The Deed is Done!  The deeds for the church property and the parsonage will be filled with Gaston County today, according to Patrick, Harper, and Dixon law offices.  This is the final step in the process of disaffiliation from the United Methodist Church.  There is still a lot of work to be done around the property with new signage and more paperwork to be done, but as of tomorrow, we will be a Global Methodist Congregation.

We will be moving our worship services to 10:30 am on December 3rd, 2023, and will have Sunday School at 9:15 am.  The Life and Faith Sunday School class chose 9:15 for a start time, and the Ferree Bible Class chose 9:30. We will publish 9:15 as a general time, and the adult classes will start at their chosen time.  As we gain children, we will start Sunday School for them at 9:15 am.  I will prepare a few Sunday School lessons for them that are easy to pick up and lead, but we will need a few volunteers to be on call when we have children show up both for Sunday School and for Children’s Church.  I’ll also get materials for Children’s Church together.  If you are willing to lead, send Matt an email at office@christchurchgastonia.org, and he will get you on the list. 

We will need to do a background check on anyone volunteering.  We will send you an email from Verified First that will allow you to input all the necessary information, and I will get a report back and then clear you to work with the children.  We will schedule a Safe Sanctuary Training and CPR/First Aid class in January for all children’s workers and other staff. 

All that being said I hope that you are as excited as I am for the new beginning that God has granted us.  You have the most important job going forward, as a general evangelist.  More people attend a church for the first time because a friend invited them. 

I recently saw this list.  I don’t know the source, but it rings true to my experience:

Why Do People Start Attending Church?

A Friend invited them 86%

An organized visit     6%

A Pastor invited them       6%

Advertising                     2%

People Bring People!

As you can see you are much more effective in getting people through the door.

So, as we start this new adventure, we invite people to church in December and all year, too, but during the Christmas season, people are more open to visiting church … don’t miss the opportunity!

Peace,

Burt