2024/2025 ANNUAL REPORT
Mission:
Vision:
If NMC ceased to exist, we (not the building, but the body of Christ) would be missed.
North Metro Church,
Welcome to our 2024–2025 Annual Report! As I reflect on our journey, I am filled with gratitude for how God moved among us and for the lives He transformed over the years.
This past year, we experienced a revived sense of community and purpose. Together, we witnessed powerful stories of people following Jesus for the first time, faithfully walking with Him, and helping others find Him. As you’ll read in the following pages, we also marked a historic moment— celebrating our first Sunday, first Easter, and Christmas at our first multisite location, Sewell Mill. I thank God for His faithfulness over the past year and look forward with excitement to what He has in store next.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your obedience to God, your generosity, and your commitment to our mission. Your partnership was vital in creating impactful environments where lives were transformed by God’s love—here in Marietta, across East Cobb, throughout our community, and around the world.
As you explore this report, may you be encouraged by the stories and achievements that reflect God’s faithfulness and the community we shared.
Grateful for you,
Rob McDowell
Lead Pastor
Salvation and Baptisms
As we lived out our mission to help people find and follow Jesus, we saw this mission fulfilled through powerful moments of salvation and baptism.
2025 Vision
We aim to help 1,000 people find Jesus. Fully dependent on God, we remain faithful in sharing the good news of the Gospel.
Throughout 2024–2025, we celebrated:
156
82 Salvations
Baptisms — Adults, students, and children publicly declared that they had been found by Jesus and acknowledged Him as their Lord and Savior.
The Word helps me from spiraling. I am making decisions now based on my faith and what God says instead of letting my anxiety dictate my life. Today, I’m getting baptized because Jesus showed me He’s bigger than my brokenness.
Sydney Chandler (HNOW 4.3.25)
The challenges I faced started piling up, and I found myself needing a place to go. That,s when I started to see Christ differently. He wasn,t just a religious figure. He was someone who saw me, loved me, and wanted to walk me through everything, and I love everything about Him. I came to realize that Christ is not only Lord, but also the one I could turn to at any time. He became like a friend, always present, always understanding, and always on my side... I want to get baptized today because Christ is not only my Savior, but my foundation and my friend.
Nadia Vincent (HNOW 4.3.25)
On August 7th, I met with some pastors here at NMC and repented of my sins and acknowledged Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Since then, many things have changed in my life, including who I spend time with. I,m very thankful to now belong to a group of men through Re:generation who study and train together each week to live the life that God has designed for us. Today, I,m getting baptized as my next step of obedience and declaring my new life in Christ.
Jim Hill (HNOW 4.3.25)
Because of God, I have an overflowing amount of love, and even when I get really sad or mad, there's always joy in Jesus. It ,s engraved in my heart. I,m getting baptized to show my identity in Christ and to live my life the way He wants me to. He made everything in the world, then He chose to make me, and He loved me so much that He sent His son to die for me. Why would I not worship that?
Piper McGee (HNOW 1.23.25)
But at rock bottom, the Lord found me and He rescued me from the pit slowly and surely, and in His kindness, the Lord began to make me aware that He had placed many wonderful people in my life to help point and lead me to Him... While Pastor Rob was preaching from 1 John and encouraging us towards training, not trying, I felt like the Lord was speaking directly to me, and that simple phrase stood out to me. I decided that I was done trying and was going to start training. I finally started to understand that God,s grace is freely given to those who accept it, and I could finally start accepting it and reconciling the fact that the Lord could love me in spite of my sins, failures, and shortcomings, and in fact forgive me of them because of what Jesus has done... Today I,m getting baptized in front of my friends and family to take up my cross and faithfully follow Jesus with my whole life.
Ricardo Cruz (Sewell Mill 10.06.24)
Launching Sewell Mill
On Sunday, July 28, during Hunger Revival 2024, we launched our second campus— Sewell Mill!
Throughout the year, we celebrated many new beginnings at Sewell Mill and thanked God for the
Because we are one church, this report combines numbers and stories from both our Barrett and
Church Gatherings
We gathered on Sunday mornings to center our lives on God. Through biblical teaching, serving, and worship through music and communion, we saw God continue to transform lives.
Teaching Series Hunger Revival
In July 2024, we hosted our third four-day revival, Hunger 2024, focused on desiring more of God’s words, ways, and worship. We celebrated 16 baptisms and heard powerful teaching from Crawford Loritts and Scott Free.
Hunger Nights of Worship
Over 1,500 people attended in September, November, January, and April.
16 OVER 1500 Baptisms Attendees
Easter
people — joined us for our communitywide Family Easter Festivals.
attended — Easter Services.
celebrated — the Passover Seder Dinner at NMC in partnership with Dallas Theological Seminary.
Around Our Campuses
903
Tablesetters set the table for others to experience God’s goodness at NMC. From singing to greeting to holding babies, to packing food bags, brewing coffee, and checking families in, these Tablesetters faithfully demonstrated the love of God to others.
To honor them, we hosted two special appreciation events:
713
Tablesetters and friends joined us for the 2024 Braves Game Appreciation Night in July.
525
633
Tablesetters attended our Appreciation Dinner and Game Nights in December.
Dads and daughters made special memories at our Daddy Daughter Date Night.
Circles
We help people find and follow Jesus through our Circles— encouraging everyone to live in community, love God, His Church, and others, and learn biblical truth.
Take a next step!
These three circles guide all of our ministries.
North Metro Church University (NMCU)
NMCU serves as a vehicle for studying the Bible together and forming a biblical worldview. Through a set sequence of 10-week classes, participants learn the big picture of Scripture and how everything points to and is fulfilled in Jesus. This process equips them to understand and communicate their faith, becoming disciples who make disciples.
NMCU Workshops
We offered workshops to provide practical tools for learning, loving, and living well:
College Intern Program
engaged couples completed Merge, our premarital mentoring class
couples joined our re|engage semesterlong groups at Barrett and Sewell Mill
couples participated in Foundation gatherings, designed for couples married three years or less
participants
couples participated in Merge 2.0, launched this year in non-mortgage debt paid off over the 9-week course
participants commenced from Re:generation and committed to this discipleship and recovery process
Courtney
Strosnider
“Hi, my name is Courtney, and I have a new life in Christ. God is recovering me from pride, control, and perfectionism.”
My entire life, I focused on doing the right thing and never making mistakes. The problem was I defined “right.” I expected others to follow my standards, and when they didn’t, I felt disappointed and resentful. I had so much built-up resentment that I entered situations with no expectations of others, trying to self-protect from disappointment. It was a heavy, critical, and unkind way to live.
I grew up attending church, enjoying vacation Bible school, youth group, and retreats. These were foundational for learning about God, but something was missing—a relationship with Him. I could pray when led by others, memorize scripture for competitions, and take sermon notes. Being called “teacher’s pet” or “goody two shoes” built me up because it meant I was good.
I accepted Jesus in 7th grade, thinking everything would change after baptism, but it didn’t because I thought I was already doing good. It wasn’t until re:generation that I realized I only trusted God with my eternal life, not my daily life.
I love control—plans, checklists, and accomplishments. When things don’t go my way, I criticize myself and others. My husband’s comment about my negativity hit me hard. Trying Bible studies to fix myself, I
still felt lonely and stuck. In early 2023, I joined three studies, yet the void remained.
At North Metro Church, I attended a re:generation meeting. Hearing others turn to Christ for healing felt like a “duh” moment—of course, I should go to God for change! On my first night, I cried while admitting struggles I hadn’t shared with my closest friends.
Matthew 11:28 says, “Come to me, all who are weary, and I will give you rest.” I was weary.
Step 3, trust, revealed how little I trusted God in daily life. Step 4, inventory, showed me the burden of my resentment. Step 5, confess, allowed me to say it out loud and feel relief. In Step 8, forgiveness, I struggled but prayed and gave it to God, finally letting go. Only by His forgiveness could I make amends. Praise God.
During regeneration, I realized my loneliness stemmed from neglecting Jesus in my daily life. Now, I imagine Him as a friend by my side. To deepen this relationship, I do devotionals, spend quiet time with God, and pray through songs. I’m kinder to my husband and more open about struggles. Failures remind me how much I need Jesus. Romans 7:18 says, “For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” Only Jesus can bring change.
I don’t listen to Satan’s lies about isolation or inadequacy. Instead, I turn to God, embrace His truth, and rely on my Christ-centered community. I’m not holding onto resentments or expecting perfection from others. 2
Corinthians 5:17 reminds me, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!”
Though I’m still a work in progress, I know God created me with purpose. He’s not focused on my checklist but my heart. Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Lord, I seek you with all my heart and delight in you.
My name is Courtney, I have a new life in Christ, and God is recovering me from pride, control, and perfectionism. God deserves all the glory.
Be Missed in Our Community
In everything we do, we consistently share that we are here to help people find and follow Jesus—and we do this by loving God, His Church, and others. We engage with everyone in and outside of our circles in a way that, if NMC ceased to exist, we (not the building but the body of Christ) would be missed.
City Serve
5 City Serves — we gathered for five City Serves, including City Serve Saturdays and Weeks.
Hope for Christmas
Hope for Christmas provided gifts for children and meals for families in our community through our partnership with Mission 1:27.
We love our local community. Over the course of the year, we utilized and stewarded our building for community use—hosting students for MHS IB testing and multiple trainings and events for Cobb County and Marietta City Schools.
$50,000 $25,000 $647,260
given to Samaritan’s Purse for hurricane relief.
given to Salvation Army for earthquake relief.
given to mobilization efforts.
In West Cobb
720
Over 100 36
students at Kennesaw Mountain High School participated in Habitudes (Character-Ed mentoring)
Character-Ed mentors
family connections — NMC Kids brought Mobi to visit 3 local parks, share ice cream, and connect.
In East Cobb
We hosted a food drive for a local elementary school.
We invited the community to our first Family Fall Festival in October.
NMC Kids continued supporting Hayes Elementary through ice cream days and staff care.
Mountain Movers was launched, an afterschool club at Hayes Elementary, where 21 third-grade students learned about Jesus in a public school setting.
Mobilization Partners and Missionaries
To continue loving our community and the world, we partnered with organizations and missionaries who shared the Gospel with those they served. We believe in their mission and support them financially and prayerfully.
Mobilization Partners
Missionaries
TRACY McHAM Cru City
LUKE AND MICHELLE STANNARD Mission to the World
AYLA NORRIS Cru Campus
JUSTIN ALFORD Young Life
STEPHEN & MILLIE CRAIG Nairobi
CHRIS & DORA BARBEE Thailand
Casa del Redentor
Casa del Redentor (CDR), Redeemer’s House in English, is North Metro Church’s international ministry in Panajachel, Guatemala. CDR focused on three strategies: building local churches, supporting community education programs, and mentoring local pastors. The CDR team helps people find and follow Jesus across four villages: Panajachel, Xecotoj, Chuizuit, and Patzazun. Through the nutrition and discipleship programs, CDR is improving children’s health and laying a strong foundation for a personal and lasting relationship with Jesus.
This year, NMC & CDR mobilized
6 short-term mission teams
Participants served, shared the Gospel, and built deep connections. Some highlights include:
• Served more than 260 children weekly in rural communities
• Renovated the front facades of two schools
• Renovated the playground and sports court in Xecotoj
• Built a new playground for the children of Xecotoj
• Installed a video surveillance system in Xecotoj to improve safety for the children
• Distributed more than 300 food bags to the families most in need across the communities we serve
• Evangelized and prayed for dozens of families in every location where we ministered
• Gave out Christmas gifts to almost 300 children and shared a special themed Christmas meal
• 6 individuals were baptized
• At least 100 people acknowledged Jesus as their Savior during ministry activities throughout the year
Live in Community
Around NMC, we say “Welcome Home” because we want everyone to feel like part of our church family. One way to experience this is by living in community.
Community Groups:
551
Connection Groups:
809 people focused on prayer and Bible study. people shared hobbies and interests.
participants
men attended Man Church events with Mark Richt and Dr. Derwin Gray
women attended Women’s Gatherings with Katherine Wolf and Chrystal Evans Hurst
Next Generation: Students
This year, NMC Students focused on being Just Like Jesus studying Scripture and practicing His ways.
students trusted Jesus for the first time
students and leaders attended fall and spring retreats
students led worship through music for their peers
students served in Guatemala (June 2025)
students gathered at the first-ever combined worship night at Sewell Mill
On average, 65 middle school students participated in weekly Bible studies in our Middle School Mornings
This year, NMC College focused on how the Gospel changes everything about our lives, from finances to relationships. In addition, students were encouraged that God can use any story, regardless of age or circumstances, to bring glory to Him, in their series, Everyone Has a Story.
gatherings of worship, study, and community
students and adults served in Guatemala (March 2024)
students served at City Takers (June 2025)
students attended the fall college retreat
students attended Passion Conference
Next Generation: Kids
This year, NMC Kids celebrated completing a 3-year Bible overview and started again in Genesis
babies were dedicated campers attended Pine Cove City 2025 campers made first-time decisions for Jesus at PCC
families hosted 140 counselors for a week
participants joined two Special Needs Respite Nights
• $2,200 raised through weekly offerings = 220 kids received clean water for 10 years
• Launched 4|5, a Sunday morning worship environment for 4th–5th graders
• Released 4 Table Talkers and a Family Christmas Guide
• 175 kids participated in Kids Choir
Multiplication: Church Plants
One of our 2025 goals is to support 7 church plants. We partner with church plants by providing leadership and financial support during the critical early years.
Churches supported this year:
• Take Hold Church (Scotland)
• Heirloom Church (Kyle, Texas)
• Oaks Community Church (Naples, Florida)
• Deeper Church (Dallas, Georgia)
• Harvest India (India)
• Compassion International (Guatemala)
• Grace Auburn Church (Auburn, Alabama)
• Creekside Church (Dallas, Georgia)
DEEPER CHURCH
Ministry Year-End Financial Summary
• Income: $8,647,731.31
• Expenses: $7,178,886.79
• Over(under): $1,468,844.92
• Operations – 11.42%
• Savings – 26.24%
• Staffing – 38.46%
• Ministry Expenses – 23.88%
We’re Praying Our Guts Out
We praise God for His faithfulness and ask you to join us in praying our guts out for the year to come.
FOUND PEOPLE
FIND PEOPLE
