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In January, 2010, the congregation of First United Methodist Church, Richardson, embarks on a courageous journey of making God's love real. . . in practice. |
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Not just on Sundays, not just special times, but every day practices. What is a practice? Something we do repeatedly, consistently in order to improve in those areas we need to improve. |
Faith Development refers to all the ministries that help us grow in faith outside of weekly worship: Bible studies, Sunday school, small groups, and retreats where we learn in the community of other Christians.
Intentional refers to deliberate effort, purposeful action, and high priority.
Through Intentional Faith Development we mature in faith; we grow in grace and in the knowledge and love of God. We pray that we are closer to Christ today than we were five years ago, and that by the grace of God, we may be closer to Christ five years from now than we are today.
Do you have an idea or suggestion about one of the Five Practices? Your ideas are valued.
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Ideas, Thoughts, and Suggestions
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SEASONAL OPPORTUNITIES Stress the importance of faith development to all members Make people more aware of faith development opportunities People need to be willing to give time to pass learning/teaching on to others Continue/expand what we are doing to reach out more to community Our church already does offer many opportunities for faith development through seasonal and long-term classes More opportunities for working women with kids Sign-ups seem to reinforce commitment Some things like Winterfest are not marketed as "For Seniors" i.e. does not specify what the target audience is Family night - program and Bible study Topics Gather congregation's interest and target them for opportunities Offer different short term studies Not much new in the spring studies brochure Christianity 101 Bible basics Bible study for parents and children "Get out of Debt God's Way" program
Practical tools for Chirstian living and outreach to community: Spiritual Gifts class (Marilyn Dickson?) Introductions to translations of Bible; use The Message as a study tool Times Have different times and days Seem to be geared to non-working people Offer more day and weekend classes for those who work evenings Power lunches with speaker and food Summertime faith development classes when parents have more time to participate; for example, one week at night, offer classes for adults with concurrent activities for kids, plus potluck each night Something like Winterfest - one day, several optional classes for all ages, with fun and food intermingled Add programs/classes that meet quarterly, as opposed to weekly or monthly Locations Neighborhood Bible studies with mixed ages Web-based online interactive classes, targeting college students, those who can't get out, those traveling |
ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL Cover diverse topics Study scripture Grow within our faith by our fellowship Reach out to non-class members Offer a general Sunday school class without a specific demographic target More marketing/information for Sunday school classes, small groups - videos, talks from ministers Marketing efforts put together by individual Sunday school classes Take part in series of lectures/classes as a small group; investigate possible series/topics; tailor material to what individual classes are interested in Have someone come to Sunday school class to talk about church's inner workings and how to get involved Help with new member luncheons; work with Elizabeth Wilson to reach out to continuing guests and new members Sunday school "Open House" - job fair style, with donuts Sunday school class seems to be the best avenue for faith development for many of us with school age children due to meeting time; accountability is built into being in such a group PERSONAL ATTITUDES & PRACTICES Have a desire and longing for faith; need clergy leadership, but must take responsibility for our own faith development Do something each day for the Lord; set aside a particular time each day to study Take Disciple and other Bible classes; join a small group Home Bible studies; daily devotionals |
SUPPORT GROUPS Continue to sponsor support groups, i.e. SPAN, grief support, divorce recovery, cancer support
Publicize these opportunities to community; Ideas for New Support Groups Infertility support Class for those who have been "burned" by church experience MISSION/COMMUNITY SERVICE Donation to Haiti relief; setting an example for youth; need not be within church; giving and working Individual and group (Sunday school class) participation in mission work to increase outreach and live faith development; could our church offer more local opportunities for mission work? "Tithing your time" - a program where you actually commit time, and are help accountable Wiffle Ball Tournament with proceeds dedicated to a specific ministry Winterfest - great for community Highland Park UMC has a monthly program on Friday night for disabled and learning challenged children to give parents a break OTHER We think a good market study with specific, dynamic questions - maybe on-line survey - would be great Suggest members add church signature to their personal emails - we already have it, just publicize it Option for input from Church members for topics of study in worship Consider serving communion more than once a month Youth - What can we do to provide place/activities for them on Fri/Sat evening Choir - develops faith, great for all ages |
Information updated 2/5/10