Congregational Update — January 2022
Hi Peace Church,
Here’s a longer update on some things at Peace Church I’d like to highlight for you. I wanted to keep this short but there are many meaningful things I want to share. Still, there’s much more going on than I can cover here so be sure to regularly follow the Pulse, the Peace website, and the printed Bulletin Board.
Financials:
The board has been monitoring and assessing Peace’s financial well-being for the past several months. We now have enough history to say that Peace remains healthy financially. We’re running with lower numbers than pre-pandemic, but our costs are aligned with giving. Giving through December 31 was $810,602 and expenses were $612,772.
Peace members are generous. Thank you for blessing our staff with $4000 in staff appreciation gifts in December. Also, thank you for your positive response to Pastor Mark’s year-end giving request. Our financial health allows us to explore areas for expanding kingdom work at Peace, in our community, and in the world.
We’d like to officially close out the Momentum Campaign. Although we never had a congregation-wide commitment Sunday due to the Covid shutdown, many members contributed to the initiative early. As a reminder the campaign was for a 2-year duration and was intended to: 1. cover Peace’s operating budget; 2. Enhance building security and improve the facility; 3. Invest in technology to enable streaming services; and 4. Retire mortgage debt.
Even though the campaign was disrupted, we have made and continue to make investments addressing the objectives. 1. Our operating budget has been covered. 2. We’ve replaced our facility security system, replaced the boilers, and have budgeted to replace part of the roof. 3. We accelerated our investment in tech for live streaming during the pandemic. 4. We have not been able to make additional debt reduction payments.
Staff:
There have been several positive changes with staff. First, Allie Parkhurst is building important and meaningful relationships with our youth, their parents, and the volunteers helping with youth programs. Adjusting to leadership transitions takes time and Allie is progressing rapidly.
Kristin Brantner recently accepted the role of our director of technology. We appreciate the volunteers who have logged long hours filling this important role at Peace and look forward to Kristin’s leadership.
Terry Gilbertson joined the staff in November as interim office manager. Terry is focused on ensuring staff roles are well-defined and coordinated. One of Terry’s important objectives is ensuring our pastors aren’t carrying administrative responsibilities that can be performed by other staff members. We will be seeking a permanent office manager in early 2022.
We look forward to celebrating with Kathy Ryan as she retires from her 17-year career with Peace in July. Pastor David is forming a committee to seek a new Director of Children’s Ministry soon.
Congregational Survey:
Thank you to everyone who took the congregational survey in December. 414 people participated which we believe gives us very representative insights across our congregation. The summarized survey results can be found on the Peace website Congregational Input Committee Survey Results — Peace Church - Eau Claire, Wisconsin (mypeacechurch.com)
Some highlights from the survey findings are:
We have a significant number of people attending Peace services in person as well as online. (I know that Amy and I appreciate the online services so we can worship with Peace even when we’re out of town.) When you’re comfortable, we encourage you to worship in person and take time to reconnect with people face-to-face before and after service.
All our communication channels (paper, web, email, Facebook) are being used. We also received feedback that there’s room for improvement. Improving how we share information is definitely something we’re always striving to do.
We received diverse feedback on just about everything: music preferences, masking, worship style, etc. We see that as a blessing because when we come together as a community to worship and serve our God, it affirms our unity even if we have different viewpoints regarding details. When we’re humble enough to set our personal preferences aside, then I think we truly become a church God can use.
While we can’t act on all the feedback we received, the staff will prioritize some items we can work on together. Also, the board will use the feedback to help inform our priorities and decisions going forward.
Mission and Vision:
As we embark in 2022, I encourage you to consider what steps you’re personally going to take to follow Christ more intentionally. We’re doubling down on Peace’s mission to “Form fully alive followers of Christ” and our vision is that in 5 years most members of our congregation will be able to describe which aspect of their spiritual life they’re currently working on. We encourage everyone to actively and intentionally pursue what it means to follow God’s will for their life.
As always, feel free to contact me or other members of the board if you have questions or feedback.
Blessings,
Cam Kalmon
Board Chair
