At our most recent congregational meeting, I reported to the church concerning our worship attendance, Connect Group attendance, and giving over the past few months.

I want to share these areas with all of you and update the information.

First, let’s look at worship attendance.

The following statistics come from the time of Mardi Gras weekend through last week. This is a very good time for comparisons because this year (2022) and 2019 (the last full year before the pandemic and the year of our highest attendance ever) are similar in terms of dates and events. By this I mean that both years are comparing Mardi Gras, Easter, and the Memorial Day weekend.

This is what we have found: We are actually averaging higher in 2022 than we did at the same time in 2019. During this time period in 2022 we have averaged almost 2300 in worship attendance.

Second, Connect Group attendance is also exceeding where we were in 2019, with an average attendance of almost 1500 each week in our weekend Bible studies.

I believe that our Connect Group participation helped “hold us together“ during these difficult years. I thank God for all those who have led in Connect Groups along the way.

Third, our offerings have remained strong throughout the pandemic. Interestingly, this has been the case in most churches. At the same time that attendance was off significantly, giving was actually up.
We have been thankful to be a part of that trend so that we can move forward with missions, evangelism, VBS, and summer camps. It also means that we can move forward with paying off our debt and providing for the infrastructure needs that we have.

Finally, I want to give you a report about our Anchored Capital Campaign. We have had 413 families who have made commitments for the campaign. They have committed to give $4,402,512.29 over the next three years. In addition, we have a number of families giving regularly without having made a commitment. If all the families giving and committed are able to complete their giving, we will receive over $5.3 million over the next three years. That capital campaign giving will put us in a good position to move forward in ministry with sound financial footing.

I want to thank you and praise God for your faithfulness in attendance, giving, and in seeking to make Christ known around the world and in our community.

-Dr. Waylon Bailey