You might have thought that I had retired from blogging! But actually, I've just been pretty occupied with other things. Most notably Hils and I had our fourth, Joseph Chevron Millikan, on November 24th. And we also moved into a new home in early December. It feels like life is beginning to settle back into a more sane rhythm... Here are a couple recent pics of our cute little brood:
Now onto a Coastlands update... This past weekend I presented our annual
Congregation Report (you listen to it here, video is here). Here's a glimpse of what I presented:
Congregation Report (you listen to it here, video is here). Here's a glimpse of what I presented:
This chart shows our average weekly attendance from our launch back in Daniel & Pamela's living room in '84 to today. That trend line looks kind of like a roller coaster, right? The latest wild drop began when Daniel handed the church over to Hils and I. While it's been humbling to lead through these days, it is beginning to be exhilarating... It feels to me like we are at that point on the ride where the wild drop begins to bottom out and anticipation of the next twists and turns begins to build...
This shows basically the same data, but it zooms in on just the last four years. Some of the drop from '09 to '10 was due to the transition from three services to two. People who came to all three were getting counted three times, now they are only get counted twice. It's impossible to know how much of the drop is due to these challenges of keeping an accurate count.
This charts shows our average monthly income and expenses for the last four years. After the challenges of '09, it felt great this year to basically have a balanced budget.
This chart shows the percentage of our adult weekend attendance that is participating in a home group. In early 2010 we hit the "reset button" on our ICU structure by launching a new one, which we call our "Delta's". During their first few months, we did not collect attendance data, but in October and November (on the far right of the chart), you can see that we are running at about 85%. What a pleasant surprise!
I look forward to the day that we are running over 100% on this chart. In the years to come, I think we will discover that more of our unchurched friends will find small home groups a more comfortable place to get connected than started out in our services.
This chart shows the number of people who have come to know Jesus through the various ministries of our church through the years. Praise Him that He used us to bring 120 people into His Kingdom this year!
This slide shows a few fun stats from our youth groups, which we call "The Nation." I am amped on the energy and life that I feel building among our young leaders...
This gives a little overview of the young leaders who participated in our Internship program in 2010.
The little red dots are tough to see, but if you look closely, you'll be amazed at all the places around the world that people have accessed Daniel's resource ministry, CTW.
Pretty wild travel schedule, eh? If you're not signed up for Daniel's travel journals, you're missing out! Stop by the CTW website to get signed up and check out the resources that are there, too.
Our church is a cross between a parachurch ministry (which exists to accomplish focused ministry of some kind) and regular church ministry (which is defined by the needs of a local group of people). Parachurch ministries usually only focus on one thing (feeding the homeless, distributing Bibles, etc.). Local churches take care of any and all needs that a group of people will encounter (birth, marriage, funerals, and every in-between). We are a blend of both and it's part of what makes this place so special...
I'm delighted that Terry & Bethany Madsen and Dick & Lynne Starr were ratified this past weekend to serve a two year term on our Council. I love our Council. Our meetings are one of my favorite nights of the month.
