Welcome to Faith!

Welcome to Faith! I'm glad you dropped by to visit and connect with us. I'm excited about the ministries and joy that are flowing here like a life-giving stream. Join us on Sundays as we worship and seek the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ! You're always welcome here! Click here to see schedule of services.

How Are We Known?

Late Saturday evening before Father's Day we arrived at our condo in Craighurst, Ontario. As we checked in, a Koren couple ahead of us asked about church services in the area. The resort host told them he didn't know about the services and didn't have a list of churches. Fortunately, when we arrived in our room there was a list of area churches with telephone numbers in a local directory. I begin calling some of the numbers on Sunday morning so we could find out the worship times. Unfortunately, each church I called only offered early worship due to their summer schedule and Father's Day. I only identified one church we could attend on time. However, when we arrived at the church, we discovered that they had also changed their time to early worship and everyone was gone. There were no evening services, so we didn't have an opportunity to attend a church service that day.
The next Sunday was quite different. We were on the road and lodged in Mentor, Ohio on Saturday evening. We had breakfast at the local McDonald's and I asked the workers if there was a church in the area we could attend. Two young workers immediately told me of Mentor Baptist Church right around the corner. A woman waiting for her meal told me about Mentor Baptist and a Christian Church also in the area. We drove to Mentor Baptist and were welcomed into their service. Worship was contemporary with a praise band composed of various ages, words projected on the screen, and a very biblically instructional sermon. Even though the service had just started as we arrived, greeters met us at the door, welcomed us in, and instructed us about children's church. People around us were very warm and friendly. If I was moving into the area, I would definitely go back to the church for a second visit.
As I compare these two experiences, it is obvious that people in Mentor (even at McDonald's!) knew about Mentor Baptist Church and could direct people to their doorstep. The congregation at Mentor Baptist was small, but that didn't matter. They were open to newcomers and offered a modern worship service that engaged everyone. However, the resort in Canada with thousands of visitors each year had no local connection with the churches. They couldn't recommend a local church and weren't aware of worship times. They only knew the churches by a list of names and numbers.
This experience has brought me to reflect on an important question. When newcomers arrive in Clay and ask someone at the BP or Piggly Wiggly about local churches, what would they say? How are the local churches known and how would we be identified to a newcomer? What would Clay residents and local workers say about Faith U.M.C.? Would they know us and direct people to our doorstep, or are we an invisible congregation? I believe the congregation at Mentor Baptist had spread the word about their church and more importantly were living examples in their community. People knew Christian people who went to Mentor. Let's shine our light in Clay, so others may know that the people at Faith U.M.C. are a welcoming, loving, and rejoicing congregation.