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2022

quarterlyREPORT

The first quarter of 2021 

We headed into the 1st quarter of 2022 at full speed with the onboarding our new Pastor of Youth & Discipleship, Steven Mansell... And kept on going, breaking several records. Our Know God Crash Course in January saw the highest attendance so far. February's New Life Class was packed, followed by 13 baptisms on February 13th. On the same day, Stand Up Sunday, we had our highest partner rate yet! Not only that, LifeGroups have experienced record growth with the start of the Until Unity Group Study. After two years of Covid cancellations, the Multi-Church DNOW was back on and well attended. We even made time for a Ladies Fellowship event and a second New Life Class.

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

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Decisions for Christ


Loving Others

0

People in LifeGroups


Making Disciples

0

Equipping & Serving in some capacity



13 Baptisms

and 36 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 SEPTEMBER 2021 ATTENDANCE
161
AVG MARCH 2022 ATTENDANCE
248

Lifegroup Participation


AVG SEPTEMBER 2021 ATTENDANCE
62
AVG MARCH 2022 ATTENDANCE
118

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Responding to the Call

In January, Pastor Steve called our men to rise up and stand! They are in the process of doing just that. They have spent the last few monthss building a core group, and they plan to officially launch a men's discipleship effort in the coming weeks. There is nothing like men standing for their families, their community, their church, and for the gospel.


Upping Their Game

With Dianne Fowler's leadership, the ladies have continued to increase their ministry to one another. Their ladies' lunch in March had 44 attendees and 12 male volunteers! 


Student Ministry


Since the arrival of Steven Mansell, Pastor to Youth & Discipleship, our Student Ministry has doubled both in youth (52) and leaders (8)! They haven't missed a Wednesday night yet. They attended WinterJam this year with 11 youth and 4 adults. We also teamed up with local churches for the Multi-Church DNOW event in March. We brought 16 youth, 5 leaders, 2 from our worship team, 10 from our safety team and another 6 volunteers for our Host Homes.  Overall they served more than 100 hours combined. The event reached 170 youth in our community. Check out the video compilation of the event!




Celebrate Recovery


We've had some huge record breaking spikes this quarter on attendance, resulting in 12 decisions for Christ! Even though they have 23 leaders and 25 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!



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Valentine's Day



What better time to Love Others than on Valentine's Day. Right? We've got to hand it to our staff and volunteers for putting this special event on. It wasn't even on the calendar. They saw the opportunity to serve and show love to families in Gilmer County, and they seized it! Now that's how to live out God's calling in our community. 12 families served by 8 volunteers and staff. Way to go!


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



Guatemala Ministry

Supporting Pastor Secundino Perez Herrera

Two elders and two deacons walked into a church building in Guatemala.
It is an old, run-down awful building. Pastor Secundino is trying to get his new church building built. His congregation has raised enough money for four walls and a roof, but still needed a floor, windows, and front doors.

We prayed about it, and funded the completion of their building by sending them $12,000 from our Guatemala fund so they can begin meeting there as soon as possible!


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Jeff Parker


With God's most perfect timing, Jeff Parker came on board to be our new Worship Pastor in March.  While his first month wasn't what anyone expected, we are incredibly thankful for his leadership and willingness to dive right in and serve!

He and his family are really looking forward to connecting with everyone face to face soon! 

MEETING TOGETHER

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DEEPER CONNECTIONS


 We started something new in our LifeGroups that's been a huge hit, the Until Unity Group Study. LifeGroups are seeing record growth as a result! Plus our Student Ministry has nearly doubled in size since Steven Mansell joined our staff.

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!




SOCIAL MEDIA
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PAGE FOLLOW

SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT
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2022 to date

SERMON VIEWS
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LIVE/POST


2022 Quarterly General Fund


Thank you.

We had a tough quarter with the GIANT unexpected expense of having to build a new retaining wall and repave part of our entrance road. It definitely made all of us sweat a little bit, and our general fund is currently at it's lowest amount in years... But thanks to your faithful generosity, we were able to continue to do all of our planned ministry activity. It is a privilege to serve a generous church.

-Steve Dusek


$38,798

Current Fund Balance


$174,250

1st Quarter Budget


$188,613

1st Quarter Giving


$207,900

1st Quarter Spending

February was already a surprisingly low month, due to an unexpected snow day.  Giving tends to drop when attendance drops.

March is obviously low, since we aren't able to gather.

Fortunately, we have had online giving in place for quite some time, and have just added the option to "text to give." We hope this will continue to empower generosity for the sake of the Gospel.

  • Love God: $81
  • Love Others: $4,960
  • Make Disciples: $25,436
  • For Gilmer: $240
  • Facilities: $75,517
  • Admin: $27,264
  • Payroll: $88,559

Year to Year General Contributions

2020

$489,167

Total Contributions

2021

$565,027

Total Contributions

2022

$188,613

Contributions to Date


February was already a surprisingly low month, due to an unexpected snow day.  Giving tends to drop when attendance drops.

March is obviously low, since we aren't able to gather.

Fortunately, we have had online giving in place for quite some time, and have just added the option to "text to give." We hope this will continue to empower generosity for the sake of the Gospel.

Retaining Wall

Sometimes the unexpected happens, like a collapsed driveway. This was definitely not planned for, but it had to be repaired. The total costs put us over our general budget for the quarter by a whopping $33,650! Total cost for the project was $54,128.

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Student Ministry


$6,161

Current Fund Balances


$5,733

Total Giving


$1,869

Total Spending



Celebrate Recovery


$20,088

Current Fund Balances


$4,761

Total Giving


$5,383

Total Spending


For Gilmer


$1,021

Current Fund Balances


$946

Total Giving


$240

Total Spending


Guatemala


$41

Current Fund Balances


$1,001

Total Giving


$12,050

Total Spending


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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!


I Have Questions

If you would like to give towards our mission for 2022:


GIVE
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The Orchard Church

7288 Hwy 515 N

Ellijay, GA 30536


706-621-5160

hello@orchardellijay.com

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