Senior Pastor Wallace Wheeles
- This year has been a year like many years and yet a year
unlike most years. The economy and the political spectrum
have dominated the news and many of the conversations even in
the church. Many of our members have been caught up in the
downturn in the markets with job loss, loss of home, bankruptcy,
and loss of self-esteem. Recently the devastating floods
that plagued most of our county also affected several of our
members with the flooding of their homes. As your pastor I
have found you at the hospitals, sitting with your class members
in surgery, loading supplies for MUST and the Shiloh Food
Pantry, unloading pumpkins at Shiloh UMC in support of the food
pantry, prepare breakfast in Marietta at the MUST kitchen,
helping with MUST in Canton, completing a house in south Cobb
County as part of the Habitat Work Force in cooperation with
sister churches and saw the youth make another great Mission
Trip. Current membership stands at 1,637. We have
welcomed 70 members into our family. At the same time we
have said good-bye to 23 of our dears friends who moved on to
other areas and churches as well as 13 who have finished that
race. The church has been faithful in its stewardship.
We have paid 100% of our District and Conference Askings,
supported 3 missionaries, been in the top of churches supporting
the Children's Home and starting a role in supporting the
Murphy-Harpst Home. We crossed the $1,000,000 mark in the
Faith Building Campaign even in the economic downturn and are
current with all of our bills but continuing to fund the
ministries that God opens for us. Paul Scheeser joins the KUMC
family as the Minister of Youth.
Associate Pastor Jenny
Anderson - The Young Adult Ministry continues to thrive as a
small group ministry. We meet for dinner once a month,
meet as a cell group and participate in after church ministries.
In the summer we maintain a full social calendar making sure
each month our young adults and college students have an
activity or two to enjoy. During Sunday School we study
scripture, social concerns and finding ways to balance our lives
and share prayer concerns. New Member education continues
through various studies such as Church 101 which is a four week
course covering what it means to be a United Methodist, history
of the church and where new members fit in the life of the
church. Bible Studies continue to grow in numbers with
both short term and long term (Disciple) studies being offered.
Lin Cason, Minister of
Children and Family - Karol McGruder joined the staff as the
Assistant Minister to Children and Families in November 2008.
Sunday School continues to thrive during the 9:45 hour under the
Cokesbury curriculum, "LIVE BIG". Children's Worship at
11:00 provides studies and activities for all children through
5th grade. Children's Choirs and Compass Point moved from
Wednesday Nights to Sunday early evening which resulted in an
increase in attendance. Since the new times are during
dinner we have added, "Chow with Chums" in which children are
encourage to bring a snack supper to enjoy eating and fellowship
with friends between choir and Compass Points.
Participation in our summer programs continue to explode.
Vacation Bible School blessed us with 250 children and over 70
adult volunteers. The "That's a Wrap" family celebration
on Friday evening brought over 300 people to enjoy fellowship,
food, and see a week in review of VBS. Performing Arts
campers came in July with 30 (thirty) talented singers and
actors. Mom's Morning Out offered 4 (four) one week camps
and once again hosted the Mountain Lake District Cub Scout Day
Camp. Many other opportunities for the children of our
church and the community were offered including Trunk or Treat,
Family Christmas Gathering, Easter Celebration & Egg Hunt and
several Family Movie Nights. The nursery through Mom's
Morning Out and Noah's Neighborhood, and Kennesaw Methodist
Children's Academy continue to provide faith based programs for
our children.
Robin Harris, Nursery Director
- Our nursery continues to grow in leaps and bounds as our
congregation welcomes new young families. Just this spring
alone we welcomed eight new infants with no less then five more
on the way. It is a blessing that we have a wonderful
Nursery staff and volunteer support system to care for and
nurture all of our young children. In addition to our
Sunday Worship hours we also support other activities such as
Wednesday morning bible study, Wednesday evening choir practice,
Disciple Bible Studies, monthly Women's Circle Meetings, MOPS
Meeting (Mothers of Pre Schoolers) and a variety of committee
meetings and special events. This year we expanded the
Mom's Morning Out (MMO) program to the 2nd and 4th Friday of
every month from 9am - 1pm. This is an opportunity for
young children to fellowship together in an educational, fund
and nurturing environment while their parents have time to take
care of "adult business). We average 30 children during
each session. This summer the MMO program offered five
camps: Sports Day, Hobby Town, Kaleidoscope, Cooking and
Science Camps. Each camp had 90+ children in attendance.
This year we rolled out the Noah's Neighborhood program.
During the school year it runs Monday - Friday from 1pm to 5pm.
Children participate in games, snack time, craft time and rest
time. We currently have 65 children enrolled in the
program.
Anita Worthan, Minister of
Music and Other Arts - Music continues to be a key element in
our church's worship experience, new member recruitment and
member retention. Our ministries continue to include:
Covenant Choir (8:30 am - Adult), Chancel Choir (11 am - Adult),
Crossroads Praise Band (9:45 - Adult), Cherub Children's Choir,
Carol Choir, Chorister Children's Choir, King's Ringers,
Beginning Violin and Beginning Strings. Our events and
accomplishments for the year included: Participation in
the "Messiah Pilgrimage" to Ireland and England (December 2008 -
January 2009). Our performances included: Easter
Cantata, "The Word Revealed", Children's Spring Musical, "G-P-S:
God's Plan of Salvation", invited as guest musicians to a
neighboring church as the King's Ringers provided worship music
at Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church in Cleveland, Georgia in
honor of our former pastor, Bob Lanford, hosted a Performing
Arts Camp in conjunction with the Children's Ministry of the
musical "Let's Rock and performed three mini concerts of worship
music leading into our summer revival services.
