Mission: Equip all to be the heart, hands, and feet of Jesus in the world! TABLE OF CONTENTS Letter from the Lead Pastor & President...........2 Communication Touchpoints............................5 Church Snapshot.................................................6 Preschool Snapshot.............................................7 Financials..............................................................8 MLST Status...........................................................9 2019 Minutes.......................................................10 2020 Minutes.......................................................11 2020 Annual Gathering Agenda......................12
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today. Matthew 6:33-34 The above passage from Matthew speaks directly to us this year as we have faced unprecedented struggles caused by the global pandemic of COVID-19. But instead of focusing this report on our hardships and difficulties, we would like to celebrate the blessings, victories, and successes that God has provided. The Pivot to Virtual In mid-March, we were forced to stop all face-to-face gatherings and move all of our ministries online. It’s important to recognize that your Abiding Hope staff and leaders were able to “pivot” our ministries within two weeks. Some ministries, such as our Preschool, were forced to stop until we received clearance from the state and county to reopen. Thankfully, our Preschool re-opened partially in June and then fully in August. We also began to gather small groups of people in August.
2
Several of our shifts to virtual will be maintained beyond COVID-19. For instance, we plan to continue to provide a weekly online worship experience. Certainly, once we reopen to face to face worship we’d prefer people to attend on site. However, we recognize that people can’t make it to worship every week and having an online option is a way to stay connected. Also, we’ve learned that an online worship experience is a safe and easy way for new people to check us out and learn a bit about our congregation. It can be an effective entrée for guiding new people into Abiding Hope.
