3 more churches join welcoming-congregation list

Three more churches joined the list of welcoming congregations during September.
New welcoming congregations are:
> Laurel Heights UMC, San Antonio, San Antonio District, certified Sept. 12.
> St. Mark’s UMC, Victoria, Victoria District, certified Sept. 12.
> Covenant UMC, Austin, Austin District, certified Sept. 18.
The Southwest Texas Conference now has 142 certified welcoming congregations. That total is the most of any conference in the United States.
The count of welcoming congregations by district stands at Austin, 30; Corpus Christi, 27; Kerrville, 18; McAllen, 28; San Angelo, 8; San Antonio, 18; and Victoria, 13.
Granted by the General Commission on Communication, certification means a congregation has systematically evaluated its hospitality and intentionally embraced a lifestyle of welcoming newcomers.
The certification program is part of the denominationwide Igniting Ministry hospitality and image campaign. The goal is to help congregations do a better job of relating to visitors and encouraging them to return.
Certified congregations earn a plaque and a special designation in the “Find a church” database at www.unitedmethodist.org.
Welcoming certification must be renewed annually.
To earn certification, congregations must qualify for at least 100 points on a yearly checklist
of welcoming activities.
To earn recertification, welcoming congregations must earn an additional 100 points doing things
they didn’t do the first year.
Checklists are available at ignitingministry.org or umcswtx.org.
District superintendents sign checklists to confirm reported information.