Senior Pastor Report, 2021
Hello church family! As a part of our church governance process, our strategy, and our mission we gather with district leadership for a charge conference every year. As a part of that process each senior pastor submits a report on their church. This is a chance for pastors to candidly share what is going on at their church.
I took it as a chance to openly brag on what God is doing on these ten acres! I have edited it down and put it in the field below. I am so grateful for what God is doing at Shepherd’s!
Senior Pastor’s Report, 2021
What a joy it is to be a part of Shepherds! After a difficult season of transition, there is new joy and energy within the church around what God is doing. Since beginning this appointment in July, we have been able to double attendance, welcome 14 new members, and celebrate 2 baptisms including the first adult baptism at Shepherds in years. After not having a worship team for a year and a half, we were able to restart our worship team, under the leadership of Patti Gumerson who led worship on her own for that whole period.
This coming year will be a vibrant and pivotal year for Shepherds. Through God’s grace, we will continue to make disciples of Jesus Christ through both current ministries and a renewed sense of purpose. The church leadership has approved plans to sell five of our ten acres, which if this plan is approved by our district leadership will allow us to alleviate most of our debt, freeing our current giving to sustain our own church and to give 100% of our apportionments for the first time in years.
Since July we have reached out to our community by offering an outside Fall Festival, an Enneagram Class, and a Long-Term Caregiver Class, all of which have been largely attended by people not currently plugged into our church.
On October 23, this church welcomed 985 guests for a Fall Festival. The Holy Spirit is doing a mighty thing within this church. I am so grateful that I am lucky enough to be a part of that work. The last few years have been hard for this church, but God is not done with these ten acres. This neighborhood is set to grow exponentially in the next few years and I am so glad that this church can be a faithful witness for the Gospel!
We also began live streaming, something that has not been done throughout the pandemic. All of these things have shown us that God is not yet done with these ten acres. The people of Shepherds have shown that they take their faith seriously, that they truly love their neighbors, and that the Gospel is worth sharing. It is the honor of my life to serve them.
