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Hillsdale United Methodist Church was officially chartered March 28, 1999. It was the first newly chartered United Methodist (UM) church in Davie County in more than 80 years.
1995: The population growth projections for the community called Hillsdale caught the attention of the United Methodist Lexington District in the mid-1990s. A feasibility study was initiated in 1995 under the direction of a special committee called the Congregational Development Board. The study indicated that the intersection of Highways 801 and 158 was the “right” place to plant the seeds for God’s work for a new United Methodist congregation.
1997: In July, the Rev. Keith Turman was appointed to the intersection of Highways 801 and 158 in Hillsdale. As a result of his "parachute drop" appointment, he had no building and no congregation. Lexington District churches started prayer groups and provided volunteers to start calling area residents to invite them to this new church. All of the Lexington District churches pledged financial support. In November Hillsdale United Methodist Church held its first service in the gymnasium of Shady Grove Elementary School in Advance, N.C. The congregation would eventually relocate to the Ramada Inn in Clemmons before finding a temporary facility at a warehouse located within a quarter mile of the intersection originally charged to Rev. Turman.
1999: A grant from the Congregational Development Committee helped to fund the purchase of 31 acres located a half mile off Highway 158 at the end of Gray Sheeks Road in the community of Hillsdale. Meanwhile, the congregation was growing, with 99 members at the end of 2000.
2002: At the annual conference of 2002, Turman was appointed to begin training for missions work in Lithuania and Rev. Jerry S. Webb was appointed to Hillsdale UMC in June 2002.
Webb launched a second worship service on Sunday mornings. A successful Child Care ministry was started in the fall of 2002 and it quickly blossomed into a thriving ministry to the local community, offering before-school and after-school childcare during the school year and a day-camp during the summer. Two additional discipleship programs were launched in the fall of 2002. Rev. Webb initiated Disciple Bible studies and has taught them continually ever since. The annual fall Marriage Enrichment Seminar attracted an initial enrollment of more than 40 couples and has averaged at least thirty couples each year since then.
The 2002 charge conference in October appointed a study team to begin planning for a new building.
2003: Ironically, Rev. Turman’s first choice of land became available in 2003 and the church sold its property off Gray Sheeks Road to buy the original 16.43 acres of land because of its road front visibility to the community of Hillsdale.
2004: In February of 2004 Hillsdale launched its building campaign, Our Journey, His Path, with a church membership of 175 people pledging $ 550,000 to the new facility. A Building Team was formed to oversee the construction project.
2005: Final building plans were approved in the spring of 2005. Fuller Architectural was retained as the architectural firm and Wilson Construction was awarded the construction bid. The total cost of the first phase building with the 16-acre tract of land was 2.5 million dollars. The plans of the architects encompassed two more building phases for the anticipated future growth of the church’s ministries. Phase two was planned to include more Christian education space and additional parking. Phase three was projected to be a new sanctuary that would seat 1,000 to 1,500 people for worship.
In July of 2005, construction began on the 14,293 square foot facility with the financial support of the Conference Congregational Development unit as well as Duke Endowment.
The new facility Covenant Service was held on September 18, 2005. The “Living Stones” of the congregation were placed in the foundation in the Prayer Room. The rocks were covered by concrete, part of the very foundation of the church. A special display in the Prayer Room commemorates this celebration with photographs of the ceremony.
God blessed the construction process with favorable weather and the project was almost always ahead of schedule. Many furnishings and décor items in the church were donated. An anonymous member of the church donated the beautiful tile in the entrance and bathrooms; another member helped to procure discounted commercial-grade equipment in the kitchen so that the dream of providing a “soup kitchen” type ministry could be readily accomplished with appropriate compliance with food service inspection requirements. Delana Joldersma painted the stunning mural in the lobby and Suzanne Sink painted the delightful mural in the infant nursery.
2006: On April 16, 2006, the congregation celebrated their last Easter in the warehouse, a poignant service of remembrance and thankfulness for how far God had brought them.
In anticipation of the move, the congregation dedicated itself to a special scripture vigil: the entire Bible was read aloud within the walls of the new building during the last weeks of April, 2006.
On May 7, 2006, after celebrating their last service in the warehouse, the congregation enthusiastically began moving furniture, supplies, books, and equipment up the hill ¾ of a mile to the new facility. On Wednesday afternoon, May 10, the members and friends of the church gathered for a special prayer service. They circled the building and held a continuous string of yarn, observing ten minutes of silent prayer to ask God’s blessing on the move and the new building.
The first worship services in the new facility were held May 14, 2006, on Mother’s Day of that year, with a record-breaking attendance of more than 800 people.
On June 4, 2006, Bishop Lawrence J. McCleskey officiated a special Service of Dedication of the new facility.
At year-end 2006, after only seven months in the new facility, church attendance had increased a staggering 63%, from an average of 267 to 463 people present for Sunday worship each week. Similar increases in discipleship and service ministry activities meant that it was hard to find a time and place to hold a meeting or study group at the new church facility.
In late 2006, the church engaged Horizons Stewardship Company from Arkansas to assist in the development of strategies to launch a second capital campaign.
2007: On May 5, 2007, members and friends of Hillsdale attended a banquet to launch The Journey Continues… at the Wake Forest University Benson Center. The campaign’s primary goal was to service the $1.5 million remaining debt on the existing building, but if certain higher levels of financial intent were reached, leadership would undertake to build a much-needed education wing.
June 3rd was designated as “Celebration Sunday” and the first building fund contributions were received. On July 29, 2007, the church met to select and approve the members of a new Building Team, assigning them to start the process of devising a plan for the construction. However, the attendance spike of the fall was so high, a new urgent need was identified: the church did not have adequate parking for people attending Sunday worship services. Another called charged conference was held on October 14, 2007, where funds were voted to expand parking capacity as soon as possible.
The growth of the church's ministries necessitated additional space for the children, and the church leased a modular building in the fall of 2007, which due to Bermuda Run restrictions, must be removed by fall 2009.
As of December 31, 2007, Hillsdale had reached another key milestone in its life of growth. In addition to being over capacity in the parking lot, an average attendance of 572 on Sunday mornings had exceeded seating capacity in the sanctuary. The Building Team pushed ahead to bring a plan for additional space for education for children and youth to the church leaders in early 2008.
2008: To alleviate the crowded conditions, the church started a third worship service on March 2, 2008.
During the winter of 2008, the Building Team was challenged by the permitting process required by the NC Department of Natural Resources, due to the fact that almost half the church property is designated wetlands or floodplain. On June 14, 2008, a Called Charge Conference gave approval and the parking lot expansion was completed in August.
On December 14, 2008, the church gathered in the parking lot beside the playground for a Groundbreaking Celebration for the new education wing. A Called Charge Conference on January 10, 2009 gave final approval for the architectural plans and the contractor. On January 28, 2009, church members placed their pledge rocks in the foundation of the new building during the "Living Stones Covenant Service."
As of year-end 2008, Hillsdale enjoyed the same challenge of the past seven years: where to put all the children, youth, and adults who call this church “home.” An average attendance of 655 during September – October marked a 26% increase over the same months the prior year. The construction plan called for completion of the new education building in July 2009.
2009: Highlights of another amazing year...
January: HizKidz children’s ministries organized a handbells choir with 10-15 participants and a children’s singing choir with more than 30 participants.
February: Launched the Manna Meals Soup Trailer ministry. A volunteer team cooks gallons of soup, then another team transports a fully equipped trailer with hot soup to three locations on Wednesdays, serving more than 200 bowls of soup with bread and a beverage.
March 29, 2009: Ministry Fair Celebration of 10 year anniversary of church charter in 1999.
Theme: The Next Step…
- An 80’ x 40’ tent set up in the parking lot was staffed with approximately 60 volunteer leaders of more than 30 service and discipleship ministries of the church. During and between the three morning worship services, congregants visited the tent to learn about the opportunities for service, growth, and fellowship where 157 people signed up to participate. Worship attendance totaled more than 900 people.
- The founding pastor, Rev. Keith Turman, and his family were the “guests of honor”. Turman delivered a message titled “Bringing Hope to Our Community for 10 Years: Celebrate the Next Step”.
April: Launched first GriefShare group to provide nurture to those suffering from bereavement.
May: The first annual Hillsdale Golf Tournament registered 80 players and raised nearly $8,000 for the Mission Fund.
June: Completion and dedication of 5,000 square foot education building for children and youth ministries, which freed up classroom space to expand adult spiritual formation opportunities.
August: A record-breaking week of VBS enrolled 187 children (1/3 who are not regular attendees of HUMC) and employed more than 125 volunteers, a successful community outreach initiative.
August: HizKidz children’s ministry increased from four Sunday morning “children’s church” classes to six classes to accommodate the explosion of growth resulting from the greatly expanded capacity of the newly constructed education wing. A Pre-Kindergarten class was added to differentiate this unique age group.
September: Started the first DivorceCare group for adults struggling with divorce; attended by about 12 people, half of whom are not regular attendees of HUMC.
September-October: Launched the first-ever church-wide small group study coinciding with a six-week sermon series (Draw Closer, Go Deeper) using the Irresistible Invitation video curriculum by Maxie Dunham. More than 350 individuals read the 40-day devotional book and joined 30 small groups (led by almost 60 individuals) which met weekly for this study. Several of these newly formed small groups decided to continue their discipleship journey together, selecting new curriculum for study through the end of the year.
October: The men launched their Keepers of the Sword Men’s Ministry with a special event featuring former Harlem Globetrotter Seth Franco. Attendance during the 2-day event peaked at 150 people, many from the surrounding community.
November: The annual fall Marriage Enrichment Seminar had a record enrollment of 136 people, a 41% increase over the year before.
December: The year 2009 ended with a total membership of 514 individuals and average Sunday worship attendance of 614. We celebrated 30 baptisms during the spring and fall services at the Yadkin River.
2010: Entering the second decade of ministry, Hillsdale continues to expand its ministry capacity. In spite of the current tough economic situation, the Leadership Team approved the addition of an Assistant Pastor, filled by Kel Billings.
New to the ministry team roster for 2010 is a Spiritual Formation Team and a Vision 2020 Team.
The calling and spiritual formation of this congregation will continue in the Hillsdale way, drawing in “seekers” with a casual and friendly contemporary approach to a life changing relationship with Jesus Christ as we heed the call of our mission statement, “To pursue God and to love all people into a relationship with Jesus Christ.”
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