Churches create Taste of Beaumont for restaurants threatened by pandemic

FUMC Beaumont and Trinity UMC have joined forces to encourage congregants to pick up their forks and support local restaurants. Together, the churches created “Taste of Beaumont,” a self-guided culinary tour. Designed to show their love of the city by promoting local eateries, church members want to reinvigorate restaurants whose futures were threatened by the pandemic.

Going to prison to be a beacon of light

In the past 17 years, Jim Cooper and Dr. William Fach’s prison ministry has never skipped a beat. The two members of Faithbridge Church in Spring have traveled together multiple days a week, about 150 miles round trip each time, to offer Bible study, worship, Baptism and communion to inmates. When COVID-19 closed prison doors for a year, the ministry was on hold. Finally, Cooper and Fach have been invited to return -- in a limited capacity

Districts offer Return Back to Church graphics and social media to churches

The nine districts in the Texas Annual Conference are simultaneously launching a new “Return” campaign to ease the transition from isolation during the pandemic to school, church and their community. The “Return to School, Return to Church, Return to Community” initiative is designed to make it easy for churches to invite new members back to church in the fall. A planning guide outlines a schedule and communications, as well as offering free graphics, slides, signage and video scripts. In addition, 10 grants of $500 each go to churches with the most innovative idea to use the campaign. Grants are due June 29, 2021. More information can be found here.

Blessing of the Boats

The Rev. Ryan Stratton is a firm believer that pastors should not be confined inside church walls and that prayer should not be kept behind closed doors. That’s why, on a recent Saturday, he could be found marching down a dock, armed with a squeeze bottle of holy water, ready to pray for families waiting in their boats. 

Connecting with people through prayer

A simple question changed the Rev. Jacqui King’s entire approach to prayer.  It started one morning when the United Methodist pastor was in line at a busy counter outside Nashville International Airport. The man checking in bags was smiling and polite, but King could tell something was bothering him.