Church Receives Evangelism Award

, a member of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church, received the Denman Award for excellence in evangelism during the denomination’s Annual Conference, which was held this month.

“Receiving the Denman award is a true honor,” senior pastor Chris Bryant said. “It represents … that we’re doing a good job as a church in the area of evangelism and that we should, event more importantly, keep it up.” 

The Woodstock church’s flagship mission is a gasoline giveaway for single moms. Last month’s event was the sixth annual for the church, and the first one at the new location: the former Woodstock Public Library.

More than 100 volunteers served 202 single moms by offering each a flower, cold bottle of water, a popsicle for children and prayers. Volunteers checked and filled fluids and tires, washed windows and pumped eight gallons of gas into each car. Each mom talked to more than a half dozen people. Approximately 1,650 gallons of gas were dispensed.

“We had one woman who said at the end: ‘I want to go through it again, but not for the gas; for the experience,” Bryant said.

The church also hosts a community egg hunt at Easter, and water and Coke giveaways at local intersections during August.

The 150-member church regularly has an average of more than 300 worshippers each Sunday. “When people join,” the pastor said, “we explain it’s not a club or an organization they’re joining. They’re joining a mission.” 

Within five miles of Church On A Hill, Bryant said “there are 49,000 plus people who consider themselves spiritual, but who are not in any significant way connected to a faith community.

“Our current congregation size (sum total of all members and attendees) is approximately one percent of this mission field. We’ve got a lot more work to do. It is more critical than it has ever been for churches, including ours, to continue to evaluate the way we attract and welcome visitors, preach and teach, and otherwise engage the world so we will be effective in our hopes of making disciples of Jesus Christ”

FAST FACTS

• City On A Hill holds services at 6:30 p.m. Saturdays and 9:35 and 11:15 a.m. Sundays at 7745 Main St., Woodstock. For more information, call 678-445-3480 or go to www.coahumc.org.

Editor's note: A version of this story previously appeared in the June edition of The Cherokee Vine, a monthly newsletter that highlights news and events from churches, ministries and charitable organizations in Cherokee County.