Dear Church Family,

Last week I taught a class at a District training event called, "Why I Am a United Methodist and Why It Matters." During the class, one of the participants asked me, "What do you think about United Methodist churches that downplay their denominational identity, even removing the words 'United Methodist' from their name?" I replied, "In my opinion, United Methodist churches that downplay their denominational identity are making a big mistake." I then explained

that our United Methodist "brand" is a positive attribute for a lot of folks in America. Millions of people across the country are weary of the arrogant, negative, judgmental stance of many American churches, and are looking for a viable, grace-filled mainline alternative. I then told the class about a major study that was completed just a few months ago. The Southern Baptist Convention recently engaged in a nation-wide study of how favorably or unfavorably Americans view different faith groups including Catholics, Protestants, Mormons and Muslims. They found that 62% of Americans had a favorable view of United Methodists. This was the highest favorability rating among all faith groups in the survey. The study also discovered that United Methodists had the

lowest unfavorable rating of any of the faith groups that were surveyed. People in America like United Methodists for many reasons, including our emphasis on grace instead of judgment, our reputation as an orthodox yet open-minded church, our balance between faith of the head and faith of the heart, our combination of evangelism with social ministry, our affirmation of gender equality, and our efforts to be an inclusive "big tent" church both theologically and politically. In short, people are impressed with a denomination that tries to live out its motto of "Open Hearts, Open Minds and Open Doors." This new study is yet another reason to invite your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers to BUMC. Most of them already have a favorable impression of our denomination. Many of them would gladly visit BUMC if they received a personal invitation. So why not invite someone this week? In last week's e-note I encouraged people to consider joining our new BUMC orchestra or our new Awakening (contemporary service) Gospel Choir. I would also like to encourage people to check out our Chancel Choir which leads worship and sings at our 11:00 traditional service. The season of Lent is just around the corner. This would be a great time to visit the Chancel Choir, where you can make significant new friendships and make important contributions to the worship of God. Our Chancel Choir is enjoying a time of exciting revitalization and would love to welcome you into the group. For more information about rehearsal schedules and other questions, contact Shannon Garrett at sgarrett@bumc.net or 577-7267. Shannon, who directs our music department, can also give you information about any other music service opportunities you are interested in knowing about, including children, youth, and adult options. Our recent surge in worship attendance makes it even more important for our members to park at the Synergy lot and catch one of our three continuous shuttle vans to the church. When you

do this, you allow our guests and members with physical challenges to find on-site parking. This is an important act of "radical hospitality" and I appreciate you practicing it. For further information about parking at the Synergy lot, please click here. Finally, it was good to receive Harlon Fields, Taylor Mickey, Hudson Meadows, Ian Meadows, Melanie Carnaggio, Nick Fossett, and Herman Statum as new members. Welcome to our church family. I hope to see you this weekend as we conclude our Ecclesiastes series and as we celebrate Holy Communion. In Christ's Love and Service,

Martin