According to the Gregorian calendar, the third millennium began on January 1, 2001. However, many of us celebrated “the turn of the century” on December 31, 1999, ushering in the Year 2000.
Our church was moving forward too. Haygood is connectional. As part of a district (South West), conference (North Georgia), and jurisdiction (Southeast), Haygood submits a report to the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church each year. Our Pastor’s Reports for the past 25 years reflect our growth, issues, and celebrations.
In the Words of Our Senior Ministers:
2003: “I hope you will read through this report and marvel at the number of lives that are being touched with God’s grace through Haygood Memorial.” —Rev. Dr. Jim Higgins
October 2002–October 2003, Haygood baptized 27 infants.
2004 “Our reputation in the Morningside community is that we are a congregation dedicated to providing the very best in children and youth ministries.” —Rev. Dr. Bob Winstead
Rev. Dr. Winstead guided Haygood through 2006, a year the AJC called our “Year of Despair.” We lost not only older people but also young parents and college-age members.
2009 This has been a year of growth, with our largest Confirmation class ever: 26 sixth graders. During our Stewardship campaign, [t]he financial commitment of individual youth was impressive and when it was discussed with one preschooler that her pledge would mean attending church each Sunday and giving some of her money, she replied that she would “have to lose more teeth,” her only apparent source of income.—Rev. Mary Lou Gilbert
In the rainy fall of 2009, we began to deal with water problems in our 60-year-old building. Our “new” property needed attention.
Haygood adopted the United Methodist Safe Sanctuaries Policy in 2010 and moved Confirmation from 6th to 8th grade.
2012 “This year has brought changes, challenges, and celebrations. There were major changes to the church plant as we renovated the gym, a hub of a number of important ministries within the church and community. Also, we struggled through half of our parking lot being closed as we fought with the city of Atlanta over responsibility for a sinkhole. Amazingly both of these projects helped us to embrace our value of community and have a broader sense of where people experience sacred spaces.” —Rev. Dr. Sheila Bookout
2015 Rev. Dr. Bookout wrote, “The building continues to be a big issue and large determent to growth. Hopefully we will have some relief by January 1, 2016. The sanctuary is the soul of the building. However, we have been operating without the heart (fellowship hall, kitchen, office, conferencing rooms) for almost two years. In spite of the challenges, the community has continued to impact the world. During the school year we have been very successful in having one family mission project per month. We also sponsored a refugee family for the first time. There is hope and talk of a foreign mission trip in the near future.”
2017 Haygood’s warm and attentive congregation is encouraging to a preacher. There are a number of visitors looking for a church home, and our music ministry is a major asset to our church. —Rev. Dr. Tommy Green
2019 “In order to live out our theme of “There’s A Place for You,” we focused on three areas: Next Generation, Radical Hospitality, and Small Groups. We can look outward and see the impact of Haygood in the broader community in the 120 children at VBS, the 60 visits to homebound members, the 280 hours building Habitat houses, and the more than 200 people who witnessed our Christmas Live Nativity. Our church is growing and new people are finding their place to flourish in this community.” —Rev. Will Zant
In 2019, Trustees reported: The HVACs have been repaired and are currently working. In addition, the ceiling in the sanctuary looks great (no more spots!). Goats are currently working to clean up the Grizzard property, and a fallen tree has been cleared.