2022 Annual Report

2022

ANNUAL REPORT

WHAT WE BELIEVE WORSHIP

regularly with other believers daily through spiritual practices my time, talents and treasures joyfully to make disciples

MISSION VISION

TO REACH THE DISCONNECTED AND GROW THE CONNECTED.

A COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN RESTORING & TRANSFORMING THE WORLD.

Dear

Faith Church Family,

Whether towards the end of a year or the beginning of a new one, do you take time to reflect on the last 365 days? In my own personal pastoral reflection of 2022, it included: our Faith Family growing as we celebrated 219 new members professing their belief in Jesus Christ; meeting with Pastor Francisco of the First Presbyterian Church of Manaus, Brazil (IPM) as they built a new worship center with funds you helped provide; celebrating the 10 year anniversary of Faith Beecher; running the Chicago Marathon with 23 other Faith Churchers in support of World Vision; attending two gatherings for the Kingdom Network; and most recently, our candlelit Christmas Eve services. Much can change and shape you within a year. A time of reflection allows us to look back on God’s faithfulness, at how He’s been with us in the joy-filled celebrations and carried us through the hard valleys. How has God walked with you in 2022?

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; proclaim his deeds among the peoples. Psalm 105:1 (CSB)

Each year we create an Annual Report so you can see God’s faithfulness, what He has done in and through Faith Church. I’m continually in awe of the God of eternity. While reading the following pages, be reminded how the numbers illustrated can also represent souls in our church familyand the Kingdom of God.

As we look ahead to this new year - the only 2023 that ever will be - our hope is that this Annual Report will ignite (or reaffirm) the purpose God has for you at Faith Church as we continue to reach the disconnected and grow the connected for Jesus Christ!

Always for His glory, Pastor Bob

EVENTS

Night to Shine

Feb 11

The Night to Shine, Shine-Thru Parade raised goosebumps, and not just from the cold weather. Our volunteers brought the energy! Our guests, dressed for their 2022 prom, were showered with love and praise as they were crowned and celebrated as Kings & Queens of the Prom! God’s presence was undoubtedly felt - and we give Him all the glory for using Faith Church to shine the light on His children, who He fearfully and wonderfully made.

IF Gathering Mar 4 & 5

The first all-church IF: Gathering was a blessing to the 180 women in attendance! The women of Faith Church are hungry to be in community together and for the word of God. Many stories were shared of how women felt God’s presence and walked away feeling refreshed in their mission and had less fear and loneliness after gathering.

Faith Kids Fun Run

Jun 4

The Fun Run is hosted by our children’s ministry, who were on mission to raise money for Tesoros de Dios in Nicaragua to purchase a truck for outreach and education experiences in the remote and mountainous areas. Faith Kids participants did an amazing job! We believe events like the Fun Run are not only a great opportunity to build community but to teach our children to be on mission for Jesus’s name being known!

Springhill Day Camp Jul 18 - 22

The smell of sunscreen filled the hallways of Faith Dyer as 259 children (completed kindergarten through 5th grade) participated in SpringHill Camp last summer. From camp chants, to Bible stories, to water slides and team activities, it was certainly a summer highlight for the campers. At the end of the week, 83 children made the decision to follow Jesus for the first time!

Global Leadership Summit Aug 4 & 5

Over 600 leaders throughout Northwest Indiana and South Chicagoland registered for last year’s Global Leadership Summit to gain insight, inspiration and leadership tools from world-class faculty. Together, our hope is to ignite transformation as we voice our vision for a better future for the Region.

Christian Aid Golf Outing

Sep 27

Over 120 golfers participated in the 2022 Christian Aid Golf Outing at White Hawk Country Club. With the great support of our sponsors, golfers, dinner guests and volunteers, over $16,000 was raised for the Christian Aid Ministry. Funds raised allow the Ministry to provide greater guidance and assistance to those in our Faith Church family who are experiencing financial hardships. If you’d like to learn more about the Christian Aid Ministry, please visit: WeAreFaith.org/Christian-Aid.

GRIT Oct 28

Over 170 men from Faith Church and the community gathered for a night of worship, authentic testimonies and encouragement as to how to live courageously in the identity Christ has called each man to live in. There was even delicious BBQ involved. We praise God for this time of reflection and encouragement for those in attendance.

Gobbler Classic Nov 24

With beautiful 5K weather on Thanksgiving morning, we set a NEW record of registrations - 837 youth & adults registered to participate! From running, to walking, to strollers - and even one on a tricycle - there were many smiles throughout the morning. With the support of amazing sponsors, Gobblers (aka participants) and additional donations received, we raised over $18,500 for food pantries in Faith Church communities.

Behold the Wonder Dec 8, 9, 10 & 11

Behold the Wonder returned in person for its seventh year with five sold-out performances. From the musicians and vocalists, to production and tech teams, to the volunteers and leadership behind the scenes - Thank You for the magic! Many invitations were extended - and many received the hope of Jesus through this special Christmas event.

GROUPS

There are many different groups where people are known, loved, challenged and prayed for.

FAITH KIDS (infant-5th grade) & STUDENTS (6th-12th grade)

441 484

Faith Kids participants per week Faith Kids participants during the school year per week

Faith Students 220 Faith Students new students participated in a gathering

161 NEW kids from all Faith Church locations who have not previously participated

331

COVER TO COVER 4 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN

If we want to grow daily as followers of Jesus Christ, it is essential we spend time in our Bibles. At the completion of our fourth year of the 4-year Bible Reading Plan, 3,006 people signed-up to receive a link to the daily Bible passage and devotional:

2,482 receive texts 524 receive emails

JOURNEY GROUPS

The Journey is a 22-week course, designed to provide a safe place for a group of 7-10 people to slow down and be intentional on focusing on our relationship with Jesus – our personal discipleship. It provides a place where God can meet us, teach us, shape us, bless us and help us grow.

Participants discern:

•Who is God? Who am I? How do I fit into His plan?

•12 groups were hosted with 113 participants in total

TIME & TALENTS

God has created each one of us to have unique gifts and talents. When we use our gifts to serve others, we become participants in God’s plan to transform the world.

49%

of people serve regularly (as reported in our 2022 Spiritual Life Survey)

63

Faith Students volunteers serve weekly

Reflectors volunteers serve at least twice a month

10 Kids Hope Mentors serve at two local schools (MacArthur, Southridge)

Faith Kids volunteers serve at least once a month

GLOBALLY

Faith Missions strives toward mobilizing people and resources to restore the world one relationship at a time. We do this primarily through partnering with like-minded, vibrant evangelical churches and organizations in targeted communities around the world or impact areas. Our engagement within these partnerships are focused toward leadership development, community development and reaching unreached people.

As Faith Church embraces a new interdependent model, our Central Mission Team has restructured to include a representative from each of our locations. Additionally, we celebrate that each Faith Church location has begun to identify their individual mission partnerships. Centrally we will continue to work together in our impact areas.

IMPACT AREA HIGHLIGHTS

BRAZIL: WORKING WITH THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF MANAUS (IPM)

- Partnered with Lia and Thiago Dantas as missionary liaisons to the RCA and IPM.

- Celebrated Faith Church being debt free by taking a special offering for IPM’s Nehemiah project, to help rebuild their main worship center. All together we raised $135,000 toward this effort!

RWANDA: WORKING WITH WORLD VISION IN SIMBI

- Continued sponsoring 1,150 kids in Simbi, Rwanda

- In October, 24 people from Faith Church ran the Chicago Marathon with Team World Vision, raising $93,585.10 and providing 1,871 kids with clean water in Rwanda!

BEECHER

Mobile Food Pantry: In conjunction with the Northern Illinois Food Bank, we host and staff this mobile food distribution effort approximately once a month. It is available to anyone with an Illinois zip code. This is also publicized by the Beecher Village Hall and Beecher Chamber of Commerce. In 2022 we averaged 104 families per mobile (with an average of eight new families per month), reflecting an average of 342 people each month. We have continued to offer prayer cards each month and this has been well received.

Student Ministry: Faith Students Beecher continues to provide a place for teenagers to ask questions, belong and feel loved. We invite young people to become a follower of Jesus, and we walk alongside them in their journey. A big part of our ministry is an outreach to the community and an estimated 90% of our students who attend are from the Beecher community and surrounding areas, like Grant Park & Peotone. In 2022 we have had some incredible volunteers, which is believed to have helped in our group’s growth rate of approximately 25% over 2021.

Community Events: We collected candy for the Village of Beecher’s Easter Egg Hunt. We participated in a Trunk Or Treat event with St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Beecher at Zion Lutheran.

Serving Our Schools: To help build a connection within the community, we provided lunch to Beecher Elementary School, Junior High and High School. The Junior High and High School were individually packed “lunch bags,” prepared and delivered by Beecher staff, while our Moms of Littles brought lunch to the Elementary School.

Kids Hope USA: This fall we launched our Kids Hope program in Beecher Elementary School. Four mentors started meeting with students in the fall; two additional mentors joined and will begin meeting with students in early 2023.

Beecher’s 4th of July: After collecting plenty of candy, we participated in the community parade on the 4th of July. We also had many volunteers serving in the kitchen during the festival days.

Light Up Dixie: We decorated a tree along Dixie Highway as a part of the Beecher Chamber of Commerce Light Up Dixie.

Beecher’s Frosty Friends: We provided more than 80 Christmas gifts for families in need in Beecher by participating in Frosty Friends, a program that provides Christmas gifts for families in our community.

Police Department Chaplain: Pastor Brian serves as a Chaplain for the Village of Beecher Police Department. He has participated in events such as Village Easter Egg Hunt, National Night Out, and the Police Station Open House. He has also been on some ride-alongs in the community.

CEDAR LAKE

Faith Family Market: Every Monday, the Cedar Lake community has provided the opportunity to receive groceries and other necessities provided by the generosity of Faith Cedar Lake. This year we were able to bless our community with 40 Easter baskets and 80 holiday (Thanksgiving & Christmas) baskets.

Prayer & Worship Night: We have continued our Prayer & Worship Night on the 1st Wednesday of the month. We gather together to praise God as well as pray with and for each other, even reaching those in our community who are disconnected seeking to learn more about God and the mission of Faith Church.

Faith on the Move: Our Community Outreach and Service Team continues to go on mission in our community by supporting residents with minor repair, clean-up projects and assistance in caring for their property. This year the team had the privilege of partnering with Habitat for Humanity as volunteers. They were able to give of their time and talents on eight projects within our community in 2022. Faith On The Move primarily uses volunteers for this work and will not accept projects outside of the scope of their abilities. Depending on associated costs, funding for projects typically is a partnership with the property owner (based on income sources) and Faith On The Move, which receives donations in support of its ministry.

Community Blessings: We were able to: provide Angel Trees for 40 students at MacArthur Elementary School in addition to gift wrapping supplies and gift cards; raise $1,650 for SpringHill scholarships; bless some Reflectors families with gift cards; furnish $1,000 in Aldi gift cards to MacArthur Elementary School. Faith Students also ventured into the community and with $1,000 blessed a total of 10 families as they shopped during the holidays.

New Ministries Launched: In 2022 two new ministries were launched at Faith Church Cedar Lake:

•Golden Hope Ministries offers hope and healing not only to grieving families, but also provides age appropriate groups for children, teens and adults. Adult participants must be caregivers of child and/or teen participants.

•Teen Mother Choices is a ministry that empowers young moms between the ages of 13 to 23 to become loving, responsible parents and independent functioning members of their communities. Each young mom is paired with a mentor who helps her set and achieve goals, work with a financial advocate and attend weekly life skill workshops.

Reflectors: Faith Church Reflectors participants and their families came together to be shown love and support as we hosted a Lakeside Gathering on Cedar Lake community grounds. Additionally, we hosted a DanceGiving event for the second year and outreached to those not currently members of Faith Church.

Card Ministry: The Card Ministry has kept the relationships building by sending out 166 greetings of faith, celebration and support.

Faith Church Cedar Lake Building Hosts: We have maintained relationships with three groups within our community by hosting and allowing utilization of our church.

Lakeside Artist Guild & Academy (LAGA): Now in year two of our partnership, LAGA offers weekly music lessons primarily for kids and presents their two seasonal (fall and spring) concerts at Faith Cedar Lake. In exchange for their utilization of space in our building, Faith Cedar Lake receives periodic performances by their musicians in our praise and worship ministry, as well as two freewill offerings LAGA receives from the audience at their two concerts.

Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS): TOPS is a nonprofit weight-loss support group founded in 1948. There are weekly meetings including private weigh-ins which we host Tuesday mornings at Faith Church Cedar Lake. They gather to help and support each other as they take off pounds sensibly. TOPS strive to assist everyday people become healthier, so they can do more of the things they enjoy with the people they love.

Soccer Shots: During their active seasons we host Soccer Shots on Saturday mornings to provide an outdoor field to practice on. Soccer Shots is an engaging children’s soccer program with a focus on character development both on and off the field.

DYER

Faith Students:

Serve Days: Students served at Strassburg Elementary School at Toy Mart to provide toys for children in Sauk Village.

Small Groups: Small groups worked with Phil’s Friends and blessed the community through care packages. Small groups also served by raking leaves and doing yard work for the elderly in the local community.

The Welcome Network: Faith Students partnered with The Welcome Network by working on a home that helps transition refugees to America.

Blessing the Community: Faith Church provided Hope Packs full of school supplies for over 900 students at Wagoner and Strassburg schools in Sauk Village.

Many volunteers from Faith Dyer gathered together at Rickover Jr. High School to paint inspirational murals on the walls for students to see and be blessed by.

Reflectors Ministry: Reflectors Ministry went on mission this fall. Every other Wednesday we gathered together and made no-sew fleece blankets, colored cards and included encouragement for Phil’s Friends, an organization that provides Christ-centered support and hope for those affected by cancer.

Outreach: Tesoros de Dios (God’s Treasures): Faith Dyer partnered with Tesoros de Dios (God’s Treasures) to provide food packets, medical packets, therapy tools, and Christmas gifts for students and their families who attend Tesoros De Dios in NIcaragua. To date we have received $10,641.

Family Picnic: We offered a free Family Picnic for the community that involved giveaway prizes, games and inflatables.

Men of Faith: Members of Men of Faith Dyer built beds for the Sleep in Heavenly Peace organization, which builds and delivers beds to children who don’t have beds to sleep in.

HIGHLAND

Town of Highland: We were honored to come alongside our town in many ways this year. Faith

Highland helped clean up the local parks; served Southridge Elementary through Kids Hope; bought gifts for struggling Highland families during the holidays; learned leadership principles along with our Police Department at the Global Leadership Summit; hosted multiple Highland High School athletic teams for dinner and awards nights. We are so blessed to be a part of this amazing community!

Angel Tree: We were able to provide Christmas gifts for over 200 kids that have a parent in prison. This outreach ministry allows us to minister to many families who find it hard to celebrate the way they would desire. As family members came to get the gifts, we offered a space of refreshment, rest and prayer. We are humbled to step into that space with so many families.

Grace Beyond Borders: We continued our partnership with this East Chicago-based ministry, which serves the homeless in the Region. The mission of Grace Beyond Borders is to offer a handup to people wherever they are and not just hand-outs. Their new facility is set up to serve as transitional housing for women and children.

Habitat for Humanity: It was exciting to be a part of a ministry that dedicated four more completed homes this year. We had fun working together to build all the walls for an entire house in our own parking lot again. We volunteered on construction sites and the Faith Highland deacons partnered with Habitat in hosting Financial Peace University.

Food Bank of Northwest Indiana: Faith Church continued its support to provide nutritious and consistent food to the Region. We have regular volunteers that pack boxes, volunteer and deliver food. The mission of the Food Bank parallels the Faith Family Market, which we also help support and is hosted at our Munster location.

Family Market: Members of the church community have the opportunity to shop for and take home food and other goods provided by the generosity of Faith Munster. Again, this year we were able to bless 23 families with a turkey for Thanksgiving in addition to their regular goods. Nine families on average are served each distribution. The market has thirteen volunteers who serve twice a month.

MUNSTER

Gather & Grow Wednesdays: is a place to connect with God and others in community. We offer two unique options for Gather and Grow: Group One discusses the current sermon series on the first and third Wednesdays; Group Two uses a video-led Bible study or topic on the second and fourth Wednesdays. Both groups meet at Faith Munster at 7 PM.

Love, Inc: A ministry of local churches to transform lives and communities in the name of Christ. We serve as one of the churches for Love, Inc to help out with collections of groceries, financially and volunteers.

Stars of Hope: We partner with Love, Inc. in adopting six families as well as an additional six families from Family Market for Christmas. This year we were able to bless 12 families in need and collected 67 gifts to distribute to the families just in time for Christmas. We are thankful for the generosity of our members.

National Night Out: We love partnering with the Munster Police Department and Choice Community Council of Munster to participate in Munster’s Annual National Night Out Celebration. We gather together with other community organizations to bless our Munster community and let them know about Jesus and Faith Church. Transforming the world one relationship at a time!

Fall Festival: This year we hosted our third Trunk or Treat. We had 29 decorated trunks and served hotdogs and popcorn to 420+ people. It was well attended by our church and community families. The community looks forward to this event yearly.

DIY Classes: We had a few classes throughout the year for special seasons like Easter, fall and Christmas. We hosted the second Pop-Up Shop for the holidays that was well attended by our church and people from the community.