2021
quarterlyREPORT
The 3rd quarter of 2021 has seen some major blessings. For one, we continue to offer two services on Sunday. The construction on our new outdoor space is complete and already earning its worth! LifeGroups, Celebrate Recovery, Orchard Student Ministry, VBS and our Ribbon Cutting Day have already taken advantage of the new space! Both our GLOWJAM and Family Day serve teams are already making plans to include the outdoor deck and other areas for those events as well.
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
Lunches served during Seamless Summer
Making Disciples
Equipping & Serving in some capacity
July 4 | VBS | Seamless...
We kicked the 3rd quarter off "FOR GILMER" with the Fourth of July, immediately followed by VBS. Seamless summer finished up at the end of July, but we didn't stop serving lunches until school began. Throw in Back[packs] to school and Teacher Breakfast, and we've had a busy 3rd quarter. Our church really knows how to be the hands and feet in our community. Thank you!
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 at Tower Road, 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 continued to gather together through this last Covid surge in August—a blessing for us all—connecting on an intimate level through worship (Sunday mornings), fellowship (LifeGroups), and serving (for Gilmer). One thing Covid has proven, we need each other. There is no substitute for meeting and serving together with the body of Christ. As a result, we've had 34 decisions for Christ, baptized 13, shared the Gospel with 98 kids at VBS, served 1,725 lunches this summer to 115 on Tower Road, delivered backpacks and clothes to 125 kids in Gilmer County, and provided breakfast to 180 teachers at Gilmer Elementary and Gilmer High School combined.
But we didn't stop there, 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. Just look at how our social connections have grown!
SUNDAYS: IN PERSON vs. ONLINE
Third Quarter saw another Covid surge, but we continued to offer two in person services. Below you will see our weekly in person attendance declined slightly. The biggest drops in the 9AM service though were not due to the surge but a result of only one service at 11AM on July 11 for VBS and August 8 for Ribbon Cutting Day.
While online service participation increased as a result of the surge, we also saw viewers around the globe tuning in to worship with us on Sunday mornings. Some of the countries we reached were Guatemala, India, Ireland, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Taiwan, Uganda, United Kingdom and Venezuela.
2021 Quarterly General Fund
Thank you.
In most cases, when a church undertakes a significant capital campaign like our Re|Innovate expansion, they experience a big financial crunch as general giving drops off harshly. The result is a big drawdown and ministry (especially in the community) has to slow way down.
As you'll see, that has NOT been the case here! Somehow, you have not only covered a project that ended up costing WAY more than initially planned, but you have been willing to give above and beyond to the ongoing ministry of The Orchard, making the gospel relevant to our community!
During that time, we did Vacation Bible School, provided backpacks and clothing to Tower Road kids, and began to lay the groundwork for some good missions opportunities in Guatemala!I am especially excited that we completed the screening, interview, and hiring process for a new staff member. Steven Mansell will start the new year with us as our Pastor to Youth and Discipleship. I think you are going to love him and his wife, Miranda. I can't wait for you to meet them! All of this is made possible by your continued faithful generosity. Thank you.
-Steve Dusek
$135,000
3rd Quarter Budget
$178,016
3rd Quarter Giving
$119,058
3rd Quarter Spending
2019
$548,039
Total Contributions
2020
$489,167
Total Contributions
2021
$565,027
Contributions to Date
Welcoming a New Youth Pastor in 2022
Steven P. Mansell
Steven has been serving with youth since 2008, starting as a Centrifuge Camp Leader. He's held several youth ministry positions, including his present position as Associate Pastor of Youth with First Baptist Church Abbeville in Mississippi. With a Master of Divinity in Christian Education, he is passionate about leading students and families to Christ, building personal relationships, missions and making disciples. At his current job, he's preached once a month during their pastoral transition, conducted pastoral visits to homes and hospitals and coordinated needs with deacons. In addition, his skills in administration, budgeting, event planning, missions, recreation, A/V tech, and digital communications make him a great asset to our team.
He and his wife, Miranda, who also shares his passion for the youth, will be joining us in January, 2022.
Re | Innovate Report
The Re | Innovate project has already dramatically increased our ability to cultivate relationships. So far, it has been used for our Ribbon Cutting Day, Celebrate Recovery, life group meetings, VBS leaders, and even a birthday party! We'll also be taking advantage of the outdoor space for our GLOWJAM and Family Day events coming up in the next few weeks.
$44,261
1st Quarter Re|Innovate Giving
+
$48,971
2nd Quarter Re|Innovate Giving
+
$6,725
3rd Quarter Re|Innovate Giving
=
$99,957
Total Re|Innovate Giving
Before
After
This project ended up costing WAY more than we initially planned, but our church has generously and graciously stepped up to cover the costs! As you may remember, we experienced a dramatic spike in all building material costs right as we were breaking ground on this project. In addition to those huge cost increases, we made some significant enhancements for better, more useable spaces. We doubled the size of the Pavillion, and increased the deck size. Both of these decisions have paid off dramatically. (Come have dinner with us on the expanded deck any Friday evening!) We also had difficulty with some of our subcontractors, forcing us to use more expensive providers. Not to mention that turf installation and painting were two significant costs not included in our original bid, along with several other unforseen expenses that we had to deal with. As you can see, this all more than worked out in the end, and we now have new, beautiful spaces that we regularly use for ministry!
$208,387
Total Re|Innovate Spending
The Orchard Church
7288 Hwy 515 N
Ellijay, GA 30540
706-621-5160
hello@orchardellijay.com
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