January 19, 2024, 5:00 PM
Greetings in Christ!
I hope and pray you've had a great week.
It has been a week filled with some cold weather featuring plenty of snow here in Central KY.
This winter weather has caused us to cancel services at First Christian Church this past Wednesday night (01.17.24) as well as this coming Sunday (01.21.24).
The pause has allowed me to look at where we've been at FCC and where we are hopefully heading.
After looking at some of my records, it shows that things are moving in a positive direction for First Christian Church.
The just-completed year of 2023 saw some improvement in several key areas.
In 2023, we had a 32% increase in Sunday morning worship attendance (57 average in 2022; 75 average in 2023) and a 115% increase in Sunday School attendance (13 average in 2022; 28 average in 2023).
Please note that my 2022 numbers only included the last two months (November and December) of the year coinciding with when I began as Lead Minister at FCC.
We had 21 additions in 2023 - 17 were transfers and 4 were by baptism.
I also show that giving in 2023 was up roughly 53% from the last 2 months of 2022.
The new year of 2024 is off to a good start.
We've been blessed to see the baptism of Mary Pittman into Christ this past Saturday (01.13.24) at First Christian Church. I have known Mary for the past 2-3 years. She is a good friend of Al & Janet Halcomb.
We had talked about having the baptism after the worship service on Sunday (01.14.24), but Mary said she didn't want to wait. I was impressed that Mary wanted to make the hour-long drive from her home to FCC during some really cold weather to get baptized. When someone feels the Holy Spirit moving like that, you need to act on it. I am so glad we did! Congratulations, Mary!
I pray that all of us at FCC will be striving toward the same goal, keeping in mind the mission statement we established last fall: The First Christian Church of Lexington, KY, exists to become more like Jesus in CHARACTER and to do His MISSION in the world.
For us to get there, we need everyone to do their part. We have plenty of key positions that need to be filled!
What is your role at FCC in 2024? I pray that you will be seeking to find out what it is if you aren't already involved.
The forecast is calling for warmer weather next week and that will hopefully allow for our regularly scheduled services to resume on Wednesday, January 24.
Until then, stay safe and warm!
God Bless,
Greg H
Greg H
