Anniversary Message- Where Are We?

We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that we may declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1Peter 2:9 (adapted)

Happy Anniversary!!

WHERE ARE WE?
• We gather to worship in a building worth over $1 million sitting on just over six acres of land worth over $1 million- DEBT FREE!
• We finished the 2010 fiscal year with the second highest budget income in church history; and due to your generosity and God’s provision we were able to keep expenses below budget levels; exceed our goal for budget income; repay ourselves monies borrowed from designated accounts; and finish the year with a little money in the bank!
• On the down-side our attendance figures for Sunday School and worship have remained basically on a plateau for about the last ten years
• On the up-side our involvement with missions and ministry is at an all-time high: our deacons administer a benevolence ministry that touches dozens of families in the community and in our fellowship; our partnership with Baptist Collegiate Ministries facilitates 100-120 KSU and Southern Polytechnic students worshiping here each Tuesday night; our members- adults and teens- have shared their faith and their hard work from Smyrna TN to New Orleans LA to Manteno IL to Grant park in Atlanta to Honduras and locally with Storehouse Ministries and Chalker Elementary School; later in 2011 Ben Gribble will be on mission in Cambodia and our members will return to help Paul and Judy Ridgway open the Transition Center in Bulgaria; travel to Ogden UT with Builders for Christ; and return to serve with Community Servants at the Wherry Housing Cooperative in Smyrna TN and to reach seafarers by assisting Global Maritime Ministries at the Port of New Orleans.
• We are in a time of uncertainty as our Site Planning Committee helps envision future ministries, facilities, and land use and as our Personnel Committee evaluates ministry and staffing needs in light of Keith’s resignation as Minister of Music and Trey and Jen’s move to their new mission work later in May.