South Carolina District Updates, September 10, 2011

The Wesleyan Church released its statistics for the 2010-2011 fiscal year and they show record-breaking totals in several key indicators. Average worship attendance reached an all-time high in North America at 208,973. In addition, all membership categories increased, with total membership reaching a new high of 142,429.

The number of people who prayed to receive Christ during the past year totaled 27,289, the highest one-year total in the church’s recorded history. Baptisms also reached a new high at 9,157.

For the first time in North America, one of our churches has exceeded 10,000 in average worship attendance. 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville, Georgia, where Dr. Kevin Myers is the senior pastor, averaged 10,831. Twenty-three churches averaged 1,000 or more in weekly worship, with another 32 averaging 500 or more. Click here to see the complete list of churches with 500 or more attendees.

Congratulations to FWC/ALIVE, with an average worship attendance of 736, is now in the top 33.

Rev. Wayne Tippey (Retired) is undergoing further testing for some physical issues that have surfaced in recent days.

Mrs. Chet Rowan (Kathy) is the process of decision making regarding possible treatment and pain management.  In the meantime, she is experiencing considerable suffering.

Mr. Robert Rampey, former DBA member and brother of Rev. Marshall Rampey, is undergoing further testing for a reoccurrence of lymphoma.

This was received from Timmy Young (Ministerial Student and 2011 SWU Graduate):

Today is September 8^th, 2011.  It is coming to an end.  Tomorrow is September 9^th, 2011.  Tomorrow I get on a plane for Ft. Lauderdale.  Tomorrow I begin to take some of Jesus’ words literally.  Tomorrow I join in the community of the homeless.  I begin to become one of them.  I begin to blur the line between me and them.  I begin the process of having us refer to the least of these.  I begin to become more like Jesus in how I serve and how I am served.

So I ask if you pray for me pray together, pray often, pray fiercely.  Here are a few ways you could pray for me:

• Pray for me to build true community with the homeless community
• Pray for me to open the eyes of the Church in Ft. Lauderdale to care for the poor
• Pray for the Holy Spirit to pour out over myself and Ft. Lauderdale that we might all become more like Christ in word and in deed

In Christ,

Pastor Buddy

Welcome to the New SCWesleyan.org!

Welcome to the New SCWesleyan.org! We’ve been working over the past couple of weeks to get a refreshing new iteration of our district website put together and live for you to resource and enjoy. Along with a new look, we’ve also added some new features that we believe both the South Carolina District and its local churches will continue to benefit from.

First, we’ve made the homepage more “visually appealing.” In its old form, there were lots of words. LOTS of words…

While typography can be beautiful in some forms (see the video below…), ours was somewhat, lacking.

The New Homepage

So, in an effort to make your eyes more comfortable, the homepage now looks like the image on the right. It features a large graphical banner that scrolls through a set of images relating to a bit of news or information about the South Carolina District.

Each image can be clicked and will take you to the article to which it relates.

There are also three smaller boxes below that each work to point you towards a bit of relevant information. Currently, they feature the “Churches” page (read on for more about that!), the 2011 SWIM registration form, and a link to the News blog (which used to serve as the homepage of the old scwesleyan.org).

Part of the reasoning in designing the homepage like this is that we want to be able to feature you or your church in a bold way. If you or your congregation has recently held an event or experienced something great, we want to let others hear about it! You can be featured in the large slider right on the homepage of the district website with news about how God is using your congregation to impact people locally, nationally or even internationally! We want to hear about your baptism services, missions trips, vacation bible schools, salvations, community events and other ways you and your church are serving a Kingdom purpose. These stories can be featured along with a short write-up, and even linked back to your church web address.

District Church Directory

We’ve also worked to re-design the concept behind our “Churches” page. Over the past 5 years, the most accessed page on our district website (other than the home directory) was “Churches.” There are people looking for your congregation! During one of the planning meetings for the site re-design, the district phone rang and there was an individual asking where they could find information about a church in their area.

The page has been redesigned and rather than encouraging churches to take the initiative to list themselves on the district site (which resulted in participation from a fraction), we will now be listing each & every church and pointing people to either your church’s website, or a page on the district website containing information about the church including the address, phone number and service times (see the Greenville First page as an example). You still play a part in this! If you have a picture of your church, church logo, church sign, etc. you may send it in to the district office to be used in your listing.

Screenshot of SCWesleyan.org rendered on an iPhone

Also, we’ve re-organized the way the churches are listed. Rather than list them by the name of the church, we’ve listed them in alphabetical order by the name of the city in which they are located. We believe that this will assist people who are trying to find a local congregation in their area.

Finally, we’ve worked to make the district site uniform and accessible across all devices. Any modern browser, including mobile devices like iPhones or Androids, can view the district site and it will render nearly identically across platforms. That being said, if you are running a “less than modern” browser like Internet Explorer 6 or 7… you’re going to run into problems. I hate to have to say it, but it’s time to upgrade. Please consider switching to a browser that properly supports CSS and HTML5 like Google Chrome (my current browser of choice), Mozilla Firefox or Safari.

We hope that you like our new look as much as we do, and that you’ll partner with us to make SCWesleyan.org a living reflection of the work for God’s Kingdom in South Carolina.

~Matthew

SWIM Retreat

District News and Notes 2.10.11

OK. Where did January go? I know it was on the calendar, but it seems like a vapor . . . which is an increasing reality for me. That said, this DNN will recap two months, including what is usually a slow time for district office demands: the Christmas holidays.

The only official Sunday visit in December was on the 5th at the United Wesleyan Church in Easley. It was the first time for me to be present for their morning schedule since they began having the two services (and it seemed rather natural to me, since that was my schedule for the last 14 years of my local pastoral ministry). There was a wonderful spirit in the services, and an attendance pushing the 200 mark. Thank the Lord for one salvation and several others who made commitments that morning! This congregation, under the leadership of Pastor Tim Jones, has made remarkable strides in the past 2+ years, with morning worship attendance increasing by 50%. During the following week, Joan and I attended their LBA Christmas dinner meeting and had a wonderful time of fellowship and sharing in a time of dialogue and training. In addition to Pastor Tim and Connie serving as Senior Pastor, the staff includes Bob Cooley, Michelle Bryant and Matthew Haynes .

The Pickens View, Greenville First and United congregations are to be congratulated on a wonderful Christmas program presented by their combined choirs. An article and picture is included in the News and Information section.

The time of sharing with the Leadership Team in our monthly meeting, and a Christmas dinner that included the spouses, was a blessed time of encouragement, accountability, and receiving counsel. We completed a group study of the book, The Way Forward, edited by Matthew LeRoy and Jeremy Summers. This is a collection of writings that include short biographies and excerpts from works of holiness leaders.

Other meetings during the month included TRRCC Board of Directors, youth pastors/leaders and LBA meetings.

We had three Sundays in which to visit some of our churches as well as a congregation of another denomination. It is always good to sit under the ministry of others and learn what God is doing. It was also a delight to attend a program in which our grandchildren participated.

Christmas 2011 was a very special time for us and our family. Your generosity and thoughtfulness–expressed through your notes, cards, and the Christmas bonuses–is truly appreciated. The bonuses made possible our not having to secure a loan for our December grocery bill!!! We had an extended time (a week for most) with all of the family here at Table Rock! What a special time! It was one of the most memorable weeks of our lives. The setting, the season, the snow were all shared with our precious family. We were blessed in an incredible way. By the way, more grands are on the way! In addition to the baby girl due in May to Matt/Michelle, two more (gender not to be announced) are due the last of July to Aaron/Liz and Emily/Matt. Joan never did make brownies that much and it looks like the children didn’t pick that up either (inside joke from the comedian at The Gathering)! There is a good chance that the 2011 District Journal will be completed in record time so that Nana can be . . . well, Nana!

Now to January. Around 2,000 Wesleyans were present for our denomination’s second “gathering” of pastors and leaders. The Gathering ’11 was a tremendous time of worship, renewal, retooling, fellowship and encouragement for all who attended. I believe that this event is further evidence of the commitment on the part of the leadership of the denomination to be increasingly intentional about our capturing the hearts, imaginations, and passion of our emerging leaders. It was a decidedly younger crowd than was present four years ago. The vision presentation by the General Superintendents (while we ate our “sack lunches”– a great use of time) represented, both in quality and scope, the most compelling vision from the General Church level ever during my time of ministry. Over 70 South Carolina Wesleyans attended this event. This represents 21 pastors, 10 staff pastors and others, with 69 present at our district dinner on Wednesday evening. (Pictured below)

All the main sessions and seminars are available at the denominational website for listening/downloading: http://www.wesleyan.org/gathering/resources. We are very grateful for this generous gift to pastors and lay persons who were unable to attend or to those of us who wanted to get to other seminars.

Several of us benefitted from attending the pre-conference session conducted by the Spiritual Formation Department on reaching and keeping the emerging generation. These presentations were carried live by thetechologyshow. We are proud of Matthew Tietje, Tony Casey, Heath Mullikin and Steve Stanley for their ministry through this medium. You can go the website and catch this and many other awesome things that they did.

Our first church visit for the new year was to the Davis Chapel Wesleyan Church on January 9. This church has a very visible location and an attractive facility that we are hopeful can reach the potential that is theirs. Pastor Ken Hales and Marla have been providing leadership for this congregation since July. There was a warm spirit (in contrast to the bitter cold temperature outside) in the service and a good response to the message. Following the service, our fellowship and sharing with the LBA was beneficial.

The community of Mayo in Spartanburg County has been home to Graham Chapel* Wesleyan Church since 1900. Rev. Preston Edmonds has proved that the axiom, “your can’t go back home and pastor,” is not always correct. For the past twelve years, he and Donna have served in this community where they grew up. They have recently broken ground for a Family Life Center to house their expanding ministry to children and youth . . . a ministry that is growing significantly through their outreach efforts. This congregation is rejoicing in the calling of God upon the lives of Greg and Heidi Edmonds and their recent departure to serve as career missionaries in Haiti, but their presence is greatly missed. This church has a strong history of sending out Christian workers, including James Henderson, who is now serving as youth director back at his home church. I am grateful for the support of the congregation and the presence of the Holy Spirit as we had the opportunity to preach and then meet with the leaders. I was told that the instructions given to the LBA for the dinner meeting following the service were for “everyone just bring what you would have at home and we will put it together.” I can tell you that this is a church where all of the leaders are well fed!

On January 23rd, we traveled for the third consecutive Sunday to northern Spartanburg County, visiting the Carlisle Wesleyan Church. I appreciate several things about this church: the large number of men who are highly visible in the service and on-going ministries; the commitment, passion and enthusiasm of the pastor; an increasing number of younger families who are seeking the deeper things; and a high level of spiritual fervor. Pastor Mike Stepp and Joyce and their family are deeply appreciated by the congregation. Within the last year, they have added a media system to the sanctuary. This particular Sunday turned into a long day, as we traveled from Spartanburg to a grandson’s birthday party in Charlotte, then home late that night. Thank the Lord for traveling mercies.

What a delight it was on January 30th to visit the Oakway congregation–our first time there since Heath and Karen Mullikin came to serve in this community. It is a real delight to welcome them back to the district where they served for 12 years at the FWC/ALIVE church and were so active in our district youth ministry. At the end of last year, this congregation voluntarily requested Developing Church status in order to continue the ReFocus process to church health. There was a good attendance and spirit in the service, and the time of praise and worship led by Jody Reynolds was uplifting. Our meeting with the leaders following lunch took a somewhat different turn when I realized I

had left the packets to be used back at the office. The Lord helped as we transitioned and spent a good season sharing together.

The Hispanic Rally that evening at the Glenwood church was well attended. Following the uplifting time of worship led by a multi-cultural group, Pastor Roger Rhoads brought a wonderful message. More than 100 were present for this service. We continue to thank the Lord for how He is growing His church in diversity as well as in numerical strength.

For the past four years, we have anticipated each FLAME week that we have hosted here at TR. The recent session brought a record number of students and faculty, well over 100!!! We enjoyed getting to know many of them and serving warm “home-baked” cookies and cold milk for the Tuesday and Thursday afternoon snack times. This week also included more than the usual number of committee meetings and individual appointments.

We rejoice in the reports of God’s presence in services, conversions, baptisms and the building of His church here in our district. I love getting those Monday emails recounting wonderful worship services and reports of new Christians coming into the Kingdom. The best is yet to come!

Believing in each other, Pastor Buddy

DNN 2.10.11