Each year, we have the privilege to gather as a FACT family to review the previous ministry year. More than just a time to share facts and info, this is a time for us to celebrate. Our Annual Celebration Gathering is an important marker in the life of FACT each year. This year we focused on remembering God’s presence over the 2019-2020 Ministry year (which has been a bit crazy) and looking toward God’s continued leading for 2020-2021.
We began with a time of remembering God ‘s presence. We started with scriptures including Isaiah 41:10, Psalm 139:5-12, and Isaiah 42:5-9 to remind us of God’s goodness, greatness, and glory before signing Great Things and To God Be the Glory. We then shared around tables how we have seen God’s presence and faithfulness over the past year both personally and as a church family throughout change, COVID, struggles, and the normal things of life, concluding with a prayer of thanksgiving.
The Pastoral Staff shared an overview of ministry from 2019-2020 focusing on the categories of Connect to Christ, Grow with Others, Engage the World, Financial Stewardship, and concluding with a few additional highlights. The information shared can be seen in the Annual Review handout (click here). We are thankful for God’s faithfulness to and among us in so many ways throughout this season and thankful for the ongoing faithfulness of the FACT family in serving, giving, and being biblical, loving, Spirit-filled disciples together.
Pastor Chris then shared a five brief information ministry updates:
The new role of the Deaconesses moving forward will be more spiritual ministry focused.
The social/hospitality functions of church life are now the responsibility of a Hospitality Coordinator (Ryun and Debbie Forsman).
We continue to enhance our safety and security procedures. We now have a child check in procedures and increased safety measures in the Children’s Wing.
We continue to exercise care and concern as we continue in the time of COVID. As long as the state health emergency is in place, we will continue in Phase Yellow with spaced seating and limited size groups. Good wellness practices are encouraged.
Online ministry as part of live-streaming continues to be a ministry in development.
To view the full comments on these ministry updates (about 3.5 minutes), watch the video below.
Pastor Brian then turned out attention to what’s next for FACT as we look ahead to God’s leading. We saw a video from Terry Smith, VP of Church Ministries for the Christian & Missionary Alliance about where the Alliance is going. Pastor Brian then talked about the ongoing role and importance of Discipling Community, how we are looking to increase our Gospel impact as disciples, and our commitment to investing in interns in the years to come. Take a moment to view Pastor Brian’s full comments (which includes a lot more info).
We concluded with a time of prayer around tables in family groups for the future, where God is leading us, our desire to follow Him, and the fact that we don’t necessarily know where it will all end, but we trust the goodness and presence of the Lord. We sang Goodness of God and had a prayer of blessing and commitment before blessing one another with Ephesians 3:20-21 and then enjoying some tasty homemade desserts.
We’re thankful for each person who has played a role in the life of First Alliance throughout the 2019-2020 ministry year, and are looking forward as we move through 2020-2021.
If you weren’t able to participate on campus or online, the entire service is viewable below. The first 15 minutes is a slideshow of images of FACT life over 2019-2020.
If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us as we move forward together in our community, regions, and world as biblical, loving, Spirit-filed disciples of Jesus.