Closing out 2023 with a bang!

Last Saturday was amazing! For the first time, we hosted TWO GLOW Christmas performances, one for kids and one for teens and adults. There was a huge push into our community! We even had a banner over Harborview! GLOW is a low-risk, high-fun holiday entry point that, we trust, will encourage not-yet-Christians to consider the claims of Jesus…and consider his church, too!

I’m excited to tell you we had nearly 1,700 people at our two services, almost double the previous year! We invited them to return to join us for Christmas Eve and for Alpha. Of course, we have no idea how many will respond, but our expectations are high!

This is just the most recent example of the many ways we have reached out to our community and region in 2023. Other examples?

We launched our first church plant, Kitsap House in Port Orchard, to independence. Hurray!
Our student ministries are flourishing and have nearly doubled in size since the start of the school year. We are in a national search for a Student Ministries Pastor.
Through “Beyond These Walls,” a 15% chunk of our operating budget, we finished a $250,000 pledge to FISH Food Bank, sponsored the first Habitat for Humanity House in Gig Harbor in a decade, provided $20,000 to build a new CareNet site in Kitsap County, and contributed $50,000 to the Tacoma Rescue Mission’s New Life program to refurbish living space for men getting off the streets and following Jesus (watch their thank-you video to us here)…among many other projects!
503 of our LifeGroup members engaged in hands-on service opportunities, a 73% increase.
156 folks participated in Alpha, and we launched a second community Alpha at Cutters’ Point.
Our weekly Tuesday Night Prayer ministry (where we come together to pray for our church) has flourished.
23 lay counselors provided 1,700 appointments for people who needed a caring ear.
And, of course, in one week we will welcome thousands for one of our five Christmas Eve services. As always, this will mark the beginning of a new faith journey for many of those visitors.

Of course, none of this would be possible were it not for your faithful, generous support of the work of your church. These accomplishments are your accomplishments, achieved through your generosity and through the powerful work of the Holy Spirit.

As we approach the year’s end, I want to remind you that December is an incredibly important month for our budget. Based upon historical giving patterns, we plan for nearly twice the income in December than we do for any other month. And at present, we face a shortfall of about $90,000 of our budgeted income.

You are a generous people. You always have been. I invite you to join Cyndi and me in making an extra, generous year-end gift. We don’t want anything to slow this incredible momentum, right?

Merry Christmas to all of you! Bring a friend next weekend. It will be my last Christmas Eve as preacher…and I’m loaded for bear!

Pastor Mark

P.S. — Here is a link to make a gift online. As always, if you wish to give a gift of stock, please contact Dawn Davis at ddavis@chapelhillpc.org for instructions.