Dear Members & Friends of Zachary UMC:
After a year of three pastoral transitions, two waves of covid, and a hurricane, our church ended 2021 well.
We had 362 people worship with us on Christmas Eve at the Pathway, Traditional, and On-line. We welcomed 22 new members, participated in missions that served the needs of 5,771 people, and ended the year with tithes and offerings being $14,751 more than operating expenses. The Lord was faithful and sustained our church through the 2021 year.
In 2022 our congregation’s ministries are off to a good start! Today I invite you to take a moment and read some of the highlights of ministry so far this year. I hope they will fill your heart with gratitude, and I pray they will inspire you to continue moving forward in faith with your prayers, presence, gifts, witness, and service.
Communication through the Church Office
Our office staff, Allison Milliron, Celeste Duncan, and I have completed a redesign of our church website at www.zacharyumc.org. Included on the website is our weekly newsletter, the Weekend Update. By having this on our website, our church can share the link to our Weekend Update to a wider audience through email, text message, Facebook, and through a QR code on the screen in worship.
Staff Parish Relations
Chaired by David Clayton, our SPR committee has re-hired Don Bass who came out of retirement to serve as a ¼ Time Church Maintenance Technician. The committee is currently seeking to hire a new Part-time Financial Secretary, and they made the decision to not hire a Cook. This decision was based on the results of
“A Survey about Congregational Meals” that was offered to the church on-line and in worship in February. In the survey only 22 responded they would attend in-person if our church brought back Wednesday Night Suppers.
Nominations and Leadership Development
Chaired by the Pastor, the committee worked with the Church Council to streamline the overall leadership structure of our church for more effective administration, communication, and decision-making and with a commitment for members to only serve on one administrative committee. The redesigned structure has been mobilized through three Church Leadership Nights this year (January 16, April 24, & August 28). Nominations and Leadership Development also initiated the iServe campaign in January that resulted in 102 people volunteering to do 763 acts of service in 2022.
Worship
In worship our church has averaged 232 at Traditional, the Pathway, and On-line. This has included in-person attendance in the 70s - 80s at Traditional worship, in-person attendance in the 50s - 60s at Pathway Contemporary worship, and participation in On-line worship in the 90s. With the ministry of the Mid-Week Devotional Word, we have averaged 73 people participating. So far this year we have welcomed 63 people visiting with us in in-person worship. We have celebrated 1 baptism with more that are to be scheduled in the future. We have received 3 new members to date with multiple visiting families who are wanting to make our congregation their home. This spring Dr. Eddie Elsey and the choir resumed their music ministry. For the Pathway, the need was shared at the January Church Leadership Night for our praise team to upgrade some of their equipment. Thanks to the generosity of several donors the funds needed for these upgrades have been provided.
Children
Chaired by Allison Milliron, the children’s ministry has restructured Sunday school with a rotating team of 17 adult volunteers using video-based curriculums. Since August we have grown from an average of 9 in Sunday School to an average of 19 in Sunday school in March, with a 15-person average for the school year overall. By re-instituting the IMPACT preteen group and separating them out from the younger students, all of the students have seemed more inclined to invite friends. We have 40 children total on our Sunday School roster (28 children/12 preteens) who are participating somewhat regularly. Our nursery is chaired by Kathy Daigle, and has continued to provide care for our youngest members. In mission, our children participated in Operation Christmas Child and the Zachary Canned Food Drive mission, and the preteens plan to go to the Baton Rouge Food Bank in May. In addition to Kidventure, Trunk-or-Treat, the Christmas Parade Party, and the Easter Egg Hunt, we have scheduled a 4-day Vacation Bible School from Monday June 6th-Thursday June 9th from 5:00-8:00 PM. We will be using the Cokesbury VBS curriculum “Food Truck Party: On a Roll with God.” Registration opened online last week (https://zacharyumc.mycokesburyvbs.com/) and we already have 21 children registered!
Youth
Chaired by Allison Milliron, the youth ministry has grown from an average of just 10 students in August to a core group of 19 students in March. Including our adult volunteers, we are averaging 21 participants for UMYF in 2022. In Sunday School we are averaging 7 participants who are engaging the Bible Project book overview videos, and we have a total of 40 students on our roster who participate in UMYF somewhat regularly. The renovation of the Youth Ministry Office by youth, parents and members of Trustees has been a huge blessing as we are growing! The youth participated in 4 missions this year: the Lane ER Medical mission, Can-struction Zachary Food Bank mission, Operation Christmas Child, & Valentine’s Cards for Oakwood. We have a total of 34 participants going on mission to Branson, MO, July 10th-16th (24 students and 10 adults). As of today, we have raised a little over $16K through our Christmas Parade Donut fundraiser and Shareholders fundraiser combined, and we greatly appreciate the support! With the addition of student deposits, our mission is almost completely covered without drawing much from youth budget funds. Our dedicated Student Adult Leadership Team (S.A.L.T.) have been meeting monthly for leadership training and assessing our spiritual gifts to better aid the youth. These 10 adults regularly participate in the leadership of Sunday School, UMYF, and our beginner youth praise team. Our youth praise team led a song during a worship night at UMYF in March and are working on two more songs for our next worship night in May. There are 14 students who have shown interest in participating in the youth praise team, however conflicting schedules have made the launch of this ministry difficult. We plan to suspend this ministry during the summer and re-launch next August at the beginning of a new school year, hopefully with more commitment.
Adults
Chaired by Betty Hodges, the Adult Ministries Council oversees and resources the education, care, and fellowship ministries of our church. Here are just a few of the highlights from this year. (For a complete list of all of our groups, ministries, ways people serve, and missions, go to the church website.) First, a new adult ministry, PathSeekers: An Outdoor Adventure Fellowship, is being formed by Matt & Jan Byland. Second, we have had three adults participate in the adult spiritual renewal weekend, Walk to Emmaus. Third, the Gathering for Parents continues to add new members and has shared table fellowship with a fajita night at the home of Jason & Jessica Gafford. Fourth, some of the mothers from the Gathering have begun meeting once a month at the home of Jaime Engels for a meal, fellowship, spiritual growth, and prayer. Fifth, the Movers class has continued to welcome new members and has shared table fellowship at a crawfish boil at the home of Mark & Stephanie Blair. Sixth, our Care Team who writes cards to people each week has seen participation in their group double this year. Seventh, a team of volunteers has resumed delivering homebound communion to our members who cannot attend worship. Eighth, our Widows and Widowers group has continued to welcome new people seeking community and support. Ninth, in addition to the lunches on our quarterly Combined Worship Service Sundays, our church has resumed having Church-wide Breakfasts led by John & Kathleen Hopewell.
Trustees
Chaired by Vince Giaccone, the Trustees oversee the properties and facilities of our church. Here are just a few of the highlights from this year. This year the Trustees have purchased a new sign and banners for the Pathway service. They have been exploring options of how to improve the internet and WiFi of our church. They have re-striped the parking lots, and they have contracted with Z Cuts to do our landscaping in addition to our lawn care. They have replaced the HVAC Unit in the Fellowship Hall Kitchen. They have installed an electronic keypad for controlled access to the Fellowship Hall during Little School hours, and they have completed bathroom repairs in the sanctuary foyer. They replaced the roof on two of the rental houses on 39th St. and Young Street, and they corrected electrical issues at the parsonage with Buffalo Electric and Entergy.
Finance
Chaired by Benjamin Brown, Finance established the Helen Bruner Memorial Endowment Fund that was established with a beginning balance of $10,525 for the purpose of Children's Christian Education at ZUMC. In addition to these special donations, our church has received $111,647 in tithes and offerings in the first quarter of the year. Our congregation continues to be faithful and generous. However, routine operating expenses have been supplemented with a $20,000 property insurance lump expense and some unplanned maintenance and repair expenses. In the first quarter of the year, expenses were $142,500 or $30,553 more than the tithes and offerings. Our church will need to respond to this need in the weeks to come.
Little School
Chaired by Brenda Triche and directed by Brooke Hafliger and Michelle Murphy, the Little School has begun enrollment for next fall. As of today they have 86 children registered with a capacity for 91 children. Many of the classrooms have waiting lists. The Little School has also held joyous celebrations on each of the holidays this spring, and they are preparing for the graduation of this year’s children on May 17.
Missions
Chaired by Brittany Pressler, the Missions Council coordinates the calendar of our church-wide missions and the mission partnerships of our church. Here are just a few highlights. (For a complete list of all of our groups, ministries, ways people serve, and missions, go to the church website.) This year our church has given mission offerings to UMCOR for the crisis in Ukraine and for the campus outreach lunch of the Southeastern University Wesley Foundation that feeds hundreds of students each week. Friends & Needles has created 68 Blankets and 30 Quilts for the Louisiana Methodist Children’s Home. The Emmie Montegudo Women’s Circle has collected coffee, T-shirts, socks and a small TV for the War Veterans Home in Jackson, LA. The Gloves Ministry has constructed a wheelchair ramp for a household with need. Our monthly worship and communion service has continued to offer Christ at Oakwood Village Assisted Living Center, and our church has resumed our communion Sunday collection of food for the Food Pantry. So far this year the Food Pantry has served 1,985 people.
Invitation to Holy Week
Finally, you are invited to worship with us during Holy Week. On Holy Thursday we will have a Traditional Communion Service at 6:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary. On Good Friday we will have a Contemporary Music & Prayer Service at 6:00 p.m. at the Pathway. On Easter Sunday we will have Traditional worship (in-person & on-line) at 9:00 a.m. We will have our Easter Egg Hunt for children at 10:00 a.m., and we will have our Pathway Contemporary worship (in-person only) at 11:00 a.m. Bring your family and invite a friend to come with you.
In closing, there’s a lot going on in the life of our church! Many lives are being touched, blessed, and helped. Many are growing in faith, and the best is yet to come. Thanks be to God for the gift of Christ and the gift of our church.
Your pastor,
Josh Milliron
After a year of three pastoral transitions, two waves of covid, and a hurricane, our church ended 2021 well.
We had 362 people worship with us on Christmas Eve at the Pathway, Traditional, and On-line. We welcomed 22 new members, participated in missions that served the needs of 5,771 people, and ended the year with tithes and offerings being $14,751 more than operating expenses. The Lord was faithful and sustained our church through the 2021 year.
In 2022 our congregation’s ministries are off to a good start! Today I invite you to take a moment and read some of the highlights of ministry so far this year. I hope they will fill your heart with gratitude, and I pray they will inspire you to continue moving forward in faith with your prayers, presence, gifts, witness, and service.
Communication through the Church Office
Our office staff, Allison Milliron, Celeste Duncan, and I have completed a redesign of our church website at www.zacharyumc.org. Included on the website is our weekly newsletter, the Weekend Update. By having this on our website, our church can share the link to our Weekend Update to a wider audience through email, text message, Facebook, and through a QR code on the screen in worship.
Staff Parish Relations
Chaired by David Clayton, our SPR committee has re-hired Don Bass who came out of retirement to serve as a ¼ Time Church Maintenance Technician. The committee is currently seeking to hire a new Part-time Financial Secretary, and they made the decision to not hire a Cook. This decision was based on the results of
“A Survey about Congregational Meals” that was offered to the church on-line and in worship in February. In the survey only 22 responded they would attend in-person if our church brought back Wednesday Night Suppers.
Nominations and Leadership Development
Chaired by the Pastor, the committee worked with the Church Council to streamline the overall leadership structure of our church for more effective administration, communication, and decision-making and with a commitment for members to only serve on one administrative committee. The redesigned structure has been mobilized through three Church Leadership Nights this year (January 16, April 24, & August 28). Nominations and Leadership Development also initiated the iServe campaign in January that resulted in 102 people volunteering to do 763 acts of service in 2022.
Worship
In worship our church has averaged 232 at Traditional, the Pathway, and On-line. This has included in-person attendance in the 70s - 80s at Traditional worship, in-person attendance in the 50s - 60s at Pathway Contemporary worship, and participation in On-line worship in the 90s. With the ministry of the Mid-Week Devotional Word, we have averaged 73 people participating. So far this year we have welcomed 63 people visiting with us in in-person worship. We have celebrated 1 baptism with more that are to be scheduled in the future. We have received 3 new members to date with multiple visiting families who are wanting to make our congregation their home. This spring Dr. Eddie Elsey and the choir resumed their music ministry. For the Pathway, the need was shared at the January Church Leadership Night for our praise team to upgrade some of their equipment. Thanks to the generosity of several donors the funds needed for these upgrades have been provided.
Children
Chaired by Allison Milliron, the children’s ministry has restructured Sunday school with a rotating team of 17 adult volunteers using video-based curriculums. Since August we have grown from an average of 9 in Sunday School to an average of 19 in Sunday school in March, with a 15-person average for the school year overall. By re-instituting the IMPACT preteen group and separating them out from the younger students, all of the students have seemed more inclined to invite friends. We have 40 children total on our Sunday School roster (28 children/12 preteens) who are participating somewhat regularly. Our nursery is chaired by Kathy Daigle, and has continued to provide care for our youngest members. In mission, our children participated in Operation Christmas Child and the Zachary Canned Food Drive mission, and the preteens plan to go to the Baton Rouge Food Bank in May. In addition to Kidventure, Trunk-or-Treat, the Christmas Parade Party, and the Easter Egg Hunt, we have scheduled a 4-day Vacation Bible School from Monday June 6th-Thursday June 9th from 5:00-8:00 PM. We will be using the Cokesbury VBS curriculum “Food Truck Party: On a Roll with God.” Registration opened online last week (https://zacharyumc.mycokesburyvbs.com/) and we already have 21 children registered!
Youth
Chaired by Allison Milliron, the youth ministry has grown from an average of just 10 students in August to a core group of 19 students in March. Including our adult volunteers, we are averaging 21 participants for UMYF in 2022. In Sunday School we are averaging 7 participants who are engaging the Bible Project book overview videos, and we have a total of 40 students on our roster who participate in UMYF somewhat regularly. The renovation of the Youth Ministry Office by youth, parents and members of Trustees has been a huge blessing as we are growing! The youth participated in 4 missions this year: the Lane ER Medical mission, Can-struction Zachary Food Bank mission, Operation Christmas Child, & Valentine’s Cards for Oakwood. We have a total of 34 participants going on mission to Branson, MO, July 10th-16th (24 students and 10 adults). As of today, we have raised a little over $16K through our Christmas Parade Donut fundraiser and Shareholders fundraiser combined, and we greatly appreciate the support! With the addition of student deposits, our mission is almost completely covered without drawing much from youth budget funds. Our dedicated Student Adult Leadership Team (S.A.L.T.) have been meeting monthly for leadership training and assessing our spiritual gifts to better aid the youth. These 10 adults regularly participate in the leadership of Sunday School, UMYF, and our beginner youth praise team. Our youth praise team led a song during a worship night at UMYF in March and are working on two more songs for our next worship night in May. There are 14 students who have shown interest in participating in the youth praise team, however conflicting schedules have made the launch of this ministry difficult. We plan to suspend this ministry during the summer and re-launch next August at the beginning of a new school year, hopefully with more commitment.
Adults
Chaired by Betty Hodges, the Adult Ministries Council oversees and resources the education, care, and fellowship ministries of our church. Here are just a few of the highlights from this year. (For a complete list of all of our groups, ministries, ways people serve, and missions, go to the church website.) First, a new adult ministry, PathSeekers: An Outdoor Adventure Fellowship, is being formed by Matt & Jan Byland. Second, we have had three adults participate in the adult spiritual renewal weekend, Walk to Emmaus. Third, the Gathering for Parents continues to add new members and has shared table fellowship with a fajita night at the home of Jason & Jessica Gafford. Fourth, some of the mothers from the Gathering have begun meeting once a month at the home of Jaime Engels for a meal, fellowship, spiritual growth, and prayer. Fifth, the Movers class has continued to welcome new members and has shared table fellowship at a crawfish boil at the home of Mark & Stephanie Blair. Sixth, our Care Team who writes cards to people each week has seen participation in their group double this year. Seventh, a team of volunteers has resumed delivering homebound communion to our members who cannot attend worship. Eighth, our Widows and Widowers group has continued to welcome new people seeking community and support. Ninth, in addition to the lunches on our quarterly Combined Worship Service Sundays, our church has resumed having Church-wide Breakfasts led by John & Kathleen Hopewell.
Trustees
Chaired by Vince Giaccone, the Trustees oversee the properties and facilities of our church. Here are just a few of the highlights from this year. This year the Trustees have purchased a new sign and banners for the Pathway service. They have been exploring options of how to improve the internet and WiFi of our church. They have re-striped the parking lots, and they have contracted with Z Cuts to do our landscaping in addition to our lawn care. They have replaced the HVAC Unit in the Fellowship Hall Kitchen. They have installed an electronic keypad for controlled access to the Fellowship Hall during Little School hours, and they have completed bathroom repairs in the sanctuary foyer. They replaced the roof on two of the rental houses on 39th St. and Young Street, and they corrected electrical issues at the parsonage with Buffalo Electric and Entergy.
Finance
Chaired by Benjamin Brown, Finance established the Helen Bruner Memorial Endowment Fund that was established with a beginning balance of $10,525 for the purpose of Children's Christian Education at ZUMC. In addition to these special donations, our church has received $111,647 in tithes and offerings in the first quarter of the year. Our congregation continues to be faithful and generous. However, routine operating expenses have been supplemented with a $20,000 property insurance lump expense and some unplanned maintenance and repair expenses. In the first quarter of the year, expenses were $142,500 or $30,553 more than the tithes and offerings. Our church will need to respond to this need in the weeks to come.
Little School
Chaired by Brenda Triche and directed by Brooke Hafliger and Michelle Murphy, the Little School has begun enrollment for next fall. As of today they have 86 children registered with a capacity for 91 children. Many of the classrooms have waiting lists. The Little School has also held joyous celebrations on each of the holidays this spring, and they are preparing for the graduation of this year’s children on May 17.
Missions
Chaired by Brittany Pressler, the Missions Council coordinates the calendar of our church-wide missions and the mission partnerships of our church. Here are just a few highlights. (For a complete list of all of our groups, ministries, ways people serve, and missions, go to the church website.) This year our church has given mission offerings to UMCOR for the crisis in Ukraine and for the campus outreach lunch of the Southeastern University Wesley Foundation that feeds hundreds of students each week. Friends & Needles has created 68 Blankets and 30 Quilts for the Louisiana Methodist Children’s Home. The Emmie Montegudo Women’s Circle has collected coffee, T-shirts, socks and a small TV for the War Veterans Home in Jackson, LA. The Gloves Ministry has constructed a wheelchair ramp for a household with need. Our monthly worship and communion service has continued to offer Christ at Oakwood Village Assisted Living Center, and our church has resumed our communion Sunday collection of food for the Food Pantry. So far this year the Food Pantry has served 1,985 people.
Invitation to Holy Week
Finally, you are invited to worship with us during Holy Week. On Holy Thursday we will have a Traditional Communion Service at 6:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary. On Good Friday we will have a Contemporary Music & Prayer Service at 6:00 p.m. at the Pathway. On Easter Sunday we will have Traditional worship (in-person & on-line) at 9:00 a.m. We will have our Easter Egg Hunt for children at 10:00 a.m., and we will have our Pathway Contemporary worship (in-person only) at 11:00 a.m. Bring your family and invite a friend to come with you.
In closing, there’s a lot going on in the life of our church! Many lives are being touched, blessed, and helped. Many are growing in faith, and the best is yet to come. Thanks be to God for the gift of Christ and the gift of our church.
Your pastor,
Josh Milliron