Converting our many visitors into
members, and making visitors feel welcome was a major thrust
in 2003. Our welcoming ministries team modified
efforts by adding a welcoming table either outside the
Sanctuary door or in the back of the Sanctuary depending on
the weather. Members were always on the lookout for
visitors and urged to greet them and invite them to the
"Coffee and Kolache" fellowship and Sunday School.
First-time visitors were directed to the welcoming table where
they were presented with a green plant, a packet of
information about the church, and a warm handshake and
invitation to return.
Our music program expanded again with the
addition of a "Youth Instrumental Ensemble."
We have always occasionally been blessed with small orchestras
of mostly visiting musicians during special events, but this
small group was comprised of teens in our church who wanted to
praise God with their music. The ensemble played once a
month, usually in conjunction with the other Youth Choir
performances. Director of Music Ministries, Steven
Hoyle, was honored for the 10th anniversary with our
church, and organist Juanice Alexander retired after 17 years
with us.
Senior Pastor Turney honors Juanice during worship
A good crowd was on hand at Juanice's luncheon
Juanice honored us with a performance of the
song she played during her college senior recital, and we
honored her with a luncheon and a framed photograph of her
which hangs in the Sanctuary.
flash music player
After a lengthy search, Josh
Masterson was hired as our new Youth Director in March.
The SPRC also had to hire a new business manager when Cindy
Lewis announced she was resigning in January to help at her
husband's business. Sparks Dorris, husband of the
district superintendent, agreed to serve on a temporary basis.
We eventually hired Paddy Ryan-Fairchild as our new business
manager during the Spring.
The post-911 days provided additional
financial challenges for our church in 2003, but through
prayer, perseverance, and some new fund raising efforts we
managed to continue paying our bills without serious strain on
our programs. In fact, even though times were tough we
continued our almost 10-consecutive year tradition of fully
paying our apportionments to the Methodist Church.
In March we held a live auction for the
first time in several years. The live auction had once
been part of Peppermint fair. In his last act of giving
before beginning a fight with terminal Cancer, long-time
member Sandy Vanderburg served as auctioneer.
The crowd is ready to place bids!
Auctioneer Sandy Vanderburg
We also
had a guest appearance by 2003 Miss Teen Texas USA, Tye
Felan of Tomball. Our members donated some wonderful
items to the auction, which raised over 7,000 dollars.
One of the highlights of this day was an exhibit of ancient
artifacts from the time of Christ and over one dozen Rembrandt
etchings dating back to AD 1634...these items were NOT
auctioned!
The exhibit of
Rembrandt Etchings
proved quite popular
Emcee Paul Van House and Miss Teen Texas USA Tye Felan
stand next to a work by
Thomas Kinkade, which was donated to the auction
We held our first ever Summer garage
sale in June and were greeted with great success! The
garage sale, which had been also part of Peppermint Fair in
years past, raised some 6-thousand dollars!
A group calling itself "The New
Ashford Quilters" spent much of 2003 planning and
creating a beautiful quilt for a raffle. The drawing was
held in October and the project raised 1,500 dollars.
The group decided to make one quilt a year and as of this
writing (2005) that goal has been met!
Celebration! After surviving on a series of bible
studies for years, womens' ministry took off in 2003 as
Ashford began participating in the dynamic new
"Celebration" program recognized by the United
Methodist Church. By November interest had grown to the
point to where we established our own Celebration chapter.
Celebration at Ashford held weekly prayer meetings, and
quarterly meetings complete with praise worship, a speaker and
a meal. Members also take part in various outreach
programs and annual retreats which unite chapters from across
the district. While leadership is a team effort, AUMC
member Maggie Van Syckle took a major role in spreading
excitement in our church for this great ministry.
