Pastors to Lead Wednesday Discussions. Broadmoor United Methodist Church Mollylea Drive Baton Rouge, Louisiana (225)

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1 July 4, 2013 Volume 19, Issue 6 My dear friends, Thank you for your gifts and cards of kindness upon my retirement. I have enjoyed serving our Lord through my work at Broadmoor, and I m grateful for your support, affirmation and love over the years. It truly is a blessing to be a part of this church family. May God richly bless all of you. Pastors to Lead Wednesday Discussions Beginning Wednesday, July 10, for 4 consecutive Wednesdays, Fred Wideman and Ken Carroll will each lead a discussion group. Fred will lead Conversations of Faith, where you can hear recent timely lectures from some of today s most thoughtful Christian writers: Barbara Brown Taylor, Diana Butler Bass, Brian McLaren, and Leonard Sweet. The class will meet in Room 201 of the Adult Building from 6:00 7:30 p.m. Ken s class is entitled Knowing Jesus: Faith and History, and will explore the questions what can we know about Jesus and what does it mean experientially to know and follow Christ. This class will meet in Room 105 of the Adult Building from 6:00 7:30 p.m. Broadmoor United Methodist Church Mollylea Drive Baton Rouge, Louisiana (225)

2 Tracking Our Steps Build it and they will come. That was the slogan in the 1950 s church. And it worked. We built buildings and programs. And the people came. They came by the droves to Broadmoor in the 50 s, 60 s, 70 s and 80 s when neighborhoods were homogenous and developing. The public schools were some of the largest and best in the state. They helped feed the subdivisions which helped feed the church. By the 1990 s Broadmoor United Methodist Church was the largest Methodist Church in Louisiana. It s growth came not simply from population but also from strong leadership, both clergy and lay. Broadmoor is now 58 years old. Time flies when you are having fun. And if you blinked a few times over those years you may have not seen how we, along with our surrounding neighborhoods and city have changed. In my first appointment in 1976, I had no secretary. I had to type the bulletin on a stencil and then run it off on the mimeograph machine which was in the garage storage room of the parsonage. How technology has changed in the past 40 years! Consider how it has changed in just the past 5 years. A little self evaluation is good for the person and the Church. Broadmoor has been doing its share of evaluation over the last several years. Following a survey in 2010 we learned that over 50% of our congregation was born before We discovered that most of our energy and money was being focused on internal programs rather than outreach to the community. Most of the missional monies we did give went far beyond our neighborhood and city. Of the many programs we had, few if any were aimed at discipleship or evangelism. Our membership and attendance was declining as was Sunday School. The number of funerals demanded an additional staff person. No staff or group of volunteers focused even 20 hours a week on the unchurched in our community. Our facilities were worn and getting more expensive to maintain. Plus we were experiencing a deficit approaching some $400,000. The emotional climate was more than a little anxious. Good leadership stepped forward. And with the help of a trained consultant we began to get a clearer picture of who we were and some of the challenges we faced to be effective in mission. We were encouraged to invest more into our contemporary service, reduce what we spend on administration and invest in outreach in our community, get staff to focus more on people than programs, develop a small group ministry that develops leaders, and increase visibility in the city through marketing in order to grow the number of first time guests. Over the past three and a half years we have made some significant accomplishments in mission and ministry. For the next two months I want to share some of those accomplishments with you so you can sense the direction our mission is leading us. 1. Decide on a Mission Statement. This is complete. We are called to invite people into a relationship with Jesus Christ, equip them with a faith that works in real life, and send disciples into the community and world to serve in Jesus name. 2. Improve the traditional services. Because music is such a vital part of traditional worship there has been much emphasis on the choir. Because the choir s leadership is so important a lot of effort has been made to put them in front in order to lead. The 8:30 choir was started and has grown in number and quality, giving leadership every Sunday. New greeters are present at most every service enhancing our hospitality goals. We added words to the hymns on the screens which has helped many who eyes can t read the hymnals. Suggestions about enlarging the lobby of the Sanctuary to allow for greeting and gathering is still being considered along with adding seating on the chancel area for the choir. The new strategic planning committee is addressing these along with other facility improvement goals. One challenge for traditional worship is the continual slow decline in attendance. This reflects our age as much as anything. The death and aging of so many of our builder generation whose attendance is every Sunday is being replaced by younger adults whose attendance is once a month to once every six weeks. That gives us a lower average weekly attendance while we may have even more people worshipping with us over a six week period. More people with less frequency. The challenge becomes what happens to the energy in a half empty Sanctuary and how that contributes or possibly detracts to the quality of worship. 3. Invest more in the Casual Service. We have added a new sound system, screens, new chairs, much ascetic improvements inside and to the outside entrance. There is now a nursery/cry room for parents. Better signage has been added. Consistency in dress with Lee wearing jeans went off without a hitch. And the band is smiling more, too. 4. Have worship focused in more friendly ways to unchurched and non-believers. Staff is much more intentional about the order of worship and how certain aspects of worship are introduced. We added greeters and people who serve as scouts keeping an eye for those who are worshipping for the first time. We developed parking lot teams for Sunday s with high attendance. Circuit Riders take bags on Sunday afternoons to first time guests thanking them for worshipping with us and inviting them to come back.

3 Welcome our newest members Bob & Lee Carr Bridget Napoli and Spencer Taylor Clyde McCearley Olivia Carambat Kindness Outreach: Watermelon Giveaway On Saturday, July 20 we will travel to a busy local park to give out free watermelon and bottled water to unsuspecting and appreciative folks! We will meet in the Connection Café at church at 2:00 p.m. and be back by 4:00 p.m. This is a great opportunity to participate in Kindness Outreach as a family! If you have any questions, contact Eddie Manes at or emanes@broadmoormethodist.org. Amanda Marionneaux

4 Campmeeting Sunday Coming! On July 21, in the Sanctuary services, we will pay tribute to our Methodist history and heritage by singing some of the old hymns from the Cokesbury hymnal and hearing about some of the pioneers of Methodism in the sermon. We will have old-fashioned hand fans available and after each service we will offer ice cream and beverages on the lawn. You can put in your request for your favorite Cokesbury hymn now, by contacting David, or be in services on July 14, when we will have a survey form available. Openings for Acolytes! 3rd 6th graders Training will soon be offered for acolytes for the school year. This is a great opportunity for your child to assist in leading worship at the 11:00 a.m. Sanctuary service. As one of our current acolytes stated, It gives children a chance to get closer to God. For more information, please contact Beth LaCour at or beth_lacour@att.net. All ladies are invited to attend the next meeting of Friends N Faith group on Thursday, July 18 at 8:00 a.m. This group of ladies meets for breakfast and fellowship at the Police Training Cafeteria across from Independence Park. Please call Mariece Knight at for directions and reservations. We hope to see you there. Sign Up to Receive The Beacon Online Send an to news@broadmoormethodist.org with no paper as the subject and your name and home address as the message. July Prayer Focus As we celebrate our country s independence this month, let us remember with thanksgiving those who have made and still make sacrifices for our freedom. Let us pray for the well being of our nation and for the integrity of our leaders. Let us also remember that our greatest freedom is the freedom we have in Christ, who gave himself that all people might live without oppression. Let us pray for freedom and peace throughout the world. Basketball Tournament Recap We had our second Basketball Outreach Tournament on June 15 and had over 40 players participate! Thanks to those who came to help and support. This is an effective method of waging peace in our neighborhood and community, and the players and families were all very appreciative of our church being a safe place in our city to come and play basketball. Read, Relax, Relate The Page Turners Book Club invites you to join them for a discussion of The Round House by Louise Erdrich on Monday, August 5 at 7:00 p.m. in Room 102 in the Adult Building. Youth Week Youth Week begins this month, lasting from July 26 August 2. Youth Week is traditionally the last hurrah for the youth during the summer, and takes place the last full week of summer before school starts. After Youth Week, all youth are officially promoted to the next grade. This year, activities will include: a Lock Out/Lock In on Friday and Saturday to kick off the week. Sunday night will be a presentation of the years activities and memories, to which families and other church members are welcome to attend (please RSVP). We will have a Scavenger Hunt and Swim Night on Monday, a Mission Day on Tuesday, a day trip to Cajun Lagoon on Wednesday, Grub Night on Thursday, and a Drive-In movie night on Friday with a cardboard car making contest! Sunday night, August 4 will be the traditional Senior Say night at youth, where we will have a worship service and all of the graduating seniors will give a chance to give their thoughts to the rest of the youth group. If you have or know of youth that may be interested in participating, please have them contact Robbie at the church office.

5 The next Beacon will have a publication date of Thursday, August 1. The deadline for article submission is Monday, July 15. Please submit articles to Amy Sciple: asciple@broadmoormethodist.org United Methodist Women The next General Meeting is Tuesday, July 9 at 9:00 a.m. and will begin in the Sanctuary. The program is a UMW Day Retreat and will include lunch. The event will end at noon in Room 101 of the Adult Building. All ladies are invited to attend. A nursery is provided at the church upon request by calling Grace Oulton at Please join us for a Circle Meeting of your choice at the following times: Day Circles: Tuesday, July 23, 9:30 a.m. Charity Circle Adult Building Room 101 Hope Circle Home of Christy Harelson (9457 Island Rd, Ventress, LA, ) Grace Circle Adult Building Room 201 Joy Circle Adult Building Room 104 Night Circles: Monday, July 22, 6:30 p.m. Love Circle Adult Building Room 102 Tuesday, July 23, 7:00 p.m. Faith Circle Home of Margerite Hammons (1308 Woodcliff Dr, ) Fun & Games Night Mark your calendars for Thursday, July 18 and come join us for fun and fellowship from 6:30 9:00 p.m. in Room 101 of the Adult Building. Chicken Foot, Mexican Train, and Spinner are the favorite domino games the groups are currently playing. If you have a favorite board or card game that you would like to share with the group, please bring it. Coffee, punch, and sodas are provided. Snacks to share are welcome. Please call Jerry or Margerite Hammons at if you need a ride to the church or more information. Janice Calvert Barbara Candiotto Anita Comeaux Carol Cook Johanna Domingue Our Life Together The church office has been notified that those members listed here are in the hospital, have been hospitalized in the past month, or will be having surgery. HOLY CHOW Brooks Franklin Les Granier Perry Ellen Holder Mary Howle Betty Leger Mark Montgomery June Moss Peggy Shepard Ted Stockwell Congratulations to Sam and Taylor Allen on the birth of their son, Augustus Massillon August Allen VI, born June 4, Proud grandparents are Lee and Ginny Allen. Nancy Williams in the death of her husband, Lyndon Williams Barbara Clark in the death of her husband, Bill Clark Brenda Carlson in the death of her brother, and Donna Turnipseed in the death of her son, Brad Turnipseed Kevin and Christine McCleary in the death of her father; Blake and Shannon Maggio in the death of her father; John and Betsy Tabony in the death of his father; Jackie Tabony in the death of her ex-husband; Kyle and Cameron McCleary, Austin and Brady Maggio, Delaney and Vanessa Tabony in the death of their grandfather, John Tabony Jr. Bobby and Joyce Thrower in the death of their son, and Daryl Thrower in the death of his brother, Scott Thrower Mildred Taylor McKeithen in the death of her husband, O A Billy McKeithen EBRP District Attorney Hillar Moore presented a very interesting and informative program about crime in our parish and the BRAVE program he initiated. According to DA Moore, all law enforcement agencies are involved, and they are seeing some positive results. We really appreciate his time with us. Our next Holy Chow luncheon is back on the second Wednesday, July 10. We will have a fun, patriotic program entitled Faith of Our Fathers: A Celebration of Our American Heritage presented by the Saints Alive Choir, directed by Dr. Dona Lusted and accompanied by Dr. David Shaler. This is our annual indoor picnic with turkey poboys, chips, and ice cream cups for $6. So come enjoy delightful fellowship, have some punch, eat, and be entertained! Everyone is invited, and bring a friend. Remember to sign up in the Connection Café or by calling the church office at We look forward to seeing you there.

6 Centering Prayer The centering prayer group that meets on Thursday evenings at 6:00 in the Prayer Room is taking a break for the summer. They will resume meeting in August or September. Watch The Spotlight for details. Mission Trip to Dulac, Louisiana The Prime O Life group will travel to Dulac Methodist mission in South Louisiana October 27 November 2 to repair homes in that area. Anyone interested in traveling with us on this mission, please contact Jess Holland at or jeholla@gmail.com. Broadmoor United Methodist Church Mollylea Drive Baton Rouge, LA ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit #472 Baton Rouge, LA