up in the ditch. Follow destination thinking, and you
are much more likely to arrive at your destination. It really can
be that simple.
Excerpt
from Is it ditch or destination thinking?, by Jeff Herring, as printed
in “Knight Rider Newspapers"
|
|
CHURCH GIVING MADE
EASY
All Church Supporting
Christians make contributions to support our many missions. These
contributions are made easy using our Bank Draft Plan:
BANK DRAFT PLAN
First United Methodist
Church has a “Bank Draft Plan” to assure your financial support to “your
Lord” is made first before any other of your important obligations.
Our members who use our “Bank Draft Plan” love its easy fulfillment of
their financial pledge.
Our “Bank Draft Plan”
allows our members to select the time of the month, the 1st or 15th day,
for their contribution to be deducted from their bank account. Our
Plan allows our members to use any bank in the Federal Reserve System.
As each member enrolls, their “Bank Draft” is entered into the Federal
Reserve System by Pam Jordan, Financial Administrator, using our computer
with a telephone connection. The “Bank Draft” is indexed in the Federal
Reserve System until the exact date it is to be entered into your bank
account. As the collection plate is being passed while you are in
any worship service, you have the warm feeling of knowing your contribution
has been placed in your Church’s Bank Account. When you balance your
bank statement, you have another opportunity to feel warm as you thank
your Lord for your ability to make your gift.
Call Pam Jordan, 504.868.7787,
to tell her you want to use our “Bank Draft Plan” for your contribution!
“Honor the LORD with
thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase: So
shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out
with new wine.” [Proverbs 3:9-10]
Hartwell
A. Lewis, Stewardship Treasurer
|
|
12-Month Program
Everyone needs to get excited!! A new and thrilling time of stewardship
is coming in the way of a twelve-month program. Every member will
be involved. It will be a time for us to become better acquainted,
learn about how our church operates and enjoy fellowship. There will
be more details to follow in our next newsletter.
Bill
Vincent
|
Details
Contact every member to obtain the month in which they joined the Church.
Bill Jenkins and his FUMC Member Rolls Committee would direct this information
gathering as part of their updating of our church rolls. We will
attempt to keep family units together.
Each month the members for that month will be honored in several ways:
-
A feeling of caring for
them when we ask about their lives, their family, occupation and their
talents that benefit our church and our community.
-
During the month the members
will be invited to a meeting with refreshments, to discuss the condition
of their church, available church programs would be detailed, information
concerning our church’s financial condition would be furnished and they
would be requested to give us their ideas and suggestions on improving
the services of our church and how they would like to assist. Members
may also be assigned to committees as “honorary members”.
-
Each month there will
be a party. Each member will be given a certificate of appreciation
stating his or her special month in our church calendar. Fun and
games is a wonderful way for our members to get to know other members.
Our Pastor and our church leaders will benefit also.
|
Organization
Annual Chairperson:
This person or persons would assist in recruiting twelve chairpeople, one
for each month. Monthly training for the chairperson for the next
month – allow an opportunity for the next chairperson to observe for a
month – good training.
Monthly Chairpeople:
Each will be responsible for the planned month’s activities:
-
Collecting data from members
by e-mail, mail and/or telephone.
-
Recruiting telephone callers
and letter writers.
-
Organizing “Get-Together”
meetings and socials.
-
Explore member’s talents
and interests – be on lookout for possible leaders.
-
Plan celebration party
with food: during November and December turkey could be provided;
various times of the year would dictate foods most appropriate.
Rewards from this Program
-
Better relations among
members. These opportunities to be together for social and educational
time will allow each member to feel wanted and needed – our church does
care!
-
When it is made known
the role of our Laity, unknown leaders will emerge during these times together
– we will discover people who desire to serve but do not know who to approach
or what services are needed.
-
What a wonderful opportunity
to find people willing to fill our many committees and our many leadership
positions.
-
This program will breath
new life into our church! It is fun to belong to a live wire group
of Christian People.
|
|
Don’t Forget
Don’t
forget to come join us at the next Stewardship Committee meeting, on Monday,
August 28, 2000, at 6:30 p.m. in the church’s parlor. We’ll be looking
for new faces! |
Don’t forget to send your
opinions for submissions to The Call,
1 Freeport Circle, Houma, LA 70360 or laura_bit@hotmail.com.
As editor, I reserve the right to edit content prior to final publication.
|
|
Return to the Stewardship page
|
