A look back at 2008

Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

 

 

            Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice. (Philippians 4:4)

 

 

We have been truly blessed with a vibrant and growing church that continues to make a difference in the lives of our members and visitors, and in our community. Our accomplishments in 2008 are directly related to the generous time and any many talents of our dedicated members and staff.

 

Pilgrim continued to grow its membership from 558 members in 2002 to 755 members at the end of 2008. More importantly, we our worship attendance continued to grow with worship attendance exceeding 46% of our membership on a weekly basis in 2008 as compared to about 32% for other Lutheran churches in our area. Bible Study groups, our Sunday School, and our mid-week NOT Sundays continue to grow. We are truly blessed not only to have our worship leaders, but members that often work tirelessly and always joyfully to make all of our worship services the highlight of our week.

 

We understand we are commissioned to make a difference in this broken world. In 2008, Pilgrim was instrumental in formation of LifePoint, a Christian-based family counseling center that operates in our parsonage facility. Through the efforts of many, we were also able to endow a Samaritan’s Fund for LifePoint to help defray counseling expenses for those unable to pay. Our Pilgrim Community Pre-School continues to be a source of pride for our Church and an important outreach ministry for our Church. The pre-school operated at or near capacity for the entire year. Even our new electronic sign serves to invite others to share in our experiences here.

 

Our growth requires our leadership to address the issues at hand and to set goals for years to come. In 2008, the Church Council set five-year goals regarding our worship experience, member participation in the ministries of the Church, financial stewardship, and the growth of our individual faith. This is a roadmap, if you will, to help identify needed ministries, and equip those that will provide those ministries. “Equipping Ministries” was started in 2008, and will drive this process for years to come.

 

Growth and expanding ministries create opportunities and challenges. Our infrastructure—worship facilities and staff, particularly—are in place to continue to meet the needs of a rapidly growing Lexington community. This foundation requires us to manage our personnel and financial resources as best we can—to meet the commitments we have made as a congregation and to look forward to meeting future needs.  With a strong fourth quarter response from the congregation, we ended the year budget year at 95% of our budget. We also met our mortgage obligations for the year and actually reduced our mortgage principal by over $100,000.  However, we enter 2009 with a lower cash position than we had at the same time in 2008, so as a congregation, we must continue to carefully manage our resources to meet our commitments and to provide the needs of Pilgrim and the community.

The dedication of the Pilgrim family never ceases to amaze me. We have much to rejoice about in 2008 for we have been truly blessed. As we continue to move forward in Faith, the possibilities have few boundaries.

 

 

Ken Brock

Congregational President