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Worship at Joy! – 2025 in Review
“Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord! Praise the Lord!” —Psalm 150:6 (NLT)
Worship at Joy! is both something we do and a way we live. In 2025, it continued as a steady rhythm—weekly services and special seasons like Lent, Holy Week, Advent, and Christmas—designed to create welcoming, authentic spaces where people can connect with God and one another.
We are grateful that worship participation continued to grow this year, with weekly in-person attendance increasing by 10% and live-stream viewing up 15%. These numbers reflect not just attendance, but a community that is engaged, welcoming, and hungry for connection. One especially meaningful highlight was Christmas Eve, when we added a third service to better welcome visitors and families. This created much-needed space and a warmer, more joyful worship environment. On Christmas Eve, we welcomed 557 people in person, with 20 households joining live online and more than 900 total livestream views—a beautiful reminder of how widely God’s love was shared through the story of the baby in the manger.
This year’s sermon series focused on growing deeper in faith and living it out together. We began with Grow, exploring key spiritual disciplines, then Be Real, encouraging honesty and vulnerability. During Lent, What If Jesus Said…? helped us reflect on the power of words, while Fill My Bucket addressed burnout and soul-deep weariness. True North reminded us of Jesus’ steady presence, Blessed in the Mess guided us through the Beatitudes to find God’s blessings amid life’s challenges, and Walk the Walk invited us to put faith into daily action. In the fall, Inspired, How to Eat an Elephant, and Fearless formed a journey of listening to God, growing in generosity, and trusting Him with courage. We closed the year with Advent’s All I Want for Christmas, unwrapping Christ’s gifts of hope, peace, joy, and love.
“Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord! Praise the Lord!” —Psalm 150:6 (NLT)
Worship at Joy! is both something we do and a way we live. In 2025, it continued as a steady rhythm—weekly services and special seasons like Lent, Holy Week, Advent, and Christmas—designed to create welcoming, authentic spaces where people can connect with God and one another.
We are grateful that worship participation continued to grow this year, with weekly in-person attendance increasing by 10% and live-stream viewing up 15%. These numbers reflect not just attendance, but a community that is engaged, welcoming, and hungry for connection. One especially meaningful highlight was Christmas Eve, when we added a third service to better welcome visitors and families. This created much-needed space and a warmer, more joyful worship environment. On Christmas Eve, we welcomed 557 people in person, with 20 households joining live online and more than 900 total livestream views—a beautiful reminder of how widely God’s love was shared through the story of the baby in the manger.
This year’s sermon series focused on growing deeper in faith and living it out together. We began with Grow, exploring key spiritual disciplines, then Be Real, encouraging honesty and vulnerability. During Lent, What If Jesus Said…? helped us reflect on the power of words, while Fill My Bucket addressed burnout and soul-deep weariness. True North reminded us of Jesus’ steady presence, Blessed in the Mess guided us through the Beatitudes to find God’s blessings amid life’s challenges, and Walk the Walk invited us to put faith into daily action. In the fall, Inspired, How to Eat an Elephant, and Fearless formed a journey of listening to God, growing in generosity, and trusting Him with courage. We closed the year with Advent’s All I Want for Christmas, unwrapping Christ’s gifts of hope, peace, joy, and love.
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Our creative team continues to design worship that engages heart, mind, and senses through music, scripture, sacraments, and visual storytelling. This year, we made intentional changes to allow children to take communion with their families and create more uninterrupted space to experience God’s presence.
Joy! is blessed with over 50 volunteers serving in music, tech, children’s messages, stage design, and more. We deeply appreciate all they do, both on stage and behind the scenes, bringing their gifts, energy, and dedication to every aspect of worship. This year the team led projects beyond Sunday worship, including a Joy!Serve project, a music recital at Bickford, and December caroling to spread Christmas cheer.
Looking ahead to 2026, the Worship Team has set three priorities: growing deeper in faith, strengthening community, and growing together as a prepared, humble, and flexible team. We look forward to continuing to create meaningful worship experiences and to relaunching our drama ministry as another way to help people connect with God’s story and presence.
Worship remains central to who we are at Joy!, connecting us to God, strengthening our community, and sending us out to live our faith. Thank you for your support and for making worship a priority.
With gratitude,
Jen Marvin
Worship Director
Joy! is blessed with over 50 volunteers serving in music, tech, children’s messages, stage design, and more. We deeply appreciate all they do, both on stage and behind the scenes, bringing their gifts, energy, and dedication to every aspect of worship. This year the team led projects beyond Sunday worship, including a Joy!Serve project, a music recital at Bickford, and December caroling to spread Christmas cheer.
Looking ahead to 2026, the Worship Team has set three priorities: growing deeper in faith, strengthening community, and growing together as a prepared, humble, and flexible team. We look forward to continuing to create meaningful worship experiences and to relaunching our drama ministry as another way to help people connect with God’s story and presence.
Worship remains central to who we are at Joy!, connecting us to God, strengthening our community, and sending us out to live our faith. Thank you for your support and for making worship a priority.
With gratitude,
Jen Marvin
Worship Director
