© 2005-2009 Fridley Covenant Church
Updated Sunday, March 07, 2010
Updated Sunday, March 07, 2010
We started off the year by putting together a photo directory and photo board, so that everyone could get acquainted and be able to put a name to a new face. Pastor Dan and I covered many topics on Sunday mornings. We explored the reality of churches being driven by such things as tradition, finances, personalities, etc. We exploded myths about growing churches – they are not trying to steal people from smaller churches. We covered the necessity of being a Great Commandment and Great Commission church. We talked about relevant evangelism, holistic worship, godly servant eadership, cultural relevance, and small groups that build strong fellowship ties. On a Wednesday night, we pooled the participants' list of personal core values into a shared core value statement. We then did a similar brainstorm to come up with a brand new purpose statement.
We didn't have "regular" preaching until Easter Sunday. Up to that time, we did mostly teaching. Mostly on Sunday nights, we broke into six small groups that really helped people get to know each other. These small groups met until May. There were numerous work groups and individuals overhauling floors and walls in various rooms throughout the church facility. New lighting made a huge difference in the hallways. Things were looking pretty good, especially by the time the 50th anniversary rolled around in May.
A Valentine's outreach took place where we offered to babysit little ones so that parents could go out. We sent 250 letters and got one family to come. They even tried us out on a Sunday. Also this month, the prayer chain got up and running. The new website was also launched at both fridleycov.org and getrestored.org. Toolboxes were donated and began to be delivered to new
move-ins. These lasted until July. We did get a couple of responses from this outreach tool. The youth participated in a 30-hour famine which was very meaningful and a lot of fun.
A lot of effort and postage went into sending over 500 letters to Minnesota Street Rod Associates in the northwest metro area. As a result, we have two new couples that would identify FCC as their new church home.
During holy week, we offered a rather reflective Maundy Thursday service, a view of the "Passion" movie on Good Friday, and a high-energy Easter Sunday (including an Easter egg hunt for kids and a brunch for all). Nine new members were added. An excellent "Discovering Your Design" spiritual gifts seminar was attended by a handful of FCC people.
We started to have some business in our nursery this month. Lots of time and energy was spent getting the 50th anniversary celebration ready.
The idea that we would be an ideal environment for college and seminary interns was brought up in Council and later written about in these bi-monthly letters. I just so happened to know of two who'd be looking for something like this the next fall.
Certainly the highlight of May was the 50th anniversary weekend. A multitude of former members and staff were on hand for the festivities. We continued to take pictures for our picture board and continued to use drama on Sunday mornings.
Memorial Day weekend up at Covenant Pines was great. Three families from FCC joined the
100-plus workers/relaxers. A large gathering of young adults found their way to the Ellingsons for a summer kickoff open house. Beginning Father's Day, we began to meet outdoors for worship under the shade of the oak trees. All summer we had dry (and hot) Sunday mornings. Four high school graduates were recognized in June.
During the summer, we enjoyed "Minnesota Teen Challenge Choir" and "Not By Chance" as guest musicians as we covered Old and New Testament heroes in the messages. Many kids made it to camp this summer. Two youth fundraisers got a lot of people involved working inflatables at county fairs.
A member who works at Channel 11 joined us during this time and we have come a long way in bringing excellence to this area of our church. Through him, we were able to get lots of equipment (some borrowed, some donated, some bought). Pastor James left for a six-week mission trip to Sudan. They returned with determination to make a difference in that part of the world. Our seniors have been diligent to meet every month. They even added two events this summer with Redeemer's group: a picnic and a boat trip.
Seeing meager results from only mailing to Fridley/Spring Lake Park, we added a zip code from Blaine to our new move-in list. We stepped up the outreach a bit and brought fresh-baked cookies to many doorways. The photo directory was updated and reprinted. We moved the screen and projector to new locations – on the back wall and suspended from the ceiling. Late in August, we prepared for the fall kickoff by sending more attractive postcards.
We had a big kickoff on September 11 with a hot dog lunch following the service. Our new Bethel interns started working with the youth on Wednesdays and began co-teaching Sunday school. We began a four-week series on family life and singleness. Both women's and men's retreats were attended by Fridley members. A huge offering was taken for Covenant World Relief in response to the hurricanes down south.
We covered a three-week series on stewardship called The Treasure Principle. We began an AWANA program that has consistently seen about a dozen 3rd-6th graders come regularly all fall. Over 40 of our congregation were trained and screened for "at-risk" purposes. Confirmation officially re-opened. A membership seminar was conducted, potential members interviewed, and we added eleven new members. A pastors appreciation potluck was enjoyed by many!
We had our annual Harvest Festival that didn't bring many participants out, but it resulted in another generous offering. We'll see some new windows next spring as a result of that. New groupings of small groups were launched. There was a report given by Pastor James about his summer trip to Sudan. Our interns took about ten youth to a second annual fall retreat.
Also in November, we wedged in a Friendship Place benefit dinner, a youth fundraiser potato bar, and a youth Magical Night of Giving. Two small groups did a concession stand fundraiser to help our kids go to CHIC. Another huge Covenant World Relief offering was taken.
This month wasn't busy enough (ha!) so why not have an outreach? The new Narnia movie came out and we had two events to entice newcomers through our doors. We had 10 new kids come to our event – three of them showed up the following Wednesday night! One couple from church did a great job inviting friends and neighbors to the Wednesday night showing of Narnia. We did have one couple take us up on the provided babysitting.
We all were busy with Operation Christmas Child, a work day, pastor's open house, seniors Christmas lunch, and an awesome children's Christmas program.
Needless to say, it was a very busy 2005.