The week in between Christmas and New Year allows me time for a little celebration and a lot of reflection. God reminds the Israelites many times in the Old Testament to not forget His commandments and to remember His mighty works - it will give them courage to have faith in Him. So each year I try to remember what God has done so that I (we) can remember His faithfulness and be excited about what He will do in the new year.
Here are some numbers from 2013 that are of some interest:
Baptisms - 10 (up from 2012)
New Members - 7 (down from 2012)
Attendance - 8% increase
Giving - Giving maintained 2012 levels
Now there are a lot of aspects of church life that can't be quantified by numbers
Here is a summary rundown of the teachings we have done this year. It's a great mixture of subjects that taught us all a lot about God and how to live our lives as Christians.
January - The Great Give: Learning How to Give our Best to God
February/March - Why Did God Put me Here?
April - Stories of God that STIR Your Heart to Action
May - Jonah
June - Celebration: How The Greats Celebrated God
July/August - Small Faith: Great God
September - Revolution: The Saga of Acts
October - Getting Past Your Past
November - Stories of the Master
December - Turning Christmas Upside Down
Along with our Sunday teachings God blessed us with a lot of opportunities for spiritual growth:
- Seminar: Hell and Purgatory
- Small group studies
- Kidzone ministry for the development of our young kids.
- Identity ministry for the development of our Jr. and Sr. High students
- Sunday morning teachings: Old Testament Challenge, Ordinary Day with Jesus, Jesus 101
Spirirtual growth was coupled with a lot of fellowship and community time this year:
- Annual church picnic
- BRCC day at Cedarland
- Spring Fling at Skateland
- Men's breakfast
- Various pizza Sundays
This was also a special year as we celebrated the church's 25th anniversary. We celebrated with a special service with a lot of special guests and a lesson on the legacy of our spiritual community.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Overall the year 2013 was great, as can be seen above from all the time we spent together both in community and in discipleship. 2014 will be a pivotal year in the life of the church. One of the things we will set out to do is to refocus and recast the vision of the church. As an organism, it is key that we are all on the same page in terms of priorities and goals. The elders and ministry leaders will be working closely on fleshing out God's vision for our church and finding a place for each and every person to participate in the vision of the church - we all have a role in the Kingdom of God! The two areas that are essential for each one of us in the new year are discipleship and evangelism. We each need to be growing in and proclaiming Christ to our neighbors and friends.
Be ready for greater things in your community for 2014!
Here are some numbers from 2013 that are of some interest:
Baptisms - 10 (up from 2012)
New Members - 7 (down from 2012)
Attendance - 8% increase
Giving - Giving maintained 2012 levels
Now there are a lot of aspects of church life that can't be quantified by numbers
Here is a summary rundown of the teachings we have done this year. It's a great mixture of subjects that taught us all a lot about God and how to live our lives as Christians.
January - The Great Give: Learning How to Give our Best to God
February/March - Why Did God Put me Here?
April - Stories of God that STIR Your Heart to Action
May - Jonah
June - Celebration: How The Greats Celebrated God
July/August - Small Faith: Great God
September - Revolution: The Saga of Acts
October - Getting Past Your Past
November - Stories of the Master
December - Turning Christmas Upside Down
Along with our Sunday teachings God blessed us with a lot of opportunities for spiritual growth:
- Seminar: Hell and Purgatory
- Small group studies
- Kidzone ministry for the development of our young kids.
- Identity ministry for the development of our Jr. and Sr. High students
- Sunday morning teachings: Old Testament Challenge, Ordinary Day with Jesus, Jesus 101
Spirirtual growth was coupled with a lot of fellowship and community time this year:
- Annual church picnic
- BRCC day at Cedarland
- Spring Fling at Skateland
- Men's breakfast
- Various pizza Sundays
This was also a special year as we celebrated the church's 25th anniversary. We celebrated with a special service with a lot of special guests and a lesson on the legacy of our spiritual community.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Overall the year 2013 was great, as can be seen above from all the time we spent together both in community and in discipleship. 2014 will be a pivotal year in the life of the church. One of the things we will set out to do is to refocus and recast the vision of the church. As an organism, it is key that we are all on the same page in terms of priorities and goals. The elders and ministry leaders will be working closely on fleshing out God's vision for our church and finding a place for each and every person to participate in the vision of the church - we all have a role in the Kingdom of God! The two areas that are essential for each one of us in the new year are discipleship and evangelism. We each need to be growing in and proclaiming Christ to our neighbors and friends.
Be ready for greater things in your community for 2014!
RSS Feed