From the Pastor's Desk: A Look at 2018

Happy New Year!

Saint Stephen Lutheran Church has been working hard to be the Body of Christ. It’s true. We have been doing the necessary and difficult work of figuring out who we are and who God is calling us to be.

At the beginning of the year we often reflect at what has been and look forward to what will come. Here are some of the “stats” from our life together last year…

- We were involved in the Congregational Assessment Tool (CAT) process with SamaraCare; 57 people participated in the survey - 37 attended our July bi-annual meeting and most stayed for brunch afterward to discuss the results of the survey - 22 were involved in groups reading Mark Allan Powell’s Giving to God book - 43 households responded to the Generosity Sunday: Giving to God with Estimates of Giving for 2019 which represented a 6.7% growth! - Our Men’s Breakfast has started again with hopes to partner with the men from the United Methodist Church - Women from St. Stephen and the United Methodist Church continue to meet as Prayer Sisters on a nearly monthly basis to study God’s Word and pray for the needs of the community - 80 people worshipped together at our Community Thanksgiving Worship - The pastors and lay people from UMC, St. Ignatius, and St. Stephen are gathering regularly for prayer and conversation about mission and ministry - 7 households joined our congregation (one family as associate members) - We’ve had an excellent response to our CAT follow up program: Why? We’ve had excellent responses to our Weekly Why? Question in the bulletin and will have a lot of good solid data to share with you at our upcoming annual meeting in January

This is by no means a comprehensive list of our work and life together but it reflects a faithful willingness to be the body of Christ in Antioch and beyond!

I look forward to God’s Work together in 2019 and know that Christ will continue to walk with us, God’s Spirit will guide us, and God will delight in God’s people at Saint Stephen Lutheran Church.

Pastor Rebecca Gordon