If you come to Bonfield Evangelical UMC (Evan) or Grand Prairie UMC, you can expect congregations filled with smiling faces, and an experience similar to a family reunion. We are predominately older congregations but there are younger families who will tell you how much they and their children enjoy having so many grandparents!
Dress: You will see a variety of dress on a Sunday morning, but it is generally casual. Very few men wear ties, even fewer wear suits. Whatever the case, please just come as you are, come as you are comfortable.
Kids: All churches say that they like kids, but some actually only like the idea of kids. Our congregations like actual kids – the kind who make noise, who don’t sit still, who ask peculiar questions.
Handicap accessibility: Grand Prairie has designated handicapped parking near the front entrance and a chair lift that goes to the sanctuary and the fellowship hall. Evan has an elevator that travels to all floors making the whole church building accessible to everyone.
Communion and Baptism
Communion: We celebrate Holy Communion on the first Sunday of every month. We, as United Methodists, believe in an open table. This means that all are welcome to partake of the bread and cup. Typically, ushers will direct persons to the front where they break off a piece of bread from the loaf. They also take an individual cup where they can take the two elements together. Persons can kneel at the front and pray if they wish and then return by one of the outer aisles. The open table extends to all people. You do not have to be a member of the church or of any church to partake in the sacrament. Even our toddlers look forward to sharing in the Lord’s Supper.
Baptism: Baptism is a work of God and the Holy Spirit. It is marking a person as God’s and entering them into the family of Christ. For this reason, all ages are welcome to be baptized. If you are an adult seeking baptism or if you are wanting to have your infant baptized, please contact Pastor Keith 309-830-0875. He will want to meet with you a few times. If you were baptized once, and are wanting to be baptized again, we want to remind you that the work of baptism is God’s work. Once is enough. It counts regardless of what you have done since your baptism. And we accept your baptism whether you were sprinkled, immersed or poured.
Confirmation and Membership: The process of confirmation and membership is really a three-step process. Baptism is the acknowledgment of professing the Christian faith; and then confirmation is a declaration that a Christian’s expression of faith is best lived out in The United Methodist Church. The final step is then to be received into membership of a local congregation.
Persons who have never been baptized would go through all three steps. Persons who transfer their membership from another Christian denomination would go through steps two and three and persons transferring from another United Methodist Church would merely be received into one of our congregations.