State of Shalimar United Methodist Church 2021

February 3rd, 2021

As a part of our Nation's fabric, one tradition is customary to give a State of the Union Address for late January. Somewhere along the way, I began a tradition by giving the "state of the church" each January. In a year of multiple challenges, I am delighted to share the "state of the church" is stronger than we may think! Below is the printed version.

35,800 persons worshipped with us last year by Livestream and in person.
Of the 35,800, 23,523 persons worshipped by Livestream.
At least 28 states worshipped with us through live stream.
Wisconsin had a large following.
One person in Wisconsin wrote the following.

Hi All:

From the north woods of Wisconsin with a smiley face. Enclosed is a donation for your church. We are regular viewers of your Sunday morning live stream at 8 am. We both had COVID-19 back in October and November. Sad face.

God Bless America!

There was no interruption of official church meetings - most by ZOOM.
The Bread House was birthed and has been in operation for almost a year.
- In operation 127 days, if you translated into 8-hour workdays with 30 volunteers, that would be 776 8-hour workdays. Only closed Christmas and New Year's

Blessings for Children has helped so many families with practical needs in this time of the pandemic.

The musical groups have lead worship every Sunday, providing worship leadership during 2020.
Our growing AV team answered the bell all 52 Sundays of 2020! They are "rock stars."
We had 919 persons participating in the discipleship of Shalimar UMC for 2020.
Pastors spent over a month of time on the telephone making calls to our congregation.
- If you combined the 3,000 pastoral calls, it would be one and a half months non-stop calling.

After sitting quietly for a year, Cross Corner is now being renovated and is in use!
A new fire pit was built on campus!
SUMC held two outdoor Christmas Eve Services. (both well attended despite the cold and COVID)
We formed a youth leadership team of 12 youth.
Our preschool resumed, and there is nothing sweeter than the sounds of children singing "Buzz Buzz" and the director hearing them sing each day!

We celebrate 32 young adults involving themselves in young adult ministry.
There are signs of growth in the 11:07 worship service for the first time in 5 years.
After School Care has resumed, and children do not want to leave at pick up time. Sometimes they are overheard sharing the Bible story they learned with their parents.
Our missions team gave leadership to the church for 23,000 touches in our community. This includes the Bread House, Feeding the Gulf Coast, Sharing and Caring, Blessings for Children, the Thanksgiving Meal Ministry, and Faith Backpack.
The Angel Tree had a record of 197 children, and all were sponsored, making for a better Christmas.

The teenage gift card ministry had $8,200 given to support its ministry. As a result, 94 teenagers were given gift cards! A record for the four years of this ministry.
After a loan of upwards close to 4 million dollars a decade ago, in 2020, we quietly fell under 1 million dollars in our loan for Haverty's!
We again paid 100% apportionments paid to the greater church.
The most amazing fact is that our 2020 pledges were paid at 99.13%! This is a record and speaks so well of the steadfastness of our congregation.
This year we begin the march to 1,000 persons in discipleship every week!

This report reflects our church's positive movement and ministry in what was likely the most difficult year in our 70- year history. Thanks be to God! None of this would be possible without God's faithfulness to His Church in such a time!

Shalom,
Philip