How to Start a Celebration Chapter
You’ve been invited to another Celebration chapter meeting, or perhaps you attended a Leadership Training Event or the Annual Retreat. You’ve been blessed by the ministry and your excitement to have Celebration in your church or community is something you think about a lot. How do you get started? You can invite some women from your church for coffee and share the Celebration video and Celebration brochures (available from the Conference Board.) The next steps are:
- Make prayer a priority for the first few months.
This ministry is based upon seeking the direction of God and the work of the Holy Spirit through prayer. Prayer is the place of beginnings, so start on your knees. Begin to meet with a core group of interested women (it may be two or twenty) to pray and receive God’s vision for your Celebration chapter. Let Jesus and the Holy Spirit knit your hearts together as you pray.
As you begin to meet with this core group, find a time once a week or once every two weeks to pray. This can be after church, on a weekday morning or evening, whatever works best for your group (one group committed to stop where they were everyday at noon and pray for Celebration at their church).
Expect God to answer your prayers! Prayer is the foundation for starting a new Celebration group. Agree to pray together for three months and see what God does.
Suggestions for prayer:
- Pray for your church, your pastor, and your church leadership
- Pray for open and receptive hearts
- Pray for doors to be open and obstacles to be removed
- Pray for leadership to be raised up, for women to be called for specific roles in Celebration (i.e., officers, worship leaders)
For additional guidelines for starting a prayer group, see Guidelines for Intercessory Prayer. Scriptures to pray over your group:
Luke 11:9,10; Matthew 18:19; James 1:5-8
As you begin the prayer meetings, contact either the District Representative or the Conference Board president and let her know you are interested in starting a Celebration chapter in your church. They will work with you in getting started and add you to the conference intercessors prayer list. Upon request either the District Representative or a Conference Board president will send you a copy of the Celebration Chapter Manual for your information and guidance. Your cost for the manual is $20.00 or it can be downloaded from the website.
Celebration chapters are not limited to members of the United Methodist Church . A majority of our chapters have members who are from other denominations. As this ministry is a woman-to-woman ministry, we find that having multiple denominations helps to provide spiritual diversity while unifying the church.
- Seek and obtain the approval of your pastor.
All Celebration chapters are established under the authority of God and His representative, the pastor. As such, before a Celebration chapter can be started, you must receive the approval of your pastor and any other appropriate committees in your church.
- Schedule an Information Meeting
After you have prayed and received the approval of your pastor, prospective Celebration chapters hold an informational meeting (“Experience Celebration” event) for members of their church and/or the churches in their community. The District Representative and the Conference Board will work with you for this meeting.
Basically, the information meeting is a Celebration meeting that the prospective chapter presents in accordance with the Celebration Chapter Manual. Members of the Conference Board or Leadership Training Teams will assist with praise and worship and prayer team ministry. Additionally, one of the members of the Conference Board or a District Representative will be the speaker for the meeting. If possible after the meeting, members of the leadership team meet with the prospective board and team leaders to discuss the vision and plans for their chapter.
- Begin praying and thinking about prospective board and team members.
To begin a Celebration chapter, you’ll need a minimum of five to ten women to serve as leaders. Celebration chapter board members shall consist of a majority of women who are active members of the United Methodist Church .
You’ll need a president, vice president, corresponding secretary, recording secretary and treasurer. Additionally, you will need team members to fill the positions for meetings as outlined in the Celebration Chapter Manual. The requirements and responsibilities for all of the board members are outlined under the tab Celebration Chapter Board.
If you are a church in a denomination outside of the United Methodist Church , leaders must agree to adhere to the “Beliefs that are Upheld by the Celebration Organization” and the “Qualifications for all Leaders in Celebration” in this manual, get your pastor’s approval, and attend Officer’s Training. Celebration chapter boards in denominations outside of the United Methodist Church do not have to consist of a majority of women who are members of the United Methodist Church .
- Officer and Team Training
As soon as possible, select your officers and team leaders. The Celebration survey form (found under the Forms tab and filled out at your Information Meeting) will be very helpful in selecting your team leaders. The Conference Leadership Training Team will then conduct a time of welcoming and officer training to help your new Celebration chapter board and team members minister confidently in their new positions.
- Chartering
A chartering ceremony is held for all members of the chapter upon completion of the above. The board members are brought forth and sign the chartering book. A chartering certificate is presented to the chapter and they may either display it or put it in the president’s files for safekeeping. The new chapter will be added to the website and be included in all of the ministry updates.
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