Live Oak UMC in Watson, Louisiana began in the mid 1800′s as a part of the Methodist circuit. During the Civil War it was destroyed by the Union army, rebuilt in 1884 and received its charter in 1888. I am the 66th pastor since the church received its charter in 1888, and am now in my 17th year. Since 1996 LOUMC has experienced tremendous growth.
To give you some insight into the level of growth Live Oak Methodist has experienced I need to give you some history of the church.
In May of 1996 the average worship attendance was approximately 120 in worship with about 550 members. From June of 1996 to the present Live Oak has had a continual increase in membership and attendance. Today we have 1,900 members with an average worship attendance of 1,050.
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LAKE JUNALUSKA, NC – Bishop Bruce Ough of Columbus, Ohio, was welcomed as a new trustee to The Foundation for Evangelism board. Bishop Ough is the resident bishop of the Ohio West Area of The United Methodist Church. Prior to his election as bishop in July 2000, Bishop Ough served as the senior pastor of [...]
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LAKE JUNALUSKA, NC – Roger Marshall of Tulsa, Okla., was welcomed as a new member of The Foundation for Evangelism board of trustees at its annual meeting in October. Roger is a lifelong resident of Tulsa. He was the chairman and majority shareholder in Tulsa National Bancshares, a bank holding company that owns Tulsa National Bank and ChoicePay, Inc., [...]
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LAKE JUNALUSKA, NC – Rev. Allen Black of Hermitage, Tenn., was welcomed as a new member of The Foundation for Evangelism board of trustees at its annual meeting in October. Rev. Black is the senior pastor at Hermitage United Methodist Church and also serves as the vice-president for The Council on Evangelism. He serves as a delegate to the [...]
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LAKE JUNALUSKA, NC – Mary Brooke Casad of McKinney, Texas, was named chair of The Foundation for Evangelism board of trustees at its annual meeting in October. A native of Louisiana, Mrs. Casad serves as executive secretary of The Connectional Table of The United Methodist Church. Mrs. Casad has previously worked for the United Methodist [...]
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After nine years of service as board chair of The Foundation for Evangelism trustees, Lane Rees has retired from the position. He will continue to serve on the board as a trustee. At the annual donor appreciation banquet, Rees was honored for his dedication and commitment to the board. New board chair, Mary Brooke Casad, [...]
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The Foundation for Evangelism partners with Annual Conferences to present The Harry Denman Evangelism Awards in recognition of clergy, laity and youth who faithfully practice the Great Commission by carrying out the mission of “making disciples of Jesus Christ”. We welcome the opportunity to share some of their personal faith journeys with our readers. Helen [...]
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The Refresh Campus Ministry Gathering at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas, will provide some new opportunities. Attendees will have the option of participating in one of two General Board of Global Ministries training programs including an Early Response Team training or a Volunteers in Mission training both held Dec. 12-13. Keynote speakers for [...]
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As Dr. Ed Robb accepted the 2011 Distinguished Evangelist of The United Methodist Church award the evening of October 28, he told those gathered that, “I’m just a regular guy who happened to be appointed to a new church and that was 34 years ago…I’m still at it at the same church, still trying to [...]
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Tags: Alabama, Casual, Contemporary Worship, Large, Small Group
In June of 1996, after fourteen years of youth ministry, I was appointed to begin a new church in Dothan, Alabama – a town of about 65,000 people. Today Harvest Church United Methodist is one of the one hundred largest churches in the denomination, averaging over 1,600 in weekly Sunday morning worship services. Less than 20% of those who attend have previous experience in the United Methodist Church. Many accept Christ after coming to Harvest, which indicates that real growth is taking place rather than just “taking” people from other churches.
Our primary keys to the growth of Harvest are the conviction that God called us to start the church and the determination to follow Him completely. Our goal is to bring people to Christ and to equip them to be able to make disciples for the rest of their lives.
At Harvest, we put strong emphasis on personal conversion and growing in relationship with God. We want people to know the freedom and purpose and wonder of really knowing God and living for Him. We believe this is the deepest desire and need of every person, so we try to remove the barriers and present Him in a winsome, non-threatening way.
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