2024
BFC Annual Business Meeting Minutes
January 21, 2024
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Jordan Terrell welcomed everyone at 6:10pm.
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Jordan Terrell led in two worship songs.
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Chairman Ray McIntyre called the meeting to order. He then called for a motion to waver the reading of the 2023 Business Meeting Minutes. Mike Swaine called for the motion and Hap Stephenson seconded it. The motion passed.
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Bob Schroeder for a motion to accept the 2023 business meeting minutes. Andrew Fells seconded it and the motion passed.
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Raymond McIntyre called for a motion to accept Bob Schroeder as a new elder. Hap Stephenson made a motion to accept Bob Schroeder as a new elder. Mike Swaine seconded it and the motion passed.
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Dean Vogel made a motion to accept the Financial Report. The motion seconded by Carl Gillilan and the motion passed.
Ministry Reports
Pastor Chris, Dana, and Hannah: Children’s Ministry
Good evening, Church Family.
As we take this opportunity to reflect on an amazing year of Children’s Ministry in the year 2023, we can now look back on all that God has allowed us to be a part of here at Bible Fellowship Church. I have the privilege of sharing with you what God has done in the past year in the BFC Children’s Ministry.
As we look back, we kicked off the 2022/23 season of Olympians and Gopher Buddies program in August 2022. We meet each week from 5:15 to 7:30 where we have a time of fellowship, games and most importantly a time of worship and the reading and teaching of God’s Word.
We are split into 3 groups, Nursery ages 0 to 2years, Gopher Buddies ages 3yrs to kindergarten and our Olympians 1st grade to 5th grade. Glory be to God we continue to average about 150 little ones between the 3 groups each Wednesday Night.
As part of our program the Gophers and Olympians we encourage our kids to memorize scripture verses and set aside daily devotional time with a daily devotion guide made available to them.
Our Program is centered around relationships. First focusing on our own individual relationship with Christ Jesus and from that we build on the importance of relationships with one another.
One of the cool things we implemented early on in our program was that our leaders would move up with their students each year until they moved on to youth. This has been of great value in the relationship building process between the leaders and the groups as most leaders and students stay together throughout their time in Olympians. Building Relationships that we pray will last a lifetime.
We continue to run our bus ministry to pick up Children in the community that otherwise would not be able to attend Church.
Also, as part of our program we hold an event each month to encourage our kids to invite a neighbor or a friend or even a relative so that they can share in the fun and most importantly have an opportunity to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We call it kids discipling kids.
We hold annual events each month such as Movie Night, Lazar tag, campfire and Winnie roast, water slide night, also one of the family favorites is our annual event called Fastcar held on a Sunday afternoon right after the second hour service. This event allows the whole family to join in on the fun for an afternoon of fun and fellowship.
We race hot wheel cars, there is food, and lots of door prizes for the kids to win, we also have nice trophies for all our winners. As a bonus we have a time of the reading of God’s Word with the children and Parents.
We also had our annual weekend camp at camp wingman in Avon Park in April. Our Theme this year was, (Out of the Darkness) taken from the scriptures 1st Peter 2:9 I have called you out of the darkness into My glorious light.
We had a good group of kids and volunteers who enjoyed a weekend in the Word, worship, and lots of fun activities.
We closed out our 2022/2023 Olympian year with our annual Olympians Gold Trip for those kids completing all three levels of Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Completing each levels tasks of scripture memorization, Christian services, and book reports.
The kids that completed the bronze, silver and gold levels earned a trip to URBAN AIR in Lakeland. This is a Trampoline Park.
Our summer events included our annual VBS in June, the theme was Stellar!! Shine Jesus Light!
We always enjoy our time with VBS, admiring the God given talents within the body of Christ that come together and use them for His Glory. Seeing the kids’ reactions and their enjoyment in the things of God.
We ended the year with a trip to Word of Life Summer Camp in Hudson Fl where through the generous donations of our church family to our Camp Scholarship fund, we were able to take 51 kids to Word of life summer camp. Our summer Camp theme was (Stranded! Navigating Life) Where they spent the week worshiping and walking through the scriptures on how to navigate their way through this life. Not to mention all the fun activities.
I would like to take a moment and share how you can sponsor a child for camp this summer if the Lord leads you to do so,
We have made it very simple, just make your check out to BFC and in the comments write WOL camp scholarship fund and drop into one of the giving boxes. We have made it so that you can spread out your sponsorship of a child throughout the year instead of all at once. The cost to send a child to summer camp is $390. Plus, Transportation.
Moving onto our Sunday Morning Ministry, we continue in our Super Book Curriculum for ages K to 5TH grade, where the kids get to see the stories of the Bible come to life on screen and really allows them to connect to the stories and have a better understanding of the application to their lives.
We use TRUWAY KIDS for our 3- & 4-year-olds and as reported last year we were waiting for Gizmo Go to be released which is also done by Super Book Academy but created for the younger kids. It has since been released and we have just begun teaching this curriculum in our 2nd hour. For our first hour we have also begun a new curriculum called Simply Loved by Group.
So far, the response has been very good.
As we continue to strive to improve the quality of our Childrens Check in process we found some of the hiccups we were experiencing and were able to improve the process by moving our express Check in service to the east foyer which has reduced back-ups at our check in windows. This allows us to meet and serve our new families better and more efficiently.
In Closing, I along with Mrs. Dana, and all the kids who attend Bible Fellowship Church, we want to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers for their faithful service to the ministry of Jesus Christ and to His Children. We could not do this alone, and they are a huge part of all that goes on here at BFC. I want to say a special thanks to Mrs. Frannie and her group for the great work they do with the Gopher Buddies. Lastly, we would like to say thank you to our BFC Family for your prayers and support throughout the year. What we see God doing here at BFC is truly the work of the whole Body of Christ!
Thank you! Pastor Chris, Mrs. Dana, and Hannah: Children’s Ministry Pastor and Director
Pastor Jordan: Worship Ministry
Adult Worship
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Continue to be so thankful for our worship team. Rodney passed away.
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Abide Night of Worship leading up to Easter (Apr 26). Team leadership. Acoustic feel. Rotation.
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October Abide 365 downtown.
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Christmas service. BFC Tabernacle choir.
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Online presence. Let’s Talk and Wisdom from the Word. New faces. Generations Together podcast (28 people).
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YouTube 15.3k views (up 11% from 2022). 130 new subscribers (41% more than 2022). Mary Swaine Celebration of Life (331), Ask Jeff (251)
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Buzzsprout 8,834 downloads. June was our highest month. Last 10 episodes: Multiple downloads from Australia and Germany.
Youth Worship
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11 members. Added 3 new members in 2023!
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Madi Culverhouse is leading a youth worship program in Lake Wales.
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Book recommendation “The Air I Breathe”, by Louis Giglio.
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Played a set at Highlands County Fair in February.
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Led worship for work camp (July 9-14)
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Musical entertainment for a Reformation Day party at Faith Lutheran.
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Greeter Ministry: We had 24 men and women in rotation in 2023.
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Personal: Crew leader at Camp Wingman
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Teaching Sunday nights and Membership Class
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Josie and I attended the Sing! Conference in Nashville in September.
Pastor Adam: 2023 Youth & Family Ministry Report Wednesday night ministry: We continued meeting throughout 2023. We continue to have over 100 middle and High school students weekly. Sometimes as many as 140. Our videos are still live-streamed and posted on our Facebook page as well as the BFC Youth YouTube Channel. Systematic study using Word of Life curriculum hitting topics of: • Book study of Daniel • Topical look at Attitudes of the heart: failure, ingratitude, bitterness & pride • Book study on Philippians • A series on apologetics – Forensic Evidence of God: Design, Morality & beauty, God revealed himself; God is the same in NT as he was in the OT
• Christology – the doctrine of Jesus: humble, understands, serves, resurrection. • Doctrine of Sin – We are set free, Pride, forgiveness, New life in Christ • Attributes of God: Goodness, justice, compassionate, wise • We also did our Waiting Room series with testimonies from BFC Adults. Small groups are fully staffed with 18 volunteers who graciously give of their time energy and care. We took 33 students to Pursuit camp Word of Life winter camp. The camp is sports themed with a message that is encouraging was well as evangelistic. Just returned from camp last week Sunday mornings: Sunday Morning Sunday School is at 9:00. We have covered studies using Right Now Media: the Book of John with Tony Evans. This is in coordination with the Zwayer’s Homebuilders Sunday School Class. Sunday evenings: Taking turns with Todd, Jordan, and John preaching chapter by chapter through the book of Genesis Sebring High School: Ministry continues at Sebring high school on Tuesdays during the lunch period. We are grateful for the access and the relationships built with students, teachers, and staff. BFC Youth continues to support the SHS Bible Club sponsored by BFC attendee JoAnna Cochlin. Students are organizing the schedule coordinating with Youth Pastors as guest speakers and student led devotions. We have had devotional opportunities with Sebring High School Football team. BFC has opened the door for sports teams to have end of season banquets for JV Football and Soccer. Thursday mornings: Men’s Bible Study at 8:00 AM. We finished walking through Hebrews, and started in Joshua. The group also visited New Testament Church and Mission where we heard the heart of their ministry, and served alongside them in feeding the needy. Summer Youth Activities: TERM & C APTIVE – I taught two one-week book study classes. 8:30-4:00 Monday-Friday The classes have 14 students each, and I have students ready to go for this upcoming year. TERM – The Emmaus Road Message-A worldview study. “Stranger on the Road to Emmaus” by John Cross. CAPTIVE – Sanctification and the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. “The Captive and the Kings Will” also by John Cross. Work camp: For the 7th year we took over 50 students and leaders to Stay at Home Work Camp in Lake Wales. We had morning devotions. During the day they roofed, painted, did yard work, and other service projects in the Florida sun. At night they received the word of God under the barn, and our students led worship. Mexico Mission Trip: We currently have about 40 people signed up for the Mission Trip to Primo Tapia, Mexico in June with Phil & Mindy Steiner of Be2Live ministries. Our projects will include construction, painting, orphan care, and site preparation. We will serve the Mexican orphanage, day cares, and other ministries with projects to be determined as the time draws nearer. Prayer Requests: Praying for the power of the Holy Spirit to be present in the ministry. Also pray for continued growth in my students and leaders.
Pastor John Armstrong
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As the new pastor I have been absorbing the culture of BFC
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Getting to the people
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traditions
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people
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culture
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Tipping Church to Giving Church
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GT UP
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Offerings up 19%
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Attendance
Avg 22% increase a year for the last three years avg 338 407 463
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This past week at our pastors meeting we talked about how do accommodate the growth before we get into the new building
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Grant guy
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Him coming to me
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Him visiting on a Wed
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I have engaged a grant expert to do some grant chasing for us in regard to the GT project. Over the next 4-6 weeks we should have a general idea of what is available that would help with both the GT project and the church.
As we look forward to the upcoming 50th anniversary of BC in the next couple weeks let’s keep in mind that GT is the next 50 years for BFC.
Pastor Todd
Mission’s additions for 2024
Youth for Christ
Eluid—Word of Life central Florida
Thank you to the staff!
Cathy
Jean
Ed
Jamal
Elaine Psalm 102:18 Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD.
Pastor Todd Patterson closed the meeting in prayer at 7:20pm.
2017
2018
2019
2020 2021 2022 2023
-5.87%
2.15%
0.79%
-44.77% 32% 20% 14%