(Author’s note: this article originally appeared in the June Edition of the FUMC Winnfield newsletter The Cross and Tower)

We are blessed to have beautiful church facilities at FUMC Winnfield. Our Family Life Center, Fellowship Hall, offices, classrooms, and sanctuary provide a beautiful place for us to experience God and serve the community. The parsonage is one of the nicest homes in which we have lived. We are blessed that those who have gone before us had the foresight to leave us such a beautiful place to worship, learn, play, fellowship, and work.

It is our responsibility to maintain and add to the functionality and the beauty of our facility.  Our buildings are no longer young. The main building that houses our Sanctuary, Fellowship Hall, Offices and most of our classrooms was built in in 1952, 66 years ago. The last major renovation in that building was 1980, 38 years ago. The Family Life Center was built in 1982,36 years ago, and has undergone few changes with the exception of a new coating to fix a leaky roof in 2017, which cost more than $30,000. The trustees committee believes that the time has come to help our buildings continue to be both beautiful and functional.

The trustees will be bringing a proposal to Administrative Council on June 10 to replace all carpet downstairs in the main building, the stairways, and in the hallway upstairs. The cost for this renovation should be about $10,000. The trustees have also approved a new security door for the Fellowship Hall to protect us and our children which should be in place soon. A new one compartment sink in the Fellowship Hall kitchen has also been approved. The playground project has started with several new picnic tables and we are almost 75% of the way to our $20,000 goal. We would like to replace the flooring in the FLC, but this appears to be a project that would cost at least $15-30,000 and would stretch our funds to the limit.

In Exodus 35, God’s people willingly gave of their own resources to outfit God’s tabernacle. Gold, silver, bronze, fine linen, oil, acacia wood, spices, onyx, jewels and other resources were given by a people camping out in the wilderness near Mt. Sinai. If they gave of their resources to build God’s house, it seems that we should follow in their footsteps and in the footsteps of all who have gone before us at FUMC Winnfield to care for and beautify God’s house. Here’s a few ideas how you can help.

(1) Make a gift to the Capitol Improvement Fund. This dedicated fund is used to fund many of the improvement projects, such as the carpet replacement, at our church.
(2) Help us keep our building clean. Even small things, such as throwing away your bulletin after Sunday service or cleaning up after yourself can add up to be a big time and money saver.
(3) Be a good steward. Turning off lights when you leave a room, or turning the thermostat up on the air conditioning when you leave, can help us save money on our utilities.
(4) Give your time. The trustees are planning a church work day in September when you can volunteer a few hours of your time to maintain and beautify our building. No special skills required, but if you have some abilities you would like to volunteer or see needs at our facility, please let us know.

We are truly blessed to have such beautiful and functional facilities. We are grateful for those who came before us who provided God’s house for us to use, enjoy, and worship. Like the Israelites, and those who came before us, we are called to provide for and care for God’s house. Will you help us? For our sake, for the sake of those that passed this heritage on to us, and for the sake of those that will come after us, I pray that you will help us care for and beautify God’s house.

Caring for God’s House,
Kevin Smith