What we have done in 2018!
Many people have been involved in making this year a success. Below are just some of our accomplishments as of Jun 30, 2018:
Methodist Children's Home. - $500, Wesley Foundation - $500,
Local Need (private) - $600, Gause Cemetery Association - $100.
Gause Baptist Church Children's Camp (support 1 child) - $375,
Morning Star Ranch - $200., Gause CIP (cake) - $100. $3200 in designated giving
And, here is what we have accomplished since July 1, 2018!
- Welcomed 7 new members into the church.
- Established the traditional Methodist committee system for the church structure.
- Conducted committee training.
- Paid 100% of our apportionments to the UMC in January.
- Welcomed a series of temporary pastors.
- Welcomed our new pastor and his wife.
- Had numerous people serving as Lay Readers.
- Committees have been conducting meetings and actively managing and operating GUMC.
- Vision Team established recommendations for long-term goals.
- Bibles presented to graduates.
- New front doors constructed and installed on front of Sanctuary thanks to Keith McBee, Mike Griffin, and the Trustees.
- Began regular children’s sermons.
- Conducted Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Easter Services, and Easter Egg hunt for the kids.
- Conducted a new Maundy Thursday service this year. The Worship Committee voted to continue the service in the future.
- Additional people have volunteered to help with children during church.
- Revised our church budget and established a new budget format aligned with committees.
- Began a new Bible Study conducted each Sunday afternoon with an average of 15 participants - covering Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers in 2018.
- Began regular messages on the new sign donated by retired Pastor Kenneth and Janna Byrd. We are blessed that Ruth Hardy volunteered to manage the sign.
- A large number of people have volunteered for numerous tasks without even being asked!
- Pastor Kyle taught a multi-week Methodism class.
- Prayed over and distributed 15 prayer blankets.
- Have had two presentations by children during worship services.
- Travis Neely and Dan Fischer attended district-wide meetings to represent GUMC.
- Martha Hann volunteered to be our song leader and has worked hard in that position.
- Pastor Kyle and Dan Fischer represented GUMC at the Texas Conference Annual Conference.
- Much work has been done in the development of our long-term strategy and the goals necessary to meet those strategies.
- Streamlined many of the office processes and have begun organizing the office, files, and associated activities. The Secretary position has been created and filled.
- Judy Marks volunteered to be our organist and to assist Kathy in our worship services. The organ, along with the piano, has created an added dimension to our worship services.
- Kathy Turner asked for favorite hymns from the congregation and has incorporated many of them in our services already.
- Kathy Turner continues to inspire us in our Sunday services with her special music selections.
- We are in strong financial condition and are blessed to be in such a position. Attached is our budget report for the first half of the year. Please examine it as you will now be able to easily see what each committee is spending and, generally, how the funds are being utilized.
- The Committees have been very busy:
- Church Council met three times to coordinate church operations. These men and women have taken their responsibility to oversee the operation of the church and to plan for the future very seriously. GUMC is in some very capable hands. The Council is continuing its efforts toward developing goals and strategies for the next few years. You will be hearing more about that in the coming months as we get it formalized. The input from the congregation has been the driving force behind the creation of this vision.
- Missions & Benevolence Committee has been busy extending a helping hand to the community. They have taken an active role in revamping the way we provide assistance, created a protocol to use when acting on requests, coordinated with the school on some of our missions there, and have laid the ground work for increased community involvement by our church. Here are some of the major efforts conducted:
Methodist Children's Home. - $500, Wesley Foundation - $500,
Local Need (private) - $600, Gause Cemetery Association - $100.
Gause Baptist Church Children's Camp (support 1 child) - $375,
Morning Star Ranch - $200., Gause CIP (cake) - $100. $3200 in designated giving
- Worship Committee has worked hard to establish new service formats, coordinate worship activities, and to assist our new Pastor.
- Events & Activities Committee planned and conducted several functions including a welcome reception for Kyle and Karen McNeely, a bereavement meal, Sunday School refreshments, Fellowship sessions following worship, Easter festivities, Gause Founders' Day parade entry, and has been busy coordinating kitchen activities.
- Finance Committee has revamped our financial processes, reformatted our budget to make it more useful, established a checks and balances process for processing the offerings, oversaw the process of revising our 2018 budget, and has provided $40,000 from general funds to the Trustees for establishment of CD’s, plus overseen the daily financial operations.
- Staff Parish Relations Committee has had an unusually busy half a year bringing in a new pastor, establishing guidelines for the new pastor, creating an evaluation system to evaluate the pastor, developing a Church Secretary position, along with all the normal actions involving the general oversight of a variety of staff and volunteers.
- Trustees have also been very busy this year. They have re-piped the entire water system in the annex, established Certificates of Deposit of funds from the Finance Committee, helped with the installation of the new front doors, replaced the water heater, installed a yard sprinkler system, conducted numerous surveys of church property, revised our insurance program, and made numerous repairs to the facilities and equipment.
- Nominations & Lay Leadership developed the new slate of committee assignments for 2019. This committee has overseen the Bible studies and other enrichment activities.
And, here is what we have accomplished since July 1, 2018!
- Teacher and Staff Luncheon for Gause ISD
- Allowed a community family to host a baby shower in our Fellowship Hall at no charge.
- Allowed a community family to use our sanctuary for a memorial service at no charge. Plus we served them a bereavement meal.
- Conducted a Blessing of the Backpacks ceremony for all those attending school this fall
- Installed a yard sprinkler system for the yard in front of the Fellowship Hall
- All committees met to develop goals to help GUMC attain its Strategic Vision
- Pastor Kyle began holding regular office hours on 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month
- Hosted Thomas and Karen Couch, Cross Cultural workers stationed in Kosovo. They provided the Worship message one Sunday
- Held 3 Meet the Pastor gatherings at member's homes to help Pastor Kyle in getting to know the congregation and vice versa
- Participated in Gause Founders' Day Celebration and entered a float in the parade which won second place.
- Provided a bereavement meal for the family of Dorothy Jean Gause
- Jeanne Niklasch has volunteered to conduct our children’s ministries and has already re-designed the Sunday School room, implemented a new curriculum, and had several children’s performances during worship service.
- Conducted a men's prayer breakfast
- Conducted our annual Church Conference and associated Charge Conference submission to the District
- Palm crosses made by 5 members of the congregation for Pastor Kyle to use during pastoral visits.
- Conducted 7-week Ladies Bible Study - facilitated by Judy Marks
- Trustees created and marked a Handicap Parking space
- Pastor Kyle and Dan Fischer attended a regional "Listening Session" pertaining to the upcoming UMC General Conference in 2019
- Kitchen Shower conducted to restock Annex kitchen
- Ladies met and sewed 80 new prayer blankets
- Pastor Kyle, Dan Fischer, and Henry Bonorden attended the District Charge Conference
- Paid for eye exams and new glasses for a child at Gause School
- Provided Christmas gifts for two children in need as requested by Milam County Child Protective Services
- Provided Christmas gifts for two families of children who attend Gause School
- Provided food for a family whose children attend Gause School
- Led a community effort to provide food and support to the Denby Brown family in Gause over several months during their recuperation from an accident and other medical issues.
- Conducted a new Remembrance Service on the evening of the Longest Night - attendance was 12
- Conducted a Christmas Eve Service - attendance was 100