January 3
Vision Sunday @ West Ridge Church
This morning was Vision Sunday at West Ridge Church. This is one of my favorite Sundays in the year, because we get to celebrate what happened in the last year and I get to talk to the church about where we believe God is leading us in the new year. The following is a brief snapshot of what I talked about this morning. (thanks to Tony Morgan for helping me to provide this recap)
Here’s what God did in 2009 at West Ridge Church
• 540 people (who we know of) accepted Christ on our campus.
• 425 people were baptized.
• Attendance at our Christmas Eve services increased 70% from last Christmas…and 70 people accepted Christ.
• We finished the year with 55% of our students and adults involved in a small group.
• Sunday attendance is up 10.5% since the end of summer.
• Student ministry has increased 35% in that same period.
• Since 1997, West Ridge has helped start 42 churches with 4 more launching in January 2010. We also commissioned 5 more church planters today. The churches we helped plant in the United States are reaching over 10,000 people each weekend.
• 4,000 volunteers from 36 churches participated in the Engage Atlanta “Community Makeover” weekend this past summer completing more then 400 projects.
• We’ve helped to provide the funds to have 26 wells dug in Burkina Faso, Africa.
• This fall, we partnered with Samaritan’s Purse and several other agencies to provide flood relief to 425 homes. 1,100 volunteers gave over 20,000 hours in that effort.
• At Thanksgiving, we partnered with CAYA Ministries to provide turkeys and food boxes to 700 families.
• At Christmas, we provided over 5,500 toys and over 1,200 food boxes to 1,400 families including 3,400 kids.
I also laid out some specific goals for 2010
• Launch our second West Ridgee campus in the West Paulding area this fall
• Grow our commitment to launching strong, reproducing churches in the United States (more details coming soon!)
• We want to ramp up our international church planting efforts in Burkina Faso, Africa, Cuba, and Brazil.
• Increase small group involvement to 75% of students and adults
• Engage 50% of students and adults in a volunteer role serving others
• Take 600 students to RUSH summer camp at Myrtle Beach
• Partner with 75 churches in this year’s Engage Atlanta “Community Makeover”
• Work with Samaritan’s Pursee to rebuild homes in our region that were impacted by the 2009 flood
• Focus on an initiative to encourage healthy families beginning with “The Naked Truth” series starting next week
• Increase our engagement in prayer across the ministry