Welcome
Are you searching for a deeper understanding of life? Are you ready to find where you fit in the big picture? Are you looking to be part of a community? Evangelical United Methodist Church is the place for you to discover answers to these questions and many more.
At EUM we believe that God has placed you on this earth for a purpose, to be part of a community, and to be in a relationship with Him. We believe that the Scriptures contain ageless truth about a living Savior that we are to share in a contemporary world.
We invite you to join us in dreaming God's dreams for the future of EUM as we continue "to bring others into a personal and dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ and equip and mobilize God's people for ministry."
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Sunday Services:
9:00 a.m. & 10:30 a.m.
in the Sanctuary
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Address:
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Featured Events:
Kaleidoscope Retreat, Hold the Dates!, September 19 - 21, 2008
A Word from Our Pastor:
This past year EUM’s Ministry Board spent time reading and reflecting on a book by Thom Rainer entitled, Break-Out Churches. Rainer found that declining churches that took the leadership framework of Jim Collin’s book, Good to Great and applied portions of these leadership truths to their church structures often stopped the decline and were able to sustain a growth trend. The leadership of EUM was both challenged and appreciative of Rainer’s insights.
Rainer challenges Christians again with an article on the ChurchCentral.com website entitled, “Survey finds many unchurched would come to church if invited.” Rainer and his team of researchers spent two years in all 50 states and in Canada interacting with folks who did not attend church. They formally interviewed 308 diverse unchurched people, male and female, those with a modest education to those with doctoral degrees, and they found what Rainer calls, “some surprises.” Two of those surprises are listed below:
1.) Many of the unchurched felt guilty about not attending church. This was especially true of those who had children living at home. One Florida woman articulated what many had shared, “It’s tough to start a habit of doing something you’ve never done before.” But what may be even more disconcerting is that many view the church as intimidating. They do not think they can fit in a place they have never attended before.
2.) Rainer’s survey found that 96% of those interviewed would seriously consider attending a church service if invited. Rainer, however, found that only approximately “21% of Christians invited anyone to church within a course of a year; with only 2% of those invited being classified as unchurched.
2.) Rainer’s survey found that 96% of those interviewed would seriously consider attending a church service if invited. Rainer, however, found that only approximately “21% of Christians invited anyone to church within a course of a year; with only 2% of those invited being classified as unchurched.
Now we all know that information from surveys is at the mercy of the way a question is phrased, the culture of the community etc…, however, there is enough congruent data from various surveys that allow us to make the following observations:
People are aware and open to discuss the spiritual needs in their life…as long as Christians don’t come across as preachy. There is an old saying, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” In other words people are aware of spiritual voids in their life; many would even agree that the church is relevant for them today. What they are looking for, however, are authentic Christians who are willing to provide a safe place for them to wrestle with God and the faith; a place where their doubt isn’t mocked while their faith develops a spiritual foot hold.
I want to invite you to join us for the next couple of months as we ponder on how we can continue to grow in the fruit of the spirit. How we receive God’s love, which includes peace, patience kindness etc…and then how do we reflect that love outwardly to those around us.
Blessings,
~Pastor Creighton
