COLUMBIA—In spite of increasing rain and slowly rising floodwaters, a core of committed men headed to Journey United Methodist Church, Columbia, Oct. 3 for the last of five UMMen teaching churches held in August, September and October in various locations across the state.
The teaching church event, “Facing the Future with No Fear: Creating a Culture that Attracts, Wins and Sends,” featured wisdom on leadership, worship, growth and funding your dreams.
“The primary focus was helping churches to break growth barriers and develop specific systems, which reach not only men but also women and children to look at ways in which the church can be innovative in the community, moving from the model of ‘come and see’ and embracing and operating within the model of ‘go and tell,’” said the Rev. Gerge Ashford, Journey pastor who was also the key speaker for the day.
Other speakers included Rev. William Chaney, of the UMC’s General Board of Discipleship’s Path 1, who spoke on new starts and growth trends throughout the denomination, and Tony Grant, of Grant Business Associates, who spoke on funding your dream.
While attendance was sparse because of the bad weather, Ashford said those who did attend got much out of it.
“We got good feedback from people who did feel they gained insights and ideas about things they could go back and apply in their ministry context—everything from reaching men through social media through using multimedia in worship, and that’s also very big when reaching the younger generation of men,” Ashford said. “It was an opportunity for us to share our best practices at Journey and how we’ve grown all our ministries, but also a focus on reaching men and engaging them in the ministry here, as well.”
For more on men’s ministry in South Carolina: www.ummsc.org.
By Jessica Brodie
