2017
ANNUAL REPORT
COLLEGE HEIGHTS ANNUAL REPORT
MAKING DISCIPLES WHO CHANGE THE WORLD Your church leadership has constructed a bold plan of ministry to continue our mission of making disciples who change the world. We celebrate a wonderful past year but commit ourselves to even more lives coming to Christ in the new one. Join us in this journey of being God’s people at College Heights Christian Church.
OUR PLAN OF MINISTRY
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To Create Environments for Everyone to Engage Others and Encounter God To accomplish the mission of making disciples of Jesus who change the world through the power of the Holy Spirit, the church of Jesus has historically gathered for teaching, community, prayer, and the breaking of bread. The Creative Arts Ministry provides time and space for anyone to be a part of this special gathering to be better equipped and inspired to accomplish the vision of making disciples who change the world. Last year, the Creative Arts Ministry led over 145 worship services where people of all ages engaged others and encountered God through singing, teaching, prayer, and interactive elements. In the past year, we saw a monthly average increase of 24 in church attendance, 80 baptisms, 203 new guests, 15 personal stories shared, and countless moments in growing together. These moments of worship connect our church and reach out to welcome others into the presence of God. From a middle school student growing in her faith to a high school student committing to a renewed life to a college student being empowered to share his faith on a university campus, the environments we create help draw everyone into the presence of God and one another.
Our budget total goes toward funding special events throughout the year, training and developing our leaders, paying for copyrights to ethically support the creatives in the global church, maintaining and repairing our equipment, creating original content that is a renewable resource for our church, shepherding over 130 volunteers, and providing new equipment in our developing worship spaces for the thousands of people who choose to worship at College Heights. Budget Total: $ 589,746.65 (This includes a percentage of the ministers’ salaries; expenses and insurance; support staff salaries; custodial salary; janitorial supplies; telephone; copier; insurance, maintenance and utilities.)
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To Nurture People in Their Faith Journey The adult ministry team consists of four departments working together. The Small Group Ministry is all about intentional community discipleship. We are creating a stronger culture where small groups become the relational environment for authentically growing followers of Jesus. Last year we had over 70 small groups with 191 new people–for a total of 708 adults meeting in small groups. Three times a year small group leaders are offered training, and our goal is to intentionally provide care for these leaders throughout the year from other experienced leaders. The College-Age Ministry pursues students at our college campuses of Missouri Southern State University and Ozark Christian College and helps prepare students for what’s next in relationships, careers, families, and lifelong ministry involvement. On Sunday nights we host an average of 180 students at Upper Room. Community groups and discipleship groups meet throughout the year to intentionally grow students in their faith. This past spring, 90 students traveled to Phoenix, Arizona to serve and minister to some of the 90,000 refugees who live there. This past year the Family Ministry hosted 80 people in two marriage retreats and a pre-married/early-married workshop. We also provided premarriage counseling and marriage mentors to over 10 couples this year, connecting them to professional, lay counseling, and marriage restoration teams. “Families Helping Families” is the phrase used to describe our philosophy of experienced families or individuals walking with others who find themselves in unfamiliar territories of life. The Pastoral/Senior Adult Ministry provides care to our church family members in homes, hospitals, and healthcare centers due to sickness or other health concerns. Presently, we have 30 people who are affirmed, valued, and loved by their faith family. Every Friday our volunteers deliver meals to homebound friends. We have many faithful volunteers who serve at Crosslines Ministries, who clothes and feeds 1000 people each month. The Adult Ministry Team is proud of the 50+ dedicated teachers and volunteers who study, teach, train, and communicate Scripture in Sunday morning and Wednesday night adult classes and electives. Learning prepares the head and heart for Kingdom service. Budget Total: $ 730,459.17 (This includes a percentage of the ministers’ salaries, expenses, insurance; support staff salaries; custodial salary; janitorial supplies; telephone; copier; insurance, maintenance, and utilities.)
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So That Kids Love Jesus Our Youth and Children’s Ministry is comprised of the Early Childhood Ministry (babies-kindergarten), Children’s Ministry (grades 1-5), Middle School Ministry (grades 6-8), and High School Ministry (grades 9-12). This team and these ministries exist so that kids love Jesus! Everything we do is for that purpose. According to the church database, we serve more than 1000 people below the age of 18! We have regular programs on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights, special events, trips, small groups, Bible studies, prayer groups, and more. Each program is designed to teach the Gospel according to kids’ unique needs during this time of their lives and help them choose to follow Jesus. To that end, over half the baptisms in the last year have been kids below the age of 18! The only way our church can achieve this discipleship is together! We have over 400 volunteers serving in these ministries, many giving their time every week, pouring the love of Jesus into the hearts and minds of our children. Our volunteers do the hard and happy work of holding babies, changing diapers, playing with toddlers, teaching lessons, facilitating small group discussions, driving busses, cooking meals, sharing the gospel, watching basketball games, facilitating Bible studies, counseling, opening homes, and gently correcting, training, and building up according to the Word of God…and of course praying, praying, praying! Our hopes for the future is to see these ministries grow— in the number of kids following Jesus, in the depth of their daily faith, and in the number of dedicated adults discipling kids. We also desire to create even better learning environments–creating spaces and places where kids feel a distinct sense of belonging, love, engagement, safety, and freedom to face their doubts, explore God’s love, and grow in their faith through the often tumultuous times of their childhood. We’re looking forward to what God does in and through these kids! “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me also welcomes my Father who sent me. Whoever is the least among you is the greatest.” -Jesus (Luke 9:48) Budget Total: $ 682,862.01 (This includes a percentage of the ministers’ salaries, expenses, and insurance; support staff salaries; custodial salary; janitorial supplies; telephone; copier; insurance, maintenance and utilities.)
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In Faithful Service Beyond Ourselves
The purpose of the Global Outreach Ministry is to help plant indigenous churches in areas where we feel called to work that are self-reproducing, self-governing, and self-supporting. This requires prayer, financial support, sending people from our congregation, and engaging in partnerships with nationals. Because we cannot do everything, we have chosen areas of concentration which reflect our definition of missions and our core values. We work with Unreached People Groups (with a specific focus on the Tai Dam people group), church planting, partnering with nationals, global church leadership development, global issues (human trafficking, microfinance, sanctity of life), global outreach awareness and education, global partner care, community outreach, and homeland ministries. Currently, we specifically engage in certain unreached people groups/areas of the world, seeking to develop partnerships and/or field teams to these areas: Southeast Asia—Tai Dam, Central Asia—Pashtun, Eastern Europe —Bosniaks, Northeast Africa—Sudanese Unengaged, North Africa—Rifi Berbers, India—various People Groups. We also work with organizations like GNPI, LATM, CIY, etc., who partner with indigenous believers around the world in church planting, discipleship, and leadership development. This past year we expanded our involvement among immigrants, refugees, and internationals through Friendship Families, English lessons, resettlement assistance, training for outreach among Muslims, etc. Through our One Less Gift offering and our grant program in Global Outreach we were able to fund wood for widows in Bosnia, motorcycles for evangelist in India, food for refugees fleeing South Sudan, micro-grants in Togo, Welcome Boxes to newly arriving immigrant families in southwest Missouri. We have three families ready to launch among the Rifi Berber people and over ten people ready to enter into our extensive training called PACT. We also added Ben Hedger as an Associate Minister to focus on expanding our short term trips program. Among our teams we have faced difficult times (a family being expelled from their field of service), families transitioning to new areas of service, and persecution (India). BUT, we have also seen many come into the kingdom!
Budget Total: $ 905,530.17 (This total includes a percentage of the ministers’ salaries, expenses, and insurance; support staff salaries; custodial salary; janitorial supplies; telephone; copier; insurance, maintenance and utilities.)
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Total needed to fulfill our mission of
MAKING DISCIPLES THAT CHANGE THE WORLD Creative Arts Team................................................................... 589,746.65 Adult Team............................................................................... 730,459.17 Youth and Children’s Teams...................................................... 682,862.01 Global and Community Outreach Team................................... 905,530.17 TOTAL............................................................................$2,908,598.00
A detailed line-item budget is available in the Atrium for any who wish to review it.