State of the Church 2015

How are we doing,
making disciples of Jesus Christ
who transform the world?

2014 was a great year! Each year, in assessing the state of Salem, we take a look at some benchmark statistics. Our membership now includes 227 people. We also have 34 baptized infants and children— so 261 total. This past year 6 members died, 3 transferred to other congregations, and 8 were received as new members. We have received 66 new members since arriving at our current location a little over four years ago!

We actually put the brakes on receiving new members this past year as we worked on our new discipleship pathway. We have several wonderful people who have been waiting to become members and we will receive them this year.

Our worship attendance increased again. We averaged 185 this past year, up from 177 the year before. That equals 71% of our members and baptized infants/children! While that is fantastic, our goal is to have an average attendance that is higher than the number of our members. I believe that could happen this year. Keep inviting those you know who aren’t active in another church to “come and see.”

Baptisms and professions of faith are also key indicators. Last year we celebrated 6 baptisms, all infants. Of our 8 new members, 6 were by profession of faith (our confirmands). Baptisms and professions of faith show us how many new Christians we are reaching.

Our giving continues to increase, including the use of electronic giving through our website. We received more income ($236,000+) than we budgeted. We still ended the year in the red, mainly due to the work done that had to be done on the parsonage while not having renters for the last half the year. Our giving for the building fund is also on pace with pledges from the Salem Rising capital campaign. While our hope is to begin paying our apportionments in full soon, we paid 40%, including 100% of our general church apportionments. And we gave nearly $17,000 for mission!

Besides these statistical benchmarks, some pivotal things happened this past year. We sold property. We decided to sell the 9.6 acres on Blairs Ferry road, and we are just now in the process of selling the parsonage.

In our trial with Church Mutual regarding the flooded building downtown, the jury awarded us over $700,000. Church Mutual appealed that decision and we’re waiting on the ruling. If the insurance company does not win their appeal, we should receive over $400,000 after legal fees are paid.

Last spring we gathered for a Church Conference and voted to approve our building project. We broke ground in May. Construction began last summer. Now we look forward to moving into our new facility the middle of March with a grand opening on Easter Sunday, April 5.

Along with that, don’t miss worship on February 8. From 10:00-11:00 am, between worship services, we will open the door and go into our new facility and write prayers and blessings on the floor. They will be covered by the new carpeting, but these prayers will be weaved into the fabric of the building.

As a result of our Healthy Church Initiative, our Prayer Team led us in a season of prayer (and continues to pray!). We held a day of visioning and prayerfully developed a new vision for Salem: connecting people, building community, transforming lives, through Jesus. This is a picture of what it looks like when our mission is fruitful, making disciples of Jesus Christ who transform the world.

Our Outreach Team has organized wonderful events to build bridges to others. Our first Easter egg hunt offered 1100 eggs that were found very quickly. This year they’re stepping up to 4000 eggs the day before our grand opening! They also hosted a game and movie night, a wildly successful trunk-or-treat event with 300-400 people, and caroling to our neighbors.

Our Discipleship Team spent nine months creating a discipleship pathway. It was approved by the Leadership Board and we began implementing this process in the fall and are continuing to implement portions of it this year. Soon you will see a menu of events and opportunities for everyone. In the meantime we started by reaching out to newcomers and inviting them to “Connecting Point” on Sundays mornings and then to a “Connect” small group. Already we’ve had more than 30 participate in Connecting Point and 18 in Connect. We are very excited about this new, intentional process for making disciples of Jesus!

There is much happening. As we evaluate where we are, though, it’s plain to see that Salem is a great church doing great things for the kingdom of God! Thanks be to God.