At the beginning of 2019, Bill Barnett wouldn’t have expected his church’s ministry plans to include Wisconsin cheese. But he had long felt it was time for the congregation of Union Hill Baptist Church, Oneonta, to take a journey, and that’s one of the places it took them.
“I was asking the Lord about what our theme should be last year, and I decided to focus on Jesus — preaching through the Gospels chronologically,” Barnett said.
And while they walked through the life of Jesus, they also walked another journey together.
“I wanted to encourage our people to practice the Scriptures and live out the Christian life in seven ways,” he said.
Challenging the church
So at the beginning of 2019, he challenged church members to commit to growing in their personal prayer, Bible reading, worship, Sunday School, evangelism, giving and exercise.
“We had a really good response to that last January,” he said.
Each week throughout the year, they turned in response cards, and Barnett tallied them up.
Each number represented a mile, and he charted that on a big map of the U.S., drawing a path from state capital to state capital.
“It was a distance of a little over 18,000 miles,” Barnett said.
But the visual didn’t stop there. As they journeyed through each state, they focused on it, praying for North American Mission Board missionaries there. That’s where the cheese came in.
“When we went through Wisconsin one Sunday, we had some cheese bites after the service,” Barnett said. “The emphasis on each state highlighted the missionaries there and helped us see that the people we pray for and give to support are real people. We did that throughout the year to help us keep our focus.”
The intentional emphasis helped push them toward their Lottie Moon Christmas Offering goal of $21,000, and it helped get the entire church involved, including children and youth. The church’s missions leaders taught about the missionaries in their groups as well.
The whole effort helped the Union Hill congregation understand the harmony of the Gospels and work in harmony as a church, Barnett said. “We had great participation, with everyone feeling like week to week we’re doing something that matters. And it changed us in so many ways. Reading your Bible every day matters — it changes your life. And seeing missions come to life changes you, too.” (Grace Thornton)
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