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| Myles Barr
Area = Programming/Ministry there are some things in life that are just a no brainer. the answer is so obvious that it shouldn't take long to discover. there is a joke that if a fire broke out in a methodist church, and the sanctuary was being filled with smoke, that the congregation would nominate a committee to go investigate the need for an evacuation before anyone left. some things are just no brainers. this is the heart of the reason who so many united methodist churches across the nation are dying out. [1] they have no passion for evangelism. their idea of evangelism is unlocking the doors on sunday morning and saying, "ya'll come". Jesus said we are to goto them. a church will not grow until every member sees their responsibility in evangelism. [2] they have no desire to offer what the public wants, ie...contemporary worship. nowhere in the bible does it say worship has to be at 11am sunday morning. young families with children have a much easier time getting everyone ready to go on saturday night, rather than on sunday morning. in this heavily catholic area, where the main service is on saturday night, we would be foolish not to offer that service. i think there are many catholics who want to change denominations but want to find a church that will allow them to continue their saturday night "tradition" of worship. Insanity has been defined as "doing the same exact thing, over and over and expecting different results". this is just a no brainer. we need a contemporary worship service on saturday night. the sunday morning services will still be full, as there will always be some who prefer sunday worship. but until we offer a saturday night service for our younger families, we will never reach them because we arent offering what they need, (and what every church growth study in this area proves they want) |
| Teresa Hardin
Area = Programming/Ministry We need to have regular activities for children and parents. I remember when Jordan was young, we had a minimum of quarterly activites that the children did a craft and had a program. This occurred from age 4 until she was in third grade. Then there was the Tweenagers in fourth grade which became Caretakers when Beverly took over. I think the best way to get young couples is to have activities for children. If we don't attract younger couples, we cannot hope to grow as a church. |
| Area = Physical change/Facilities
Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a music wing to support our exceptional music ministry? We could use a larger choir room for our adult choir, with risers and storage facilities for choir robes and sheet music. Music rooms for our children and youth choirs and for our children and adult bell choirs would also be nice, including storage space for their sheet music and equipment. If you're gonna dream...why not dream big?! |
| Myles Barr
Area = Physical change/Facilities As you have seen in our evening worship services, our stage area is no where near as big as we need it to be. When we have had the band and the youth choir...or the puppet team...or teh drama team...the stage gets overcrowded quick. My suggestion is to [1] take off those little walls on both sides. (one runs beside the piano and organ, the other runs in front of the choir loft. [2] move the choir pews to the center of the stage [3] extend the stage out to where the 1st pew now sits. [4] Replace our podiums with ones that can be removed wehen necessary. [5] Convert anything other than the stage floor to where it can be removed when extra space is needed. The key is to be able to clear it all out and have a huge, flat stage that can hold: the band, a big choir, a puppet team, a drama team; or any combination of the 2. You will still be able to put the podiums and other fixtures in for your traditional services. Just make it so that they can be removed for the contemporary services, and other special events where space is needed. |
| Area = Physical change/Facilities
Sanctuary needs remodeling, especially the alter and choir/music areas. Re-designing these areas could provide much-needed space for our choirs and musicians, improve sound, and reduce the need for excessive movement of people and equipment in and out of these areas during worship. |
| Martha Hebert
Area = Physical change/Facilities We need a new preschool building. It's been on the hearts and minds of many of our members for many years now. Our preschool has had a long waiting list for as long as I can remember. If we had a new preschool building, we could expand our early childhood education ministry. Naturally, that would benefit our church in the way of more exposure and connections with more people in the community. There are members of our congragation who started coming to our church because their children were coming to our preschool. Also, building a separate preschool building would free up space for Sunday School and other Christian education activities. Reclaiming classroom space in our educational building would in turn free up church community/large group spaces, such as the fellowship hall and activity building kitchen, for special activities/gatherings. I think this could be something that our congregation would come together to support. |
| Area = Programming/Ministry
Children and Family Ministry Outreach: Provide after-school care program for children on the east side of town. The program could offer at-risk/underpriveleged children a safe, positive, loving environment to go to after school. We could provide an after-school snack, help with homework/tutoring, game time, music/singing, story time, and maybe even provide supper. Provide counseling/mentoring for young parents and families at same location as after-school program, but at later hour during the week (or on Saturdays). Possible location: old Houma Heights church building? Possible funding: government funds/new Faith-based initiative |
| Joy Tingle
Area = Physical change/Facilities There is a need for a separate preschool building. Goal: Expansion of adult and children's Sunday School and Youth Activities Area = Programming/Ministry Adult Sunday School 1. Need for a young adult Sunday School class 2. Annual review of potential literature and support for teaching 3. Continual updating of topics and special projects 4. Classroom environment that enhances lesson Children's Sunday School 1. Increase in attendance (What are other churches doing?) 2. Classes in a separate environment from preschool - (Children that spend all week in preschool do not want to come back to the same place for Sunday School.) Increase in Ecumenical Activities: 1. Bring back the fall festival. 2. Music festival not necessarily a song fest 3. Dinner theater Increase in publicity: 1. Share with congregation through the Circuit Rider the wonderful things being done by the church through such groups as the Caring Ministry and how others might get involved. 2. Feature the a committee each month in the Circuit Rider and what it is involved with and its responsibilities. Church Support for the Academy for Spiritual Leadership and any other Methodist supported program that would enhance the leadership and commitment of members to the growth and quality of First Church - Houma |
| Myles Barr
Area = Physical change/Facilities Do you have a spot in your home that needs repairing or cleaning...but you've just never gotten around to doing it? That spot on the rug that you've been meaning to scrub...the loose door knob...the cobwebs above the windows. If we don't keep up with the upkeep of our home we fall behind. The church is the same way. We get "use" to seeing the worn carpet, chipped paint, and other areas that need attention. If church were a closed society, these things wouldn't matter. But we aren't a private club. We're a church, on mission to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. The buildings we use say a lot about us, as a church. Unfortunately, many prospective members are turned away from churches because of their lack of upkeep. The outside of our facilities are keep in very good order by our maintenance staff. And our janitorial staff does an excellent job keeping our rooms clean. Where we are in need are areas like the men's room in the activities building. (just walk in there and you will see) It would be a beneficial experiment for us to get some of our friends from 1st Baptist to walk thru our facilities and write down everything they see that could use improvement. We need some fresh eyes to show us what we may be blind to seeing. In a related idea...we may invite some anonymous Baptist friends to come and sit in our sanctuary one Sunday morning and then report how many people actually greeted them! |
| Myles Barr
Area = Physical change/Facilities We need 15 pictures of Mr. Joe hung around the church. Each portrait should be 3 foot wide by 4 foot tall and show Mr. Joe in a pinstriped suit, posing as Napeoleon would after a mighty battle. |
| Tim Hebert
Area = Programming/Ministry Some key points from a recent Courier article - (from 1990 to 2000, in Terrebonne Parish ) ... United Methodists dropped by 335 members or 18.2 % - "Old-line Protestantism tends to be very traditional, particularly in their worship. They are into organs and classical European hymns," said David Roozen, director of the Hartford Seminary Institute for Religion Research. "The thriving congregations are much more into contemporary music, praise choruses and that kind of thing." - "Old-school Protestantism has been passive in part because they are somewhat skittish about confronting someone about their faith," he said. "To ask if you believe in Jesus Christ or if you are saved, that is not a public thing for them. This new breed of churches actively works on evangelism instead of just passively letting it happen." Also, check out this link for more info on Contemporary Worship in a summary from a book by that name. And we need to see about licensing, especially if we reproduce or use song lyrics/videos in casual worship services or elsewhere. Video fees would be about $150/year and song licensing would be $203/year. |
| Teresa Hardin
Area = Physical change/Facilities I think we are long overdue on updating our sanctuary. It is looking very worn and dull. In addition, the front is too crowded for our music ministry and for contemporary services. Most churches have opened up the front of their sanctuaries to enable more persons to participate in these type services. It would allow us to have a grand piano for Donna to play so she can better share her amazing talent we are privileged to hear each Sunday. If we don't make improvements and updates, we will never attract a new generation. Although our older members are important, we will not survive unless we can appeal to younger members. |
| Myles Barr
Area = Programming/Ministry Effective ministry begins with the heart of the congregation. God has called us into ministry. Regardless if we ever work out a mission statement or vision statement for our local body of believers, Matthew 28:19-20 always has and always will be our mandate to spread the gospel of Jesus. Effective ministry begins with the heart of the people of the church. Do we really have a burden for seeing the lost come to know Jesus as Savior? If you say YES, then ask what is our church doing evangelistically to reach them? Do we really have a burden to see our members grow closer to God thru Bible study? If you say YES, then ask what our church is doing to promote regular Bible study? Do we really want to make a difference in Houma? Do we want to help the homeless, the children, and the poor? If you say YES, ask what our church is doing to meet these needs in the name of Jesus. Now that you're asking questions...ask yourself, Where are YOU serving? There is a principle in churches (regardless of size, denomination, or region) called the 80/20 rule. 80% of the work of the church is done by 20% of the people. Ever wonder how some churches seem to be raching soooo many people with the gospel? 9 times out of 10, the secret to their success is that they found a way to break the 80/20 rule. My freshman year in college I heard a professor say that it's harder to kickstart a dead church than it is to build a new one from scratch. I didn't believe him then. I've been a youth minister since 1996. I now believe him whole heartedly! When a body of believers have been allowed to fall into a pattern of low accountability and low expectancy (in service) they fall into the proverbial rut. In the life of a church, that's a very hard rut to break out of. What could God do with our church if 1/2 our members dedicated their lives to following His Will and allowed God to lead and guide their steps? How many people in Houma could we reach? How many needs could we meet? How many souls could be saved? How many families could we minister to? How many social causes could we make an impact on? You gotta love that 20%. They work so hard, often behind the scenes. They are prone to burnout, stress, and even dropout, because they are carrying more of a workload than they should. The key to being an effective church is finding a way to touch the heart of the people to get involved in the life of the church. We have to improve that 80/20 rule to at least 60/40 before we can truly begin to see results. I would encouarge all members who are in leadership positions to get creative and find ways to include more people in your area of ministry. I would encourage people in the 80% side to pray about where God would have you serve. You can't add any more hours to the day, or any more days to the week...but obedience to God means putting His will before our will. I would encourage parents to make sure they involve their children in different areas of the church, beginning at a young age. And finally I would encouarge everyone to view Houma as their 1st responsibility in the mission field. We're serving a risen Savior who loved us so much that he died for us. He took my sin and put it upon his sinless body. Because He died for us, we should live for him. We have an awesome opportunity here to do much needed ministry in Houma, for the glory of God. Lets labor together, as a church family, and get busy! |
Copyright © 2002 Tim Hebert ... but if you can use anything at this site to spread the Word, please do so.
