Welcoming Congregation
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What is Welcoming?
Welcoming is how we show kindness, acceptance, and hospitality to everyone - guests and members alike. People catch glimpses of Christ through their encounters with us. In a nation that's becoming more unchurched all the time, we need to ensure that seekers encounter in us a Christ that they want to know better.
Through the Welcoming Congregation program, Igniting Ministry celebrates and recognizes the efforts of local congregations that actively and intentionally prepare to welcome newcomers and change the congregation's lifestyle.
First United Methodist Church has been recognized as a Welcoming Congregation by The United Methodist Church through Igniting Ministry. This mark of recognition is earned each year through efforts of a local congregation to prepare actively and intentionally to receive newcomers. The first year of the program offers basic areas that a congregation can improve their hospitality, and each successive year builds upon the basics to help transform a church's welcoming lifestyle in the course of four years. Churches that successfully complete the requirements for all four years will become welcoming models that demonstrate how churches are living our promise of "Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors."
