"I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy."
1 Timothy 1:4
These are the words that the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy at Ephesus. It is a sentiment that we all can relate to, when we so desire to be together with our church community. I have seen churches that support a tag line that reads, “It’s Better When You’re Here.” Some provide t-shirts that say just that.
One of our initiatives at St. Andrew’s UMC for 2024, was to be known as a church of hospitality. To greet new and long-time friends at our church and to do so with sincere warmth and kindness. And this not only applies to visitors to the church. But we want to re-connect with those who for one reason or another have not been with us in a while. This is the purpose behind initiating a membership audit.
We are reaching out to those who may not have been a part of the church for a while. I say, “may not”, because we don’t really have any surefire method for people to mark their attendance at church.
We must do the best we can. The list you see in the Membership Audit section are those we are trying to reach. To let them know “It’s Better When You’re Here.” Because we don’t have a reliable record of who has been participating at the church, we will and have made mistakes. People who are active members have been mistakenly listed. All we can say is “We’re sorry.”
The list has been scrutinized by staff and some long-time members. Then we have tried to reach the remaining individuals and families, via email or US mail. Some have responded. But as of yet, those on the list are the ones we have not heard back from. These are the people who remain “not found.” This is where you can help, if you know contact information for any these listed, please contact me at gary.rideout@saumc.net.
The reason we are doing this is not because we want to “clear the membership rolls.” But to be a hospitable and welcoming church and invite people to join us again. Granted that if there are some who have joined another church, or some reason, do not desire to be a member, they will be removed. Yet, understand that we are not doing this process hastily, but over a two year period.
So just know, that at St. Andrew’s UMC, the message that we want to convey is “we long to see you, so that we may be filled with joy.”
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