2023 in Review

This past Sunday, the above video was shared in worship as a celebration of all God did in 2023! I thought I woud take a moment and expand on these numbers a bit more, sharing some stories behind them.

We had 3 baptisms in 2023, 2 new-believer baptisms and 1 infant baptism. This is paired with our 28 new members. Both of the new-believer baptisms were new families who came to us, not from any other church, but because of things we did new in the past 18 months. They found a home with us where they could ask questions, be supported when life was hard, and grow spiritually! That is something to be proud of.

Of our new members, about half of them came from another church while the other half were not currently attending any church at the time. Additionally, when I speak to new people, about 1/3 of the time people tell me that they watched us first online for 2-4 weeks before choosing to worship with us in person. The next 1/3 tell me that someone within the church invited them. Finally, the last 1/3 is from a special event we did or driving by.

To help these new people get connected, we started a new mixers event where we invite our new attenders to eat wings and get to know one another. It's been a big hit.

We had a wonderful year with missions. During Vacation Bible School, we collected 62 birthday bags for the Green Cove Springs Food Pantry, which was part of the 11,000 lbs of food we helped collect with Sacred Heart Catholic Church. This food makes an impact right here in our community, serving people in Green Cove Springs, Lake Asbury, Fleming Island, and Orange Park. We also prepared and served 2,400 meals at the Kitchen of Clay County, through the Middleburg Location.

The Florida United Methodist Children's Home is probably one of our longest standing missions. This year we gave around $4,500 to them through cash, gift cards, and copy paper donations. We also started a new mission to help support Bannerman Learning Center. We provided snacks and notes of encouragement for the teachers, along with socks and other needed supplies.

Our Kid's Ministry has been doing amazing things. We've more than doubled the number in Kid's Club this year, with our pre-teens busting at the seams. We had 65 kids at Vacation Bible School, which is our largest event in years. A huge thanks to the adults and students who helped make the week possible. The children's ministry is expanding to include a specialized ministry for kids with special needs. They had their first event, Sensory Santa, which was a wonderful event. We had many families from our community come and participate.

We relaunched Men's Ministry and it's been going well. They did a Habitat for Humanity project, along with some fun events. We also started our Boomers ministry, which chose Bannerman as their mission project. The Boomers meet monthly for a meal and mission.

It's been an amazing year! I am so thankful for all God has done through our church. Even more, I am excited to see what God will do in 2024! I hope you're ready to see God move.