RENEWING THEIR COMMITMENT TO EVANGELISM

United Methodists from the Cape Girardeau-Farmington area will meet together to renew their commitment to evangelism in a series of gatherings scheduled for May 4-5 in Cape Girardeau and May 6-7 in Farmington.

Members from the area's 65 local congregations will learn tools for sharing their faith from one of the most enthusiastic motivators in United Methodism, Dr. Joe A. Harding.

Dr. Harding, author of "Growth Plus: The Vision," and co-author with Ralph Mahoney of "Vision 2000: Planning for Ministry in the Next Century," will be sharing experiences from his ministry and insights from his books. Living in Oregon now, Dr. Harding was born and raised in Kennett, Mo.

This event, sponsored by the District Evangelism Task Force, is designed with the dual purpose of inspiring United Methodists to share their faith with others and supporting new church starts within the Missouri East Annual Conference.

In the past 10 years, five new churches have been started, with a new start scheduled to begin this summer in St. Charles County.

United Methodists in this area are reaching out to others with the Christian message in response to a national trend of decline in membership over the past few years, which is also reflected in most mainline Protestant denominations.

This event will be held in Cape Girardeau at the LaCroix United Methodist Church at 3102 Lexington. The location in Farmington will be the Memorial United Methodist Church at 425 North Street. The event starts at 7 p.m. each evening.