How To Be A Church Of God

Transcription

1 Covenant Community Church 1 Whitcomb Meadows Lane Essex Junction, VT Covenant Community Church Missions and Ministry Budget 2015

2 Covenant Community Church Our Journey Over past few years, Covenant Community Church has been on a journey of becoming more healthy and more missional, that is, we are working to better seek Christ and Christ's priorities in the world. Together we have walked a pathway of Congregational Vitality mapped-out by the conference and denomination a path that has become our own with each twist and turn. We have grown in trust as we have found our way following God's leading. Together, with prayers and workshops, through surveys and conversations, in empowered teams and Sunday school classes, we have begun to discern a New Thing that God is awakening wit in us. One aspect of this New Thing is reflected in a newly stated mission statement discerned as part of the work by the Strategic Ministry Committee which concentrates our mission together in three areas of Christ-likeness. The mission of Covenant Community Church is to bring people together to embody God's love in the world through practicing radical hospitality, nurturing sustainable faith, and living lives of relentless compassion. In the pages that follow, you will discover the new and renewed ways in which Covenant Community Church is seeking to embody God's love for the world. Our ministries provide opportunity for us to live together in ways shaped by Jesus's life and teaching. Following Jesus, we will together practice hospitality, nurture our faith, and live lives of compassion, mercy and justice. It is our hope that everyone at Covenant Community Church might find at least one meaningful way to participate in a each of these missional areas that will lead to spiritual growth and faithful service. We hope that you will consider making a pledge a commitment to regular giving that will enable our work and support our mission.

3 Making a Pledge to Covenant Community Church At Covenant Community Church we rely on the faithfulness of friends and members of the congregation to financially support our ministries. When asked, How much should I give? there is no easy answers. In today's world, we recognize that they are several places that an individual or family may choose to donate. For members and regular attenders, we hope CCC places high among your giving priorities. When it comes to giving, the Covenant Church speaks of the four P's. 1. Percentage giving. This is the biblical principle of proportionality. Please consider converting your pledge to a percentage of our income. Using a percentage pledge, allows you to better understand your own giving as a part of your way-of-life, and allows for percentage increases over the years. 2. Priority giving. This is the biblical principle of giving from the first fruits of the harvest to God. Consider making regular weekly or monthly gifts-- perhaps using your bank's bill pay system. Make giving to God's work a priority, not what done with anything left over at the end of the month. 3. Progressive giving. This is the biblical principle of increasing faithfulness over time. Many folks would like to give more than they are now able to do. Consider a long term plan to increase the percentage of your giving over the years. As members of the community do this, we are able to support and expand the work of God s kingdom in new ways. 4. Pace-setting giving. This is the biblical principle of modeling generosity in ways that inspire others and amplifies impact. Truly sacrificial giving takes faith and discipline, and can inspire others to good works. Help CCC build a culture of generous and sacrificial giving, that speaks of a God whose resource is inexhaustible and whose grace never ends! Practicing Hospitality $16,000 In the community Jesus started, everyone is welcome. Jesus built community by eating, sharing and celebrating with others. As followers of Jesus we should do likewise by making space and time to connect with other folks, and sharing what good things God has given to us. When we practice the art of welcoming and hospitality, we embody our understanding of a God who welcomes us and gives us good things--no matter where we are in life. Reaching out and inviting others to share and celebrate the good things God has given is at the heart of Christian community. Our Hospitality Ministries Greeters & Coffee Hour Lucia Celebration Church Greening Women's Christmas Potluck Nursery Care Neighborhood Outreach CCC Meal Challenge Community Meals Sr. Meal Site with CVAA Movie and Discussion Night The Covenant Mower The Covenant Snowblowers

4 Nurturing Sustainable Faith Total 2015 Mission and Ministry Budget $120,000 In the community Jesus started, people grew in relationship with God. A church should be a greenhouse where faith grows and produces fruit. By sustainable faith we mean a growing relationship with God--not a brittle set of beliefs or tired list of dogma. Sustainable faith is a vibrant and life giving spirituality in which we grow deeper and more mature as we come to know and experience the presence of God in our lives. Faith is sustainable because God's grace never runs out. Nurturing our spirituality, we find ourselves nourished and sustained through faith by grace, producing the good fruits of loving our neighbor and God.

5 Pastoral Ministry $20,000 Pastor Peter Norland has served Covenant Community Church since Au- gust, In addition to providing leadership and support of the missions of the church, Pastor Norland leads worship and preaches on Sunday mornings, teaches various classes, provides pastoral care for individuals and families in times of transition and crisis, and offers individual spiritual direction and guidance for those seeking to understand the movement of God in his or her life. To contact Pastor Norland with any questions, concerns, or to schedule a appointment you can call and leave a message at the church or him at pastor@jerichocovenantchurch.org. Sustainable Faith: Worship Ministries $26,000 Sunday Worship is a central practice which sustains our faith in the Living God. In worship our faith is nurtured through the encounter with God and our heartfelt response. We come together seeking God's presence, hearing God's Word, and together responding with all we are: through music and the arts, with open hearts and prayer, and by being sent into the world for service. Worship Ministries Scripture Readers Communion Providers Worship Arts Team Worship Musicians Contemplative Christmas Worship Sustainable Faith: Spiritual Formation $28,000 A vital and healthy life of faith requires care and nurture. Our various ministries of Christian Education formation allow us to grow in the knowledge and love of God through exercising our minds as well as our hearts. Spiritual Formation Ministries Adult Sunday School KOWS (jr. high youth group) Sr. High Youth Group Confirmation Children's Worship The Happiness/Joy Project Bible Studies Sending students and adult volunteers to CHIC

6 Living Lives of Compassion In the community Jesus started, Jesus embodied God s heart of compassion, mercy and justice. In his life, wrongs are set right, hurts are healed, sins are forgiven, diseases cured, demons cast-out, and unjust systems are challenged. As we follow Jesus spiritual path we also adopt God's heart for the world. In mercy our hearts are broken with suffering in the world. In acts of compassion we give ourselves to meet the needs of others. In the work of justice, we seek to be part of the solutions to broken systems that cause hurt in the world. Jesus pursuit of compassion, mercy and justice was relentless. He did not stop when it became costly for him but relying on God, he pursued it even though it cost him his life. As followers of Jesus way, we seek to live lives of relentless compassion, mercy and justice. Compassion: Local Outreach $16,000 Jesus calls us to reach out to those who are near to us with loving compassion: Christ calls us to be good neighbors. So, we offer compassion and mercy to members of the congregation and to people in our local community. Local Ministries Ecumenical Food Shelf Community Care Team Prayer chain Compassion Quilts Pay it Forward Compassion: Global Reaching $14,000 The followers of Jesus span the globe; God's good news is good news for the whole world. At CCC we have extend our reach across the Atlantic with a focus on compassion, mercy and justice in one of the neediest places in the world, the D.R. Congo. Global Ministries Covenant Kids Congo Congo Missionary Support Congo Vision Trip 2016 Covenant World Relief Operation Christmas Child