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The second half of 2023 was filled with good things in Relational Ministries. Relational Ministries includes 1st impressions, special events, small groups and connections ministries.
Our eleven long-term small groups started back up this fall. Small groups also continue to offer short term groups like the one this fall on Philippians where 18 people explored each chapter of the book. Two new fellowship type small groups were created- our Lunch Bunch monthly group has been averaging between 12-15 people a month and our quarterly Game Night which has been creating a buzz for all the fun we had on those nights. During Advent we added another short term small group that took a deeper and wider look into the Christmas story and our need for Christmas. Small group ministry will continue to offer a variety of groups so that all those interested can experience community and growth.
Connections Ministry had 9 families become new members this fall with a large new member reception for them all where the number of people who came up to welcome them exceeded our expectations and we ran out of cake! A really wonderful reflection of how Joy values relationships. Joy has also retained 75% of our repeat visitors (3 or more visits) this past year. Our private Facebook page has continued to see an increase in engagement and has been a wonderful extension for people to share prayer requests, learn about happenings, engage with one another by finding commonalities and contributing to the weekly sermons. We currently have 750 members on our private group and 847 followers on our public Facebook page.
Our 1st impressions ministry has had to continue to be flexible and make changes to adjust to the decline in volunteers that occurred through Covid. We have started to slowly see some increase in volunteers willing to greet, cover our welcome centers, serve communion and bake communion bread. We still lack people willing to usher or help with the altar set up or clean up on Sundays. Our hope is the positive trend of more volunteers we are seeing in a few areas continues to grow so we can continue to be the type of welcoming church Joy prides itself on. 1st impressions did convert the Info Center into a Main Door Welcome Center and added a Welcome Center also at our office door entrance so we have a line of welcome looking specifically for new people to connect with and enhance our line of hospitality. We also created new visitor gifts that better reflect who we are as a church.
Special events continue to make an impact in a variety of ways. Summer soared with a special luncheon after the Joyful Kingdom worship service where lots of people got to try a variety of foods and fellowship with Kingdom Life Ministries friends. Then we tweaked JoyServe and called it Joyserve 2.0- expanding it from 1 day of service to a week long event and had 109 volunteers out in the community serving on a variety of projects and helping change lives. In late summer we did a 4 week Creation walk that looked at all of God's creation while deepening relationships.
In September, we had a marvelous kickoff celebration with a fun football theme to welcome people back from summer vacations. In October our Men were back in motion and 34 men helped build 8 bunk beds that got 16 children off the floors and sleeping in comfort. A joy filled Womens Christmas dinner with 50 women kicked off December with cheer! Shortly after that we made another tweak- this one involving our annual Christmas breakfast and transformed it into a pancake breakfast that brought many people together including the gingerbread man who couldn’t resist loving on our community of people.
With God's help, in 2024 Relational Ministries will continue to offer opportunities for people to grow, serve and gather in ways that honor God and make an imprint on our lives that encourage us to then go out and live out our mission of changing lives.
Jenelle Roush, Relational Ministry Director
Our eleven long-term small groups started back up this fall. Small groups also continue to offer short term groups like the one this fall on Philippians where 18 people explored each chapter of the book. Two new fellowship type small groups were created- our Lunch Bunch monthly group has been averaging between 12-15 people a month and our quarterly Game Night which has been creating a buzz for all the fun we had on those nights. During Advent we added another short term small group that took a deeper and wider look into the Christmas story and our need for Christmas. Small group ministry will continue to offer a variety of groups so that all those interested can experience community and growth.
Connections Ministry had 9 families become new members this fall with a large new member reception for them all where the number of people who came up to welcome them exceeded our expectations and we ran out of cake! A really wonderful reflection of how Joy values relationships. Joy has also retained 75% of our repeat visitors (3 or more visits) this past year. Our private Facebook page has continued to see an increase in engagement and has been a wonderful extension for people to share prayer requests, learn about happenings, engage with one another by finding commonalities and contributing to the weekly sermons. We currently have 750 members on our private group and 847 followers on our public Facebook page.
Our 1st impressions ministry has had to continue to be flexible and make changes to adjust to the decline in volunteers that occurred through Covid. We have started to slowly see some increase in volunteers willing to greet, cover our welcome centers, serve communion and bake communion bread. We still lack people willing to usher or help with the altar set up or clean up on Sundays. Our hope is the positive trend of more volunteers we are seeing in a few areas continues to grow so we can continue to be the type of welcoming church Joy prides itself on. 1st impressions did convert the Info Center into a Main Door Welcome Center and added a Welcome Center also at our office door entrance so we have a line of welcome looking specifically for new people to connect with and enhance our line of hospitality. We also created new visitor gifts that better reflect who we are as a church.
Special events continue to make an impact in a variety of ways. Summer soared with a special luncheon after the Joyful Kingdom worship service where lots of people got to try a variety of foods and fellowship with Kingdom Life Ministries friends. Then we tweaked JoyServe and called it Joyserve 2.0- expanding it from 1 day of service to a week long event and had 109 volunteers out in the community serving on a variety of projects and helping change lives. In late summer we did a 4 week Creation walk that looked at all of God's creation while deepening relationships.
In September, we had a marvelous kickoff celebration with a fun football theme to welcome people back from summer vacations. In October our Men were back in motion and 34 men helped build 8 bunk beds that got 16 children off the floors and sleeping in comfort. A joy filled Womens Christmas dinner with 50 women kicked off December with cheer! Shortly after that we made another tweak- this one involving our annual Christmas breakfast and transformed it into a pancake breakfast that brought many people together including the gingerbread man who couldn’t resist loving on our community of people.
With God's help, in 2024 Relational Ministries will continue to offer opportunities for people to grow, serve and gather in ways that honor God and make an imprint on our lives that encourage us to then go out and live out our mission of changing lives.
Jenelle Roush, Relational Ministry Director
