GHC Annual Ministry Report | 2018 by Growing Healthy Churches

GROWING HEALTHY CHURCHES ANNUAL REPORT 2018 GrowingHealthyChurches.org | Growing Healthy Churches.com

Serving churches & their leaders since 1889.

OURVALUES

INDEX

FAITH We value being Christ-centered, therefore everything we do will display and announce Christ. We value reliance on the Spirit’s power working in us & through us. We value prayerful engagement with Scripture in shaping our ministry.

HOPE We value the Church as the primary catalyst in the Kingdom of God, therefore resourcing churches is our central focus. We value developing leaders in their spiritual, emotional, relational and physical health. We value cultivating environments for learning, networking, encouragement and accountability.

LOVE We value the multiplication of Christ-followers, churches, and leaders; therefore, we will serve churches in the areas of evangelism, church renewal, church planting and leader development. We value listening attentively to God, one another, other Christfollowers and to our culture in order to be more effective in doing God’s work on earth.

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INSIDE ABOUT GHC

WHO WE ARE WHAT WE VALUE CLUSTERS

CELEBRATION INFO

SCHEDULE SPEAKERS EXHIBITORS RECOGNITIONS

MINISTRY REPORTS BOARD PRESIDENT EXECUTIVE MINISTER DIR. RECRUITMENT LEAD REGIONAL PASTOR REGIONAL CONSULTANT CHURCH STARTING ADMINISTRATOR FINANCIALS

WELCOME Welcome to the Growing Healthy Churches Celebration! We are excited to connect with you in person and on mission.

We know that God is using His church to reach His people and we exist to serve you on your unique journey. As always, please let us know how we can better serve you! Call (888) 290-2229 or email info@growinghealthychurches.org

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ABOUT GHC SECTION

GHC BOARD MEMBERS

Health y Ch urch es, Led by Health y Leaders C han gin g the World!

Ms. Felicia Woods, Corporate President Ms. Marjie Burgin, Corporate Treasurer Rev. Kevin Wood, Corporate Secretary Dr. Tim Brown, Executive Minister Dr. Bob Cherry, At Large Representative Mr. Terry Clark, At Large Representative Rev. Steve Curran, At Large Representative Dr. Gerald Mann, At Large Representative Rev. Al Marks, At Large Representative Rev. Pablo Zelaya, At Large Representative

WHAT WE VALUE

Being Christ Centered Being Spirit Empowered Being Biblically Directed Being Church Focused

Healthy Leaders Supportive Relationships Reproduction Listening

GROWING HEALTHY CHURCHES Serving Churches & Their Leaders Since 1889

A N N U A L C E L E B R AT I O N

Growing Healthy Churches is an association of churches working together in covenant to help advance the Kingdom of God by pursuing the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.

REGIONAL PASTORS Rev. Bob Cherry, Pastor First Baptist Church - Tulare, CA Rev. Tom Cullen, Pastor The Church on the Corner - Albany, CA Rev. Steve Curran, Pastor Southside Community Church - Sacramento, CA Dr. Pete Shaw Pastor & GHC Lead Regional Pastor CrossWalk Community Church - Napa, CA Rev. Kevin Wood, Pastor First Baptist Church - Ukiah, CA Rev. Kevin White, Pastor Crosstown Community Church - Stockton, CA Rev. Pablo Zelaya, Pastor Primeria Iglesia Bautista - Stockton, CA

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BECAUSE PASTORS UNDERSTAND PASTORS

SECTION

GHC CLUSTERS

You’ll find other leaders who actually know what you deal with. You’ll discover other pastors who really do care about your well-being. And you will be provided training that will help resource your church for greater health and effectiveness.

GHC CLUSTERS Get Connected Today

NEW CLUSTER SERIES Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory by Tod Bolsinger NEW

Visit the GHC Website for up to date Cluster info, dates, times and handouts.

SOUTH VALLEY

GHC App

Kevin Wood Location: Virtual Meetings dates/times to be determined by Regional Pastor

Bob Cherry Location: Fresno Meeting on the 1st Thursday of every month from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm

Download the GHC App for up to date Cluster info, dates, times and handouts.

N SACRAMENTO VALLEY

SACRAMENTO AREA

SPANISH SPEAKING

Kevin Wood Location: Virtual Meetings dates/times to be determined by Regional Pastor

Steve Curran Location: Sacramento Meeting on the 1st Thursday of every month from 9:30 am – 12:00 pm

Pablo Zelaya Location: Stockton Meeting on the 3rd Saturday of every month from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

GHC VIRTUAL CLUSTER

NORTH BAY AREA

SF BAY AREA

Kevin White Location: Virtual Meetings dates/times to be determined by Regional Pastor

Pete Shaw Location: Vallejo Meeting on the 4th Tuesday of every month from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm

Tom Cullen Location: San Mateo Meeting on the 3rd Wednesday of every month from 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm

NEW

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MODESTO, CA

GHC Website

NORTH COAST

NEW

CELEBRATION OCTOBEr 2018

THANK YOU FOR JOINING US AT THE GHC CELEBRATION! We are community of leaders growing together. Walking along side eachother as we overcome hurdles & barriers in our unique ministries. Growing Healthy Churches is honored to partner with the Church in reaching communities for Christ.

SCHEDULE

Saturday, October 13, 2018

8:00 AM Registration & Networking

10:15 AM Break

1:00 PM Session III

8:45 AM Business Meeting

10:45 AM Session II

1:45 PM Tim Brown Speaking

9:00 AM Opening Prayer & Worship

11:30 AM Q & A Time

2:30 PM Communion

9:15 AM Session I

12:00 PM Lunch

3:00 PM Celebration Concludes

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MIKE MUTHENGI

CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION

Missions Pastor Nairobi Chapel, Kenya

Your Money Building God’s Kingdom.

Pastor Mike previously served for two years at the Nairobi Chapel Missions department contributing in the initial efforts of the vision to plant 300 churches by 2020. He then moved to serve at the then Nairobi Pentecostal Church (Today CITAM) where he headed the Missions Department for 5 years before taking over the leadership of the CITAM Buru Buru Church as the Senior Pastor for another 5 years. He brings to Chapel a leadership and experience in his new role of spearheading global Church Planting and overseeing the vision that will see us grow 300 churches by 2020. His passion is to see the Kingdom of God established and reigning in the nations and the hearts of men. Pastor Mike is married to Dorcas Muthengi and have two children – Alice & Dennis.

CHURCH AND CASUALTY

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GROWING HEALTHY CHURCHES Pick up an Annual Ministry Report at our exhibit table.

Education Includes: M. Div – Missions from International Leadership University BSC in Agricultural Education from Egerton University – (Kenya) Business management from Kenya Institute of Management

INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES

International Ministries, also known as the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, works cross-culturally to invite people to become disciples of Jesus Christ and to proclaim, through both word and deed, God’s reign of justice, peace and abundant life for all creation.

GRAB A CUP OF COFFEE & VISIT THE EXHIBIT TABLES! MMBB

Our business is retirement benefits, our expertise is the church and religious world—and we serve more than 17,000 members across a wide range of denominations.

DR. TIM BROWN Executive Minister of Growing Healthy Churches God has not only blessed Tim’s efforts as one of the most effective leader pastors in GHC but has opened up doors of ministry across denominations and geographical boundaries. Tim is a highly respected leaders in GHC and in many other parts of our nation and around the world. He knows how to network the ministries over which he has a stewardship including ministries in his community, within GHC and beyond our national borders. He also has a desire to help others do the same. Education Includes: Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY Master of Divinity in Ministerial Studies

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RAINBOW ACRES

Empowering people with developmental disabilities to live to their fullestpotential with dignity and purpose.

REDWOOD GLEN

With both camp and conference facilities, Redwood Glen allows groups of all sizes and budgets to create a memorable, life-transforming event. Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, Lombard, IL Doctor of Ministry in Church Growth & Leadership CONTACT INFO tim@growinghealthychurches.org twitter.com/TimBrown121314

SEAFARERS MINISTRY OF THE GOLDEN GATE Caring for Seafarers n the Golden Gate Since 1946.

SUGAR PINE CHRISTIAN CAMP

Impacting lives for Christ through exceptional camping experiences

TAB

CELEBRATION EXHIBITORS

CELEBRATION SPEAKERS

TAB

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ORDINATION ANNIVERSARIES

GHC RECOGNITIONS

TAB

20 YEARS Rev. Zau Ya Lahpai

30 YEARS Rev. Laurel Balyeat Morrison Rev. Dr. Paul Esswein Rev. Scott Henning Rev. Michael Schnase

40 YEARS Rev. Charles Brown Rev. Dr. George Cummings

NEW PASTORS Pastor Darin Elquist | The Bridge Church, Spanish Springs NV Pastor Peter Anderson | First Baptist Church, Hanford CA Rev. Dr. Tim Brown | The Well Community Fellowship, Modesto CA Pastor Randy Ehle | The Journey Church, Sonora CA Bishop David Houston | Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Church of Stockton, Stockton CA Rev. Tim Leung | First Chinese Baptist Church, Sacramento CA Rev. Sebastian Ong | First Chinese Baptist Church, San Francisco CA Dr. Marc Unger | First Baptist Church, Madera CA Rev. Dr. Dwight Webster | Beth Eden Baptist Church, Oakland CA RETIRED Ms. Pamela Breen | Growing Healthy Churches, Clovis CA Rev. Bruce Stryd | Pathway Community Church, Fremont CA

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THANK YOU FOR SERVING! IN LOVING MEMORY Rev. Betty Neilan Mrs. Kay Mitchell Rev. Stan Franklin Rev. Dr. Wesley Brown Rev. Noah Osborne Rev. Santiago Morales Rev. Jim Anderson A N N U A L C E L E B R AT I O N

SECTION

Tim Brown Executive Minister

Gilbert Foster Dir. Recruitment & Development

ANNUAL MINISTRY REPORTS

Felicia Woods, GHC Board President

It’s been an awesome privilege to walk alongside each of you, who tirelessly serve their local churches, as well as the global Kingdom of God, through Growing Healthy Churches (GHC)! Last year, Dr. Tim Brown, spoke about “A Year in Investment”. This included investing in our church leaders with year long leadership trainings. Sustainable and viable church start ups. Even though we may have had a few, it’s still so very important to “stay the course” and allow God to build the house, while we have steady growth. This year it’s really a special treat to see the growth in Pastors and leaders and the unity of congregations around our region! We kicked off the year with “The Small Church, Big Impact” Conference, which was a one-day conference held at The Well in Modesto, Ca. This conference was geared for pastors and church leaders of all size churches, but in particular, churches under 200 in average Sunday morning attendance. We received practical teaching and ideas on how to impact your community and expand the Kingdom of God.

Bill Hoyt Regional Consultant

Tom Cullen

Church Starting Facilitator

The webisodes, blogs and podcasts have provided many churches the ability to have world class teachings and studies - for free! These platforms have made such a major impact on how we do church to make ourselves relevant and transparent to the unchurched, millennials and most importantly maintaining a healthy church body. I’ve seen so much growth in many churches, because of these very useful “tools for our toolbelt”! Monthly Cluster Meetings are a major part of our growth in GHC. GHC has the formula - Pastors understand pastors. We also know that pastoral health and church health go hand in hand. Pastors often feel isolated in ministry, so to remove that lonely / isolated feeling, we’ve encouraged Pastors to a Cluster Meeting, plug yourself in...you won’t regret it! Our ministry outreach in partnering with Nairobi Chapel, to plant churches across the United States, we look to launch here in the San Francisco / East Bay Area first! This is an amazing opportunity for the ministry teams of Nairobi Chapel to spread the Gospel in in our own backyard. By GHC and Nairobi Chapel coming together, I absolutely believe God will use us to serve His kingdom in a powerful, life-changing and relevant way. We look forward to working with a team coming in 2019 and spreading the Love of Christ to a dying world! In conclusion, I am very excited for the journey GHC has had the courage to embark on a few years ago. We have successfully trimmed our budgets, reduced staffing, downsized our office, performed church assessments - all to make sure we are an effective leadership team for God’s Kingdom! I am looking forward to see what 2019 will bring and I look forward to serving God, with each of you! May His Peace rest upon you! Blessings,

Pete Shaw Lead Regional Pastor

Pam Breen Administrator

Felicia

Corporate President, Growing Healthy Churches

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SLOW AND STEADY AND READY TO LAUNCH TIM BROWN | EXECUTIVE MINISTER “Don’t brag about your lightning pace, for Slow and Steady won the race!” These are words penned in the closing lines of Aesop’s famous fable about a race between a hare and a tortoise named “Slow and Steady.”1 “Slow . . . and . . . steady.” That’s the phrase I would use to describe the journey of Growing Healthy Churches over the last few years. Five years ago, several of us recognized that GHC had to make some very difficult decisions. Our region was struggling financially and relationally. Our services and strategies were not financially sustainable. We had a growing sense of uneasiness. We could no longer ignore what was happening. It was time to hit reset. A new, realistic financial strategy was implemented that we hoped would put us in a balanced budget position by 2020, enable us to relaunch sustainable church planting efforts and offer more relevant support to our pastors and congregations. These decisions came at a cost. We had to massively reduce costs which included reducing professional and support staff. We had to slow church planting and focus on rebuilding relationships. We also decided to do all administrative functions from home offices rather than operate from an expensive office in San Ramon. So, in 2018 we did not renew our lease with Bishop Ranch in San Ramon. As of the end of September 2018, GHC will operate with mobile flexibility while saving us thousands of dollars. The good news is that our strategy seems to be working. We are about 18 months ahead of where we thought

we would be in balancing our budget. If not for our investment return being lower than expected, we would have hit a balanced budget in 2018! This would have been the first time since the early 2000’s that GHC would have operated from a balanced budget position. Interestingly, we have increased our training to pastors and church leaders during this time rather than decreasing. Jen and I launched a Leadership Challenge process in 2018. Eleven lay people from two GHC congregations committed to a six-week leadership intensive with a one year follow up. It has been lifechanging. We will have several more opportunities for pastors and church leaders to experience this process in the year to come. We also have been coaching and consulting with more of our GHC churches than ever before. Several of our churches have gone through a church consulting process. This process helps churches to understand and identify their strengths and areas of concern. The process also gives the church a framework to develop strategies to address the areas of concern. Monthly clusters for church leaders continue. Our “Small Church Big Impact” had over 100 attendees in April 2018. We also provided an opportunity for our larger church leaders to learn from a mega church pastor and staff in Santa Cruz. Several GHC staff are doing one on one coaching with pastors and working with church boards. We have diligently worked with several congregations in pastoral transition. And our office team continues to help our churches who are dealing with administrative

and legal issues. In my opinion, we are serving our churches at a higher level than before even though we have fewer financial resources. Perhaps the most exciting thing happening in GHC is our new partnership with Nairobi Chapel in Kenya. We are on target to launch a new and exciting church planting effort in the Bay Area in partnership with Nairobi Chapel in May 2019. It seems like the hand of God is on this. Many things are happening that defy logic. A birth of something new and fresh is upon us. I cannot wait to see what happens! We also hope to work with our GHC churches to start new churches throughout our region next year. We would not be in the position to launch new initiatives today if we had not made the difficult decisions of five years ago. While I would have liked things to have moved at a faster pace, I’m reminded that slow and steady can win the race. I’m grateful for what we have accomplished in 2018, and I’m very excited about 2019 and what we are about to launch! Blessings!

Tim

Aesop. (2007). The Tortoise and the Hare. In D.L. Ashliman (Ed.), Aesop’s Fables (pp. 102-116). New York: Penguin Group.

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GILBERT FOSTER DIR. RECRUITMENT

Annual Reports get to me. It’s a bit like reading an article on the variety of Bill Belichick’s sweatshirts. Predictable. It’s a bit like a really good ‘who-did-itmystery-novel’. You only ever read it once. No one reads an Annual Report and says – “wow that was so interesting, I think I will grab a cup of coffee on Saturday morning and reread it!” One read and you’re done! Likely forgotten. And what do you put in it? Normally we fill our report with statistics: • The number of churches we work with?

“We believe healthy churches have healthy relationships, and a healthy GHC is where the GHC Consultants have healthy relationships with GHC Pastors – present or potential.”

• The number of new Pastors recruited and Pastoral Searches concluded? • The number of church health assessments conducted? • How many missions’ dollars were raised? • How many people fell out with us!

Alongside a tasty burrito or some good sushi the other top topics on the menu have been discussions about:

Statistics have their place. It’s good to measure and know where you’ve been, what you’ve helped accomplish, and what resources you have to do more next year.

• Financial challenges.

We believe healthy churches have healthy relationships, and a healthy GHC is where the GHC Consultants have healthy relationships with GHC Pastors – present or potential. So … my 2018 Annual Report could list the number of coffees, lunches and/

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But, why not ask Steve Pridemore of Hillside Church, Corte Madera, or Ryan Blackwell of FBC San Francisco, or Matt Skrabec FBC Benicia or Jeff Kristenson of South Valley Community Church, Lemoore, or Brad Stahl of FBC Stockton, or Bill West of The Bridge, Reno, NV or our very own Tim Brown of The Well, Modesto who are all leading growing, healthy churches and would have much to share over some tasty food.

• Church Staffing challenges. • Board challenges. • How a Church Health Assessment would benefit the church.

But, the trouble with so much of what Growing Healthy Churches is about - what I get up most days to do - is about being in vibrant relationship with church pastors, new Pastors and Church Boards. It’s the core of GHC.

• How to get the front door open. • Church mergers. • Writing new Bylaws and designing a missional church governance model. • Sermon development and cultural engagement. • Reaching Millennials.

Here’s to good talking, good eating, good learning and being good friends.

• Church branding. or suppers I’ve enjoyed with GHC Pastors as we listen, share, care, support – be in relationship with you. Take my word for it – I’ve eaten a lot of food all in the cause of helping GHC Pastors be healthy and lead healthy churches! Or I could say it this way – I’m on Lipitor all for the cause of helping churches become healthy! This is the new, the better GHC.

Pastors retire or leave the region. Some have been introducing new potential Pastors to GHC. So excuse me for not doing the usual statistics this year, but the heartbeat of GHC is relationship and spending time with Pastors, Church Staff and LayLeaders. And, if in 2019 you’d like a meal with me ….I’m always up for some Thai Yellow Curry!

As you can imagine, some have been meals of joy as some exciting things are happening in many of our churches. Some have been tense, awkward meals, as we’ve had to navigate difficult situations. Some have been first-time meals as I meet a GHC churches/pastors I’ve not worked with before. Some have been final conversations as some

Thank you,

Gilbert

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2018 GHC CLUSTERS ANNUAL REPORT PETE SHAW | LEAD REGIONAL PASTOR The purpose of clusters. At minimum, clusters provide one opportunity among several for pastors to connect on some level with GHC. This frequent gathering is one place where the face of GHC is visibly present, where a pastor can easily identify the effort on GHC’s part to provide support for pastors. That’s the low bar goal for clusters, really, as important as it is (and it is important). The much higher purpose and goal of clusters is to provide space for pastors to be among colleagues who understand their very complex roles where mutual support and personal and professional growth are encouraged. We are living in a time of massive shifting in terms of the way our culture thinks about faith as a whole. The shift is happening fast, and churches from every tradition are losing ground statistically. How we engage the culture with the everlasting Good News of Christ will require open, creative thought, strategic thinking, a lot of prayer, and definitely courage as the church systems within which we serve will seek to remain the same (as systems always do). Our Western bent toward radical individualism makes us prone to “go it alone” when now, more than ever, we need each other. The health of clusters. We have five traditional clusters that operated similarly over the last year, where time is given to checking in with each other, a discussion around a training piece is discussed, and food is usually shared. Four of the five traditional clusters meet in distinct regional zones: San Francisco area (led by Tom Cullen), the North Bay (led by Pete Shaw), Sacramento (now led by Steve Curran), and the South Valley (led by Bob Cherry). A fifth traditional cluster is led by Pablo Zelaya at his

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church in Stockton and is focused on supporting our Spanish-speaking pastors regardless of their geographical location. In addition to these traditional clusters, Kevin Wood (Ukiah) reached out to our North Coast and North Sacramento Valley pastors, alternating between the two areas each month. Also, Kevin White led clusters in Stockton, but we are likely to shift his role in the coming season. Cluster health is dependent on a range of factors and must be appreciated in context. Churches in transition don’t often have pastors representing them. Pastors who feel lousy personally and/or professionally sometimes don’t attend even though that’s when they likely need it most. Pastors who are enjoying successful seasons often feel like they don’t “need” to attend a cluster or feel like they wouldn’t get anything out of it, so they sometimes do not attend even though what they are learning about successfully serving in their context would be incredibly helpful for the rest of the pastors if they showed up to share their experience. And then there are the pastors who show up pretty much all the time who faithfully support each other as well as the less frequent who attend. I can say that I have great confidence in our Regional Pastors who are given the challenge of herding cats well given their respective challenges. Rev. Dr. Curtis Mitchell. I want to officially express my gratitude for the work and dedication of a great GHC leader who served well as a Regional Pastor (among so many other capacities). Dr. Curtis Mitchell was one of the great, strong voices in GHC for decades. He faithfully served the Sacramento area pastors, offering the best breakfast (with “Million Dollar Bacon”) each month at his church (which he repeatedly said was built to be used for the Kingdom). As his wife’s health faded, leading to her passing, Curtis decided to step down from his role ear-

lier this year. He highly recommended Steve Curran to take up the mantle, and everyone agreed (in his cluster and GHC staff). Curtis continues to navigate his way through his new normal, and still makes his church available for cluster. Thank you, Dr. Mitchell! What’s ahead. Last year we walked through the book, Shrink, by Tim Suttle. Some of you loved it! Others hated it. Some thought he spoke words of wisdom, comfort, and challenging insight. Others though he was a jealous whiner. The good news about the response we got was that we got a response! The primary reasons I wanted us to chew on that book together was twofold. First, Suttle offered a prophetic voice challenging our view of church/ministry given that we live in a Capitalistic, consumer-driven culture that has radically shaped the way we think and live. His challenge to our thinking about “bigger is always better” is haunting – what if it’s bigger because we’ve delivered a portion of the Gospel appealing to consumer demands yet fail to provide exposure of the full Gospel

because it is fundamentally at odds with the consumer ethos? This is a tension that absolutely exists and needs to be constantly monitored. The second reason I wanted us to read the book is because Suttle is a leader who has been in the battle, has shed blood from suffering, and has a lot of scar tissue that speaks of his service. A lot of us have suffered similarly, and I believe Suttle’s words have provided some healing in that regard. Some of us have not suffered in the ways Suttle describes - there are some things you cannot “get” unless you’ve been through it – respect those who have. The next book we’ll be chewing on together is Canoeing the Mountains by Tod Bolsinger. It is an excellent resource that will help us navigate into the unknown world which is upon us. The chapter discussion guide at the end of the book will provide framework for our cluster discussions. In addition to the book discussion, a practical tool handout will be provided at each cluster that will hopefully (at least) provide reminders of what we know we should be doing! Church finance, contributions, social media, etc. are examples of those practical helps we seek to provide. Finally, we recognize that driving distance is a significant obstacle for some pastors to make attending a cluster a reasonable request. To that end, we are going to be seeing if Zoom conferencing may provide a good option for you. GHC has been using it for some time as an effective vehicle for face-to-face interaction. So, look for that to come soon. Additionally, our Regional Pastors are looking to take their title beyond cluster leadership, so if you get a “check-in” email or call, know this is an example of GHC caring for you and your effectiveness.

TOGETHER. ONE IN CHRIST. a network of leaders growing together

Thank you for your support!

Pete

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THINGS THAT RENEW MY ENERGY BILL HOYT | REGIONAL CONSULTANT Ministry is demanding and draining. You know that first-hand. If you have been in a leadership position as pastor, staff or lay leader for more than six-months, you have had those moments when you plopped down in a chair or fallen into bed a night, totally exhausted. Many of you benefited from the GHC sponsored workshop on “resiliency” at Pete Shaw’s church not long ago. How timely a topic. One cannot last long in ministry without being resilient. Recently someone asked me, “Where do you get your energy?” Didn’t have a ready answer because I hadn’t ever really thought about it. The question caused me to reflect on the things that renew my energy, since I can be and have been as “spent” as anyone over the years. 1. Big Challenges and Ideas In The Externally Focused Church, Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson make this observation. “The best way to engage the hearts of high-capacity people is by engaging their minds around big challenges and ideas.” I am so energized by the emerging partnership with Nairobi Chapel to plant a church in the San Francisco Bay area. If you want to grab hold of a big idea and challenge, ask yourself, “How can I and my church become part of this truly great challenge.” The fact that Nairobi Chapel would choose to partner with GHC is high praise indeed. 2. New Strategies to Reach Lost People Working with Pastors Bill West and Darin Elquist as they create The Bridge’s fist multisite venue energizes me. You say, “Multi-site is not a new strategy.” That is true, but it’s new to GHC. I am excited about what’s happening in Spanish Springs, but I am also energized by the fact that several GHC churches are currently

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If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

considering multi-site strategies. I know how God uses multivenue and multi-site strategies and anticipate His blessing on GHC churches that risk “new” approaches for Christ and His Kingdom.

TOM CULLEN | CHURCH STARTING 3. Building a Foundation Over Time My energy level goes up when I get to work with a church and then, at critical junctures, they invite me to work with them again and again. Wanting to finish well, Pastor Rich Reaves and his board asked me to conduct a 360° review and an assessment at Santa Clara First Baptist Church. They gave me the privilege of coaching pastor, staff and board as they made organizational and ministry changes. The church asked me to coach them through the transition and their current pastor, Wungreiso Valui, has welcomed me in coaching him, his staff and board. Though the work of transitioning the church to greater effectiveness in reaching the new realities of Santa Clara and the Silicon Valley is still a work in progress, my energy has been renewed time and time again as I witness the various phases of that transition taking place. 4. Being Part of an Outstanding Team Whenever we meet, be it a virtual or physical meeting, my energy is renewed by interaction with our GHC staff team. Tim’s compassionate leadership, Gilbert’s strategic mind, Pete’s passion for helping pastors grow and succeed, Tom’s quiet way of “taking care of business” both literally for GHC and figuratively as pastor and coach, Pam’s unrelenting servant’s heart and ministry of prayer for all of us – I am renewed and re-energized by being part of this great team. Blessings,

Bill

This past year, we were honored to help Pastor Vijay Sanagasetti & Heavenly Grace Church, Dublin CA celebrate their 3rd anniversary. This church continues to share the Good News within their Indian community and with others in the tri-valley area, believing there is no greater joy than the lost being found. We are also excited about our new partnership with Nairobi Chapel in Kenya, as they begin starting a church in the heart of the San Francisco Bay Area. Here are several ways you can be a part of church starting. • Make church starting a part of your personal and your church’s prayer life • Make church starting a topic of conversation in your GHC Clusters • Challenge your congregation to support church starting through their giving and budgeting • Let me know how I can help With you and with Jesus,

Tom

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GHC FINANCIALS

PAM BREEN | ADMINISTRATOR God has blessed us in many ways this year as we have worked through some transitions, as many of you have. We have focused our attention to be able to serve GHC churches by providing the latest and best information in the following areas:

• Sharing information of new services provided by liability and general insurance companies that not only make life easier but keep the church’s costs down

• Making sure that we are getting your mission dollars to exactly where you want them to go.

• Help GHC to offer special events, handle reservations and share details

• Keeping you updated with the latest information and changes in the areas of employee management, accounting and the new guidelines set by IRS and the Franchise Tax Board.

• Work with our media team to get our blog and promotional pieces out to you • Answering questions you have and directing you to reliable resources We have also focused on saving ministry dollars by relocating our office. We have become extremely good at scanning documents and record retention requirements. God has continued to lead the way, provide the resources needed and brought new exciting ministry opportunities to Growing Healthy Churches and His GHC churches. May God bless you richly in the year ahead,

Pam

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES Contributions and support Rental Income Special events Program revenue Realized gain Other income Net assets released from restrictions Totale Revenue, Support and Reclassifications

DECEMBER 31, 2017

$ 337,449 $ 113,359 $ 18,077 $ 14,800 $ 848,239 $ 24,447 $ 1,356,371

EXPENSES Program services Supporting services General and administrative Fundraising Total Expenses Change in Operating Net Assets Non-Operating gains: Investment income Total Change in Net Assets Net Assets, Beginning of the Year Net Assets, End of Year

$ 655,786 $ 614,515 $ 75,104 $ 1,345,405 $ 10,966

$ 443,119 $ 454,085 $ 5,814,248 $ 6,268,333

Financial Consolidation provided by our auditing firm CapinCrouse.

THANK YOU! THE WELL COMMUNITY FELLOWSHIP MODESTO, CA

We couldn’t have done it without you!

A N N U A L C E L E B R AT I O N

Growing Healthy Churches growinghealthychurches.com | growinghealthychurches.org info@growinghealthychurches.org | (925) 277-3980 | (888) 290-2229