Reflections on 2009

The ‘support, guidance, and training to the lay membership’ that I have seen at AUMC in 2009 has continued to revolve around two areas:

(1) the general mission of the Church which, in our own words is ‘to make disciples of Jesus Christ’; and,

(2) our God-given Vision for Arlington UMC which is ‘Changing your world by loving your neighbor.’

For now, this process is in the establishment of our visionpaths whose overall objective is to set all our goals and actions of all our work areas and committees based upon our vision.

Here are some of the observed effects of “changing your world by loving your neighbor” as of December 15, 2009:

· An average of 32 persons per week have been fed through our food closet which is a lay-led effort of local churches and businesses;

o Those assisted are also invited to be a part of our community of faith by being told of our worship hour and meal times;

· And, as necessary, people are eating free at both our Wednesday night supper and Sunday morning breakfast;

o The Wednesday night supper (6:00 PM) has intentionally moved to a more inviting scene for our guests by moving from an educational series that builds off of each other to a stand-alone Christ/guest-centered midweek worship time at the table using resources such as “Evening Prayer” or “Night Prayer” in the United Methodist Book of Worship or The Liturgy of the Hours;

§ And a separate educational time for children and youth has been established by our children/youth director;

o The Sunday Morning Breakfast (8:30 AM), presently known as “The Gathering”, begins with a meal, and after about 25 minutes, is led into singing, prayers, readings and testimony. Honestly, we don’t know yet if this will become more like ‘worship’ or ‘Sunday School’; or a mixture of both. In the last month the average attendance at this event is 30. This is becoming another means of God's grace reaching the community through the gifts of members and non-members.

· In 2009, by the grace of God, a child has entered as a baptized member, and twelve persons have united with AUMC. Of the twelve, eight have come as ‘professing members’ making decisions to unite with a local church, the body of Christ, for the first time.

· Organizations outside AUMC continue to receive our financial and/or volunteer support such as 61^st Ave UMC; Habitat for Humanity; Room in the Inn; and Community Care Fellowship; and,

· We are coordinating the work of our Child Development Center with the work of bringing people to Jesus Christ.

Thanks goes to God and the people of God for doing the impossible.