Believers Church 2012-2013 2013 Annual Report
What Believers Church has experienced this past ministry year has been nothing short of amazing! We entered the year with lots of prayer and planning, but what God did far exceeded anything we could have anticipated! Probably the biggest thing that has happened is preparation for our move to bigger and better ministry space. A place where we can have room for all that God is currently doing and what He s going to accomplish through Believers in the future. The needs in our community are so great; there are still so many that have yet to meet Jesus! From the Senior Pastor people s lives as they encounter Him! While we are excited about what God will do in our future, we must not lose focus of our mission TODAY: making Jesus #1, one person at a time! The annual report that you are looking at now is just a snapshot of all the amazing things God has accomplished IN us and THROUGH us in our 2012/2013 ministry year. As you read, take time to celebrate all that God has done! Worship Him because He is great and mighty! He is saving people, changing lives, and He s using US to accomplish all of this! In preparation for this project our fall BeGroups study and Sunday message series was centered on the book of Acts. We began to understand that what started the church was a movement of His Spirit and it s His desire to continue that movement through us! This project of bigger space is not just about a building, it s about creating an environment where God can continue to transform What we are experiencing here at Believers is something very special! As good as this past year has been, I am convinced that God s plans for us this coming year will exceed anything that we might ask or even dream! (Ephesians 3:20) Jamey Stuart Senior Pastor
Reaching: Found People Find People 14,796 Through Servant Evangelism Projects over 14 thousand people in our community have received coffee on street corners, pizza at photo shoots, beads in bars, pencils in door hangers, and glow sticks at fireworks (plus lots of other fun items) along with invite cards! 20K Mailers have been sent to our neighbors! Our partners in Lyon, France have successfully launched a church plant that now has 60-80 people actively growing in their faith! Word of Life, Brazil, has been able to reach thousands of teenagers with the message of Jesus Christ through sports and summer camps! The Gospel cannot be contained in Nepal; pastors continue to report rapidly running out of room because their church buildings are too small!! Children at Verbo Orphanage in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua have been blessed with shoes and supplies for their school year. Plus, over 600 community kids are fed a healthy meal every day from loving hands of those working at the feeding center!
Growing: Taking Next Steps At Believers, we are all about the numbers. Why? Because we know that every number has a name, every name has a story and every story matters to God! Check out some numbers we ve seen since September 2012: 652 adults attend weekly Sunday services. 968 1st & 437 2nd time guests have walked through our doors! 164 people have accepted Jesus FREE gift of salvation. 111 have gone public with their faith through baptism! over 17, 900 next step decisions have been made. People are growing closer to Jesus through Believers Church. Check out what they re saying:
Relationships: I Was Made to Belong God created you to be in relationships with Him and others. Doing life together is His design. We encourage each person at Believers to be involved in BeGroups; don t do life alone! BeGroups (formerly known as Small Groups) are integral to all that we do at Believers. As our church grows larger on Sunday, we grow smaller during the week. BeGroups is a perfect place to belong, believe and become! This year, the people of Believers dove into the book of Acts together! In the fall 39 groups did a study that tied into our relocation project called NOTJUSTABUILDING. In the spring 36 groups got right back into Acts through the I Don t Do Church and Toxic series. This summer, 16 groups committed to studying God s Word and serving together! Speaking of serving... Serving: It s Not About Me! We are called to live like Jesus He did not come to be served but to serve and so, we will serve others selflessly; keeping our personal preferences and ideas secondary to what is best for those we are trying to reach with the message of Christ! Did you know that in the past 6 months, 52% of our guests have been connected to serving opportunities at Believers? That s amazing! And as good as that news is we have even better news: we have enough volunteer positions for EVERY person who calls Believers home. That s right, if you re not part of a crazy, fun, Jesus-lovin volunteer team, there s a spot with your name on it just waiting to be filled!!
4real Student Ministries Jesus continues to transform the lives of teens involved in 4real. This past year marked the largest attended Youth Quest event and summer camp attendance! Our students continue to grow in their faith and be witnesses of Jesus love to their peers through actively participating and leading Bible clubs in their schools. There s an average of 85 students coming out to 4real every Sunday night. Because of their boldness in sharing their faith, 191 students have come to 4real with their friends for the first time this year! 49 teenagers have accepted the FREE gift of salvation through Jesus Christ since September 2012. Believers Kids It has been such an exciting year in Believers Kids! We are thrilled to be loving kids to Jesus, one life at a time! One mom recently shared this story with us: There are now 191 BK team members. (43 of them are 4real students) Believers Kids has grown by 35 kids. Our weekly average is 363 kids. Believers Kids have invited over 620 friends to come with them to church! 5 children have asked Jesus to be Lord of their lives!
Generosity: I Can t Outgive God Our staff and church are committed to going above and beyond to give sacrificially to the work of God in our community and around the world. Budgeted Year to Date (8/11/13) 1,399,038.50 Received Year to Date (8/11/13) 1,374,626.23 Received Prior Year (8/11/12) 1,241,740.38 Not Just a Building After much preparation and prayer Believers Church committed 1.7 million dollars toward the NOTJUSTABUILDING relocation project. About 9 months ago our financial commitments began with a First Fruits Offering, received on Celebration Sunday at Willett Hall. That was an AMAZING day a day that allowed all of Believers to worship Jesus together in one service! To date we have received over $513,000.00. That s outstanding!! God s vision for Believers Church is to be a ministry with bigger and better space to more effectively reach the community he has called us to. The time is now, church! It s time for the vision to become a reality. Give generously, give BOLDLY...we can t out give God!