Clyde Cameron

My wife and I have been members of Dutilh United Methodist Church for nearly 50 years.  We’ve raised our family in this church and have wonderful memories of the friends we’ve made and the opportunities to serve the Lord we’ve had.  We were here in 1986 when our little white church in the country burned.  My wife was the pre-school director at the time and was responsible for making sure 40 three-year olds were taken to a safe place.  The community rallied around the fate of the church.  In the times following the fire we created a building committee and a Capital Campaign committee to rebuild our church with the campaign slogan being “Build Bigger.”  I was the chairperson of that Capital Campaign committee but the process was quite different than the JD Klote approach.  It was successful but the circumstances were very different.  There was an urgency involved and folks jumped on board with the “Build Bigger” concept.

 

Now, however, our campaign of “Making Room” has a different kind of urgency.  That’s why I voted to contract your organization to work through the “Every Member Visitation” process.  Contacting everyone and helping them see a different kind of urgency than we had 33 years ago I felt was an important approach.  For the Lord to get his work done in our church we need to “Make Room” and the every member visitation will help all see a new kind of urgency.  I think the process is a good one and the consultant has been an awesome leader.  He’s held our hand through the assessment and training and has guided us through the ups and downs of visitation.  He has been kind, prayerful and positive and maintained a very professional manner throughout.  He has continued to support and encourage as we work through the visitation.  The consultant has made our church his home.  He’s gotten involved in every aspect of our church and people know him by name and he knows them by name as well.  We shall miss him when he leaves.  He’s become a part of our family at Dutilh.

 

Sherry, my wife, and I have worked as a visitation team.  Once we get the contact made and the meeting set (and that hasn’t always been easy), we’ve found folks to be receptive to our visit.  It’s been rewarding in that we’ve had a chance to meet and get to know folks a little better in their homes.  If folks are hesitant to have a home visit, we have invited them to meet at our home.  We’re looking forward to the time when “God Blesses” this campaign and the work that’s been done.