The next meeting for the Now Team will be in January 2024 in the Church Library.

The Church Council is the primary way that “the church is organized for ministry,” and according to paragraph 252 in our book of discipline, “the Church Council shall provide for planning and implementing a program of nurture outreach, witness, and resources in the local church. It shall also provide for the administration of its organization and temporal life…Nurture, Outreach, Witness, and Resourcing are a congregation’s functions in ministry.”

The Osborne NOW Team will strive to address the concerns and conditions of people in the congregation and the local community so that they may grow in their spiritual lives and become better equipped for life as Christian disciples. As a member of the nurture, outreach, and witness team, you will work with others to plan and implement ministries that help the church fulfill its vision and mission of the Osborne United Methodist Church. “God calls us to preserve our heritage as we worship together and become a vibrant community of faith,” and this “will be fulfilled by personal involvement as we share Christ in our world through Christian Education, Outreach, Ministries, Music, and Mission.”

Nurture: It primarily focuses on the internal needs of a congregation and what we do for those who come to the church. It is teaching, preparing, and equipping the people of the church for ministry within their community and the world. Through fellowship, worship, Sunday School, small-group ministries, and other nurturing experiences, people will grow in their Christian faith, understand the principles of stewardship, and will be equipped to serve as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.

Outreach: Focuses on the ministries beyond the four walls of the church building and what we do for those who do not come to the church. It addresses the immediate needs of individuals, families, and communities. (examples of local community needs: food, clothing, emergency housing, counseling, and employment opportunities).

Witness: Gives people an opportunity to share their faith in word and deed, how we share our experience of the Good News of God’s love in Jesus Christ. Through caring, sharing, listening, visiting, preaching, praying, and hospitality, all we do out of our experience of God’s love in Christ is our witness, our work, for justice, righteousness, and redemption of the world.

Being on the N.O.W. Team, we will all represent what God calls the Osborne United Methodist Church to be and do by carrying out the following basic tasks:

1.      Planning and implementing a program of nurture, outreach, and witness for persons and families within and without the congregations;

2.      Providing for effective pastoral and lay leadership;

3.      Providing for financial support, physical facilities, and legal obligation of the church;

4.      Utilizing the appropriate relationships and resources of the district and annual conference.