January 25, 2011

State of the Church Address

Well, January is a good time to look back on the year. As the President gives his annual State of the Union address, I usually give a State of the Church address as well. Last year our membership grew from 40 members to 56. Our participating average went from 30 on Sunday to 45. We have doubled our deacons and our elders. We have made history in calling our first two female elders. We have increased the variety of music, musical instruments and musicians in worship. We had a Christmas pageant, and had a visit from Santa (I believe the last time he came was well over a decade ago) collected canned goods, Christmas boxes, sponsored a family for Christmas, donated animals to the Heifer Project, built a new baptistry, purchased a van, fenced our parking lot, had a homecoming, made church shirts, redecorated our basement, started a new Sunday School class... and we ate... and we played Dominos... and we ate some more. We have had a solid, steady growth pattern. In the coming year, we will need to explore new ways to reach out and continue this growth. As with every church, we need to remember that we are running a race and that we need to move forward for God's glory. There is no time to linger or become stagnant. God has so much more in store for us. We still need to complete our parking lot across the street. We have intentions to build a playground for the children and we still have the church van to pay off. In February we will be collecting a special offering to the Week of Compassion which is our national agency for us as a Christian Church to address the disasters in the world. Most Disciples churches give 4-6 times a year to the greater body, supporting the regional and national offices. I would like to see our congregation move from 1 special offering to 3 in the next year. It is the faithful and right thing to do to support the structure and mission that we are a part of. With the greater blessings of resources and members, we will have more responsibility. My prayer is that we will find new, exciting, life-giving ways of serving for the glory of God and the name of Jesus.