Worship Sundays at 9 am
This content has been archived. It may no longer be relevant
Dec. 21, 2016
Good Samaritan Community,
I want to share with you all this great sense of blessing that I see in our community at Good Sam, both as I look at what God has done among us in 2016 and in what seems to be percolating among us for the year ahead.
In 2016 we took another large step forward into our growing sense of mission as a congregation–learning to fulfill our mission motto “Finding our neighbors along the journey of faith.”
We finished up reading “The Story” together in June and I wish you had heard the abundance of comments I received from so many of you about this experience. Again, and again I heard examples of new insights, new levels of conversation among families, great joy at a bright picture of God’s steadfast and long suffering plan to bring about life and salvation for all who will receive Jesus as Lord. We have several books and DVD lessons in our Library for those who might like to review or take this journey of reading the Bible. It is a wonder to see this whole picture of God working in human lives throughout history to bring people to faith. Let us know if you would like to check out these resources.
Not long after we finished “The Story” we launched into three months of exploring “God’s Work, Our Hands.” This was an ambitious effort with six different organized opportunities to reach out and meet people, making a difference in our community. By the time our September 11th Service of celebrating our efforts rolled around many of us were impressed with what had been accomplished by so many. We hope you too were blessed in these efforts. At our December Council meeting we reflected on the variety of ways that the “God’s Work. Our Hands.” efforts have had ongoing and lasting effects in our families and how it continues to connect us to people in our community. Indeed, God is faithful in working among us.
Our average Worship attendance for 2016 looks like it will be about 108. This is an approximate 10% jump from 2015. Also in 2016, we saw life and energy happen in other ways. We baptized 7 new believers. We welcomed 23 new members by Affirmation of Faith. We received 3 new members by Transfer. This means we welcomed a total of 33 new members to our community. I want you also to know that we have also seen a growing list of active participants as well. This means that there are an additional 29 people who are actively involved and connected to this congregation who are living out their faith lives among us. We began the year anticipating a financial shortfall of about $9,000. Yet, if giving continues as it has so far this year, we may finish 2016 with all our bills paid and some resources left to restore what we have borrowed from designated funds to cover operating costs. Stay tuned for these final numbers, and don’t forget to make your final year-end gifts before January 1. We may have great news to share on this front come January.
We have renewed our efforts to build strong faith nourishment for our children through the “Prayer Buddy” program and please watch this year for another effort we have added called “All Congregational Education Events.” They are happening five different times during the year to call the whole congregation together to celebrate our life, our faith and the ministry we share.
Also, stay tuned early in the year for great news about Music Director hiring and goals for 2017. The year ahead is certainly going to be filled with great stories of God’s faithfulness among us.
Peace and joy to you all, Pastor Mitch