Open House: Best day for Pastor Jeff Newton

By Paula Shrock
Special to the Hoosier UM News

"It was the best day since I began in ministry!" quipped Jeff Newton, pastor of First UMC in Lowell, Ind. He was referring to Sept. 8, 2002, the day his congregation hosted an open house, in conjunction with United Methodist Open House Month.

His ministry gained momentum after attending Igniting Ministry Local Church Training on July 27. Pastor Jeff's attitude toward Igniting Ministry changed on that day.

During the presentation, he realized that the phrase "Open hearts, opens minds, open doors" means something different than he thought. He understood that the media spots are saying that God accepts people just the way we are and we should too. During the training, he grasped that it is up to the individual congregation and pastor to take in the guests and visitors, teach the Gospel by word and example, and disciple them to maturity in Christ. With this in mind, Pastor Jeff wasted no time getting ready for a church open house on Sept. 8, which was just around the corner.

He started by ordering the FRAN (Friends, Relatives, Associates and Neighbors) Plan from the General Board of Discipleship. (Call 800/685-4370 or visit www.discipleshipresources.org. ) Then he preached a sermon to his congregation about his change of heart and introduced the FRAN Plan. To reinforce the plan and pique interest, Pastor Jeff placed table tents around the church asking, "Have you prayed for FRAN today?" This caused quite a stir, as people who were not present the day he introduced the plan asked about FRAN's well-being.

The FRAN Plan

The most important part of the FRAN Plan is prayer, so a weekly prayer meeting for the express purpose of praying for the people who had been identified as FRANs was initiated. Based on Isaiah 43:5-7, the group also concentrated on praying for the immediate church neighborhood. Soon the group prayed strategically for specific streets. To their amazement, first-time visitors began to show up from those very streets. At one point, the group prayed for a surrounding town, and someone from that town attended a service.

In the meantime, Open House Sunday plans moved forward and publicity began. Pastor Jeff ordered an Igniting Ministry welcome mat and banner. A new Director of First Impression Ministry, Peggy Hendricks, was hired. Peggy believes that publicity is important to putting the church's best foot forward and added to her job description by making sure that church events were publicized in the local newspaper for three weeks in a row.

Between Aug. 1 and Sept. 8, eight new families had already visited a Sunday morning worship service. But what happened that Sunday "blew this congregation away!"

Attendance jumped

Ten more new families attended that day. Over the past five weeks, attendance had jumped from a 275 average to 400 on Sept. 8. Coffee hour was a hit as well. A ministry fair with science fair-type displays for all of the ministries of the church kept the conversation centered on the many ways First Church is growing and reaching out to their town for Christ. Assuredly, the fair built up the existing congregation, along with enticing new people to find out more about this church and the people who worship there.

Assessing the situation, Pastor Jeff states that the success of the day really had nothing to do with attending the training or hiring a new staff person or passing out bottles of water or putting out a welcome mat but everything to do with obedience and prayer. Pastor Jeff heard the call to do something new and acted on it, taking his congregation to new territory and reaching their community with the message of the gospel. As the congregation of First UMC, Lowell, continues in this evangelism and outreach effort, even more "best days" are undoubtedly just around the corner for Pastor Jeff.

Last updated on 01/14/2004

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