This is part of a series of interviews with pastors of churches whose attendance has grown 20% or more in 5 years. We hope this series will be a resource of ideas to help increase worship attendance at your church.

Tuscumbia FUMC has been a growing Church for many years. It has been a vibrant and vital part of the Shoals area Christian community since 1822. The Shoals area is located in North West Alabama along the Tennessee River. This Church has had above average Pastoral leadership in the past and this has resulted in significant Church Growth. Since 2000, this Church has really made an effort to reach out and grow all of our ministries.

We have recently shortened our Mission Statement to:

“GLORIFYING GOD BY BEARING MUCH FRUIT”

All of our ministry and mission efforts are guided by this statement which helps us as a Church to stay focused on what we are about.

• The completion of the Family Life Center in 1999 allowed the Church to grow and expand our Contemporary Service (called AWAKEN) which began in 1997. Originally, this service met in a smaller Fellowship Hall, but the much larger Family Life Center gave this new Worship experience an opportunity to grow even more and that is exactly what has happened. The setting for Worship is around tables with extra chairs set up along the wall. This service is led by a band made up of very qualified musicians, ranging in age from 16-40. Today the attendance is about 200 and growing.

• The Traditional Service which meets in the sanctuary has also held its own with an average attendance of 190. We continue to make every effort to grow this service just as we do the others. It continues to be an entrance way for new people coming in to the life of the Church.

• A new Worship Service began in 2005. It is called “THE SHEPHERD’S TABLE“. This unique Worship experience began with a vision of reaching those in need in our community by offering nourishment for the body and the soul. A meal is prepared by teams of people who are actively involved in the Church and who want to be of service to Christ and the world. These teams rotate each week and are responsible for set-up, cooking, serving, and cleaning up after the service. This requires time and commitment because the people who attend are in need of a good meal.

Following the 30 minute meal, a Worship service is held right where the people are. This is a service of about 30 minutes and has music, sharing, praying and preaching in an informal setting. This service is also led by different teams of people who want to give back to God in sharing their gifts through leading worship. Another team drives the Church van each Sunday to pick up the people and then get them back home.

As you can see, A Church full of servants is what makes these ministries thrive. Those who attend “THE SHEPHERD’S TABLE” have found this to be “their” place of Worship and many are faithful in weekly attendance. The attendance is averaging 75 each Sunday.

Another aspect of this worship is a monthly cookout during the spring and summer months in the area where most of these people live. Teams also go out to these sites and cook hamburgers, hot dogs, and all the trimmings. This outreach allows us to meet even more people and make contacts outside the walls of the Church and to invite others to come and join us. Music is provided by our Church members with guitars, etc.

• A new Satellite Worship experience is in the planning for 2011. This Worship alternative will also offer something unique and different and reach a different group of people as well. We already have leadership in place to get this service up and running and a team of people who are in on the planning process. We continue to follow the Spirit’s leading in where this service meets and how to make it a reality.

(David I. Lee, was appointed to Tuscumbia FUMC in June 2010. In building on the past and visioning for the future, this Church continues to have much potential.)

(Worship times are AWAKEN, 8:30AM; TRADITIONAL, 10:50AM; SHEPHERD’S TABLE, 12:30PM)

David I. Lee (Senior Pastor) —-mailto:dilee@hiwaay.net

David Dale (Associate Pastor) —- mailto:dldale@hiwaay.net

Church web site—-tuscumbiaumc.org