State of The Church Report (2)

Welcome to the Annual meeting of Amazing Grace Church of The Nazarene.

In accordance with the Manual of The Church of The Nazarene Section 125 The Administrative Duties of a Pastor, Article 7, which states: The Pastor shall: “Submit a report to the annual church meeting, including a report on the status of the local church and its departments, and outline areas of future needs for study and/or implementation.”

Thus, I respectfully submit my state of the church report on Amazing Grace Church of the Nazarene for your consideration.

When I think of a church working to fulfill its place in the Kingdom of God I find myself drawn to Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 12:14-31.

In this discourse Paul points out the necessity of every part of the body. One part is not more important than another. This is true in the human body, and it is also true of the Church, Christ’s body.

Paul concludes this discourse 1 Corinthians 12:27-30

1 Corinthians 12:27–30 NASB 2020

27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, and various kinds of tongues. 29 All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they? 30 All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they?

This speaks to the main vision we had for this last year. A church working together to grow deep, grow wide, and make an impact.

We seek in this to apply our Romans 12 Mission Cycle combined with our core values:

1. Loving Relationships

2. Inspiring Worship

3. Passionate Prayer

4. Relevant Teaching

5. Holistic Stewardship

6. Intentional Outreach

These areas of our continuing vision most of these have been successfully incorporated into the DNA of our ministries and outreach into the community.

We continue to deepen our relationship with God and with another.

An organic expression of impact is the widening reach into the community. We continue to meet new people at our ministry events, leading some to visit us Sunday mornings.

The community now knows that Amazing Grace Church is thriving, growing, and excited for the Kingdom of God.

We will see in the video report the testimony to God’s movement and the hard work of ministry leaders and volunteers. God gets the glory and I thank the leaders and volunteers.

The clothing ministry continues to see more and more visitors and the ministry reach organically grows with every event. Thank you, Sandy and all the volunteers.

Our second VBS this year saw the attendance of kids double, stretching our hard-working volunteers. Thank you, Pastor Sharon, and all the volunteers.

We tried a “Cookies with Santa” and Holiday bazaar. Attendance was light but we were able to answer questions for a couple of Families one of which did visit us one Sunday morning. As well we raised money for Caravan and Women’s Ministry. Thank you to Sandy, Carolyn and their team of volunteers.

This is also our second year with Wednesday night Caravan and Adult Apologetics Small Group. Both continue to grow, and we have families from the community who have joined us. Edie and her volunteer leaders continue to do a wonderful job of sharing Christ with the kids, thank you to Edie and her volunteers.

Souled out continues with the hard work of Tim and Sarah. They and their volunteers work very hard to make Wednesday nights faith based and fun for our youth. Thank you to Tim, Sarah, and your volunteers.

Children’s Ministry continues to grow. Pastor Sharon and her team of volunteers work to create an environment where Christ is the focus, and God’s word is taught. The fruit of their work is a second year of Baptisms coming on Resurrection Sunday.

Events continue to see attendance from families in our community. The bike and trike last year saw a first where the district and Christian Motorcycle Association joined us in making a fun day for everyone. Plans are in place to do it again this year. Thank you, Pastor Sharon, Stephen Butler C.M.A. President, Cindy Reynolds our district children's coordinator, and all the volunteers.

Through our prayers and an ongoing vision for small groups we added Sunday Morning Small Groups. After a rough vision casting God has blessed our groups. Community has started as people are sharing, growing, and expressing their faith. Powerful conversations with those as young as sixth graders to our adults speak to the authenticity of these groups.

Thank you to all our small group leaders for your hard work and dedication to discipleship.

Our all church campout was a fun time. We had visitors and new faces this year both at the camp and our Sunday morning worship at Camp Kiwanis.

New this year in lieu of the Church Wide Campout, we are planning a Memorial Day Potluck and Softball Game at Pioneer Park. More information coming soon, thank Pastor Sharon, Sandy, and the volunteers.

We expanded our online and social media presence this year with Facebook Live, Instagram, and YouTube through the help of several volunteers, they know who they are, and I thank you for all you do.

What’s next? The board and I will be fervently praying and working on that this year. We have ideas we hope to implement with God’s blessing.

We continue to develop a vision for worship. Our vision is joyful praise and worship. In the early church these attributes demonstrated the vitality of the church.

As believers, filled with the Spirit, they spoke to one another with Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs (Ephesians 5:19).

They made music in their hearts to the Lord, giving thanks to God for everything in the name of Jesus (Colossians 3:16).

As part of that vision the Worship Pastor Search Committee is praying God will lead us to the right candidate. Thank you to the search committee for your help and advise.

Thank you to the worship leaders and all those who serve on the worship team.

‌God has continued to be faithful in bringing offerings into the storehouse through your prayerful generosity and we are so very close to our budget.

We have expanded our new Budget to include an incoming full-time worship pastor with pay. This is because you give prayerfully and generously. We are are able to do ministry and host events because of your tithes and offerings. Thank you, Amazing Grace.

As well when I came here two and half years ago the board at the time had a vision for the facility which Included upgrades to the Sanctuary, the East Side, and many other things which were called the “Top Four Projects.”

Today I am pleased to report that the “Top Four Projects” are completed. This year we added a new projection screen, cameras inside and out, and lights in the Sanctuary. I want to thank the board of Amazing Grace.

The 2023-2024 board worked well and hard together getting a great deal done. There is still more to do! They gave me advice and guidance as we sought to follow God’s lead during the year. We will miss Jodi, Dan, Michael, and Briana as they have completed their time on the board. I look forward to working with the incoming 2024-2025 board, we will hit the ground running in March!

There is an atmosphere of excitement at Amazing Grace as we seek to build an authentic community of believers who love God and love people. The community this creates is one of love, home, and family. I am excited to see what God has planned for us in this new year.

Remember the words of the prophet Zechariah to Zerubbabel in rebuilding the temple Zechariah 4:6b ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of armies.

In this year let us envision great things for God, attempt great things for God, and realize great things for God!

God Bless you, and God bless Amazing Grace Church of The Nazarene!

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