Anyone have thoughts on how to get UMC membership books back into order from a state of general chaos? My secretary and I have been kinda sorta working on this for three years now, and I need a better strategy. There has been no chronological roll kept. If I want to start one, where do I start? Do I include in the chronological roll members who have died? We don't have family cards. We don't have a preparatory membership list. Chaos! Add to this the fact that our oldest membership book is in German (St. Paul's was an Evangelical United Brethren Church once upon a time, and was very German), and you get an idea of the mess we are in. Help appreciated!!
Sermon 2/18/18 Mark 1:1-4, 9-15 Jesus in the Wilderness You’ve heard me say before that the gospel of Mark is my favorite gospel. Part of the reason I love it is because of Mark’s brevity. I don’t love that he’s short on details, exactly. I love that he seems practically breathless in getting the good news of Jesus to us, and that he seems to believe that the news is so good it isn’t even going to take very many words to convince you of his message! His frantic style strikes me as showing both how important and how convincing he believes Jesus’s message to be. But, then we arrive at a Sunday like today, and I find myself a little frustrated perhaps, or at least a little challenged by Mark. In the lectionary, the series of the first Sunday in the season of Lent always focuses on the temptation of Jesus – his time in the wilderness, where he confronts Satan, and commits to God’s path rather than the flashy alternative Satan presents. This is the fo
Comments
You could probably find someone prety cheap to start a fire in the church office that could be contained to a very small section of the office. Then come in just at the right moment and put out the fire before it gets out of control.
You look like a hero - excuse me - heroine. And the problem is solved. Ask everyone who attends if they are a member or not and start anew.
Can you tell I've thought long and hard about this..... :)
I know this isn't the answer you were hoping for, but I've got nothing better. I know just how you feel.
The church I attended most often in Albany actually had the problem of the membership books. Many were missing and those that weren't were either illegible, falling apart, or too old to really matter anymore. They basically did what bobm suggested and asked anybody and everybody if they were members (and if they knew of any members who didn't attend anymore and how to contact them).
A whole lot of people who attended regularly but never actually joined all ended up joining at one time, in fact, just so they could be on the new permanent books ... and we had a huge party as only UMs know how to have!
it always raises its head at the charge conference but... well I wonder what is the point ????