This past Sunday was our annual Vision Sunday! Rather than going through the annual calendar highlights for the year, discussing "data," and setting numerical goals; I tried instead to cast a vision that was very simple. It included terms like, "Back to Basics," "Making Disciples," "Impacting Eternity," and "Saved to Serve." Churches are filled with spectators and we are striving this year to increase our number of participants, to help people grow in their faith, and to build a body of believers that is more than just a headcount on Sunday mornings.
This past year, we removed all of our attendance numbers from our Sunday bulletins. Our attendance has been strong and growing, but too many churches focus on the numbers. Go to the average pastors' meeting and all you hear is "How many does your church run on Sunday?" As the old saying goes, "Figures lie and liars figure." Rather than focus on attendance, I'd rather focus on the 62 who were saved in our services in 2010, the 48 who followed in baptism, the 54 new members, and the 483 who were saved through outreach events and discipled by EBC and other local churches. That may not sound like much to a mega church in a metropolitan city, but in a town of 8,000 people with over 100+ churches... we praise God for what He is doing at EBC!
Our Sunday morning service went a total of 50 minutes, then we dismissed to our annual Ministry Fair. Over 40+ booths were setup to generally represent the ministries of our church. As our teens and adults walked through the Ministry Fair and signed-up to serve, over 364 volunteer positions were filled for 2011. THAT WAS EXCITING! We allotted 45 minutes for the Ministry Fair, but people lingered for over an hour. We actually had to encourage them to leave and go pickup their children. I left encouraged and people left excited about serving Jesus.
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