2023
quarterlyREPORT
With a strong focus on sharing the Gospel, the 1st quarter saw some amazing results! We had what may have been our largest Orientation attendance to-date with 44 attending, interested in knowing more about us. 146 partnered with us as a result of Stand Up Sunday! There were 34 decisions for Christ with 9 taking the first step of obedience by getting baptized. We introduced a new Conversations Class that taught how to share the Gospel. The response was overwhelming for a church our size...well over 100 attended one of 3 classes or did the class at their LifeGroup. Our youth participated in a multi-church DNOW weekend that drew in over 180 students combined. We brought 42 students, 17 youth leaders, another 5 on the worship team and 8 more on the safety team! The Ladies Fellowship event had 64 ladies come together for fellowship, served by 15 volunteers and entertained by several of our youth.
As you take a look at this page, we hope you're excited for what this year has already brought and for what is ahead!
Making the Gospel Relevant
by
Loving God
Decisions for Christ
Loving Others
People in LifeGroups
Making Disciples
Equipping & Serving in some capacity
9 Baptisms
and 34 decisions for Christ!
Engagement Growth
We aren't just growing in weekend attendance, but in deeper engagement, with a big jump in lifegroup participation this quarter!
Service Attendance Surge
AVG MARCH 2022 ATTENDANCE
AVG MARCH 2023 ATTENDANCE
Lifegroup Participation
AVG MARCH 2022 ATTENDANCE
AVG MARCH 2023 ATTENDANCE
Student Ministry Attendance Surge
AVG MARCH 2022 ATTENDANCE
AVG MARCH 2023 ATTENDANCE
Celebrate Recovery Attendance Surge
AVG MARCH 2022 ATTENDANCE
AVG MARCH 2023 ATTENDANCE
Stepping Out In Faith
In February, we set a salvation goal of 150 for 2023 and asked everyone to pick 3 people they would be praying for. We reached 34 salvations in the first quarter! We also invited the Gideons to teach our first ever Conversations Class. It was so popular we added two more classes at the church, plus two LifeGroups did the class at their LifeGroups. The Gideon's told us that they've never seen this big of a response from a church before!
Growing Their Reach
With Dianne Fowler's leadership, the ladies have continued to increase their ministry to one another. Their ladies' lunch in March had 64 attendees, served by 15 volunteers and entertained by several youth!
Student Ministry
Since the arrival of Steven Mansell, Pastor to Youth & Discipleship, our Student Ministry continues to grow both in youth (75) and leaders (15)! They attended WinterJam this year with 55 youth and 15 adults. We also teamed up with local churches for the Multi-Church DNOW event in March. We brought 42 youth, 17 leaders (includes host home leaders), 5 from our worship team, 8 from our safety team and filling up 5 Host Homes. Overall they served more than 450 hours combined. The event reached 180 youth in our community. DNOW Weekend was an incredible weekend for our youth to grow as disciples and help disciple their friends. The weekend centered around the message that there is no champion but Christ. We examined the life of David, how God prepared and anointed him, how God gave him the victory over the giant, and how God even humbled David over his sin. Students were divided into small groups as they stayed in host homes over the course of the weekend. We had volunteers serving in leading small group times, host homes volunteers providing transportation and meals, worship team putting in several hours of rehearsal and moving equipment to help with the weekend. Our volunteers gave so much to make the weekend happen, but it was all worth it to see 7 salvations result, including two from The Orchard! Check out the welcome video they did for us from the event!
Celebrate Recovery
We've had some huge record breaking spikes this quarter on attendance, resulting in 15 decisions for Christ! Even though they have 19 leaders and 66 rotating volunteers each week, the spikes show just how much volunteers are still needed! These serve numbers may seem like a lot already, but did you know Friday night operations are on a larger scale than Sunday mornings? Not only do they need volunteers on First Impressions and Worship teams for the usual Sunday morning stuff, they also offer childcare and cook/serve meals every Friday night as well. Those are just the needs volunteers fulfill. Their leaders run the small groups that take place after the evening worship. If you've never stopped by Celebrate Recovery, we recommend you do. You might find your calling!
We continue to find innovative ways to inspire growth and share the gospel with those around us both physically and digitally. Our For Gilmer strategy has adapted and grown in ways we never imagined! From serving meals to playground maintenance, we have been hard at work continually identifying and meeting the needs of our community.
Here are a few ways we are doing just that weekly:
Weekly Family Resource Packets Available On-Site Each Week
Praying for our Community, Leaders, and Individual Needs
Community Partnerships with the School System, Food Pantry, and local EMS
MEETING TOGETHER
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DEEPER CONNECTIONS
We went through the book Anyone But Me in our LifeGroups that's been a huge hit. Ray Comfort's unique style of sharing the Gospel with strangers showed us all we could do this too! Well over 100 attended Conversations Classes to learn better ways to evangelize.
We continue to look for new ways to engage with our online audience. We understand not everyone can meet in person, which is why our digital presence is so important to us, both on Sunday mornings and throughout the week. Take a look at the social connections we're making!
2023 Quarterly General Fund
$122,846
Current Fund Balance
$193,500
1st Quarter Budget
$206,698
1st Quarter Giving
$205,315
1st Quarter Spending
2021
$565,027
Total Contributions
2022
$885,149
Total Contributions
2023
$206,698
Contributions to Date
Student Ministry
$9,962
Current Fund Balances
$6,736
Total Giving
$9,146
Total Spending
Celebrate Recovery
$17,999
Current Fund Balances
$5,974
Total Giving
$5,272
Total Spending
For Gilmer
$1,222
Current Fund Balances
$706
Total Giving
$892
Total Spending
Guatemala
$2,064
Current Fund Balances
$1,067
Total Giving
$0
Total Spending
New Property
$8,396
Current Fund Balances
$3,367
Total Giving
$5,893
Total Spending
We hope that this information gives you a complete and well rounded look at how we seek to steward our resources. Your obedience and generosity makes all of this possible. If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to reach out to our executive director, Larry Lynch. You can call at 706-621-5160, or email through the button below. He manages our accounts and is more than happy to help!
If you would like to give towards our mission for 2023:
The Orchard Church
7288 Hwy 515 N
Ellijay, GA 30536
706-621-5160
hello@orchardellijay.com
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