2023 Annual Report

Ministry Staff

Josh Moody, Senior Pastor

John Seward, Executive Pastor

Nancy Singer, Director of Administration & Finance

Cheryce Berg, Director of Children’s Ministries

Julie Clemens, Director of Disability Ministries

Erik Dewar, Pastor of Worship and Music

Baxter Helm, High School Pastor

Dan Hiben, Middle School Pastor

Tim Hollinger, Technology Director

Josh Maurer, Pastor of Discipleship

Curt Miller, Missions Pastor

Ben Panner, College Pastor

Mindy Rynbrandt, Director of Women’s Ministries

Wil Triggs, Director of Communications

Council, Boards and Committees

Howard Costley, Chair, Council of Elders

Kevin Cassel, Chair, Board of Deacons

Lindsay McCracken, Chair, Board of Deaconesses

Jim Tebbe, Chair, Board of Deacons

Jim Johanik, Chair, Discipleship Committee

David Kelley, Chair, Evangelism & Culture Impact Committee

Amy Hiben, Chair, Hospitality Committee

Daniel Conroy, Chair, Service and Engagement Committee

Other Leaders

Lisa Kern, Librarian

Zach Fallon, Pastor, Christ Church South Metro Atlanta

Eric Schlickman, Chair, The Crossings Task Force

Mary Quiggle, Manager, Twice is Nice Resale Shop

Stephanie Robbins, Manager, STARS Resale Shop

Tony DiLeonardi, President, STARS Family Services

God Centered Life

Summary of Membership Transactions

2022 Annual Meeting Minutes

Leadership and Nominees

Ways to Give to College Church

Financials

MINISTRY STAFF

Josh Moody SENIOR PASTOR

Truth of God unchanging…

The last year or so has gradually seen the church emerge from the tsunami of COVID with fresh testament to God’s faithfulness. We continue to have hundreds of people watching online, many of whom do so for medical or health reasons, many from all around the country and world, many who are virtually visiting before actually coming in person—but some of whom continue to need encouragement to come back to church. But by and large we are encouraged: God has brought us back together and we have seen him work in some remarkable ways this year. Huge membership classes. Flourishing new church plants. Thriving ministries. To God be all praise.

At the heart of this is an unfashionable commitment to an ever-relevant truth: God’s Word. This is no excuse for outdated design, offensive manners, or ill-educated and boorish opinions. But we have an unwavering commitment to stand on the firm foundation of the truth of God. We will not be blown here and there by the winds of various novel heterodoxies. Many things must change. We are creatures of time. But God’s Word never. And Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.

You’ll remember blessed and thrilling times in Mark’s Gospel in the mornings this year, and more recently, in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians where he is writing to encourage us with God’s heavenly power. As A.W. Tozer once put it, “Let us preach the old cross and we will know the old power.”

No time for doom and gloom. It is the time to press on. Our vision, as you know, is “Proclaiming the Gospel.” That vision frames all we do. Then we have identified five initiatives that advance that vision along five strategic significant avenues. We call people to discover Jesus, grow in their faith and then impact the world.

I wish to give public thanks for John Seward and his ministry, along with the whole pastoral staff. I believe we have the strongest team that we have ever had. Also, Nancy Singer, and the support staff. The expertise and diligence of our entire team is sans pareil

Similarly, I praise God for the honored leadership of Howard Costley, the chair of the Council of Elders, and the entire elder team, along with the deacons, deaconesses, members of the Board of Missions and all elected officials.

We stand firm on God’s truth.

John Seward

EXECUTIVE PASTOR

If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

John

8:31, 32

While the world around us continues to cascade into profoundly confusing conclusions of some of our most essential, core foundations there is great wisdom and comfort in our Savior’s words—

you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

As your pastoral staff, we endeavor to find our truth foundation consistently and persistently in God’s Word. We trust in the truth of the Bible. Those who are truly his know the truth. That knowledge of truth—that sure foundation of truth—gives freedom. And we spur one another forward to proclaim that truth here as a church, but through us also to the world by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

These past 12 months have been a period of great joy as part of a strong, called, devoted, congenial and encouraging pastoral team. Each ministry leader on the team has poured out from their hearts to minister to the flock entrusted to them. I am privileged to pursue God’s direction with them in leading their specific ministries and in caring for and overseeing this congregation.

Our care for one another is rooted in “abiding in my word” . . . in “knowing the truth” . . . and trusting in that truth to bring freedom. To that end, we have established a pathway founded on the truth of the Bible which defines the structure of our ministry with one another and the world around us. That pathway of Discover Jesus—Grow in our faith—Impact the world is the basis of how we organize our ministries, collaborating with each other to maximize our effectiveness. An overarching key to our team is Wil Triggs, who, as director of communications, facilitates the effectiveness of all our

ministries overseeing and managing the staff’s print and electronic communications.

Our Discover team includes Erik Dewar, our pastor of worship and music, who each week encourages worship that emphasizes the core truths of our faith and helps cement them in our minds through music. The team will also include the pastor of evangelism and our pastor of community life. We anticipate that our pastor of evangelism will begin ministering with us in June of this year. Filling this key role was one of our primary goals for our Discover initiative. The Crossings building and its remodeling for broader ministry use is another one of our key initiatives for enhancing our effectiveness in proclaiming truth, and in exercising biblical care in reaching our community.

Our Grow team includes Cheryce Berg, Baxter Helm, Dan Hiben, Ben Panner, Julie Clemens and our pastoral residents Josue Alvarado, Matt Anthony and Richard Moomjian. This team collaborates on how best to coordinate our efforts between ministries that are teaching biblical truth each week to effectively provide resources, programs, volunteers and environments to optimize our capability to help one another grow in our faith. Making sure we have a safe and secure environment is also a priority for this team, and we have been working to establish an enhanced safeguarding

protocol through the auspices of the Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention which we anticipate will be finalized toward the end of this year.

Our Impact team has Cheryce Berg, Curt Miller, Josh Maurer and Mindy Rynbrandt collaborating on developing and refining our efforts for proclaiming biblical truth and thereby impacting the world. This includes efforts to plant new churches such as the recent sending of former pastoral resident Michael Walker to help plant a church in Central London as well as helping identify and resourcing a pastor for a new church being planted in Austria. Closer to home, we also seek to impact those attending our church, and one way we accomplish this is with our Adult Communities. In the past year we’ve added one Adult Community, Thrive and we hope to continue to strengthen this ministry in the coming year. This team will also collaborate on conducting teaching seminars on important issues impacting the culture so that God’s truth might be more fully understood and embraced.

and acute care situations, from development of support groups to establishing and hosting seminars to equip congregants in specific areas such as caring for aging parents, adoption, those in financial crisis, housing difficulties and other prevalent stresses. This team also collaborates over specific care situations among our congregants and works with our team of professional counselors. The Care team also seeks to identify and coordinate with local agencies and resources.

I and each member of our pastoral team encourage one another to abide in God’s Word, to identity as his disciples, to know the truth and to proclaim that truth, so together as a community of believers we may know the freedom of Christ and be set free to worship him wholeheartedly. I consider it a great privilege to serve alongside such devoted and committed sisters and brothers who know the truth and are fervently proclaiming and teaching it—the truth that will set us free.

We also have a Care team of Ben Panner, Cheryce Berg, Mindy Rynbrandt and Josh Maurer, who are further supported in visitation by Roger Burgess, Joan Engeseth and Bruce Main. This team gives oversight to our care efforts including mercy care, general care, chronic care

Nancy

Singer

DIRECTOR OF ADMINISTRATION & FINANCE

The Truth of the Gospel. The Truth of God’s Word. The Truth of Jesus and the Truth of the Holy Spirit.

Remembering those truths is a great way to start each day!

Our role on the support team at College Church is to provide the tools necessary to carry out the initiatives and goals of the various ministries. It can be as small— but necessary—a task as to make sure there is toner in the copiers/printers. Or it can be the really big task of installing a whole new piston/hydraulic mechanism to operate the elevator again.

Most of the time, the support staff operates behindthe-scenes, without fanfare or applause, very much in keeping with Scripture that many of us embrace as a motto:

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. (Colossians 3:23)

A major occurrence (and inconvenience) this year was the November failure of the Commons elevator during its periodic stress test. The lack of an elevator completely changed the accessibility of the building and prevented the use of the tunnel to get to the Sanctuary. Many thanks to Julie Clemens, director of disability ministries, and her team for thinking through classroom changes so that their ministry could continue. Kudos to Howard Kern for investigating potential alternatives and eventually finding an experienced elevator maintenance group who could remove the 42-foot steel piston and surrounding shield and build and install a new piston and shield. Four and a half months was a long time to be without an elevator, and we are grateful to this company for their fine workmen.

We’ve had a few changes in our support staff this year, and I’d like to highlight them, so you know who is helping make the operations of the church run smoothly.

Very noteworthy are the retirements of long-serving staff members. Deb Carlburg retired in December after more than a decade of managing the accounting function

and this spring Dave Carlburg hung up his tool belt helping Howard Kern manage the growing footprint of facilities. What an amazingly talented couple! Only in God’s providence and grace could we have identified individuals with ministry hearts just as hardworking and knowledgeable.

Beate Carlson has joined the accounting team, and Paul Ross has come on board the custodial team to succeed Dave.

Diane Stephen also retired from her role

interfacing with brides and other like-minded believers who want to utilize our buildings when not in use by our ministries. A very capable Charis Ellis, who grew up in College Church, has assumed her duties.

Of course, there are many other behind-the-scenes groups that provide critical support to our ministries such as technology and audio/visual capably led by Tim Hollinger assisted by Tony Visconti, Shelton Thompson and Joseph Abdelmelek. Another major area is accounting led by Dan Bauer with Cindy Schuerman and now Beate Carlson. Howard Kern leads a number of full-time professionals such as Paul Ross,

Trace Nelson, Andrew Valentine, and Charles Kern plus a host of part-time folks including high school and college students. Ann Karow directs our human resources function, and continues to do an amazing job of recruiting, hiring and retaining talented people for our staff. Mentioning our support staff would not be complete without Lisa Kern who adeptly juggles the reservations for use of all three of our buildings including the Crossings, and Lorraine Triggs who is the first voice of those who call College Church and the first face of those who walk through our doors.

The two resale shops, Twice Is Nice and STARS Resale, are ministries first, but also generate net profits donated to Outreach Community Ministries and STARS Family Services, respectively. TIN and STARS are managed by remarkably gifted women: Mary Quiggle assisted by Kristina Rominski at TIN and Stephanie Robbins assisted by Kelly Hubbard and Diane DiLeonardi at STARS. This year each store has experienced record donations, record sales, and therefore, record net profits.

I have the privilege of working every day with these and many other men and women who love the Lord and are dedicated to supporting all the ministry efforts at College Church.

Soli deo Gloria

Cheryce Berg

DIRECTOR OF CHILDREN’S MINISTRIES

Our vision for Kids’ Harbor (KH) comes from Philippians 2:15-16: “… that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life…” We want our kids to know the truth, which is to know Jesus, so everything we do centers on him.

We served 533 kids these past twelve months with the help of 270 volunteers and seven paid staff. We praise God for each person who engages in KH.

where kids memorize longer Bible passages and record recitations for prizes. We expanded a second-grade classroom by taking down a wall and created a muchloved tiny teacher lounge called “The Cove” where you get free drinks and snacks if you serve in KH! Finally, we hosted a well-received God’s Good Design class for fourth-fifth grade students and parents to discuss what the Bible says about our sexuality.

All of this is by God’s grace alone. Praise him! May all we do glorify him and point to Jesus.

ELEMENTARY BIBLE SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT: DAN BURDEN ’23

We added many new activities this year! We began hosting Children’s Ministries Collaboration Coffees every couple of months for a group of sixteen local church children’s leaders with the purpose of encouragement and connection. We added more Family Open Gym days, which have been a huge draw for families with little children on cold winter days. Preschool Adventure Days were added to our otherwise elementary-focused summer weekday offerings. Missionary baseball cards and weekly questions are connecting kids to our missionary families. We hosted our first KH Welcome Back Party in September, giving families a chance to connect with teachers and each other. We are in our second Bible memory project

The Elementary Bible School enjoyed its first full year without major COVID adjustments, much to the joy of kids and teachers. The Lord blessed in many ways as we transitioned back towards a normal routine of classroom-style teaching and learning. Lighthouse Gatherings continued this year. This near-monthly assembly of all age-groups, first-fifth grades, in a single large space highlighted amazing corporate worship and insightful teaching lessons brought by our faithful volunteer teachers. As in past years, our Gospel Project curriculum taught children how the entirety of the Bible works to reveal God’s plan for his people in the form of Christ. I personally watched as children were welcomed

week-after-week by a host of warm, caring and highly committed volunteer ministry partners. Not surprisingly, these adult leaders, although perhaps unfamiliar with each other at the beginning of the fall, formed a churchfamily support network with each other (one of the hidden perks of service within the church). It’s truly a ministry within a ministry. And we are always looking for more volunteers, especially parents of first-fifth graders. Please prayerfully consider how you might become involved in the future.

As teachers, we are encouraged by the great truths of Scripture which we teach. What a joy to participate in the Christian education of these wonderful children and to see them understanding more of the wonders of worshiping our great God!

GOD’S CHILDREN SING SUPERINTENDENT: SARAH HERR

ELEMENTARY CHILDREN’S CHURCH SUPERINTENDENT: NANCY CHASE ’24

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Wonders of Worship (WOW) is a program within children’s ministries which includes children in grades Kindergarten through third grade during the sermon portion of the Sunday morning worship service. Since September, we have welcomed as many as thirty-four students to join us in learning God’s Word, singing, praying, and becoming familiar with the structure of the Bible. The order of service is loosely followed to help prepare students for participation in morning worship. Five faithful teachers have helped with this important endeavor.

This year, we have studied the concept of worship and the Apostles’ Creed. This line-by-line examination of this statement of faith has become a mini-doctrine class for the children. We have found the students to be smart, funny, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable about Scripture and even church history! During the last part of the school year, some of our pastors have come to class to introduce themselves and familiarize the children with those who shepherd our church and the roles they fill.

God’s Children Sing is a preschool and Kindergarten music and movement class that meets on Sunday nights during the evening service. Thirty children and six volunteers meet each week, to sing, move to music, play instruments and singing games, all while learning Bible stories and worshiping God. Some highlights this year included playing African and Caribbean instruments during the Missions Festival and learning children’s songs from various African and Caribbean countries. We also had fun reenacting Joshua and the battle of Jericho with a parachute: we sang the classic children’s song, marched in a circle holding the parachute, yelled with a “great shout” and lifted the parachute high, then quickly back down as the walls tumbled to the ground. It is such a blessing to laugh and sing with these children each week. Their joy is palpable as they learn about God and his Word through the experience of music.

MIDWEEK EVENING GIRLS SUPERINTENDENT: DANIKA KELLY ’24

This year of Pioneer Girls was full of energy, creativity and engaging lessons from God’s Word. We have an incredible team of teachers who are gifted at communicating truths from the Bible in an accessible way and making their classrooms joyful, welcoming places for the girls to be. Every week, the teachers led their classes in crafts, games, songs, prayer, spiritual development and more. It was so much fun to see the girls growing in friendship with one another and getting to know Jesus better. Some of the highlights I got to

witness included the first and second grade puppet show and birdhouse crafts, the third and fourth graders pretzel-baking project and square-dancing lesson, and the fifth graders interior design dioramas and talk show skits featuring Bible characters such as Habakkuk and Hannah. Several girls brought friends who don’t attend College Church at any other time of the week, and I’m grateful they were able to be part of the Pioneer Girls community. Thanks to all who served in Pioneer Girls this year—God was clearly at work in every class.

that each boy in the program builds relationships with Christian boys and men and learns Scripture and stories that show God’s love for them and the need for all of us to trust Jesus.

MIDWEEK MORNING SUPERINTENDENT (KIDS KORNER): SUZANNE SHIRLEY ’24

MIDWEEK EVENING BOYS SUPERINTENDENT: TERRY VAN SOMEREN ’23

Boys Brigade is continuing this year providing a fun and high-energy mid-week evening at College Church. Attendance is somewhere between 50 and 60 on any given Wednesday.

The boys in Boys Brigade have small group time, Scripture memorization, game time (with the everpopular dodgeball) and an all-group story that ends the night on a reflective spiritual note. This fall we studied the Ten Commandments. This winter session we worked on cars as the boys memorized Psalm 146.

The “Shape and Race” event is an annual multi-week event that begins after Christmas and continues up to spring break. Boys learn basic skills as they design, sand, prime and paint their cars. We recognize boys in each grade with trophies for speed and style.

Some of the Brigade leaders are fathers of kids in the program, and we also had some dads who have stayed with the program after their sons have moved on.

Not all boys in Boys Brigade and Tree Climbers attend other College Church programs. The casual midweek setting is a great way for boys to invite school or neighborhood friends who would not likely come to Sunday morning Bible school. We want to be sure

“My God is so big, so strong and so mighty. There’s nothing my God cannot do!” is a favorite song you will hear often in our Kids Korner hallways—one of the many truths about God our preschoolers learned as they have been going through the stories of Exodus and Luke. Using songs, Scripture memory, pink piggy balloons, blind man puppets, and “dirt” pudding—among other activities—helped to build understanding. Even our toddlers learned what the Bible is and whose book it is, in story and song. We had 28 wonderfully faithful teachers, including 15 college students, serving in six classrooms. With 109 children registered, up from the 92 last year, and an average attendance of 70 each week, we were thrilled so many were able to learn about Jesus and the good news of the gospel while their moms studied God’s Word. The children grew so much over the year, and we especially praise the Lord that we were able to see some of the little ones who struggled leaving mom to in a few weeks being able to happily participate. “For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” Psalm 100:5

NURSERY SUPERINTENDENT: ASHLEY GOSSELIN ’23

We are so thankful for the many of our church family that serve Sunday mornings and evenings in the nursery holding babies, chasing crawlers and entertaining toddlers. It is a joy to have all our nursery rooms open once again filled with children and men and women from our congregation willing to spend an hour Sunday

morning so that parents are able to attend the service or an Adult Community knowing that their children are well cared for. Praise the Lord for his provision in this ministry.

PRESCHOOL BIBLE SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT: SARAH MIKOLAJCZYK ’24

By God’s grace every Sunday morning, about 100 families are greeted and encouraged in Kids’ Harbor preschool. The children change quickly throughout the year. On the outside we see their hesitant footsteps and shy faces become confidant strides and often big smiles as they run to their favorite toys or teachers. On the inside their little hearts and minds are being filled with the stories of the Bible and the certainty of God’s faithfulness. It takes many volunteers and staff for this to happen every week.

children (twos and threes and fours and fives). We are thankful for volunteers who work with our children to reinforce the lesson that many of our children learned in our 9:30 a.m. Bible School as well as use the time to praise God in song and activities. We treasure the time we spend with the children and need your prayers that even at this tender age the Word of God will pierce their hearts.

Together we have learned that God takes sin seriously, but he extends grace and mercy to those who repent. We should be sorry for sin. Recently we have been hearing the eyewitness accounts in the Bible of Christ’s birth, dedication, baptism, temptation and ministry. Now at Easter these little ones will know the most important truth, that Jesus is Lord and Savior and he died and rose again that they might have eternal life!

Pray with us that God will continue to bless the work of his hands and prompt more people to commit to teaching weekly in preschool Bible school. Our volunteers are men and women, husband/wife and friend teams, experienced and new teachers, parents and even some junior high helping hands. Please consider for the summer or fall how you might commit time to this ministry!

PRESCHOOL CHILDREN’S CHURCH SUPERINTENDENT: KRISTIE SMALLEY ’23

Praise the Lord for the increased number of children in our 11 a.m. preschool program. Our ministry serves 30-32

Our Summer Crew team celebrated Ephesians 2:10 with our elementary kids last summer, centering all they did around the truth that God creates, designs and empowers each of us as his image bearers. Crew spent ten weeks being trained in God’s Word, learning how to serve children and conducting adventure days and weeks of VBS at church and in backyards. We praise God for each child who was able to participate in these fun and Bible-based events, and we praise God for his work in the lives of our Crew team to grow them in their service to him.

SUMMER CREW ’22: Brianna Newhouse, Nathan Achziger, Hope Aviles, Ethan Walter and Julia Nordstrom

Julie

Clemens

DIRECTOR OF DISABILITY MINISTRIES

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.

1 Corinthians 12:12-22

This passage is well known in the disabilities ministry world. Those of us who volunteer or work with people like the STARS know their strengths. But so often their disability is seen as a weakness. Note in verse 22 it says

those parts of the body that seem to be weaker. I personally continue to ask the Lord to help show me how he sees the STARS.

It has been a sweet year of celebration in STARS Ministry. Up until early last year, any member of the STARS ministry was only able to be an associate member of College Church. Last March, the elders unanimously voted that members of the STARS community were able to pursue full membership at College Church. I am so thankful that these men saw the value in each person in the body of Christ. There have been several membership classes since that time, and now Anna Gunther, Andy Kopp, Kelsey Marks, Tony Martin, Maria Gritsonis and Margaret Roy are full members of College Church. They join Ric Baptista who has been a member since 1993. I wish I could capture the expressions of joy when the STARS found out they were members. They were quick to return to class and praise God, their smiles were broad, and they are excited to be included with everyone else as members. Look for them as they begin to find new ways to serve as well.

Sunday mornings are overseen by our superintendents Dorothy Nicholson and Lin Fallon. They do an amazing job of finding and coordinating volunteers. We’ve had a year of growth. Our multigenerational class has struggled in years past, at times, no one has come. Now, we need to get creative to maximize space so that everyone can fit and feel comfortable and learn. There are currently 10 STARS consistently attending this class led by Lisa Speranske and Debbie VanDerMolen. Lauren Chase is a STAR who loves to serve and helps lead worship each week.

We’ve also had a new influx of young STARS in class. Christine Williams stepped into the role of ministry associate for young STARS and their families and has helped new families feel welcomed in so their STAR can learn more about who Jesus is. The young/teen STARS class is now offered at 9:30 and 11:00 so that parents can attend an Adult Community as well as worship.

Kristin Visconti leads the STARS through music programs which teach the STARS, but primarily give them an opportunity to worship. As I write this, we are preparing for the annual STARS Ministry Sunday. This is a sweet day that shows the STARS they have abilities, and are valued by College Church.

Elliana Anderson is our new ministry associate for inclusion and Friday Friends, our monthly respite program. Beth Gunther has served the last five years as ministry associate for STARS respite. She’s done an amazing job of connecting beautifully with the STARS while making needed changes to Friday Night Fun, Hanging’ with a STAR and the newly formed Family Nights that are held quarterly. Beth is retiring next month, and we will miss her energy and enthusiasm.

I hope you can join us for Run for the STARS this year. Mark your calendars three weeks earlier than usual. It’s our 20th year anniversary and the race will be on May 20. If you can’t run or walk, please sign up to be a volunteer. This race helps get our families to Christian camps, provides respite, and helps support the job coaching program through STARS Family Services. Without each of you, this work is impossible. Thank you so much for your support.

Erik Dewar

PASTOR OF WORSHIP AND MUSIC

And give Him the glory, great things He hath done!

My heart is full as I look back and remember what God has done over this past year. The beautiful culture of congregational singing he has given us here in this community has been so rich these past few months. Every week I look forward to gathering with you all to unite our voices in praise to our God! He is worthy. The unique experience of adding our voices alongside each other in the pew is formational in so many powerful ways. In Colossians 3:16, Paul invites the church to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” through the teaching and admonishing of each other through our corporate singing! Worship on Sunday is of course a vertical experience (“with thankfulness in your hearts to God”), but also a horizontal one as we remind each other of the truths of the Gospel while we sing. This is one of the ways we let the word of Christ not only dwell in us, but dwell in us richly! What an incredible design! That God would invite us all to worship him, musician and non-musician alike, in a way that exalts his glory and builds up one another in our faith.

I’m thankful for the spirit-empowered work of our music staff and many volunteers. I’ve really enjoyed seeing the team at work over this past year. Lauren Fortosis brilliantly leads with our communications and other administrative needs. Ruth Gregornik, our fantastic pianist, also helps in many projects behind the scenes. Debbie Hollinger and her staff of directors and accompanists have been doing such a wonderful job with Children’s Choir. Delena Ollila does great work leading our Glorify! Student Ensembles; H.E. Singley, our talented organist, also helps with lots of instrumental arranging; Robin Wiper does a fantastic job driving larger projects and helping with service planning, and Sarah Herr and her staff masterfully run the God’s Children Sing ministry for our youngest musicians!

A FEW MEMORIES FROM THE PAST YEAR:

• We worshiped all together outdoors during our big combined One Service in the parking lot.

• In the Fall, the music team began a focused investment in our instrumental ensembles for more worship leadership opportunities over this academic year, resulting in some wonderful variety in our ensembles on Sunday mornings.

• The choir enjoyed working with a world class guest clinician, Jerry Blackstone.

• We enjoyed two additional Advent Services this past year, “Come at Last” Evening of Carols in the Crossings, and then the adult choir program “O Great Mystery.”

• It was a particularly special holiday season last year with Christmas landing on a Sunday, allowing us the opportunity to extend our usual Christmas Eve celebration over into the next morning!

• The Children’s Choir had some wonderful projects this past year:

• They led worship in one of our Community Celebrations

• The girls combined with adult women to lead on a Sunday morning as a women’s choir

• They presented the beautiful Christmas program

“The Silence of Christmas”

• The boys combined with adult men to lead on a Sunday morning as a men’s choir

• They presented their Spring program

• We enjoyed an evening of Sacred Jazz with the incredible Stephen Lynerd Group

• The Glorify! Student Ensembles led the morning services multiple times throughout the year.

• The music team launched “Resound,” a newsletter for all College Church musicians to dive deeper into some of our values as a music ministry.

• Passion Week was a profound season for us as a church community:

• Palm Sunday included over 160 musicians ranging from young children to senior adults leading the church in celebrating Christ’s triumphal entry.

• Thursday Communion continues to be an incredibly beautiful evening full of singing, reflecting and participating in communion at the front of the Sanctuary.

• Good Friday was a profound moment together as we worshiped our Savior at the foot of his cross.

• The singing on Easter Sunday “blew the roof off” as we joined our voices again in praise of our Risen Lord!

• Lastly, one of the most beloved services of the year is when our STARS lead us in praise. What a joy to sit under their leadership as they point us to Christ.

We have so much to be grateful for.

May God give us all, as worshipers at College Church, an unrivaled pursuit of the glory of Christ as the deepest joy of our souls as we join together in praise.

Baxter Helm

HIGH SCHOOL PASTOR

It’s a typical Sunday morning. There’s the sound of a ping-pong ball being hit back and forth, the spinning of a foosball handle, the laughter of a group of girls, and a senior boy giving the piano a whirl. As everyone begins to find a seat a student jumps up to the front and takes the microphone to give a welcome, “Hello everyone, I want to welcome you to HYACKs. Here at HYACKs we are a family that follows Jesus…”

A FAMILY THAT FOLLOWS: KNOWS THE TRUTH

This is the beginning of a student welcome we hear each week. It’s a reminder of our God-given identity (a spiritual family) and our purpose (to follow Jesus). We know these things to be true because we see them in God’s Word, which is truth. Jesus when interceding for his followers in prayer said in John 17:17, “Sanctify them in truth, your word is truth.”

And so, as students and adults are faced with hard questions such as who is God? who are we? what is required of us in this life? why is the world the way it is? and what is God doing about it? we’ve submitted ourselves to the regular ministry of God’s Word.

A FAMILY THAT FOLLOWS: GROWS IN THE TRUTH

This year we have many students that have decided to participate in our Bible-in-a-Year initiative. We’ve had the joy of working our way through the Book of Jonah, the “I am” statements of the Gospel of John and Genesis 1–12. We’ve gathered on Sundays to fellowship, sing, pray and hear God’s Word taught. On Wednesday nights we’ve gathered in 10 homes across the area to dive back into the Word and seek to understand and apply it better with the COMA Bible Reading Method. Our Sunday Night Discipleship cohort of students has grown in their understanding of biblical theology and spiritual disciplines.

I hope you see the point. We believe that God’s Word gives us the firm foundation for following Jesus today. This has also been a year full of growing in relationship with one another too! From our Christmas Coffeehouse to prayer gatherings, from lip sync battles to worship nights, from cornhole tournaments to powerful retreats, from bubble soccer to gospel invitations we’ve spent time doing life together. I’ve witnessed our students use these opportunities to “welcome others as Christ has welcomed us” and to grow in their faith in community with one another.

A FAMILY THAT FOLLOWS: GOES WITH THE TRUTH

As we close out the school year, we have the privilege of sending 28 students across the globe. They will be ambassadors for Christ through our World Impact missions trips in Czech Republic, Dominican Republic and Spain. Every Thursday, we send a team to Outreach Community Center to help with tutoring, and once a quarter we run an after-school program at Outreach where we have an opportunity to share the gospel. We are learning to embrace the call from our spring retreat to live as ambassadors for Christ.

As I reflect on the school year, there is one scene from HYACKs that will always stand out to me. It is the simple joy of walking over and sitting with our students at the 11 a.m. corporate worship service. It doesn’t seem like much, a group of high schoolers sitting in a church service. But it is a glorious scene. Our ministry at its best, is an on-ramp that seeks to tether students to a lifetime of fellowship with God and others within the context of the local church. We like to remind one another that HYACKs is for four years, but the church is for eternity! We praise God for what he’s done in our midst and appreciate your partnership and prayers.

I am particularly grateful for: Hunter Ahlstrand, Katie Simpson, Brian Wildman, Katie Nussbaum, Bethany Atchison, Ian Davison, Dave Tweeten, Matt Anthony, our students and parents and our Adult Ministry Team.

Your word is truth. John 17:17

Dan Hiben

MIDDLE SCHOOL PASTOR

As I look out over the group of middle school students who gather each week, I’m often struck by the uniqueness of the group. Students come from public, private and homeschooled families. Some students love sports, some love music, others love academics, and more. Some students are outgoing and extroverted, others are quieter and prefer a small group of friends. A wide variety of backgrounds, different interests, and varying types of people. Where else but the church would this group gather together? That’s why we say that King’s Messengers is “united together, under Christ.” As a youth group, we gather each week from a variety of different backgrounds and places and interests and unite together under the truth of Jesus Christ—who he is and what he has done. And it’s amazing to experience!

A few highlights from this past year in King’s Messengers:

SUNDAY FOUNDATIONS

This year we’ve been studying through the storyline of the Bible as we gather on Sunday mornings, tracing God’s plan of redemption throughout the Scriptures. It’s been wonderful to see God’s promises come to fruition and grow in hopeful expectation of our full redemption to come. We’ve also continued our patten of having a Fellowship Sunday each month (or what many students call “Donut Sunday”), with testimonies each time from students, adult leaders and missionaries. These have been incredibly encouraging times for students and leaders alike.

WEDNESDAY YOUTH GROUP

We’ve met in the Crossings on Wednesday evenings for fun games, worship, teaching and small groups. There’s never a dull moment! Students have grown in relationships with one another and with our adult leader ministry team and have studied the Bible throughout the year. Our main teaching series have been the Book of James, the Book of Ruth, and the Book of 1 Thessalonians. One highlight of these gatherings has been our once-a-month small group weeks, where our adult leaders lead the

Bible study in small groups from start to finish. Students have learned the truths of God’s Word while gaining the skills they need to study the Bible on their own.

RETREATS AND EVENTS

What says “youth ministry” more than retreats and events full of laser tag in the Crossings, life-size game of Hungry Hippos, late-night Ga-Ga ball and excessive (appropriate?) amounts of Oreos and pizza? We had a wonderful fall retreat with Pastoral Resident Richard Moomjian as our speaker, and an all-day Winter Bash here at the church with Pastoral Resident Matt Anthony speaking. These events, along with Girls Nights, Guys Nights and Laser Tag Nights have been fun and encouraging.

All this ministry is due to the incredible team of staff and volunteers that serve week in and week out with our middle school students. Addie Fritz does an incredible job as a ministry associate, connecting with the women on our adult leader team and the girls in the youth group. Josh Bell, also a ministry associate, leads worship on Wednesdays and coordinates students as they serve. Matt Anthony’s teaching and leadership as a pastoral resident has been wonderful to partner with. And we have had more than 20 adults volunteer as ministry leaders, leading small groups and discipling students. I praise God for the ministry that each of these team members has had over the past year, and I look forward to the weeks and months of ministry to come.

And personally, I consider it a privilege to serve as the middle school pastor here at College Church. I love our church’s middle school students, and I love middle school ministry. Thank you, College Church, for your support of me and Amy. We love this church, and we are grateful for each one of you.

Tim Hollinger TECHNOLOGY

DIRECTOR

What is truth? Or perhaps I should ask what should we believe? Not about the truth found in God’s Word but in the world around us. Artificial Intelligence or AI is rapidly improving the art of deception. Recent examples include images of Pope Francis in a trendy puffer coat or Elon Musk holding hands on a date with his rival CEO at GM. Neither were true. Deep-fake technology allows audiovisual images to be created of famous people saying things they didn’t actually say. Videos of Barack Obama speaking or Simon Cowell singing opera on America’s Got Talent have been used to showcase how convincing the technology has become. And while those were just for fun it’s easy to see the potential for these tools to be used for harm. Mis- or disinformation abounds.

The majority of us are connected to the online world in some way. Whether just for email or social media connections or as part of our daily job functions. At the church, our files, software and information are managed and accessed online “in the cloud.” Our staff are trained and tested on spotting red flags in emails to determine whether the email is legitimate or a phishing attempt. Anyone with an email account has received malicious emails trying to fool them into clicking a link or opening an attachment. One of the red flags we train people to look for is improper grammar. But new AI tools like ChatGPT are creating the ability for the thief to easily generate perfectly crafted emails free of errors. They can even match the writing style of the supposed author. What are we to believe?

Online technology tools can be and are used for good including our mission of proclaiming the gospel. The father of lies however will use every form of deception and falsehood he can to lead us astray or disrupt our mission. I ask you to uphold our technology team in prayer that we might be good stewards of these tools and that we might always be able to stay one step ahead of those seeking to do harm. And for our staff, pray that

they will follow their training and wisely discern what they should or shouldn’t believe.

This past year our transition to a new database system went smoothly—praise God—and thanks to Tony Visconti who so capably manages that system. He is also instrumental in helping us maintain the security of our online systems. Shelton Thompson and Joseph Abdelmelek keep our audio and visual systems going and a variety of positions staffed for weekly services and special events. Their servant attitude and drive for excellence is a gift to the church. Pray that we can find more volunteers to assist them. Finally, our Sanctuary lighting system is due to be replaced as much of it is failing. We have experienced some delays in that process but anticipate getting it done within the next year.

It’s a pleasure to serve. To God be the glory.

Josh Maurer PASTOR

OF DISCIPLESHIP

The discipleship ministries of College Church exist to facilitate the Christlike maturity spoken of in Colossians 1:28 by proclaiming the truth of the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. From Adult Communities on Sunday mornings to mid-week small groups, men’s and women’s Bible studies, mentoring relationships and more, the main goal in all of them is to mutually encourage and exhort one another to grow up into Christ, not being hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. (Hebrews 3:13) We desire to be disciples of Christ who make disciples of Christ.

Several noteworthy things took place this past year.

• We launched another Adult Community, Thrive, which is aimed at people in their 40s to mid-50s from every walk of life. It meets at 9:30 a.m. in the Crossings and is led by an excellent team of volunteers. Once again, Mark Berg was instrumental in the creation of this new community. Thank you, Mark. This brings the number of Adult Communities now up to eight.

• Our Summer Forum (“Faithshare: Ten Weeks to Grow Your Gospel Readiness”) focused on inspiring and equipping one another for greater participation and effectiveness in local evangelism for the glory of God and the good of the world. In addition to all the amazing talks, we spent time every session praying around tables for the non-believers in our lives. That time was precious and powerful.

• Small groups saw the return of leaders’ meetings for the first time post-COVID, the creation of more new groups, and the development of more robust support for small group leaders. Josue Alvarado, one of our pastoral residents who works with me, has been instrumental in stimulating this new energy.

• Men’s Bible Study on Wednesday nights has continued to grow, and we thank God for the work he is doing as we seek to grow both in our hunger for the truth of God’s Word and in our ability to rightly handle it.

(2 Timothy 2:15) We studied Deuteronomy in the fall and Luke in the spring. Felipe Chamy, one of our

ministry associates, along with Josue, led a superb team of table leaders and provided excellent teaching week to week.

• Our 20s ministry also continued to thrive this past year, with the creation of a new small group on Tuesday nights, increased participation at monthly events and more intentional engagement with various service initiatives. Kaitie Girgis, another ministry associate who works with me, has provided excellent organizational leadership to this more organically driven ministry.

As you have picked up from reading this, I am very grateful to the Lord for the staff team he has orchestrated around me—Josue Alvarado, Felipe Chamy and Kaitie Girgis. They are amazing partners in the gospel, and working with them brings me great joy. To each of you, thank you. The Discipleship Committee has also been an integral part of our ministry this past year, concentrating specifically on increasing our personal disciple making (for more on this, see the report from the committee chair, Jim Johanik). Finally, our ministries flourish as they do because of the many volunteers who love the Lord, love the church, and who, therefore, give themselves joyfully to the work of ministry. May the Lord richly bless these volunteers as they continue serving him by faithfully serving us.

As Pastor Moody has been reminding us lately in his preaching series through Ephesians, there are many reasons to be encouraged, College Church. Brothers and sisters, God is at work among us, sanctifying us by the truth of his Word. (John 17:17) And I eagerly await what he has in store for us this coming year.

Working with you for your progress and joy in the faith. (Philippians 1:25)

Curt Miller PASTOR OF MISSIONS

In John 18:37-38, the apostle describes Pilate’s interaction with Jesus:

Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

Throughout history, in every culture and in every context, people have asked this same question: What is truth? We believe Jesus is the embodiment of truth, and his Word is the revealed truth of God. For that reason, our local and global outreach ministries intend to help others discover the truth of Jesus and Holy Scripture. This discovery comes through the proclamation of the gospel in word and in deed.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

To that end, the Evangelism and Culture Impact Committee, which operates as our local outreach committee, helped encourage the proclamation of the truth in several ways:

• First, by laying necessary groundwork for future ministry. The careful assessment and administrative work of creating a new evangelist application and self-evaluation was completed. Going forward, these documents will provide local ministry partners with direction and support.

• Second, by appointing an evangelist and developing an organizational partnership. A new evangelist, Mike Hernberg, was interviewed, appointed and commissioned to work with Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) on the campus of Northwestern University. After, prayerful consideration, the committee began a new partnership with Decision Point, as it helps to equip high school students to share the good news with their peers.

• Third, by continuing support for current partners. The committee continued to pray for, connect with and financially support four other evangelists, who are actively working to proclaim the gospel, and three other partner organizations: Caring Network, Naomi’s House and Outreach Ministries. Although we witnessed the passing of a beloved friend and church evangelist, Tom Johnston, we rejoiced at the many testimonies of his gospel ministry.

• Fourth, by consistently praying for the gospel to flourish. Prayer was offered for ministries at College Church that help to facilitate gospel conversations, for the Faith Share Summer Forum, for College Church members serving in leadership positions around Wheaton, for a general increase of our gospel witness in our community.

• Fifth, by providing information and resources. The committee interacted with individuals at the Cream of Wheaton, Tuesdays Together and the local portion of the Missions and Community Outreach Festival. The committee also facilitated an evangelistic info session on Christianity Explored, promoted the Outreach Christmas Store, and with the Sanctity of Human Life task force and coordinated the collection of baby items for the Caring Network.

MISSIONS

When it comes to cross-cultural ministry work, the missions team, which includes the Board of Missions, missions staff and key volunteers, helped encourage the proclamation of truth in the following ways.

• First, by relaunching our short-term missions program to send six teams to serve in Czech Republic (two teams), Dominican Republic, Spain, Wales and Chad.

• Second, by continuing, and in some cases, relaunching ministries to international students, refugees and other newcomers to the Wheaton area.

• Third, by laying necessary groundwork to clarify our missionary candidate profile, which emphasizes community, character, calling and competency— all centered on Christ, and to reshape the missions prep program to include the new online Global Impact Training course that integrates Scripture into each lesson.

• Fourth, by embracing the elders’ initiative on church planting and clarifying our position on the type of church we wish to plant. We were excited to partner with Hope Church Wipptal in Austria in January and to continue our partnership with Trinity Church Central London.

• Fifth, by appointing and commissioning missionaries for church planting in the Middle East and in Southeast Asia, theological education in South America and East Africa, missionary care in Southeast Asia, and outreach to international students in Europe.

• Sixth, by financially supporting projects such as Bibles for middle school students in Dominican Republic, expansion of a theological library in the Philippines, scholarships for children in the DR along with other gospel-centered community development work there, helping the poor in Honduras, supporting gospel outreach centers in Ukraine, helping to host in-person disability training globally, and providing scholarships for the Urbana missions conference.

• Seventh, by sending individuals on short-term trips to help with theological training for Middle Eastern expat Christians in the U.S., pastors in Bolivia and missionaries in Spain.

Much was done, but to continue on and make progress in this effort of proclaiming the truth, we need your help. Here are three ways to get involved.

PRAY WITH US

Our goal is for every local and global ministry partner to be prayed for every month. In doing so, we support them by appealing to God on their behalf. We hope to see

the formation of groups that meet in person or virtually throughout the month. Email missions@college-church. org for more information and consider joining us on Wednesdays on Zoom for the midweek prayer gathering at 7 p.m. Email us if you need the Zoom link. Every week we learn from a ministry partner and spend time in prayer.

PROCLAIM WITH US

Proclaiming the gospel summarizes our vision, and we invite you to join us in that proclamation. Want to join us on a local evangelistic outing? Let us know. Interested in receiving training on evangelism? Email outreach@ college-church.org. We would love to help you begin. (Tip: Consider reading Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, by J. I. Packer, if you’re new to this sharing-thegospel thing). Want to join a missions trip that focuses on proclaiming the gospel? Email STM@college-church.org.

PARTICIPATE WITH US

Would you consider joining our growing team of outreach volunteers? There are lots of ways we could use your skills. We need help in the following ways:

• Research assistance

• Hospitality

• Food preparation and events

• Hosting missionaries

• Leading missions prayer groups

• Mobilization

• Host Zoom meetings

• Transportation to/from the airport

• Childcare

• Website management

• Office help

• Organization

In conclusion, I am consistently encouraged by several things:

• the Holy Spirit working through his Word to bring life transformation among people all around the world, especially as he works through our ministry partners

• the incredible people at College Church that I get to work with, both staff and lay members

• the formation of teams of volunteers who support local and global ministry

Join us as we seek to proclaim the truth of Jesus and his Word.

Ben Panner COLLEGE PASTOR

God has strategically placed College Church across the street from Wheaton College and ten minutes from the College of DuPage. For decades, College Group has been striving to welcome college-aged students into the life of our church to provide a “home away from home.” It is a privilege to partner with a ministry that invests in the next generation of ministry leaders in the life of the local church.

We are committed to teaching and studying the truth of God’s Word with our students. We are convinced that students need to hear God’s voice in the Scriptures and come under its authority. As we spent time praying for our students last year, we realized that students needed God’s truth to speak to the area of sex and sexuality. God laid it on my heart to preach through the Song of Songs in the fall of 2022. This book of the Bible gave our students God’s vision and wisdom for human love. We followed up the Song of Songs with sermons on marriage, singleness, sexual temptation and the final consummation of all things.

God used this series to minister to the brokenness of our desires, patterns and habits. God used this series to remind us of the grace and love that is found in Christ. God used this series to teach students about forgiveness for past and present sin. God used this series to ignite a fire in students to turn away from sexual sin and to find satisfaction in Christ. God was kind to us in the fall of 2022. The truth of God’s Word about sex, sexuality, and the gospel was exactly what our ministry needed to hear and stand upon.

Alongside our Sunday teaching, we have been walking with students in family homes through the Book of Romans. This Bible study is laying a foundation of gospel truth for these students. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23) There is therefore now

no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1) Students are seeing the Word unearth things in their lives that they were not expecting. They are humbled yet built back up in the gospel. We praise God for his sufficient Word.

Lastly, we have had 22 students and eight mentors meet on Sunday nights for our Rooted ministry. We long for students to be rooted in Christ (Colossians 2:6-7) and ready to serve him (Ephesians 4:11-16). We meet on Sunday nights for dinner and discussion to cultivate a vibrant faith in Jesus and cast a vision for life in his local church. Students are hearing truth about entering life with God and enjoying life with God through faith in Christ. Students are hearing truth about living life under the authority of God’s Word. Students are hearing truth about being conformed into the image of God’s Son. Students are hearing truth about life in God’s household. Students are hearing truth about living life for God’s mission. This deep discipleship dive is bearing fruit and we pray for the Spirit to continue to etch these truths into the souls of our students for their eternal good.

We praise God for his faithfulness to our ministry. We thank God for the many partners who invest in students. We are eager to see God at work in 2023-2024.

Mindy Rynbrandt DIRECTOR OF WOMEN’S MINISTRIES

One of them, an expert in the law, tested [Jesus] with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. Matthew 22:35-40

This well-known passage from Matthew’s gospel has served as a guiding text for our women’s ministry team over the last year. In addition to offering opportunities to grow in our knowledge of God, we’ve sought to cultivate love for him and offer gatherings which allow us to consider together how to live out the truth of God’s Word in our day to day. For example, in our Monthly Gatherings on Saturdays we’ve enjoyed an ongoing conversation around the topic of loving God and loving our neighbors. Each month we’ve addressed this topic from a different angle, as we’ve sought to better understand the calling placed on each believer to live out our faith in God as we live side by side in relationship with others. From expanding our definition of hospitality, to identifying who our neighbors are, to exploring how to build relationships and seek opportunities for gospel conversations—we’ve sought to learn from God’s Word and from one another. We hope this yearlong conversation will culminate this summer with women intentionally investing in relationships with neighbors, seeking opportunities for hospitality, gospel conversations and Bible study.

We also have seen this emphasis on loving God and loving neighbor cultivated each month through our Mom2Mom program. This ministry to moms of young children seeks to connect more experienced moms with moms earlier on their parenting journey for the purpose of support and encouragement. For moms of young children, the neighbor before them may include their literal neighbor across the street, but also very practically the little ones they are called to care

for faithfully day after day. The mentor moms seek to provide support and encouragement rooted in God’s truth to help mom’s grow in their love for Jesus during a season when they are pouring out routinely in caring for their little neighbors.

In Women’s Bible study, last fall we studied together the Book of Deuteronomy in which we saw Moses’ final pastoral words to the Israelites. Here Moses reminds God’s children of God’s steadfast love for them and challenges the people of God to love him with faithful obedience—heart, soul and mind. And this spring we’ve studied Luke’s careful account of the good news proclaimed by Christ. In this account we see the compassion of Christ on display as he invites those most overlooked by society into the kingdom of God. In the person of Jesus, we see the most perfect example of both love of God and love of neighbor.

My prayer for the women of College Church is that we would know, experience and love the Lord God more and more. And as our love for Him grows, that He would use us to love and impact for Christ our neighbors—at home, next door, sitting beside us at church, in the next cubicle, on the soccer sideline or behind the counter at the grocery store. May we be a people who love God so fully that his love manifests itself in all our relationships.

Wil Triggs

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

“Imagine a seed being planted exactly where it was meant to be. Our Savior’s body was that seed in a tomb waiting to crack open and establish resurrection for eternity. This is the long-awaited spring that will not be held back. Now is the time to rake up the old dead stuff and get rid of it. Plant myself better and plant better things in my mind to grow and bear fruit as a living branch of the vine.”

So wrote Virginia Hughes at the end of her article in the May 2022 issue of Connections. That perspective on planting, growing, sowing has stayed with me in relation to our communications efforts here at College Church. The garden of our communications has grown in many ways this past year.

I continue to see growth among the congregation of people willing to share their creative gifts with the church at large. The monthly Connections and our ArtSpace art galleries in the Crossings speak to the giftedness of our people to the church and the community. The number of contributing writers is growing, and visual artists are coming alongside in encouraging numbers. We have added an artist spotlight to give a venue in print for our visual artists in the church. This year ArtSpace began with three gallery shows, three workshops and a gathering meeting every month. We affirm the many creative gifts in people and help them grow. We are grateful for the Crossings space that allows us to display and share godly creativity with others. We are discovering art in the people of the church and are grateful for their willingness to share their gifts with us. Thanks very much to all of you, and I look forward to discovering even more in the year to come.

I’m committed to help College Church reach out to the community at large and want to mention our sponsorship at Cream of Wheaton which allowed us to give away hundreds of Bibles donated by Tyndale and Crossway. Those who helped meet people face to

face at Cream of Wheaton included Tony Visconti, Rob Nordstrom, Dick Stahler, John and Elsa Maust, Paul and Alta Johnson, Laurie Smith, Chris Tews, David Kelley, Jeff Oslund, Dan and Kat Haase, Jonathan and Taddie Larson, Julie Clemens, Jeff Oslund, Karen Bagge, Ann Lawrenz, Laurie Costley, Mark and Cheryce Berg, Mark Bodett, Mark Trieglaff, Meagan Yates, Giles Davis, Sarah Lindquist, Eric and Marilyn Enstrom, Brian and Donna Aldridge, Elizabeth Larsen, Yousaf Sadiq, Lenny and

Amy Johncola, Curt Miller, Becky Garrett and Julie Busteed. We have also increased our online promotion of College Church. Our Easter and Christmas campaigns brought thousands of first-time visitors to our holiday webpages. Among the church staff, I particularly want to express thanks to Kathryn McBride, who has lifted our graphic design to new levels of excellence, as well as Lorraine Triggs, Lisa Kern, Dave Carlburg, Mary DeMoss, Christy Chiodras and faithful volunteer Nancy Weckler. Marr Miller is not on staff, but it seems like it, with his help in video, photography and anywhere in ArtSpace— he has been a great help on many fronts. Outside businesses include AlphaGraphics (for various signs and oversized printing) and Missional Marketing (for their help with website work and social media and web promotion) were a great help to us throughout the year. Our Connections magazine continues to add to its stable of writers that now include Wallace Alcorn, Ashley Anthony, Katherine Baylis, Keith Bodger, Pat Cirrincione, Anita Deyneka, Thomas Gaenzle, Virginia Hughes, Vijai John Kuruppacherry, Alexander Lee, Sarah Lindquist, John Maust, Richard Moomjian, Heather Owens, Kara Beth Vance, Esther Waldrop, Cheryl Warner and Susan Zimmerman. We also have featured stories of faith, ministry and life from Matt Anthony, Miriam Barnett, Jacki Berg, Jonathan Carswell, Jay Cunningham, Joan Engeseth, William Howard, Emily Iverson, Derek Johanik, Alta Johnson, Thomas Johnston, Glenn Kosirog, Tymur Kosmbekov, Lois and Steve Krogh, Joy Loewen, Manny Mill, Curt Miller, Greg and Debby Nichols, David Seaman, Barbara Shoemaker, Autumn Simpson, Matt Smethurst, Serhii Sologub, Peter Stojic, Allison Tews, Jill Tweeten, Tony Visconti, Charley Warner, Shelly Wildman and Meagan Zaino. Our artists spotlight this year included Carolyn Walters, Dave Carlburg, Barbara Elsenheimer, Ruth Gregornik, Philip Hossu, Andrea Jacobsen, Kathryn McBride, Marr Miller, Sarah Nelson, Meagan Shuptar, Julie Turner, Kevin Van Norman and Carolyn Walter. And for this Annual Report, special thanks to Marr Miller, Carolyn Walter and Meagan Shuptar for their photography.

The Sunday morning bookstall has seen a sharp increase in book sales. Thank you to volunteers Lenny Johncola, Debbie Keefe, Janet Vanne and Pat Fallon. This Bible and book ministry happens through the ministry of Tenofthose, so thank you, Aaron Bauer and Jonathan Carswell.

And our Prayer for the Persecuted Church group is growing as well. With 157 subscribed to our weekly email update and an average of 18 people joining us in person, it’s encouraging to pray together for those who are paying a high price for following Jesus.

COUNCIL, BOARDS AND COMMITTEES

Howard Costley

COUNCIL OF ELDERS CHAIR

The psalmist exhorts us five times to praise God in the first two verses of Psalm 150! It is good and proper to praise our Lord at all times and in all situations, and especially so as we have finished another year and have enjoyed his blessings upon us and the ministries of our church.

I trust your heart will be filled with praise as you read the various reports in this 2023 Annual Report which includes reports not only from each of our pastors and directors but also the chairs of the various boards and the lay leaders of various ministries. These reports give us highlights of the Lord’s many blessings upon us.

On behalf of the Council of Elders I want to express appreciation to those who have chaired boards and helped lead various ministries. Thank you to all of you who have served in ministry in any capacity this past year. We typically have a thousand or more lay volunteers serving the church each year. We praise God for each of you and your faithful service.

The Lord has greatly blessed College Church with very gifted pastors, directors and lay teachers and leaders who are deeply committed to faithfully preaching and teaching God’s Word each week. This commitment is evident not only from the pulpit but also in our children’s ministries, student and college ministries, STARS, Adult Communities and the women’s and men’s Bible studies and ministries. It is evident in our commitment to a strong and growing missions program and our evangelism efforts. It is evident in our church planting efforts, and our desire to help reach our community with the development of the eastern portion of the Crossings space. Praise the Lord that his Word is indeed going forward from College Church!

I want to recognize that Pastor Josh and Rochelle are now in middle of their 15th year of ministry here. How thankful we are for them and all they do. I am especially grateful to be able to work closely with Josh on many different issues arising to the Council

of Elders. His humble servant leadership and godly wisdom is a wonderful gift to the church. I also want to acknowledge John Seward and Nancy Singer for their excellent leadership, deep commitment to the church and amazing work ethic. Praise the Lord for his faithful servants.

We praise God that once again we have had very large membership classes this past year. One of the joys of serving as elders is that we are privileged to interview those applying for membership. We hear how they came to a personal faith in Christ and how they have been growing in their relationship with the Lord. When we ask why they have chosen to be members of College Church we very often hear that it is because of the church’s commitment to faithfully proclaiming God’s Word.

Over the past three years the elders have worked closely with the pastoral staff in refining our five initiatives and establishing goals for each. This was once again a major focus of our elder retreat this past November. You will soon hear more on this in the morning message on Vision Sunday, May 21.

It is always sad to say goodbye to the elders who have served out their four-year terms. This year David Gieser, Randy Jahns and Heinrich Johnsen step off the elder council. Each of them has faithfully served in a wide variety of roles and have willingly accepted difficult assignments. Their service is much appreciated.

May we, with the psalmist, offer a five-fold praise to God for all he has done this past year. It is with trust in him that we look expectantly toward the new year of ministry before us.

Kevin Cassel BOARD OF DEACONS CHAIR

I sometimes wonder why God chooses to accomplish his work through fallible and imperfect vessels. Unlike me, who prioritizes efficiency and effectiveness, God prioritizes our discipleship and development. In his infinite wisdom (and patience!), he chooses to accomplish his work through flawed beings. Being God’s hands and feet in the church and our community is both a tremendous privilege and responsibility. Serving on the Board of Deacons for the past three years has allowed me to see God’s wisdom in action. In his sovereignty, he brings together a collection of men with different backgrounds and gifts, and he equips us individually and corporately to fulfill the mission of the board on behalf of College Church in Wheaton. Even more than the decisions that the board makes, I believe that God is most glorified by the humility, deliberativeness and prayerfulness that we bring to every task and decision. He is not only working through us to accomplish the work of the church, he is working in us to disciple his people.

The role of the Board of Deacons is to serve the church by “overseeing the business ministries and certain administrative and mercy ministries of the Church.” This is carried out collectively as a board and within four committees:

• Finance—Works closely with Director of Administration and Finance Nancy Singer in developing and proposing an annual budget, tracking the finances throughout the year, and making recommendations to the Council of Elders on finance-related matters.

• Mercy—Collaborates with the Board of Deaconesses in administering the Care and Share fund, coordinating completion of small projects for congregants in need and overseeing the counseling ministry.

• Communion—Coordinates with the Board of Deaconesses in executing monthly and special communion services.

• Facilities—Assisting facilities director, Howard Kern and director of technology, Tim Hollinger, in planning and executing campus projects and initiatives.

I particularly want to highlight the budgeting process that went into planning for the upcoming fiscal year. There was unprecedented collaboration between the Board of Deacons and the Council of Elders, pastoral leadership and church staff to intentionally and masterfully align our proposed budget with those ministry initiatives that are prioritized in our vision. This resulted in a proposed budget that not only allows us to move forward in faith to carry out those initiatives God is calling us to, but also represents an increase that is less than current inflation. This was only possible through much prayer, strong fiscal stewardship and an exceptional partnership among church leadership. Finally, I want to thank Nancy Singer for both her partnership and patience in working so closely with the Board of Deacons on the budgeting process and the ongoing fiscal management of the church’s finances. The level of dedication, professionalism, and care with which Nancy administers the finances of College Church is truly an example to all of us in the dedication we are to bring to our roles within the church.

Thank you, Nancy!

Lindsay

McCracken

BOARD OF DEACONESSES CHAIR

The Board of Deaconesses has the blessing of facilitating and providing practical care for our church family as we seek to follow the example of Christ. This past year, it has been my privilege to come alongside the godly women who have served on our board: Adrienne Cassel, Diana Clem, Laurie Costley, Joan Engeseth, Courtney Graham, Amy Kruis, Ann Lawrenz, Whitney McKevitt, Sarah Nelson, Libby Newton, Liz Oster, Angie Schroeder, Carol Taylor and Susan Zimmerman. We have been thankful for the opportunity to partner with our staff and elder liaisons, Mindy Rynbrandt and Chad Thorson.

As a deaconess, it is truly a joy to get a glimpse of the ways the Lord cares for his people. Whether by sending an email to request a ride or putting the word out that we need food for a funeral reception, we get to see firsthand the many willing servants who step up consistently to meet tangible needs. The deaconess board wouldn’t be effective without the generosity of God’s people at College Church. If you are interested in signing up to serve in one of those ways, please go to https://college-church.org/impact/current-needs/ and click on Offer Care.

We meet monthly to pray and report on our various areas of service. We also consider how the Lord would have us care well for one another in our different areas of responsibility and hear from our pastoral and elder liaisons to facilitate better communication and identify how we can best serve.

As this past year has mostly returned to pre-pandemic normalcy, here are highlights of how we have been a part of how the Lord is caring for his people:

• We assisted with 15 baptisms.

• Each deaconess had the privilege of visiting a homebound congregant on a bi-monthly basis.

• Through Helping Hands, we facilitated the provision of 147 meals and 16 rides to many families and individuals in our church family.

• 45 poinsettias were delivered to homebound, missionaries and those who were grieving around Christmas.

• In conjunction with the deacons, we have continued to serve communion.

• At the request of grieving families, we served receptions or lunches at at 11 funerals.

• 200 handwritten notes were sent to express our love to those rejoicing in the birth of a child or the joy of marriage and to encourage those suffering physical hardship or grieving the loss of family members.

• Through our Care and Share fund, more than nearly $300,000 was disbursed to assist with costs related to counseling, housing, utilities, medical and dental expenses.

• Money from the Care and Share fund was periodically given to Outreach Community Center and Churches United for Hardship Assistance.

I have been encouraged in my time as a deaconess to witness our care for one another as a congregation at College Church and have sweetly experienced the blessing of Romans 12:15 as we have the opportunity to “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”

Jim Tebbe BOARD

OF MISSIONS CHAIR

Our unifying theme this year for the Annual Report is “Truth.” Decades ago, a friend invited me to a Friends (Quaker) meeting near Harvard University. The worship consisted of sitting in silence with occasional brief thoughts offered by attendees. A young Harvard academician spoke up and said, “The Bible says ‘you shall seek the truth and it shall make you free.’ I always thought it was the truth that set you free but an old, wise Quaker told me it is the seeking that sets you free.” There were many sounds of approval around the room.

This young man was dead wrong. He not only missed Jesus’ message but he also misquoted the Bible as a basis for his “thought.” John 8:32 says, “and you will know [not seek] the truth, and the truth [not it] will set you free.”

Proclaiming this truth to the whole world and making disciples of Jesus is what the Board of Missions is all about. Through the missionaries of College Church, we are not content with just seeking to do good or otherwise stopping short of proclaiming the full truth of the gospel. So, planting healthy, long-lasting churches has been a central focus of the Board of Missions this year. We believe this is the best way for the whole truth of the gospel to be fully assimilated. This year we have entered into an international church planting partnership with Hoffnungskirche Wipptal (Hope Church Wipptal) in Austria with a second under consideration. The board, with the help of the Missions Pastor Curt Miller, has also defined some applications of the Council of Elders church planting initiative to help ensure that these and other church plants will be healthy and long lasting.

The Board of Missions is busy throughout the year. Every one of the 15 members on the board is on one of four committees or is the liaison for one of six programs the board is involved in. These include the finance, personnel, care & furlough, mission prayer, STAMP, World Impact, immigrants, theological training and missionary preparation. This is all to the end of doing the following:

• Supporting 90 Career missionary units (159 individuals) in Central America, South America, Europe/Eurasia, North America, Asia/Middle East, Africa and worldwide (about one-third are presently U.S. based). Of these, five (nine individuals) were new missionary units to the Middle East, Africa and Asia; 14 (26 individuals) were consortium missionaries to Africa, Central, South and East Asia, Europe and South America

• Caring for five units (nine individuals) of Missions Associates who receive encouragement and prayer support but no financial aid.

• Continuing to support nine units (17 individuals) of retired missionaries

The board also monitors and approves support to 13 national schools and seminaries. Such support extends the mission outreach of College Church by helping to train nationals to minister in places where missionaries often cannot. These schools are in the Middle East, Africa, East, South and Southeast Asia, South America and Europe. We also support four local ministries and two partnerships (Lausanne and One Another Ministries), all of which have some type of international focus.

Famous missionary Dr. J. Christy Wilson once said, “A Church which is not missionary minded soon becomes a mission field.” We know that is true, so another important part of what the Board of Missions and the missions team does is to educate and inform you as to what is happening in the world, what we are doing in missions and how we can pray. To that end from May 1, 2022 to March 15, 2023 we had 711 missions updates recorded and shared with the board and congregation, including community groups and prayer fellowships. This is an average of 65 a month. And, of course, there is the annual Missions Festival as well as weekly and monthly events and prayer meetings.

This is all for the single purpose that the whole world may come to know the Truth which is Jesus himself.

Jim Johanik

DISCIPLESHIP COMMITTEE CHAIR

Now in its fourth year, the Discipleship Committee’s express purpose is to oversee the development and execution of the Council of Elders’ initiative to “increase personal discipleship making.” The committee is made up of Jim Johanik (chair), David Setran, Kayla Costley, Harry Robinson and Josh Maurer (pastor of discipleship). At the core of College Church is a comprehensive and diverse array of opportunities for a member or attendee to grow in their knowledge of and faith in Jesus Christ. From women’s and men’s Bible studies and ministries, student and adult communities, small and core groups, summer forums, and from the pulpit each Sunday morning, the Discipleship Committee is confident that College Church is positioned well to continue in its goal of developing disciples of Jesus. That said, and with the specific wording of the initiative from the elders in view, it is the focus of the Discipleship Committee to make the activity of discipleship more organic, personal and relational, supplementing the array of discipleship ministries the church offers. To this end, the Discipleship Committee has continued its initiative that began in 2021 to develop core groups that:

• invite individuals to share with others what they are learning from Scripture throughout the week

• encourage more personal sharing and confession about the true condition of our hearts, and

• provide for accountability and more concrete action steps for pursuing Christ.

In some cases, these core groups are already taking place naturally, informally and organically throughout the church and throughout various ministries. In other cases, the development of core groups is intentional, pairing those further along in their journey of faith with those earlier on. In both cases, discipleship becomes more relational and personal and offers the opportunity for personal challenge and spiritual growth to take place. This discipleship initiative and the core group opportunity together work toward

addressing a perceived need within the church to become more intentionally relational with others in the church and throughout our community. As you read this annual report and you personally desire a greater connectedness with the church body, a core group just might be the answer. We encourage you to connect with a few others and form a core group. Please join us as we continue to pray as we seek to help children, students and adults of College Church grow in conformity to the image of Christ for his glory.

David Kelley EVANGELISM AND CULTURE IMPACT COMMITTEE CHAIR

We are all called to proclaim the gospel. Often, that means inviting others to believe in Jesus as their Savior. Other times it means serving the poor and advocating for those who can’t speak for themselves. But we are also each placed in different spheres of influence and given different opportunities. The church is the diverse body of people with different gifts and passions. I encourage you to see how you might use the place where God has put you to reach your community, your friends and your family in a way that the church wouldn’t without you.

Over the past year, the Evangelism and Culture Impact Committee has focused on cultivating deeper relationships with our evangelists. Seeing the work of these evangelists that College Church supports has been tremendously encouraging. A highlight of the year was the opportunity for the committee to sit down to dinner with many of them this past October. God is faithful to bless the ministry that he has appointed, and it is clear that he has been doing so.

Another focus of the committee this year has been on how we can continue to advocate for a biblical view of humanity and the value of every life. The Sanctity of Human Life Task Force continues to champion this cause well through a variety of initiatives ranging from simple conversations to providing practical assistance to mothers and moms-to-be.

I pray that we continue to seek to proclaim the gospel together in every area of our lives.

Amy Hiben

HOSPITALITY COMMITTEE CHAIR

The Hospitality Committee hopes to welcome the stranger by creating environments that are inviting and bring a sense of community to the church body. We have had the joy of pursuing that goal by serving in many capacities this year. Continuing to serve Sunday morning coffee, Visitor’s Lunches, and various receptions has kept us busy. The committee has also helped with Tuesdays Together, Community Celebrations and Easter. We couldn’t have done it without the support of previous committee members, family and friends stepping in to help. Hospitality is truly a team effort!

On Thanksgiving Eve, we introduced another way to serve our community by encouraging a food drive. Thank you for your abundant contributions! Such a blessing from our College Church family to the shelves of Interfaith Food Pantry, People’s Resource Center, PADS and Milton Township Food Pantry.

We hope to deepen our involvement with the welcome center on Sunday mornings and be at the forefront of welcoming the stranger. It has been exciting to see the Lord’s faithfulness in this ministry and we look forward to serving him in the years to come.

He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” Luke 14:12-14

Daniel Conroy SERVICE

AND ENGAGEMENT COMMITTEE CHAIR

But whoever would be great among you must be your servant.

Matthew 20:26b

This fiscal year the Service and Engagement committee continued coordinating events and outreach to congregants. We also relaunched efforts to reflect and reorient the Service and Engagement Committee to better serve the needs of our church body.

Our year started off with a flurry of activity in helping organize Tuesdays Together. In cooperation with several different ministries, committees and volunteers, plus the invaluable coordination of Susan Krisch, we assisted in ensuring food trucks were available, welcoming and engaging attendees, helping to monitor inflatables, and participating in cleaning up. Once Tuesdays Together was completed, we participated in retrospectives to discuss what could be improved and made recommendations for future events. We’re continuing to stay engaged in the planning process for our Tuesdays Together this summer.

A long-standing initiative of the committee has been to analyze available data on both serving at College Church and ministry needs for volunteers. As we pursued this project with the assistance of church staff, we joyfully found hundreds of our members and regular attenders supporting the ministries of College Church on a regular basis. We also concluded data normalization and centralization would be necessary steps before much of the data could be actionable from a holistic perspective. We came away encouraged by the number of members who choose to serve this local church body in practical ways, and much of it out of the limelight. We hope and pray that College Church continues to be marked as a church full of Christians who seek to mutually love one another through service. In August we helped coordinate Fellowship Meals, an opportunity for congregants to meet others they may not know and share a meal together. Nineteen families participated in Friday dinners and Saturday brunches. Due to popular

demand, we coordinated a second round in February with another twenty families. We look forward to coordinating Fellowship Meals again in the coming year, and are thankful for the hospitality of all our hosts and the invaluable work of church staff in communication.

Beginning in November, the SEC began assisting Pastor Josh Moody in an outreach initiative to welcome visitors. Every week we would text, email, or call new visitors to College Church—welcoming them, briefly introducing ourselves, sharing upcoming opportunities for fellowship and worship, and inviting them into the community of College Church. We are thankful for the number of visitors God brought through our doors, and also thankful for a pastoral staff that takes seriously a mission of welcoming strangers into our midst.

Over the late fall and winter, we worked with Pastor Josh Maurer to rework some of our stated goals to better align with the needs of ministries and staff. We spent much time discussing what the needs of congregants might be and how we could be most effective. Later in the year we opened this discussion to include several elders and others on our pastoral staff. Over the coming year, we hope to continue these discussions, evolving as a committee to better meet the needs of College Church.

Please pray for our committee, for the hundreds of volunteers our church needs every week, and for our ministry staff as they seek to enable and coordinate God’s work at College Church.

Thank you to all the members of the Service and Engagement Committee: Gary Chase, Jan Jones, Danika Kelly, Jonathan Larson and Katie Nussbaum. And a special thank you to Pastor Josh Maurer for his many hours helping liaison and plan with our committee.

OTHER LEADERS

Lisa Kern LIBRARIAN

To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. Ephesians 4:12

An excerpt from last year’s report:

“Time to get back to that normal place we all longed for over the last two years. We think of the church library as a much-needed teaching tool. It supports the mission of the church and the walk of the individual by way of history, information and examples from godly, thought-provoking authors. It exposes children to missionaries and Bible characters and fosters in them a love of reading. We understand that times are changing and the way we do library is likely going to change too. We are not sure what the “new normal” is going to be, but we are sure that a church library is a needed thing “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” (Eph. 4:12) We pray you all see it that way and will come check it out.”

The question is: Are we back to normal? Well, normal is different now. Many patrons have moved on to audio books, me included. There are others who tell me they’d rather purchase the book during the week than wait until Sunday. Seems people also like owning the book rather than borrowing it these days. Whatever the reasons, there are way less patrons checking out books than in previous years. An average of 70 books a week were checked out before COVID. Now the average is about 30, and most of those items are from the same eight or nine families. Is that excerpt from last year’s report still accurate and being fulfilled? Are patrons being equipped for ministry and parenting and life? Yes, the College Church Library exists to build up the body and I do believe it is still performing that task. But that task is also being done by websites, blogs, audio books, even YouTube, where some moms go to get children’s books to read to their kids! We are not the only place to go for

training, devotional readings, Bible studies, parenting tips, advice on prayer, relationships, evangelism, or the respite that fiction can be. We used to be the only way but technology, love it or not, has changed the way we get our reading material. There are so many other information avenues these days that the printed book has become less popular—at least in church libraries. We are not the only church library with declining circulation. I’m told publishers are doing a booming business so paper books haven’t fallen out of favor with everyone. And for those that still love to hold the book, we are here! We have an amazing collection of titles for toddlers through seniors. We will get a book you want if we don’t already have it and find for you the perfect book from the shelves to equip you for work, ministry and the building of the body as our verse states. We will continue to foster a love of books in children with the popular reading program that offers prizes for reading. Just come check it out!

Zach Fallon

CHRIST CHURCH SOUTH METRO ATLANTA, PASTOR

Greetings to you all from South Atlanta. Here is a glimpse of what the Lord has done this past year.

LOOKING BACK

At the time of our last annual update, we had been gathering as a church plant for about six weeks. The Lord was kind to raise up a wonderful group of people who became the first members of Christ Church. As ministry continued through the summer and into the fall, the Lord continued to mature and strengthen our young church as we made our way through Galatians, Ruth and into the Gospel of Matthew. The Lord showed us the beauty of being set free in Christ alone, the goodness of his providence to work all things for our good, and to invite us into life and his kingdom with Jesus as our good and gracious king.

In the spring 2022, the elders and their wives did most of the leading of ministries, but by summer, we invited a group of about 30 of our members to be trained for discipleship ministries. The Lord has used them in our discipleship cohort ministry over the last seven or eight months to help approximately 100 of our members grow in spiritual maturity and care for one another. We recently had a gathering with this group of leaders, and it was so encouraging to hear them speak of their own growth in the gospel and their love for the saints. They are catching a vision for gospel ministry, and it fills my pastor’s heart with joy!

Another crucial ministry we started is called Foundation Year. The aim of that ministry is to raise up healthy local church members for a lifetime of faithful engagement and ministry. By God’s grace we have had 22 young adults that have met every Monday night since Labor Day. They have worked their way through books and have participated in several workshops equipping them for the Christian life and ministry. They have also been servants within our church family, investing in our family ministries. We give God thanks for his work in their lives!

Many of our leadership teams are brainstorming right now what sort of changes we need to faithfully minister and shepherd the people the Lord is bringing to us. I long for nothing more than to help steward this work to be a healthy local church that brings spiritual health and flourishing to the sheep of God’s flock. In a cultural context where much of Christian ministry seems to lack biblical basis and spiritual health, we hope that our fellowship will bring glory to Christ and joy to his people.

LOOKING FORWARD

Some key priorities we have for our church in this coming year are: Continue to equip ministry leaders in the life of our church. A key way we hope to do that in this coming year is to start training up future elders/ pastors through a ministry that Steve Krogh will head up called For the Flock. Engaging our church family in missions. We are thankful to have many people who have a heart for the nations, including one of our elders and his wife, David and Kathy Meade, who can help with this. Develop ministries to youth and children. Many people who are beginning to join Christ Church have a heart for this kind of ministry, so I am excited to see what the Lord will do with that. Permeate our local context with the gospel. We continue to be doggedly committed to bringing gospel clarity and healthy ecclesiology to the South Metro Atlanta area. We pray that the Lord will use us to accomplish these two ends in various ways in the coming year.

It has been one of the great privileges of my life to be your church planter. I’m thankful to our Father in heaven for the way in which he has partnered us to see the name in the glory of his Son make progress through our shared effort. We love you College Church and invite you to stay in touch and come and visit anytime: zfallon@ christsma.org.

Eric Schlickman

THE CROSSINGS TASK FORCE CHAIR

“The will of God—nothing less, nothing more, nothing else.” —F.E. Marsh

PHASE 1 - COMPLETE

From its earliest beginnings, the vision for the Toms-Price building, now the Crossings, has been to enable the discovery of the distinctive gospel ministry of College Church more clearly and invitationally to the surrounding community.

PHASE 2 - UNDERWAY

In the summer of last year, the Council of Elders, eager to expand the breadth of ministries enabled by the renovations at the Crossings, established a 12-member task force, composed of congregants as well as pastoral and ministry staff. This Crossings task force was charged with defining the longer-term uses of the space, in line with the vision for enhanced community engagement and ministry enablement.

The task force established the following guiding principles that served as guide rails when brainstorming future uses of the space internally or with others.

The Crossings must be…

• aligned with College Church’s primary vision of “Proclaiming the Gospel”

• an intersection of church and community through connection and volunteer service

• a space that is welcoming and relatable

• moving people one step closer to Christ

• showing the gospel in action

• purposeful throughout the week

• a flexible space

• operationally sustainable

We praise God that shortly after obtaining occupancy of the building in spring 2022, the first phase of renovations, designed to transform the space from a furniture gallery to a ministry venue, was completed. By the fall, we began activating this newest portion of our campus, utilizing the Crossings as a crossover space for church, student and community gatherings, like ArtSpace, an art gallery and gathering place for creative people and the church to consider the Creator’s hand in the creative arts. Many of you have already experienced the unique College Church experience that the Crossings provides, a wonderful enhancement to our campus.

The task force met throughout the latter half of last year, assessing at each meeting the input received from many of you and the informal feedback gathered by means of a range of conversations with acquaintances of task force members in our Wheaton community. It was evident after the first month of work that the need for a community outpost at the Crossings was real, and the opportunity to achieve our vision, while following our guiding principles, was attainable. A preliminary longerterm use case was established, and after discussions with several architectural design firms, the task force

recommended that the Council of Elders approve the engagement of the firm Storyland Studios to assist in the design of the Crossings two-story space, which included the following ministry enabling spaces:

ON THE FIRST FLOOR…

• a café with flexible seating and serving areas to facilitate both communal and private conversations and events

• a children’s playscape with visibility from café area

• a quiet living room-like space on the mezzanine level, separate from the café and playscape, for discipleship and small group engagement.

floorplans and design concepts were drafted, reviewed by the task force, and have been agreed to in principle by the elders.

2023 AND BEYOND

The purposeful design of a space of this magnitude is an iterative process and requires close collaboration between the elders, deacons, staff, the task force and Storyland. As such, after the initial ideation stage was completed, the Crossings task force was restructured to provide focused support for two primary workstreams. Eric Schlickman will continue to lead the design effort and Eric Ollila will lead the communication team that will provide periodic updates for the congregation in anticipation of launching a capital campaign by December 2023. David Gieser will continue as the elder liaison.

Please continue to pray for the task force and all those involved as we seek to implement our Campus Initiative and activate this student and family space to reach our community for Christ and his kingdom.

• an open space with outdoor access to the east parking lot via glass accordion door walls for informal community, student or church gatherings

• ample storage and acoustic dampening.

ON THE SECOND FLOOR…

• flexible spaces to facilitate the individual and collective gatherings of the high school and college students,

• areas for after school discipleship, study, games and creative gatherings such as ArtSpace

• ample storage.

The elders approved the collaboration with Storyland and were updated regularly throughout the process. After several virtual and on-site sessions, conceptual

Mary Quiggle

TWICE IS NICE RESALE SHOP MANAGER

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8

Twice is Nice Resale is an unique ministry of College Church designed to serve the local community. We seek to serve people justly by providing quality goods and clothing at very affordable prices. And, most importantly, we seek to introduce all to the truth found in Jesus so that they may know the freedom only he can give.

Now in its 31st year, Twice is Nice generates funds that help support various services at the Outreach Community Center. In so many ways, we are the face of College Church to South Carol Stream. Consequently, we serve a variety of customers. In fact, some of our customers are immigrants from diverse ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds. Recently, we have welcomed refugees from the war in Ukraine. It has been both a challenge and a privilege to come alongside them during this difficult time.

Twice is Nice is more than a store that serves a variety of demographic groups. It is a place of service for many who come to volunteer. In many ways, the backbone of Twice Is Nice is these volunteers. These 25+ individuals give their time to this ministry, making our work possible. Together with our staff, they demonstrate kindness and mercy to our customers. If you have some spare time and are interested in volunteering, please come join our amazing team.

One of the best parts of most days at Twice Is Nice is our interactions with members of the STARS ministry.

Approximately 12 participate at the store weekly. They put clothing on hangers, mop floors, and prepare materials for the front counter. These seemingly small tasks keep Twice is Nice running smoothly.

As you can see from our financials, we have had a fantastic year for which we and the Outreach Community Center are deeply grateful. We are dependent on you for your quality donations which makes you part of our team. But we hope you have a sense we are seeking to be more than a financial success. Please pray with us that God will use us to introduce Jesus to those we interact with who alone is “the way, the TRUTH and the life.”

Stephanie Robbins

STARS RESALE SHOP

Make me know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.

Psalm 25:4-5

Dependent on his provision, his guidance, his wisdom and his discernment, the staff, volunteers and STARS partners seek to minister and to love the members of our community at large. On any given day, peek into the storefront window of STARS Resale Shop and you will bear witness to the wondrous works of the Lord, for in the building at 303 E. Front St., his truth is displayed in action.

You will see a STAR lifting her hands in praise, singing along with the piped in music, “Our God is an Awesome God” and in so doing, ministering to a fellow staffer grieving the loss of her father. Both then raise their hands in worship, among the racks of clothing, among the customers, knowing the truth that the Lord is near those who are grieving and loves those who are hurting.

You will see a customer purchasing a large stuffed animal as an object for comfort as she had just lost the fourth member of her family in one year’s time. Upon sharing the purpose of her purchase to the cashier, two other customers, overhearing her story, pulled her aside and prayed over her in the store’s vestibule before she left the store. Thus, ministering to her in the truth that the Lord is close to the brokenhearted.

You will see a customer, noticing a person wandering through the store wearing clothing insufficient for the change of season, quietly purchasing a bag of necessities for the individual to be gifted privately. Thus, ministering to the individual that the Lord meets us quietly in our needs and through the body of believers.

You will see a customer having an unexpected seizure on the store floor, immediately being cared for by another customer who just so happened to have been trained the weekend before on the proper emergency methods of treating seizures. Thus, displaying the truth to the customer and the customer servant that the Lord is sovereign and is in the details of life’s events.

You will see the daily manna filling the store through the generous donations of the community and the hundreds of customers who support the ministry of SFS through their purchases. Upon moving to the location of 303 E Front Street, and coming under new management, there were many unknowns, but the Lord’s provision has been bountiful. Thus, ministering to us that his blessings provide us the ability to do good works.

In these truths the staff, volunteers and STAR partners seek to continue to minister to the needs of the community through the instruction of loving one another. We thank you, our donors, our church, our brothers and sisters in Christ, for your generosity and your partnership in coming alongside us in support of this active ministry.

Tony DiLeonardi

STARS FAMILY SERVICES PRESIDENT

On behalf of the entire STARS Family Services (SFS) board of directors and staff, thank you College Church for your ongoing prayer, support and care for our residents and staff throughout this last year. It has been a year of God’s great mercy, and a year of growth, testing and affirmation. We are full of gratitude.

There was an incredible amount of positive outcomes again for SFS since our last report as we continued the laborious but important efforts of maturing the organization and moving to a more robust list of services for our residents and the College Church STARS community at-large.

Our purpose and mission has not drifted. It remains, as always, at home, work and in the community, SFS enhances everyday life with dignity for members of the disability community. SFS provides peace of mind for parents and interdependence and independence for members of the STARS disability community. We stand on Philippians 4:19, which affirms that “my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

The last year brought a renewed focus on expanding SFS services to our residents and the College Church STARS disability community and continuous quality improvement of our staff. Why expand quality focused SFS programing? To address the changing needs within the IDD (intellectual or developmental disability) community and among our current residents and to increase access for STARS and their families while also enabling more individuals to join the ministry of SFS. We re-emphasized to staff this year that we are both a ministry and a professional care provider. We love our residents and their families.

IN 2022, BLESSINGS OVERFLOWED FOR SFS

• SFS’s Fundraising Goal was surpassed, enabling us to end 2022 with positive cash flow on hand. Praise God!

We continue to be supported by many College Church attenders in a significant way. Thank you.

• STARS Resale Shop grew its commitment to SFS through the Partner Programs (jobs for our residents) and their financial support! All of you who donate and shop at the resale shop, thank you. Your donations and treasure hunting make a difference.

• Expanded Respite Care Services

• Created the SFS Art Studio

• Expanded Day Programming

• Increased college student internships

• The entire organization demonstrated resiliency and overall good health throughout the pandemic!

TEAM SFS (OUR EXCELLENT STAFF): A COMMUNITY OF CARING

• Continued focus on nourishing a collaborative SFS community through planned Town Halls, bi-weekly communications and all staff gatherings.

• 35 team members: continuing to attract and hire staff with advanced degrees (nursing, occupational therapy, counselors) and many college students seeking experience.

• Our staff turnover rate continues to be too high (~45%): hiring and onboarding on an average of one-two new staff per month.

• Pay ranges continue to be increased to remain competitive in a challenging job market.

• Continued focus on investing in development and training team members within leadership positions and expanding responsibilities.

• Focus on Growth and Responding to Changing Needs of the STARS Community.

ART STUDIO

• Created to address residents’ needs for relationship building, self-expression, creativity, relaxation.

• Art Studio coordinator, Rachael Corey, creates curriculum and teaches classes.

• Creating artwork projects with the goal of exhibiting.

• Designed “Wild Woods” Art Show (August 2022).

• Continuing classes: Three days per week/two-hour session (up to six STARS per class).

• New community STARS classes added September 2022, two days a week.

• Six community STARS participating. Goal is to increase to 12 STARS.

OUTCOMES:

• Improved resident self-esteem, engagement, social interaction, behaviors, overall quality of life. Most participating STARS verbalize that the Art Studio is their favorite activity.

• In 2022, 168 sessions/10-13 STARS/week participating.

• First Art Show (“Wild Woods”) August 2022, “Winter” and “Spring” murals on exhibit in the ArtSpace Gallery in Crossings.

• Art products (cards, mugs and ornaments) were made available for sale.

DAY PROGRAMMING: HOME BASE AND COMMUNITY TIME

• Created to address issues with residents’ weekday community activities not being available (due to COVID, changes to programs etc.) and changing functional status.

• Located in Kenny’s Home—Available 11 a.m. -3 p.m. Monday-Friday.

• Daily theme of activities including art, music, games and quiet/personal time.

• Now fully integrated into resident daily life – and a catalyst for the SFS community between residents, staff and community STARS.

OUTCOMES:

• Improved interpersonal relationships with a new sense of community between the homes.

• Improved ability of STARS to manage changes to daily schedules.

• Improved overall STARS affect/behaviors. STARS family members have noted positive changes.

• Improved staff communication and collaboration.

• Continued opportunity to further expand to community STARS.

STAFFING

This year saw SFS add an operations supervisor position. This is a newly developed blended role, which consists of administrative responsibilities and working scheduled life skill coach shifts within the SFS homes. Operations supervisor Ellie Johnson is a member of SFS’s leadership team. Additionally, we are in a transition/ search for a new executive director. Please pray that God will again bless us with a new godly leader.

PARTNER PROGRAM

Elliana Anderson continues in her role in leading both our residents and the community STARS in job coaching and skill building. Come say hello to the STARS at the resale shops.

Did You Know STARS Family Services is on Instagram and Facebook?

Emma Green (lead life skill coach) added social media posts to her weekly responsibilities.

• Check out SFS Instagram and Facebook sites!

• Follow for fun updates and share with your friends and family!

I am grateful for the dedication of the board, who continue to serve and for whom I thank the Lord: Nancy Singer (secretary), Michelle Linhardt (treasurer), Wil Triggs, Julie Clemens, Bob Kay, Mike McKevitt, Glenn Kosirog and Jack O’Connor. As the executive director for SFS, Angela Killian has continued to guide the organization in such a wonderful, highly professional way that remains a blessing to SFS. I am grateful to her (and Scott) and her more than three years of service. If you are looking to volunteer or start or continue a career in this field, please contact Wil Triggs at the church office.

As always, STARS Family Services ask you to be in prayer for the staff, the residents, their families and for those in the Partner Program to continue to thrive in an environment of Christian love. Specifically, please pray for our ad-hoc executive director search committee and the considerations underway. And please join us in thanking God for his mighty work again—it is an incredible thing to witness.

To God be the glory!

God Centered Life

MEDIA MINISTRY WELCOMES MORE THAN 100,000 WEBSITE VISITORS

God Centered Life (GCL), the media ministry using the teaching of Pastor Josh Moody, is doing its part to bring hope to tens of thousands beyond the four walls of College Church. The ministry continues to increase in scope and impact and is built around the daily release of an audio Bible teaching program which airs on 70 radio stations nationwide as well as via online posts and podcasts. In recent weeks, God Centered Life was added to the Moody Radio network and will soon be available to hundreds of additional stations around the country. In addition, new broadcast releases, not associated with the Moody network, have been arranged in western Michigan, Atlanta and Dallas. The weekly radio broadcast audience now exceeds 70,000. Internationally, a special broadcasting effort is currently underway in India and Southeast Asia, building on last year’s trial.

In conjunction with the radio broadcast, God Centered Life serves as a vehicle to impact believers through the distribution of Christian books, articles, devotionals and blogs. More than 3000 people receive spiritual encouragement by means of Pastor Josh’s daily devotional. With a growing digital online audience, God Centered Life impacts many through website listening, podcasting and online resources. The charts provide an overview showing the growth in reach, and 2022 saw more than 100,000 website visitors from all 50 states and over 200 nations. GCL is truly a global ministry!

During 2023-24, GCL plans to offer additional ministry resources such as an audio version of Pastor Josh’s devotionals and other tools for personal study and growth.

Recently, GCL’s board announced that founding executive director Stann Leff, who has given strong leadership during the first five years of operation, is stepping down from his role. Stann has provided wise

guidance and direction during the early stages of the ministry, and his thoughtful leadership will be missed. A new director will be named soon.

God Centered Life is an independent 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization. To learn more about the work of GCL please visit www.godcenteredlife.org. The board includes College Church members: Howard Costley, David Gieser, Bruce Howard, Tom Paulsen, Nancy Singer and Josh Moody.

Summary of Membership Transactions for Fiscal

Year 2022-2023

REGULAR MEMBERS DECEASED IN FY 22/23:

Joy Trieglaff (5/15/22), Karen Wright (5/29/22), Dr. Gerald “Jerry” Edmonds (8/11/22), Dr. Tom Kay (9/23/22), Tom Johnston (12/13/22), Dr. Jim Stough (12/22/22), Betsy Rogers (1/16/23), Carol Eickhoff (2/27/23), John Stephen (3/22/23), Dr. Gerald “Jerry” Haddock (4/1/23), Jody Piety (4/12/23), John Richard “Dick” Peterson (4/20/23)

MINUTES

to the 2022 annual meeting

Annual Meeting

May 15, 2022

UNAPPROVED DRAFT

Council of Elders Chair Howard Costley welcomed the members to the 2022 annual meeting at 5:02 p.m. and stated that a quorum must be established before the meeting is called to order.

A quorum of 259 (20%) of regular members was required. Mr. Costley requested a show of hands and the ushers conducted a physical count of regular members present. At the time of the count 329 members were present, thus a quorum was established. Mr. Costley officially called the Annual Meeting to order at 5:16 p.m.

Mr. Costley asked Elder Tom Nussbaum to open the meeting in prayer.

Mr. Costley requested Pastor Erik Dewar to come lead the congregation in singing “The Church’s One Foundation.”

Voting for all the Annual Meeting resolutions was by a show of hands.

Mr. Costley read aloud the following resolution for approval of prior meeting minutes, and there were no questions. This resolution required a motion and a second from the floor which were both received.

RESOLUTION TO APPROVE MINUTES OF CONGREGATIONAL MEETINGS:

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the following congregational meetings are approved as presented:

• Annual Meeting of May 16, 2021

• Congregational Meeting of December 5, 2021

To approve Josh Maurer as Pastor of Discipleship

The resolution was passed unanimously.

The annual report for 2022 was received with thanks for those who wrote reports. Mr. Costley asked Elder Tad Williams to pray for all those involved in the ministries of the church.

Mr. Costley invited Pastor Moody to address those present. Pastor Moody reminded everyone of the vision of College Church which is to proclaim the gospel and offered a formal expression of thanks to God for his blessings. Looking forward to what is ahead, Pastor Moody stated we are to be salt and light to the world.

Mr. Costley then explained the process of electing one man and three women each year to the

Nominating Committee. Members had been invited to submit names, and names of 10 women and 3 men were submitted. Members had then been given an opportunity to vote online, and a total of 399 votes were cast in that process. Mr. Costley further explained that because votes were cast prior to the meeting this year, members were now called to formally ratify the vote and affirm the election of the individuals to the 2022-2023 Nominating Committee.

No questions were submitted about the resolution, Mr. Costley then read the resolution:

RESOLUTION TO APPROVE ELECTED MEMBERS OF THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE FOR 2022-2023:

WHEREAS: The Regular Members have gone through the prescribed process of nominating individuals to be elected as members of the Nominating Committee for 2022-2023, and

WHEREAS: The Regular Members have had an opportunity prior to this meeting to vote on the nominees, and three women and one man have received the most votes in the prior process:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED: That the Regular Members hereby affirm the election of the following individuals to serve on the Nominating Committee for 2022-2023: Teri Hiben, Allison Bonga, Becky Sandberg and Jay Cunningham.

This resolution required a motion and a second from the floor, which were both received.

The resolution was passed unanimously with no discussion.

RESOLUTION TO APPROVE NOMINEES TO ELECTED POSITIONS:

Mr. Costley read the following resolution from the Nominating Committee.

RESOLVED: That the following groups of nominees, whose names have been printed on page 60 of the Annual Report, are hereby elected:

• Members of the Council of Elders for terms ending in 2026

• Members of the Board of Deacons, the Board of Deaconesses, and the Board of Missions for terms ending in 2025

• Members of various committees for terms as specified

• Elective positions for terms as specified

Mr. Costley requested Elder Jeff Oslund to read the slate of nominees and the positions they were requested to fill.

Because the resolution comes as a recommendation from the Council of Elders, it needs no motion or second.

The resolution was passed unanimously with no discussion.

Elder Dave Gieser prayed for the newly elected and current leadership.

Steve Wiper, chair of the Board of Deacons, presented the financial charts and accompanying numbers found on Pages 64-70 of the 2022 Annual Report. Mr. Wiper highlighted the fact that the church’s giving exceeded the budget for the first time in 13 years and only the second time in 22 years. This is especially significant considering the wide effects of the pandemic on the general economy.

Mr. Wiper noted that the church has been able through the generosity of its people to pay off all the property debt for the houses on Seminary of over $750,000. Still owing is $1,375,000 for the 308 E. Seminary and 221 N. Scott properties, as well as, the Crossings building with a debt of $3,999,999. Of note on the financials is that the staff salaries and benefits have been allocated to the specific ministries to which they are assigned.

The proposed Ministry/Mission budget of $8,994,572 for 2022-2023 reflects a 7% increase over 2021-2022. Mr. Wiper commented that everyone’s costs have gone up over the last year and the church is no exception.

Future plans include additional international and domestic church planting. Mr. Wiper highlighted the capital campaign which raised nearly $2.2 million of the $2.35 million goal. Uses of the proceeds of the campaign included purchasing the final two houses on the north side of Seminary Avenue for $1,004,000 and paying off the aforementioned $754,000 mortgage on the other properties. The remainder of the funds are in a reserve as leadership works to raise additional funds for demolishing the houses for parking and perhaps building expansion in the long term. In the meantime, the houses will remain rental units, and tenants of these houses will be given at least six months’ prior notice before demolition would begin. The Capital Campaign fund is accepting donations at any time.

Since there were no questions or discussion on the financial presentation; Mr. Costley thanked the deacons and all involved for their work on the budget and read the resolution.

RESOLUTION TO APPROVE THE 2022-2023 BUDGET:

WHEREAS, the Board of Deacons has submitted to the Council of Elders the 2022-2023 Church Budget;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the 2022-2023 Church Budget approved by the Council of Elders and recommended to the Regular Members, be approved.

Because the resolution comes as a recommendation from the Council of Elders, it needs no motion or second.

The resolution was passed with 1 no vote and 1 abstention

Elder Jeff Oslund prayed to praise God for the generosity of God’s people and requested that God give wisdom and direction for the ministry decisions ahead and for guidance for all to be good stewards of His resources.

RESOLUTION TO APPROVE CAPINCROUSE AS AUDITOR:

Mr. Costley read the resolution and asked if there was any discussion.

WHEREAS: The Board of Deacons has submitted to the Council of Elders the recommendation of an independent auditor for 2022-2023:

THEREORE, BE IT RESOLVED: That the firm of CAPINCROUSE LLP of Naperville, Illinois, as the Church’s independent auditor for the fiscal year of 2022-2023 approved by the Council of Elders and recommended to the Regular Members, be approved.

Because the resolution comes as a recommendation from the Council of Elders, it needs no motion or second.

The resolution was passed unanimously with no discussion.

RESOLUTION TO APPROVE THE RENEWAL OF OUR LINE OF CREDIT:

WHEREAS, Wheaton Bank & Trust extends an operating line of credit to College Church to be used in the event of a shortfall in income, unsecured, interest floating at Prime (interest only on dollars utilized during the year), due 11-4-2022;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the operating line of credit from Wheaton Bank & Trust be renewed at the same terms through 11-4-2023.

continued on next page

One question was asked about whether we had used this line of credit last year. Nancy Singer responded by saying that the church had not borrowed against this line for 10 years and that the line had been reduced to $500,000 because of that. Mr. Costley added clarification that this did not mean that the church is debt free. Debt is still outstanding on Seminary and Scott apartments and the Crossings building.

Because the resolution comes as a recommendation from the Council of Elders, it needs no motion or second.

The resolution was passed unanimously.

RESOLUTION TO CALL ROGER BURGESS AS PASTOR OF VISITATION:

WHEREAS, the Bylaws of College Church state that the Senior Pastor shall recommend to the Council for its approval those of his choice to serve as members of the Pastoral Staff. Persons recommended for such positions, together with their proposed titles, duties, and responsibilities, shall be presented by the Council to the Regular Members for approval if they are to be employed for, or if their employment is to be increased to, more than 20 hours per week and if their employment is expected to last more than two years.

WHEREAS, Pastor Moody has recommended to the Council and the Council is recommending to the Regular Members that ROGER BURGESS be called as Pastor of Visitation;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that ROGER BURGESS be called as Pastor of Visitation effective 9-1-2022.

One question was asked about the duties of the job. Mr. Costley asked Pastor Moody to answer the question. Pastor Moody indicated that the duties would be hospital and Windsor resident visitation but certainly could include mentoring responsibilities or other visits.

Because the resolution comes as a recommendation from the Council of Elders, it needs no motion or second.

The resolution was passed unanimously.

RESOLUTION TO AMEND THE COLLEGE CHURCH BYLAWS:

WHEREAS, the Bylaws of College Church allow for amendments at the initiation of the Council of Elders;

WHEREAS, the Bylaws of College Church state the makeup and responsibilities of the Music Committee as follows:

SECTION 3. MUSIC COMMITTEE

(a) Composition. The Music Committee shall consist of six elected Regular Members and a member of the Pastoral Staff designated by the Senior Pastor, subject to approval by the Council (see XI.3(b)). The Pastoral Staff designee shall serve without vote. Each year, two Regular Members shall be elected to serve three-year terms. Members may not succeed themselves more than once, unless filling an unexpired term of one year or less.

(b) Organization. The Music Committee shall elect its own chair annually. It may enlist the services of other Members to assist it in carrying out its duties.

(c) Responsibilities. The Music Committee shall assist the Pastoral Staff designee in planning and implementing the music ministries and music education of the Church, and sponsoring music events.

WHEREAS, the responsibilities of the Music Committee were relevant and important when the church had only a part-time music director, but have become obsolete since College Church has a full-time Pastor of Worship and Music, who with his ministry staff and volunteers carries out these responsibilities with excellence, under the leadership of the Senior Pastor;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED: That the Council recommends approval of the dissolution of the Music Committee and its removal from the Bylaws of College Church, effective immediately.

A point of order was introduced about the wording of the amendment to the church bylaws. The proper wording of the last part of this resolution should have been: “NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED: That the Regular Members approve of the dissolution of the Music Committee and its removal from the Bylaws of College Church.

Mr. Costley asked for a motion and a second from the floor to accept this change to the amendment of the Bylaws regarding the Music Committee. A motion and second on the change were received.

Mr. Costley then asked if there was any further discussion and hearing none, he asked for the vote.

The resolution with the requested change passed unanimously.

Attention then returned to the amended Resolution:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED: That the Regular Members approve of the dissolution of the Music Committee and its removal from the Bylaws of College Church.

Because the resolution comes as a recommendation from the Council of Elders, it needs no motion or second. There was no discussion, and a vote was taken.

The amended Resolution passed with 2 “no” votes and 4 abstentions.

Mr. Costley asked Pastor Erik Dewar to lead the congregation in singing The Doxology.

Meeting officially adjourned at 6:07 p.m.

Respectfully submitted, Carol Schick

Recording Secretary

LEADERSHIP & NOMINEES

COUNCIL OF ELDERS

Dave Gieser, vice chair ’23

Randy Jahns ’23

Heinrich Johnsen ’23

David Bea ’24

Howard Costley, chair ’24

Jeremy Taylor, secretary ’24

Mark Berg ’25

Jeff Oslund ’25

Roger Sandberg ’25

David Setran ’26

Chad Thorson ’26

Brian Wildman ’26

Josh Moody, senior pastor

BOARD OF DEACONS

Kevin Cassel, chair ’23

Rick Pflederer ’23

Nate Roe ’23

Jon Smalley, secretary ’23

Pat Fallon ’24

John Lorentsen ’24

Jeff Mann ’24

Jim Shirley ’24

Kolby Atchison ’25

Bruce Bonga, vice chair ’25

Scott Bradley ’25

Brad Hiben ’25

Nancy Singer, pastoral staff liaison

BOARD OF DEACONESSES

Laurie Costley ’23

Joan Engeseth ’23

Lindsay McCracken, chair ’23

Angie Schroeder ’23

Susan Zimmerman ’23

Diana Clem ’24

Amy Kruis, vice chair ’24

Whitney McKevitt ’24

Sarah Nelson ’24

Carol Taylor ’24

Adrienne Cassel ’25

Courtney Graham ’25

Ann Lawrenz ’25

Libby Newton ’25

Liz Oster ’25

Mindy Rynbrandt, pastoral staff liaison

BOARD OF MISSIONS

Bruce Aulie ’23

Marsha Becker ’23

Joleen Billingham ’23

Marr Miller ’23

Becky Sandberg ’23

Andrew Nelson ’24

Lydia Newby ’24

Nate Peterson, treasurer ’24

Wendy Robinson ’24

Andrew Tebbe ’24

Marilyn Enstrom ’25

Marilyn Huffman, ’25

Dave Oster, ’25

Jim Tebbe, chair ’25

Tim Wang, ’25

Curt Miller, pastoral staff liaison

EVANGELISM & CULTURE IMPACT COMMITTEE

Rich Howard (unexpired term ’23)

Sarah Lindquist (unexpired term ’23)

Jenni Paulson ’23

David Kelley, chair ’24

Elizabeth Larsen (unexpired term ’24)

Dyanne Martin ’24

Mark Bodett ’25

Thanks to everyone who served this year.

Paige Cunningham ’25

Dave Sohmer ’25

Curt Miller, pastoral staff liaison, etc.

DISCIPLESHIP COMMITTEE

Harry Robinson ’23

Kayla Costley ’24

Jim Johanik, chair ’25

Josh Maurer, pastoral staff liaison

HOSPITALITY COMMITTEE

Jessica Miller (unexpired term ’23)

Charis Ellis ’23

Gisela Gottlieb ’23

Mary Martin ’23

Rebecca Orellana ’23

Amy Hiben, chair ’23

Lisa Burlingame ’24

Maggie Girgis ’24

Sue Haas ’24

Terri Penner ’24

Nara Sary ’24

Anna Walsh ’24

Mindy Rynbrandt, pastoral staff liaison

NOMINATING COMMITTEE

Allison Bonga

Jay Cunningham

Teri Hiben

Becky Sandberg

Jeff Oslund, elder

David Setran, elder

Josh Moody, senior pastor, ex officio

SERVICE & ENGAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Daniel Conroy, chair ’23

Jan Jones ’23

Gary Chase ’24

Danika Kelly ’24

Jonathan Larson ’25

Katie Nussbaum ’25

Cheryce Berg, Josh Maurer, Julie Clemens, pastoral staff liaisons

OTHER ELECTED POSITIONS

Church Treasurer

Ken Heulitt ’23

Disabilities Superintendent (11 a.m.)

Lin Fallon ’23

Disabilities Superintendent (9:30 a.m.)

Dorothy Nicholson ’24

Elementary Bible School Superintendent

Dan Burden ’23

Elementary Children’s Church Superintendent

Nancy Chase ’24

Financial Secretary

Eric Enstrom ’24

Librarian

Lisa Kern ’24

Midweek Evening Girls Superintendent

Danika Kelly ’24

Midweek Evening Boys

Superintendent

Terry Van Someren ’23

Midweek Morning Superintendent (Kids Korner)

Suzanne Shirley ’24

Nursery Superintendent

Ashley Gosselin ’23

Preschool Bible School Superintendent

Sarah Mikolajczyk ’24

Preschool Children’s Church Superintendent

Kristie Smalley ’23

Recording Secretary

Carol Schick ’24

Slate of Nominees

From the 2023-2024 Nominating Committee

COUNCIL OF ELDERS ’27

Mark Bradley

Steve Ivester

Glenn Kosirog

BOARD OF DEACONS ’26

Joel Barnes

Robb Lemp

Eric Odell

Jeff Sommars

BOARD OF DEACONESSES ’26

Julie Busteed

Becky Cook

Barb Nussbaum

Jill Tweeten

Ruth Yousaf

BOARD OF MISSIONS ’26

Grace Bliss

Tom Nussbaum

Mary Odell

Stephanie Robbins

Yousaf Sadiq

DISCIPLESHIP COMMITTEE ’26

Kara Beth Vance

EVANGELISM & CULTURE IMPACT COMMITTEE ’26

Kat Haase

Rich Howard III

Sarah Lindquist

HOSPITALITY COMMITTEE ’25

Lisa Eckert

Allison Kelley

Tammy Lam (unexpired term ’24)

Yili Le

Morgan Moxley

Bethany Opdyke

Shirley Sheppard

SERVICE & ENGAGEMENT ’26 COMMITTEE

Karen Bagge

Michael Thrasher

DISABILITIES SUPERINTENDENT ’25 (11:00 A.M.)

Nathanael Strauch

PRESCHOOL CHILDREN’S CHURCH SUPERINTENDENT ’25

Kristie Smalley

ELEMENTARY BIBLE SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT ’25

Christina Achziger

TREASURER ’25

Ken Heulitt

MIDWEEK EVENING BOYS SUPERINTENDENT ’25

Terry VanSomeren

NURSERY SUPERINTENDENT ’25

Suzy Yoder

Ways to Give to College Church

Giving of our tithes and offerings is an integral part of our corporate worship because it is a unique expression of gratitude to God. When we give, we celebrate all that God has given for us, especially his incredible grace in our lives through the shedding of Christ’s blood on the cross to reconcile us to Himself. God owns everything and when we give, we are simply giving back a portion of what He has entrusted to our managing. Giving to College Church also makes possible all our church does here at home, our care for others throughout the community, and our missions outreach around the world.

After you have determined what you will give, we have several methods which you may use to support the ministries and missions efforts of College Church:

CHECK

One of the most common ways is by check. Contribution envelopes can be assigned to you for your use in depositing your check, or it can be dropped in the offering plate or mailed to the church office. Whether you use an envelope or not, contributions by check are automatically credited to your giving record. If you would like a box of offering envelopes, simply email Cindy Schuerman at cschuerman@college-church.org.

CASH

If you give cash and enclose it in an offering envelope with your name, it will also be credited to your giving record.

ONLINE

More and more individuals are choosing the electronic method of making contributions on-line just like they are paying many of their bills on-line. With the security of your information of highest importance, you can rely upon our on-line giving site to set up a one-time, or recurring gift of whatever amount you choose, and however often you choose. And it is easy to change the amount or frequency whenever you wish. Visit collegechurch.org/giving to get started.

GIFTS OF STOCKS OR MUTUAL FUNDS

You may donate stocks or mutual funds directly to College Church by transferring them from your broker to the church’s broker. Although you should consult your tax advisor, giving in this way may provide you a tax advantage. There may also be small numbers of shares you own that you would rather move out of your portfolio, but would prefer not to handle all of the paperwork involved. College Church is pleased to

be able to expedite those transactions for you. Please contact Nancy Singer or Dan Bauer 630-668-0878 for specific instructions.

GIFTS THROUGH YOUR WILL

College Church would count it a privilege for you to remember us as one of the beneficiaries of your estate. Because College Church is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, monies desginated to the church may save estate and inheritance taxes on the amount given.

MEMORIAL GIFTS

You may ask your loved ones to request that gifts in your memory be made to College Church. Likewise, you may give to College Church gifts in honor of a loved one who has passed away, whether they attended the church or not. It is just one more way of making your gifts count toward Kingdom Work.

REQUIRED MINIMUM DISTRIBUTIONS

If you are at the age when you are required to withdraw a portion of your IRA, you can direct your IRA custodian to make a direct transfer to College Church as a 501(c)(3) non-profit as a qualified charitable donation (QCD). Again, consult your tax advisor, but the amount withdrawn may provide tax advantages.

FINANCIALS

Financials for

Fiscal Year Ended April 30, 2023

The financial statements and statistics on the following pages can seem daunting, complicated, and, let’s face it, somewhat boring. We are a church full of ministries—that is what’s important—why do we have to talk so much about finances and money?

Simply put, we ARE all about ministry, but without resources in the form of money, we would not be able to provide ministry. Because our congregants donate money to provide the resources to operate our ministries, we provide reports on what resources we’ve received and just as importantly, how we’ve spent those resources to further God’s kingdom.

Our vision is framed by three words: Proclaiming the Gospel.

Everything we do, and every dollar we spend, is for that very purpose, whether we are paying the utility bills, the salaries of our staff, or fixing the elevator. Each of these elements work together to proclaim the gospel.

The pastoral staff and elders have identified five initiatives listed below along with how the 2023-2024 budget is aligned with these initiatives.

PATHWAY. We will develop a simple invitational pathway for our gospel ministries: Discover Jesus, Grow in Your Faith and Impact the World. We will develop that pathway by calling a pastor of evangelism to lead the Discover portion because we have discovered we need to present the distinctive gospel ministry opportunity of College Church more clearly and invitationally to the surrounding community.

• The overall missions and outreach budgets reflect a full 4% increase for missions to increase the Impact portion of the pathway

• The budget includes a Pastor of Evangelism to be voted on at the May 21, 2023 annual meeting to lead the Discover portion of the pathway.

COMMUNITY. We will cultivate care, encouragement and connection with each other by: 1) mobilizing elders, ministry staff and congregants to mutual care, 2) combined with the calling of a community life pastor to work with a care committee to facilitate shepherding and 3) increased use of approved counseling with designated space in the Crossings because after conversations with key ministry leaders, it is apparent we need to increase connectivity between members and attenders of the church through mutually loving and caring hospitality.

• The salaries & benefits budget reflects the calling of a pastor of community life at the end of this coming fiscal year, we have recently added a female ministry associate to assist in the Care of our congregation, and we anticipate including some space for counseling in the coming renovation of the 2-story Crossings space.

DISCIPLESHIP. We will elevate biblically rigorous and practical discipleship by increasing personal disciple making, exploring more adult communities at other hours, and two churchwide educational seminars on matters of current discipleship importance because we have ascertained a growing need for this discipleship that is coherently coordinated across both small and large groups.

• A new first year pastoral resident has been included in the budget to add to our various discipleship ministries to help our men, women, children and youth grow in their faith.

CAMPUS. We will increasingly activate our campus by utilizing the Crossings as a crossover space for reaching the community, for student and family space, with a phase 2 plan established and a capital campaign launched while continuing to hold a flexible approach

to our other rental properties over the long term as they cash flow because it is apparent that we need to develop more ministry space.

• The task force for the Crossings established by the Council is producing communication material and processes to meet these objectives.

• The deacon budget will continue to incorporate the Crossings as an integral part of our campus.

PLANTING. We will leverage the church’s history of church planting, training programs, and connections across the country and world by committing to plant multiple new churches by 2030 in partnership with likeminded churches and organizations.

• The budget includes $166,000 dollars to multiply our church planting initiative in 2023-24.

Pursuing the vision of “proclaiming the gospel” we celebrate what God does as we each take responsibility for the needs of that vision. Giving is an act of worship as we steward his resources that he has given us to manage for him. Our membership covenant as a church includes our commitment to give.

TOTAL INCOME

$9,640,833

This depicts the income numbers on the top half of page 68 and provides an “at a glance” look at this year’s income.

TOTAL EXPENDITURES FOR MINISTRY/MISSIONS (INCLUDES SALARIES/BENEFITS)

$8,066,360

This depicts the expenditures on the bottom half of page 68 and provides an “at-a-glance” look at this year’s expenditures.

MINISTRY/MISSIONS GIVING BY REGULAR MEMBERS 2022-2023

This chart estimates the proportion of the membership who give. If you are not yet giving, why not start with a little and increase that over time to experience the joy of generosity. And if you are already giving, let’s see as a body of believing members how we can increase our giving this year too.

MAJOR CATEGORIES OF 2023-2024 BUDGET (SALARIES/BENEFITS INCLUDED IN RESPECTIVE CATEGORY)

This depicts the budget on pages 66 and 67 and provides an “at-a-glance” look at this year’s expenditures.

The number of giving units is shown in the bars at the bottom of the graph. A married couple is considered one giving unit, and a single person is considered one giving unit. Much like the experience of other churches and non-profits, there has been a decline in the number of giving units over time, although in the last three years the giving units have been nearly identical. However the average gift per giving unit has shown a 66 percent increase. This year is only the second time in the decade that the average gift has declined. Great is God’s faithfulness to this church through its people.

COLLEGE CHURCH PROPERTIES AND DEBT

This chart shows the comparison between the budgets for each of the last 10 years, and the giving and expenditures recorded in each of those years. Although our giving has only been more than our budget once in this decade and only one other time in the last 23 years, deliberate expense control has resulted in expenditures consistently at or below our income. God continues to bless us with his faithfulness such as an unexpected estate gift of over half a million dollars which brought us to 94% of our budget and covered our actual expenditures.

CASH EXPENDITURES AND BUDGETS YEAR ENDED APRIL 30, 2023

SUMMARY OF MINISTRY/MISSIONS

UNAUDITED INCOME AND CASH EXPENDITURES STATEMENT

YEAR ENDED APRIL 30, 2023

UNAUDITED FINANCIAL REPORT AS OF APRIL 30, 2023 NET ASSETS

UNAUDITED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION [A]

2022-2023 TWICE IS NICE AND STARS RESALE SHOP ACTIVITIES