Middletown United Methodist Church is involved with many local and surrounding communities, as well as international outreach programs.  Our church and its congregation actively participates in various ministries, programs and events designed to assist and help those in need.

We invite our registered users and visitors to explore some of the community ministries we're involved in.

"Hosanna, Hosanna!" or "Crucify Him!"

Standing on Har Gilo Mountain near Hope School, looking towards the northeast, you can see clearly the view of Jerusalem. If you listen carefully you can hear the crowds in the distance, a muffled roar of undistinguished words, cheering, chanting "Hosanna, Hosanna Hosanna!"

If you look carefully you can see the pilgrims in their nice holiday clothes saying "The messiah has revealed himself."

You can sense the joy and excitement in the air, finding yourself climbing a palm tree to cut a branch, waving it high in the air shouting: "Hosanna to the son of David!  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"

Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey, the crowds spread their cloaks and palm branches on the streets and shouted: "Hosanna to the Son of David!"

A week later, these same voices stopped shouting "Hosanna" and started shouting "Crucify Him, Crucify Him!"

It is for us to choose either "Hosanna" or "Crucify Him"… Hope School children and myself have chosen "Hosanna, Hosanna." "Hosanna to the son of David, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!"

Solomon Noir
Hope School

The call to every single one of us to make and nurture disciples is the most basic obligation Christians have.   One of the easiest and most effective things to do in this regard is to invite someone to church.  We don't seem to have any trouble inviting people to dinner or lunch.  There's no angst about inviting someone to come to your house or go to a party.  Why do so many hesitate in inviting others to come to church?  Just think about it ... we're talking about inviting people to come to a worship service where they might find an encounter with God that could change their lives!

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Pray for God to be with you, that God will show you who to invite.  Pray that God will give you the words to say.  Pray for the person you're going to invite.
• Tell them what it means to you personally to come to worship at MUMC.  People will respond to what others have found to be meaningful.
• Be ready to tell them about the general programs of the church.
• If they ask, assure them there is Nursery Care and Sunday School for their children.
• If its an issue, make sure they know the church is accessible.
• Make sure you know the times of service: Contemporary Praise Service at 9:00am and Traditional Worship at 10:30am, Communion on the first Sunday of each month.
• Be prepared to give them directions to the church.
• Send them to our church website for information, events and announcements at www.middletownumcnj.org.
• Pray some more after you've offered the invitation, whether it looks like they've accepted or not.
• Don't give up!  When the time is right, invite them again.
• When the persons you've invited come to worship service, make them welcome, sit with them, introduce them to others, and invite them to Fellowship Time after service in Fellowship Hall.

If all of the people who say that they'd like to see the church have more people in it would do this simple thing of inviting others, it wouldn't take long before their vision became a reality.  The demographics of the area in a three-mile radius around the church indicate:

• There are 41,000 people
• 34% of them  have NO faith involvement
• That's 13,940 people within three miles of the church!

My hope is that every person who is a member or attendee of MUMC would take it as a sacred task to invite others in the weeks ahead.  The holiday season is a time when people are most inclined to come ... if we just invite them!

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