Calvary Church Annual Report 2012

one faith • one church • one communit y • one life

calvary church annual report

2011-2012

Gather with those who have heard the word of salvation Gather with those who have heard and have believed.

Let all God’s people lift his Name together, And together live the lives that bless his Name.

For there is one body and one Spirit, with one hope, in one Lord, who in one faith, will on one day, assemble ‘round the throne!

Living life{together}

Immeasurably More ...

— Jim Samra

— Calvary Church Elders

The two most important things we want for each person at Calvary is to participate regularly in the gathered worship assembly (where we can experience God’s presence) and to engage in some form of smaller authentic Christian community (where we can experience the depth of God’s love for us). Our focus this past year has been on getting people at Calvary into these smaller communities and to see these communities function as God intends. Our sermon series in Ephesians, Life Together, helped us launch a renewed emphasis on this kind of Christian community.

In our benediction every Sunday this year, we were reminded that God can do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20).

It was a powerful year of listening to God speak to us through His Word. We began by being reminded of the one faith we have in Christ that binds us together as well as the importance of unity, maturity, community and identity. We then looked at the ten commandments He has given for living in community with one another (a hysterical video series helped make each of those commandments memorable!). Finally we closed our series with a focus on spiritual warfare, in which we realized that if we are going to stand against the Evil One, we must stand together.

God has truly been moving in our congregation and many, many new small groups have formed and hundreds have begun to experience true Christian community. We are so grateful to God. Our emphasis on community continues this year as we focus on receiving care from one another through our smaller community. While we are still pushing for more people to join communities, we also want to highlight that community is where care is given and received. Our smaller communities at Calvary need to be caring families.

God has given us 1 and 2 Samuel to study as a congregation this year. Seeing what it means to have an undivided heart fully devoted to God will, among other things, facilitate the way we care for others. I am looking forward to a great year. Please be praying earnestly for the leadership and the church!

Pastoral and Executive Staff: Jim Samra, Steve Gibson, Tom Olsson, Ruth Gudbrandson, Joy Gillette

The elders started this year with a new constitutional structure that has been an incredible blessing by giving us more time to do the work of the ministry. During the first Tuesday of each month, the elders pray with congregational members. Some need physical healing, others are asking God to restore relationships, and some are struggling in spiritual warfare. There are countless testimonies of God accomplishing “immeasurably more!”

Community has been a strong emphasis this year as we have encouraged people to get connected in some way to Calvary Church. Spiritual growth happens when people get engaged in community. Community is also the best way to care for one another. Calvary Church is a big place, but we want everyone to feel that someone cares for them.

One of the most exciting additions this past year is the lighted candle on the stage that represents someone who placed their faith in Christ. God blessed our worship services this year. Some of the most memorable were the baptismal services when men, women, teens, and children shared how God has changed them.

When we see all that God has done, and all he is doing at Calvary Church, it makes us wonder what he will do in the future.

The elders have been praying for God’s direction about how our building might be expanded to reach more people for Christ. God can do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.” Please ask and imagine with us.

Calvary Church Elders: Dennis Bergakker, Lee Brenner, Eric Cerling, Jim DeVries, Ron Haas, Larry Hulst, Noe Palacios, Kent Snoeyink, Vernon Spears, Mike Still, Allen VanHaitsma, Dan Visser, Jerry Ward Calvary Church Deacons: Robert Bass, Jim Hoekwater, Robert Johnston, Brian Klaver, Tom Miller, David Radde, Mike Reiffer, Jeff Rogers, Jim Stubblefield, Howard Timmer, Todd Wilde, Dan Wynalda

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the small group

2

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Calvary Community Staff: Lee Content, Karen VanHolstyn, Brenda Neher

Calvary Community The function of the Calvary Community department is to facilitate authentic community throughout the church and to take primary responsibility for Adult Sunday Classes, neighborhood small groups, membership classes and the Monday Night Bible Study.

This past year has been both a tremendous challenge and a tremendous blessing as we have seen the idea of community catch on through every demographic. On the blessing side, people are realizing that it was a myth that they were too busy to be investing in the lives of others. Once they get involved, and begin to see the way God blesses us in community, it becomes something that they look forward to and that is extremely important to them. There are many wonderful stories throughout the church from people who have found new levels of support, care and spiritual growth in the past year.

On the more challenging level, we have realized that we have a huge neighborhood!

Calvary groups meet everywhere from

Greenville to Lowell to Grand Haven.

Logistically placing people into groups that work for them is our biggest, ongoing struggle.

We are committed to spending several weeks of intense prayer over the names of each person who signs up to be in a group. We rely on God’s guidance and give Him all the glory for bringing diverse groups of people together who would never have thought to connect with one another.

This year, we will continue to launch new groups, and will work to strengthen those that are continuing from before. We hope to see every group at Calvary caring for one another like Christ cares for us.

If you have not yet joined a group or a Sunday class, this is a great year to try. If you did and it did not work out, please be willing to try again. Sometimes logistics just don’t work out, but we know God has a place for you at Calvary.

2011-2012 by the numbers 26 Adult Sunday Classes representing about 1500 people.

Monday Night Bible Study had approximately 175 men and women.

234 people completed the membership class.

Hosted 3 community group launches

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Began 50 new neighborhood community groups.

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Worship Department Staff: Dan Lilley, Mark Welling, Mark Grevengoed, Katie Mateer, Kristen White, Christy VanAndel, Andy Crowder, Peter VanDessel, Scott Sommerfeld, Cynthia Haas, Matt Gruppen

Sing as the ransomed race,Saved by amazing grace, And we share His life, share His life together! Shout as a mighty choir; Sealed by the Spirit’s fire. And we share His life, share His life together!

2011-2012 by the numbers Total Choir members: 192 Total Orchestra members: 48 Total Praise Team members: 40 Festival of Light title: The Bagman and the King Number of those who attended Festival of Lights: 13,000 Number of Festival of Lights cast members, orchestra and choir: 394 Palm Sunday musical: One Lord, One Faith, based on the book of Ephesians

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Worship For our sermon series this year, we wrote a new song for Calvary with Jerroll Lehman called “Life Together” that we have not only been blessed to sing in our worship services but also to live out as the words take root in our lives. It talks about how Christ makes community possible as we are united together in Him. It’s a great reminder of the way God means for us to live our lives together.

In the worship department, we have been making a more intentional effort to study together, to care for one another and to create opportunities to interact and connect outside of regular rehearsals. It was wonderful to hear the testimonies of choir members at the year’s finale concert in May, about how people are caring for one another and building meaninful, lasting relationships.

This theme also carried us through Holy Week, beginning with an amazing musical based on the book of Ephesians, entitled One Lord, One Faith. It encouraged us to focus on our unity in Christ and our shared faith in Him that form a solid foundation on which to build relationships with one another. The Prayer Garden in the chapel that week was a place where people could sign The Apostle’s Creed to declare their shared faith, and pray for our church and local communities.

As always, our Festival of Lights was a wonderful example of many, many people from our congregation coming together to do something amazing as we open our doors to invite all of our neighbors to celebrate Christ’s birth with us. At the same time, those who are involved form friendships that last a lifetime.

Pastoral Care Staff: Josh Mateer, Claire Walker, Tom Couch, Lynnell Bok, Lou Degraaf, Lorie Dewey, Regina Scovill

Pastoral Care A big part of our planning this year was focused on equipping community groups to truly care for one another.

Our launch this coming fall of the Care Network has been a yearlong process that has involved recruiting, training and encouraging as we create a system to support and resource our small groups as they provide care for one another.

At the same time, the Yellow House continues to be a place where people can come to get extra care when they need it: prayer, counseling, material support or even just emotional support.

As we look back over the year and so many ways that care was accomplished, we realize that we could not do it without many volunteers.

This year, our congregation donated clothes, school supplies, food, holiday

baskets and money. Perhaps the most remarkable gift was when our benevolent fund went from nearly empty to almost $100,000 in less than two weeks.

And it goes beyond that. The Pastoral Care Department had over 200 volunteers lead and take part in care ministries last year. This includes Stephen Ministers, Budget Counselors, Divorce Care facilitators, Benevolent Coordinators, food pantry and clothes closet workers and more.

Every day we are reminded that we cannot care for the people at Calvary on our own. If God did not work in a mighty way to mobilize the army of people to care for each other, we would not be able to meet the needs around us each week.

Thank you, for being a part of what God is doing to care for His people at Calvary.

2011-2012 by the numbers Food pantry items purchased: $58,176 (with much more donated!)

Families served by food pantry: 58 Budget counselors serving: 29 Families helped through budget counseling: 43 Calvary families helped through benevolence: 174 Additional community families helped through benevolence: 78 Families who went through DivorceCare: 95 Families in the hospital who our pastors met and prayed with: 212 Shut-ins visited monthly: 30-35 Widows and widowers ministered to through Chera: 100

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Children’s Ministry Staff: Joel Shank, Brian Nix, Carla Boon-Julien Heidi Storms, Sara Tibbe

Children’s Ministries 2011-2012 by the numbers Number of kids in our Wednesday night WOW program: 315 Gospel Cards each child in WOW received: 27 Number of kids who joined the 2012 James Gang: 78 Number of children who attend a Sunday morning class at Calvary: 600 Number of live crickets eaten by actors playing John the Baptist: 2 (as far as we know) Number of volunteers for our summer program, CSI: 180 Number of kids who attended our summer program, CSI: 478 Total volunteers who serve with us in the space of a year: over 500 Children dedicated to the Lord during Family Dedication services: 70

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One of our primary goals this past year was to develop a clear mission statement and strategy for our ministry. God brought a lot of people who originally had many different ideas together and developed total unity for our new core mission: guiding children to trust and follow Christ for the rest of their lives.

That kind of unity is exciting to see and is something we seek throughout our ministry, as we meet for a weekly opening prayer time with Wednesday night volunteers, as we foster relationships between children in small groups in WOW, or as we reach out to children who are experiencing divorce at home through DC4K. We also concentrated a lot of energy on WOW this year, and it really paid off. We added electives, introduced weekly James Journal activities, rejuvenated the incentive shop and more ... all in an effort to encourage kids to memorize scripture and to put it into action. And they are doing it! 78 kids memorized the entire chapter of James 3 this past year and completed 390 service projects to join the James Gang. But even better than that are the stories we hear from parents about kids remembering Bible verses at relevant times throughout the week and putting them into practice.

Watching God work in the lives of Calvary’s young children is such a blessing.

Join us this year! We need more than 500 volunteers to serve with everything from fill-in nursery help to substitute teachers or more frequent positions if your schedule allows.

Student Ministries Staff: Aaron Bolduc, Byron Dickey, Sara Tindall, Lee Bergakker, Michelle Lamport, Bethann Talsma, Natalie Uecker

Student Ministries Over the past year, our students have grown significantly in their willingness and desire to create stronger relationships. They are recognizing that coming to church is more than just about learning; they want to be better connected to community and better connected to God. It is thrilling to see students reach out and care for one another as they create community with the support of staff and their adult leaders.

The leadership transition we underwent this past year is one way God has drawn our students together and also toward Him. Change often creates an openness to try new things and step out of your comfort zone. We have been pleased to watch students embrace new leadership and become excited about new ideas. It also seems that changes are happening across families; as parents become more interested in community, and as it is talked about in our worship services and around the church, we are seeing entire families encouraged by one another to get connected.

As we enter the next year, we hope to see relationships building both between students and their small group leaders/mentors as we seek to truly care for one another on a deeper level and to grow together in our faith.

HSM by the numbers

MSM by the numbers

Over 1500 slices of pizza were consumed

by HSM throughout the year.

36 7th and 8 th grade students and leaders traveled over 500 miles to serve, build relationships, and share the Gospel with those in the Charleston, WV area where 4 people prayed to receive Christ.

For the fifth year in a row 42 high schoolers and leaders drove over 1490 miles to Marvell, Arkansas to minister through kids club, sports camps, and work projects. 1 person accepted Christ as their savior during the trip.

Over 100 pair of pants were folded and prepared to be given away to the needy in Grand Rapids.

Over 200 slices of pizza were consumed during our MSM fall retreats.

800+ cans of food and household supplies were collected by high schoolers during our annual food drive for the Yellow House.

MSM students had the opportunity to memorize over 25 verses as a part of Wednesday nights.

4 high school students went on intergenerational missions trips to Honduras and Mozambique During our fall retreat high school students put together 30 care packages to send out to our graduated seniors away at college.

1 large tarp, 6 refrigerator boxes, 12 rolls of duct tape, 16 cans of spray paint, 12 bottles of dish soap and tons of water were used to put together our annual game of Mega Box Wars.

4 people accepted Christ at our MSM “Deep Impact� outreach events.

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MSM students spent over 800 minutes in small groups being mentored, building relationships, and growing closer to God. MSM students studied Genesis this past year.

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Young Adult Staff: Mason Sherrill, Carl Crispin, Sue Schroeder

Young Adults One of the things we have tried to do in our ministry is to deepen the level of relationships in smaller groups, while still being connected to the larger community of young adults. In this way, young adults can feel the support and care of a close group of friends while still enjoying a sense of belonging to a larger community. We have been thrilled to see tremendous growth in these areas of connection over the past year.

Our Merge group formed small groups named after countries in which Calvary has missionaries. This gave each group something to bond over as they learned, shared, and served together.

Our college students meet together on Thursday nights and in small groups on campuses throughout the week. It has been encouraging to see the support that students show to one another and to see them reach out and embrace newcomers.

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Over the course of the year we have seen many newly married couples join Foundations. It is so beautiful to see young couples striving to build God honoring biblical marriages in a world that no longer recognizes God in marriage.

We have seen how powerful true community is because it draws people in. So much of what the world is offers is shallow and superficial. When young adults experience authentic, Christian community, it makes them want more. It is exciting to see our young adults respond to this by serving throughout the church.

We have a number of young people who want mentoring and discipleship, so we have a need for mentors to do one-on-one life with them. You don’t stay young forever! It is humbling to know that we are growing the next generation of leaders for Calvary Church.

2011-2012 by the numbers 118 people attended Merge last year.

6 YA couples got engaged or married.

7 went to Central Asia on the first YA International Mission Trip.

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15 new couples got connected to the Foundations ministry.

23 Young Adults are serving in their (YA) communities.

College/graduate students represent 13 different higher education institutions.

8 turkeys were consumed at the YA Thanksgiving Love Feast.

Special Needs Staff: Elleen Fitzgerald, Judi Warner, Jenny Davis, Pam Cook, Elizabeth Thelen

Special Needs The Special Needs department is by nature relational, as we seek to meet the needs of many who otherwise may struggle to find a church home. Many churches simply do not have the time or resources that we have been blessed with, and families entering our ministry are often overwhelmed by the interest and care they feel as we visit them and get to know their needs. It often goes above and beyond what they have ever experienced.

We started the first ever community group for parents and caregivers and friends of those with special needs this past year on Wednesday night and have been thrilled to see God working in and through that group. It started with just one person praying about the idea, and God truly worked out all of the details and has brought a group of people together to love and support one another.

We are also completing our first year of ministry with our new bus. The demand for transportation in the special needs community is intensely high!

We are praying that God will enable us to expand this ministry, and also that Grand Rapids would add a couple of bus stops near our area. (This is a real possibility, please join us in this prayer!)

Finally, as community groups have begun to spread throughout the church, it has been especially encouraging to see individual groups taking the initiative to reach out and include families with special needs. Many of our special needs families find it difficult to be a part of regular groups, and seeing this whole precedent of love and care is like seeing Christ’s love in our body.

2011-2012 by the numbers Monthly Praise and Worship participants: 223/month (discontinued this year) Go Getter’s Service on Sunday: 60-80/week Go Getter’s Worship on Wednesday: 100-140/week

Transportation participants: 45-50 Inclusion with Calvary Kids and WOW: 3-5 students/week Inclusion on Sunday mornings: 8 students/week Festival of Lights Special Needs performance: 850 attendees

Seekers and Explorers students: 27/week

Summer Picnic participants: 75+

Seekers and Explorers volunteers: 26

One-on-one buddies: 6-8

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Women’s Ministries Staff: Susan Sorensen, Elaine Meredith

Women Several years before we knew that community would be the focus of our year, the Lord prompted our women’s advisory team to begin a process of changing Tuesday morning Bible studies so that we could more truly experience life together. We had many wonderful Bible study groups but women in different studies didn’t know each other. We also lacked a way to move women from study to study toward greater maturity and opportunities for training leaders.

In 2010, we began a leadership training time on Mondays in anticipation of bringing all women together for the new Gathering Place Study. Each Monday 48 leaders met to pray and prepare for each Tuesday morning when women gathered for fellowship, worship, testimonies and teaching and then broke into small groups to study the Gospel of Matthew. We found that many took the

opportunity to come to this new study.

In fact we were a bit overwhelmed when 320 women signed up! It was a crazy ride at times, but we saw God working in and through the change in truly amazing ways.

Our other “big event” was called “Meet Me at the Marketplace,” keyed on the idea that the marketplace is somewhere that women have met throughout the centuries.

Over 600 women attended, and we enjoyed seeing women make new connections with one another.

In all areas this past year, from MOPS, to our Bible studies and events, we have seen God do more than we could ask or imagine. We’ve seen women come to faith and grow in faith. We’ve been in a place of complete dependence and God has shown His faithfulness in amazing ways.

2011-2012 by the numbers

150+ women volunteered in Women’s Ministry.

320+ women attended The Gathering Place, our Tuesday Morning Bible Study.

80+ women attended MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers).

180+ children heard the Gospel through Moppets on Thursdays and GPS Kids on Tuesday mornings.

30+ women participated and found fellowship in sports programs – volleyball, exercise and golf.

12 women were mentored through Apples of Gold.

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Men’s Ministries Staff: Aaron Bolduc, Earl Thomas, Lou DeGraaf

Senior Ministries Staff: Tom Couch, Regina Scovill

Men

Senior Adults

Our men’s ministry hosted its third Men’s Conference last fall, with featured speakers Clay Allen of Avenue Ministries and Fred Stoeker, author of Every Man’s Battle, with breakout sessions led by Pastor Rod VanSolkema from Crossroads Church and our own Jim Samra. It was a great way to kickoff the year and we looked for ways to build on that momentum and continue connecting men with one another for fellowship and discipleship.

In today’s world, the senior years can easily look very different from a generation or two ago. Our ministry is dedicated to meeting the needs of today’s seniors and equipping them to continue to grow, learn and especially to connect with one another and with God.

We have a number of men’s Bible studies and are looking to launch additional community groups this coming year, as our men seek to build deep relationships and experience authentic community.

This past year we began a time of transition as our former Senior’s Pastor, Tom Couch, was called to be the lead pastor of another church in our area. We rejoice in his continued ministry, and we look forward to all the good things that God will continue to do in and through the senior adults at Calvary Church.

2011-2012 by the numbers

2011-2012 by the numbers

90 guys attended our Detroit Tiger trip. We filled two coach buses with dads, sons and grandsons, who had a great time watching the Tigers play the Cardinals.

25 people each month attend a luncheon with a guest speaker for Confident Caregivers.

6 men’s Bible studies met at various times throughout each week.

Chera, a ministry to widows and widowers, ministers to 30 people at their regular meetings, with almost 100 attending their Fall and Spring Brunches.

400 men attended the Men’s Conference last fall.

375 men attended our bi-monthly Saturday morning breakfasts where they heard great speakers and were treated to Chef Rod’s amazing cooking.

Approximately 150 attended the weekly Senior Adult Bible Study.

Approximately 125 people attend the monthly Senior Adult Luncheon.

We fielded 3 softball teams this summer and hosted an internal basketball league as well.

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Our spring Senior Health and Welness Expo welcomed 55 vendors and 300 attendees.

Several hundred people of all ages attended our annual March Madness outreach event, with everyone enjoying food and basketball together.

Approximately 125 people attended our workshop, Living a Full Life, with Dr. James Harvey.

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Missions & Outreach Staff: Celeste McDonough, Pastor Bruce, Sharon Kaiser, Chris DeHaan, Sara Tindall

Missions Through Missions and Outreach at Calvary Church, we have a front row seat to watch God work – around the world and here in our community. We are always looking for ways to help our congregation understand and take part in missions; the real highlight of this past year has been seeing people really engage more in our community in healthy ways.

In April, Calvary caught the “glocal” idea in a really big way. More than 500 people stepped out in faith to work together on one Saturday to build with Habitat for Humanity. Men, women, students and kids saw firsthand what the body of Christ can do when we all take just one step along the outreach journey from right here in Grand Rapids to the far points of the globe.

Our Neighbors International friendship families, volunteer drivers, and airport greeters have taken “glocal” even further by reaching out with friendship and God’s truth to the world that has come right here to West Michigan. God used 30 friendship families to share His love with 60 students from five different colleges and universities.

We also continue to love and care for churches we have planted here in the Grand Rapids area. We especially look for ways to help them reach out to those around them and to care for those God brings into their congregations. Our Christmas project was a tremendous blessing to Take Hold Church.

They were absolutely overwhelmed with the generosity they were shown and were thrilled to share that with those around them. We also partnered with King’s Table Ministry and collected school supplies for Lincoln School, a developmental school serving 175 students, K-12.

On the global level, we have seen two new fields open for our short-term missions program: India and Honduras. We sent eight teams out around the world this year, sending out more people than ever before. We rejoice in this, and also in the growing intergenerational nature of our teams.

As we move into the coming year, we plan to continue helping our congregation look at the world around us and seek ways to live out the great commission in our everyday lives.

2011-2012 by the numbers 8 Adult & Family short-term mission trips around the world.

2 houses built with Habitat for Humanity on Glocal Impact Saturday.

$199K invested in spreading the Gospel in the Middle East as part of Open Door Vision.

1 large trailer of Christmas presents given to Take Hold Church to distribute.

1 flood in Mozambique wiped out the fields in the village where we minister.

We raised $67,485 to help.

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Calvary currently supports 49 active missionary units, representing 34 countries, and 31 agencies.

The breakdown of primary work is as follows:

Church Planting

Administrative / Support

50% Church Planting (24 units) 14% Leadership Development (7 units) 20% Administrative/Support (10 units) 16% Children & Students (8 units)

Children & Students Leadership Development

Monthly Supported Individuals Global Workers: Acevedo, Reinaldo & Brenda – Paraguay Arendt, Phil & Peggy – USA/Global Ballast, Mike & Carolyn – Philippines Baloyi, Sybil – Mozambique Gary & Jami – Middle East Dave & Julia – Central Asia Bursma, Mike & Karen – Canada Carter, Denise – Ukraine Castillo, Andy & Carmen – Honduras Ceton, Dave & Laura – West Africa Brad & Sarah – Central Asia Crooks, Mark & Kris – Italy Crouch, Linda – Nigeria Dominguez, Manual & Lidia – Mexico Steve – Central Asia Eberline, Jim & Cheryl – Uruguay Scott & Colleen – Southeast Asia Girwarnauth, Andy & Kathleen – Guyana Hanna, Bob & Sandy – Costa Rica Jeremy & Joy – Central Africa Tom & Jan – Middle East Dave & Sonja – Central Asia Kim, Sasha & Olga – Central Asia Lazarus, Sheri & Shalom – USA McCune, Keith & Grace – Philippines Mnisi, Lucky & Sonnet – Mozambique Moore, Keith & Dawn – Honduras Roy & Jennifer – France Peterson, Steve & Nara – Brazil Poggemiller, Dwight & Melissa – Romania Richey, Amy – Ukraine Riepma, Mike & Cher – Bolivia Rittenhouse, Dave & Flora – South Africa Schuster, Jonathan & Rebecca – Ireland Schutter, Marlene – Papua New Guinea See, Roger & Karen – USA Alex & Melissa – Central Asia

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Glenn & Mary – Central Asia Valenza, Frank & Judy – Brazil VanderWerf, Terry & Helen – Mexico Victor, Jonathan & Hannah – India Josh & Julie, – CrossWorld, Northern Africa Ken & Rhonda – Middle East Local Workers: Barker, Ron & Jackie – Navigators, Grand Valley State University Cox, Shane & Heather – Take Hold Church, Grand Rapids Hoven, Dan & Gayle – Child Evangelism Fellowship, West Michigan Roedema, Chad & Laurie – Transport for Christ Shaffer, Joel & Sherilyn – Urban Transformation Ministries, West Michigan VanDyke, Bob & Jan – Taking Root Ministries, Allegan Retirees: Heintzelman, Sylvia Kruger, Elinor Olsen, Hal & Sally Smith, Joe Support DISCONTINUED: Brown, Aaron & Emily Cool, Dan & Arlene Douglas, Dave & Carla Dan & Celeste The following support increases are in effect as of August 1, 2012:

Ray & Brenda Acevedo Tom & Karen Bursma

Previous

New

Inc. Amt.

$900

$1,100

$200

$1,000

$1,100

$100

Denise Carter

$600

$700

$100

Brad & Sarah

$800

$1,000

$200

Jim & Cheryl Eberline

$900

$1,000

$100

Andy & Kathleen Girwarnauth

$600

$700

$100

Steve & Nara Peterson

$900

$1,000

$100

$1,200

$1,300

$100

Marlene Schutter

Amy Richey

$800

$900

$100

Glenn & Mary

$800

$1,000

$200

Monthly Supported Organizations: Global Organizations: Bangla Ministries Worldwide Church Planters Training International Deaf Opportunity Outreach Mission 21 India Partners in Evangelism Paidia Adventures Youth Ministry International Local Organizations: Chaplaincy Services Child Evangelism Fellowship David’s House Forgotten Man Ministries Independent Bible Mission King’s Table Ministries Mel Trotter Ministries New Creations Ministry Radio Bible Class Ministries Safe Haven Servant’s Center Urban Family Ministry Youth for Christ

New Supported Workers for 2012

Local Efforts

Sasha & Olga, Pastor, Central Asia

School Supplies Project: Last fall, we collected school supplies for the Lincoln Developmental School, in cooperation with Kings Table, a special needs ministry that is Calvarysponsored.

This couple is committed to working with the youth in Central Asia – those that are at risk, on the streets, orphaned, and in need of Christ’s redeeming love. They have helped establish a home for girls and women, they run summer camps, and host short-term teams. Sasha & Olga work in a country that is very difficult, but they have seen lives changed through their witness.

Andy & Carmen Castillo, World Reach, Honduras Andy & Carmen are involved in all areas of their church in Honduras – pastoral team, finance committee, children’s ministry, outreach program and more. They have seen God at work in mighty ways in bringing many to Himself through their efforts. They have three young sons.

Steve, Pioneers, Central Asia Steve has just left to go to the field for the first time. He is excited to be working with a team in a rural mountainous valley working with a people group who don’t know about Christ and have followed the same religion for generations. Pray for Steve as he learns the culture, and bonds with his fellow teammates.

Chad Roedema, Transport for Christ, Michigan Chad ministers to over-theroad truck drivers at the Transport for Christ Chapel located at a truck stop south of Grand Rapids. Chad has a heart for these men who have a lonely job, and is available at the trailer for those who need someone to talk to, and shares Christ every opportunity he gets.

Our Open Door Vision project for 2011-2012, called “Living Water in an Arab Spring,” was focused on supporting partners who are trying to reach Muslims in the Middle East and North Africa with the good news of Jesus Christ.

Through media partners, Middle East

Thanksgiving Offering: $2,830 was collected and sent to Forgotten Man Ministries.

Operation Christmas Child: Over 600 boxes were filled and distributed to children around the world.

One Heart for the City: Thousands of items were collected through our “Undecorate the Christmas Trees,” and distributed to hundreds of needy individuals and families in the Heartside neighborhood. The impact that Take Hold Church had on the community through your generosity with this project, was substantial. They were able to share the love of Christ with many people.

Missionary Christmas offering: We were able to bless 55 retired and active missionaries, distributing almost $26,000. One note of thanks included these thoughts, “We are so grateful for your generous gift this Christmas! It came at the perfect time. ... Thank you for treating your missionaries so well and being sensitive to our needs.”

Glocal Impact Sunday & Saturday: On Sunday we focused on learning about the nations represented right here in Grand Rapids, and then over 500 people joined us to reach out in our community and build with Habitat for Humanity.

Media and Sat-7, and leadership training at the Bethlehem Bible College and European Training Center, lives are being touched even in the most remote places. Thank you for your participation this year!

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Neighbors International As part of our local outreach in missions, Neighbors International has been a growing ministry at Calvary for several years. Students from all over the world enter Grand Rapids each fall, many from countries that are otherwise closed to the Gospel. Away from their families and homes, many are lonely and all of them want to learn from Americans.

Chinese friends. ... We learned about the Chinese culture, food, and even Kung fu movies. The kids really enjoy them. ... It was interesting discussing their picture of who God is. ... We have been stretched and blessed immensely through our friendship.

Our prayer is that soon we can call them our brother and sister in Christ.”

Neighbors International pairs friendship partners and families with international students who express interest. You don’t need to learn a new language or travel to a foreign country to show Christ’s love to an international student!

“We are the friendship family to two students from Ghana, two from China and one from Jamaica. ... They all know about Jesus, but want to know more. ... We help them get food each week and warm clothing for winter and try to share the love of Jesus ... I have never in my whole live had opportunities to witness and show the love of Jesus more than I have in my few months with Neighbors International.”

Families who volunteer in this ministry are eager to talk about the blessing it has been to them: “It has been great getting to know our

18 | Calvary Church Annual Report

2011-2012 by the numbers 90 international students and 70 volunteers attended our Friendship Dinner.

30 friendship families shared God’s love with 60 students throughout the year. $900 was spent on Bibles and Bible studies to give to international students.

70-80 students will need friendship families this year.

These students come from 5 local colleges and universities, and 23 countries around the world.

Serving & First Impressions Staff: Judie Fielstra & Christy VanAndel

Marketing & Communications Staff: Angela Cassiday, Sarah Merrill, Jackie Rice

Serving & First Impressions

Marketing & Communications

“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10).

Our particular focus this past year was to support the initiative to get everyone at Calvary connected in community by integrating the concept of community into everything we do. We want to communicate love and care in a language that people can understand. We also strive to help remove any barriers people may have that keep them from hearing the truth of God’s word or experiencing His love.

Each of us has been created with unique and valuable gifts to be discovered, developed and used for the sharing of the Gospel and for the good of others. All believers are to be people of God, involving ourselves in ongoing acts of ministry: proclaiming, teaching, worshiping, loving, witnessing and serving. The Serving Ministry works to match the gifts, talents and interests of our congregation with the needs of Calvary’s ministries.

One of our biggest challenges in finding people to serve is in our Children’s Ministry! There are ongoing needs for nursery workers, teachers and helpers because of the increase in the number of young families in our congregation.

This was our sixth year of ministry and we continued with several programs, including HEROES, an event where staff have supper with people who want to serve and tell about their ministries. Many of our congregants also went through Discovery, uncovering their spiritual gifts and learning more about their relationship with God. The First Impression Team intentionally greets and welcomes those who attend, but especially those new to Calvary to make them feel welcome and help them get connected. The First Impressions Team includes Greeters, Welcome Team, Calvary Café, Information Center and the Guest Services in the Connection Point. This past year we welcomed 150+ visitors in the Connection Point, many who are now serving and connected in community.

We’ve had 50+ people attend one of the Explore Calvary four-week classes to meet staff, tour the building and learn about the various ministries at Calvary. This is a wonderful tool to encourage people to be part of a smaller community.

Our survey from the spring of 2010 told us that at least 50% of our congregation had probably not been involved in a smaller community in the past year. Our goal was to increase the congregations’ knowledge about community and their engagement with it. From the stories we have heard around the church, we know that God has worked in amazing ways to bring people together in the last year. We look forward to repeating a survey in the spring of 2013 to see how things may have changed.

Our new design for Calvary Life was intended, in part, to give more space for stories, allowing people to hear from one another how God is at work in this place. We also have been (slowly) improving the technology we use as a staff to help support community. One of the visible outgrowths of that is the new MyCalvaryGR.org website that enables our congregation to track their giving, register for events, and more.

The concept of community extends to how we communicate with the outside world as well. We want our neighbors to understand that Calvary is a place where they will be loved and cared for, and where they will hear and be changed by the truth from God’s Word. We work with every department and church leadership to try to make Calvary a warm, accessible community to outsiders.

We want you to know that we are here to serve you, help you discover your gifts, and guide you in finding your place to serve God and connect at Calvary Church.

Calvary Church Annual Report | 19

Operations Staff: Randy Helm, Joy Gillette Technical Service Staff: Mark Kotlarczyk, Barak Schimp, Brad Visser, Pam Tuinstra, Marlene Timmer Maintenance Staff: Ken Meines, Joe VanHolstyn, Jon Hall, Tom Eggleston

Custodial Staff: David Alcook, Earl Jenkins, Brian Novak, Barb Clauson, Erica Degraaf, Ed Vermurlen Culinary Service Staff: Rod Pierce, PJ Davis, Neal Milburn, Kevin Troupe (additional on-call help listed on back page)

Operations Calvary’s operations staff serves to facilitate all of the ministry that happens at the church. Our time and energy is devoted to everything, from adult classes, Bible studies, youth events, special worship services, and more, with the goal of keeping the operations side of ministry running smoothly and efficiently, to the glory of God. It is a big job, and we are thankful to get lots of help from congregational volunteers. We have many dedicated volunteers who work on a weekly or monthly basis. It is thrilling to see our groups of volunteers supporting one another and praying for one another. In many areas, our volunteers have become like closeknit families. It is great to get the job done; it is better to get the job done well; and it is best to get it done in love with brothers and sisters who care for one another.

One area of outreach ministry that not everyone is aware of is our work in the community service program, which we started in 1999. We regularly have temporary help on our custodial crew from people who are performing community service. It is not uncommon to get comments like “I appreciate working here. You guys are very nice to me.” It is a small way we are able to show God’s love to the people in our local community.

2011-2012 by the numbers With upgraded air conditioning and more efficient lighting, Calvary realized a 7% reduction in our 2011 electrical use, even though it was a hot summer.

With new high efficiency boilers, our natural gas use was cut 37% last year, which was a 49% reduction over two years ago.

1700 worship service videos were sent to shut-ins.

5 new HD media carts were built to serve our ministry needs.

250 people from all over the world regularly join our Sunday services streaming online.

20 | Calvary Church Annual Report

20,000 CD/DVDs were duplicated.

52,000 different people visited our website a total of 300,000 times (up 25% from the year before).

Approximately 20,000 audio/video files were downloaded from our website.

Not including events (like weddings/banquets), we served 1000-1200 meals/ week last year. At that rate we could serve the city of Rockford one meal a day for three days.

The little ice cream cups on Wednesday nights add up to 30 gallons in a year.

Lined up end to end, they would be the length of a football field.

July 31 2012

2011

$ 221,629

$ 699,019

93,221

76,971

2,304,540

2,105,216

14,924,082

14,784,907

227,631

220,419

1,302,277

1,155,042

Transportation Equipment

204,617

187,664

Other Equipment

860,638

859,321

8,008

101,264

(11,699,550)

(11,195,230)

8,132,243

8,218,603

ASSETS CASH - UNRESTRICTED OTHER ASSETS PROPERTY & EQUIPMENT Land & Improvements Building & Improvements Furniture & Fixtures Communication Equipment

Pre-Capitalized Costs Less Accumulated Depreciation NET PROPERTY & EQUIPMENT

Finance:

Balance Sheets

Finance Department Staff: Nelson Vander Lugt, Barb Nauta, Cheri Davis, Jeanne Kenyon, Chris Snedeker, Susie Saunders

RESTRICTED ASSETS Cash & Cash Equivalents

2,035,509

2,071,483

Donated Note Receivable

-

162,872

TOTAL ASSETS

$ 10,482,602

$ 11,228,948

LIABILITIES & FUND BALANCE LIABILITIES Accounts Payable Other Liabilities TOTAL LIABILITIES PROJECTS TO BE DISBURSED (see project statement) FUND BALANCE TOTAL LIABILITIES & FUND BALANCE

$ 61,862

$ 169,754

228,098

390,635

289,960

560,389

595,296

714,338

9,957,346

9,954,221

$ 10,482,602

$ 11,228,948 Calvary Church Annual Report | 21

Finance:

Statements of Receipts & Expenditures

2011-2012

2010-2011

$ 7,038,581

$ 7,186,521

66,781

-

$ 7,105,362

$ 7,186,521

$ 1,609,927

$ 1,579,625

Worship Ministries

76,779

56,298

Adult Ministries

40,964

38,088

Calvary Community

78,987

73,502

Children’s Ministries

68,341

60,458

Student Ministries

73,603

63,482

Young Adults

22,337

20,417

Pastoral Care

33,285

32,412

Communications

69,278

65,599

Technical Services

60,199

62,687

318,389

328,602

Food Service

47,821

36,308

Administration

134,085

116,179

18,897

21,028

3,685,780

3,399,017

27,208

14,437

Equipment

227,853

229,363

Reserve Funding

290,000

290,000

TOTAL PROGRAM EXPENDITURES

$ 6,883,733

$ 6,487,502

EXCESS OF RECEIPTS OVER EXPENDITURES

$ 221,629

$ 699,019

RECEIPTS: Offerings Estate Gifts TOTAL RECEIPTS

EXPENDITURES: Global & Community Outreach

Facility Services

Board Directed Initiatives Personnel and Benefits (Note 1) Resident Department

Notes: 1) The above department expenditures do not include personnel costs. These costs are presented in total under Personnel and Benefits above.

22 | Calvary Church Annual Report

Balance @ 7/31/2011

Receipts

Expenditures

Transfers

Balance @ 7/31/2012

Open Door Vision

$ 29,519

$ 222,063

$ 199,376

-

$ 52,206

Missions Projects

114,994

341,254

396,655

6,607

66,200

70,952

302,410

301,510

5,009

76,861

498,873

127,281

155,293

(70,832)

400,029

$ 714,338

$ 993,008

$1,052,834

$ (59,216)

$ 595,296

Benevolent Other Projects TOTALS

Area of Ministry Global & Community Outreach

$

2012-2013 Budget

2011-2012 Budget

$ 1,673,694

$ 1,672,744

Worship Ministries

80,795

77,245

Adult Ministries

53,010

49,610

Calvary Community

102,610

98,210

Children’s Ministries

85,000

81,100

Student Ministries

80,635

78,610

Young Adult Ministries

29,544

29,044

Pastoral Care

39,450

45,300

Communications

74,850

71,450

Technical Services

82,453

68,625

343,440

361,569

Food Services

Facility Services

24,730

20,130

Administration

172,305

160,050

3,903,845

3,761,044

33,750

33,231

Equipment

255,771

248,420

Reserve Funding

300,000

290,000

25,118

23,618

$ 7,361,000

$ 7,170,000

Personnel and Benefits Resident Department

Board Directed Initiatives TOTAL BUDGET

Finance:

Project Statement Finance:

Budget

Calvary Church Annual Report | 23

Calvary Staff (as of 8/31/12)

Not Pictured: Scott Barry, Children

Lee Bergakker Middle School

Lynnell Bok Pastoral Care

Valerie Bierlein Children

Aaron Bolduc Students

Carla Boon-Julien Children

Angela Cassiday Communications

Barb Clauson Facilities

Lee Content Calvary Community

Pam Cook Special Needs

Carl Crispin Young Adults

Bill Crooks Discovery

Andrew Crowder Worship

Cheri Davis Finance

PJ Davis Culinary Services

Melissa DeBoer Facilities

Erica DeGraaf Facilities

Lou DeGraaf Pastoral Care

Chris DeHaan Missions

Lorie Dewey Pastoral Care

Byron Dickey Students

Tom Eggleston Facilities

Judie Fielstra Serving & First Impressions

Elleen Fitzgerald Special Needs

J.P. Gaylord Pastoral Resident

Steve Gibson Executive Pastor

Joy Gillette Pastoral Administration

Mark Grevengoed Worship

Ruth Gudbrandson Pastoral Administration

Cynthia Haas Worship

Randy Helm Operations

Earl Jenkins Facilities

Sharon Kaiser Missions

Jeanne Kenyon Finance

Mark Kotlarczyk Technical Services

Michelle Lamport High School

Dan Lilley Worship Pastor

Lenski Llorens Pastoral Resident

Marilyn Lorenz Receptionist

Josh Mateer Pastoral Care

Katie Mateer Worship

Ray Mayhew Pastoral Care

Celeste McDonough, Missions

Ken Meines Facilities

Elaine Meredith Women

Sarah Merrill Communications

Neal Milburn Culinary Services

Bonnie Morrill Discovery

Barb Nauta Finance

Brenda Neher Calvary Community

Brian Nix Children

Brian Novak Facilities

Tom Olsson Associate Pastor

Rod Pierce Culinary Services

Jackie Rice Communications

Jim Samra Senior Pastor

Barak Schimp Technical Services

Sue Schroeder Young Adults

Regina Scovill Pastoral Care

Joel Shank Children

Mason Sherrill Young Adults

Chris Snedeker Finance

Susan Sorensen Women

Heidi Storms Children

Bethann Talsma Students

Elizabeth Thelen Special Needs

Sara Tibbe Children

Marlene Timmer Technical Services

Sara Tindall Middle School

Kevin Troupe Culinary Services / Special Events

Pam Tuinstra Technical Services

Natalie Uecker Students

Christy VanAndel Worship

Nelson Vander Lugt Finance

Joe VanHolstyn Facilities

Karen VanHolstyn Calvary Community

Brad Visser Technical Services

Claire Walker Pastoral Care

Judi Warner Special Needs

Mark Welling Worship

Kristen White Worship

David Alcook, Facilities Jeofrey Mondal, Facilities Ed Vermurlen, Facilities Frank Carabellese, Food Service Fran Chertos, Food Service Lori Feerick, Food Service Gordon Herman, Food Service Thelma Hoogewind, Food Service Hildegard Krusch, Food Service Barbara Mayhew, Food Service Adele Ripley, Food Service Linda Rossman, Food Service Donna Tiesenga, Food Service Susan Ziel, Food Service Jon Hall, Maintenance Matt Gruppen, Worship Peter Van Dessel, Worship Scott Sommerfeld, Worship Dorothy Porter, Receptionist Pastor Bruce, Missions

Calvary Church 707 East Beltline NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49525 (616) 956-9377 | calvarygr.org

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