CENTRE STREET CHURCH ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020 Use the dots on the right of the page to navigate between sections. Swipe or click on the arrow button at the bottom of every page to navigate between pages. Scroll or click on the down arrow button at the bottom of every page to navigate between pages. Please wait for every page to finish loading. centre street church Our vision is to be a biblically functioning community of fully devoted followers of Christ committed to accomplishing God's redemptive purposes in the world. Our mission is to introduce people to Jesus and to help them become fully devoted followers of Jesus. Pursue God Pursue Relationships Pursue Mission Pursue Generosity Pursue Simplicity A message from our Senior Pastor Read Message "...even though the pandemic may have prevented us from gathering in person and ‘shook us up a bit’ for a time, it hasn’t defeated us. Our church is still very much alive and active because Jesus is still Lord and building His church..." A message from our board Read Message Melanie Nelson, Board Chair Edwin Beaman Wendell Klassen Lane Irving, MHC Chair Angie Redecopp, Treasurer, FAC Chair Michelle Bonnier, Vice Chair Yewande Daniel-Ayoade, HRCC Chair Brian Hennig, Secretary Geogy Joseph "Thank you congregation; for your faithfulness in serving, giving and supporting the Lord’s work in our church. Let us continue the good work that God has given to us and continue to grow and develop ourselves and others in this journey of faith." COVID-19 We responded and moved online ministry continued... Watch Full Video - Children's Ministry Behind the Scenes Watch Full Video - Online Worship Behind the Scenes Compassionate Ministries Watch Full Video - Centre for the City Watch Full Video - Notes of Encouragement We responded again with outdoor in-person worship services... Watch Full Video - Outdoor Services Pursuing God “I thought I had an accurate idea of what my root issues were coming into the program,” said Rhonda. “I came to understand that my issues were not, however, primarily about experiences of wounding from others but rather how those experiences shaped my relationship with God and how I saw myself.” Read Rhonda's Story We regularly go to God to pray and to be filled with the Holy Spirit 2928 prayer event attendees "A young couple came for prayer after the service, and were prayed for by one of the Altar Prayer teams. I saw this same couple sitting on the sofas outside the offices afterwards. I told them if they needed prayer to let me know. The young man said that our church was so peaceful that he would like to pitch a tent and stay here. We joked about it, and then I turned to enter the offices. Just then, the young lady piped up and said, “I am ready. I want to accept the Lord as my Lord and Saviour.” I was stunned! Never in my life have I had a request like that. I sat with them and learned that the man had accepted the Lord a few months back and they are now attending the “Why Believe?” series. I explained to her what the Lord had done for her on the cross and then prayed for her. She prayed the Sinner’s Prayer and then I prayed a blessing over both of them. It is so incredible how the Lord moves." We meditate and as we 368 classes "At a NOW service, a woman came to be baptized and spoke of how she had wanted to commit suicide the night before, but was overcome by the Holy Spirit to attend church. She had spent the day at the church praying and Sunday evening decided that she wanted to live! She wanted to take that next step in her life and get baptized. Praise God!" Scripture Holy Spirit by the read, study and on lives apply it to our guided are We gather His activity, and minister to 6182 average attendance pre-COVID 1375 average live stream attendance pre-COVID 300 children attended CSCamps online 5543 average live stream attendance during COVID 198 families participated in CSCamps regularly to worship celebrate one another God, fellowship with hear teaching of His the Word, Pursuing Relationships "A woman shared that she had initially returned to Women of Heart only because it provided children’s ministry during the week. This provided her with a small window of respite. She shared how this group has impacted her spiritual journey far beyond what she had expected. It is far more than a window of respite now, and has begun a spiritual restoration in her life." Several women have shared how God has done a transformative work in their lives through the Women of Heart community. We are discipled in community to live the way Jesus did 479 Community Groups Missional Communities “I grew up going to Centre Street Church. During my years as a student in youth ministries, I had a few leaders come and go, but I had one leader who stayed for four years. Because of her, I decided I wanted to be involved in youth ministries. My leader’s commitment for four years and the positive impact it had on me showed me why being a youth leader matters. My leaders showed me you don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to ‘have it all together’. They taught me God doesn’t want perfect, he wants us as we are. My leaders showed me what it means to follow God and love his children.” – Miranda, Youth We are discipled in community to live the way Jesus 821 Community Group Leaders “The Alpha course has been a big part of my Christian life. When my wife Angela and I became followers of Jesus together it was late summer. Alpha was starting a few weeks later so we joined up. That is when the transformation began for me. As a new believer I knew little about the Bible and Jesus. The Alpha course changed that for me. The course is broken down to weekly lessons and each one has a bearing on the growth of a young Christian and a re-assurance for the seasoned follower. Alpha was a great starting point for our journey. We have made many friends that continue to be a blessing in our lives and we are so grateful for them. The knowledgeable leaders and helpers are a great help too. Especially Peter and Lisa. They are a perfect example of grace and humility and a great model of how Jesus wants us to live as His followers. Alpha has provided us with the first stepping stone in our growth and walk with Jesus. We went to Why believe next after that. Then we decided to become helpers at Alpha. Now we are table leaders and get to experience the growth of both newer and seasoned believers. As we continue to serve in Alpha and Why Believe, we are grateful for the experience. We have facilitated for a number of years yet I get something different from each video and person we meet. Alpha is great for all believers. I am grateful for the opportunity to attend as a young believer and help as a follower.” 5437 participants in community groups - Ken, Alpha Participant did We commit to joining others in living the way of Jesus by becoming members church 1414 church members We are baptized as a step of obedience to Christ 104 Baptisms “I felt God speaking to my heart and what He told me was He will always be there for me and He will accept me. The life I was lead- ing was not good...being in and out of hospitals, almost dying, because of infections and being away from my husband for 4 to 5 years. I just decided that I want Jesus in my life and that I want to follow Him for the rest of my life and be His child forever. This is my public declaration to you all that are present...that this is my decision and I am proud of it!” – Joy, Baptized May 2019 We celebrate people who make a decision to embrace Christ as Saviour and Lord 208 Decisions for Christ Pursuing Mission "Last October, many families and Missional Communities from our Airdrie campus were out on their front yards, inviting their neighbours to join them for Halloween. They were out serving hot chocolate, giving out amazing treats and sharing the warmth of fire pits." We are faith in our "One of our Community Groups in NW Calgary is seeking to serve their neighbours, by shoveling their driveways after each snow- fall. There is something so special about adults and children joining together to serve their neighbourhoods. They are praying that these acts of service will help foster and deepen relationships within their community. A few weeks ago, a woman asked our NCFC for a Persian Bible for her Iranian neighbour. She shared how her family is reaching out to get to know others in their culturally diverse neighbourhood. She loves God and her neighbours! So exciting to see God moving." them to sharing our with people as lives, inviting embrace Christ Saviour and and Lord We pursue our mission locally, nationally, internationally 45 Global workers in 14 countries 35 Agencies: Local, National, International 149 Partner Churches in 11 countries and New Canadian Friendship Centre 300 new immigrants and refugees engaged in community "God’s care for the widow & the foreigner is evident in the life of a single mom from Chile who needed to quickly move right when Covid locked everything down. We supported her with some bedding, household items, a potted plant and homemade banana bread. It felt like it wasn’t very much, but God multiplies our gifts in His Kingdom. She faithfully attended classes online in the Spring, including our Spanish Bible Study, where she asked for a Bible in her language, and one day said she wanted to begin her relation- ship with Jesus. She said, 'I knew when you brought me the Spanish bible that I wanted to follow Jesus'. She recently returned to her home country, where we are connecting her to a church, and she continues to study English online with us! Before she left, she told us, 'You don’t know how important it is to feel loved. Thank you very much for that'." 11 Classes offered including ESL 2 people came to faith in Jesus 25 Bibles given away in own language Pursuing Generosity “I thought this was pretty funny: I adjusted my giving, due to a perceived shortage of funds, then out of nowhere, I received some unexpected $$. God made me laugh - I could hear Him say, “Where’s your faith, boy?” So I am back where I was before, giving what I had originally planned, and I am just going to leave it!” We are spiritual gifts and 2500 average weekly volunteers “Thank you so much for helping to make life brighter for my son, my father and I. We are low-income, and life is difficult. We pay all our bills with our meagre resources and try to help each other as we can, but because of CSC and Compassionate Ministries, our life has become more blessed! You have provided food, love and hope. Thank you for being there for us in the recent loss of my 98-year-old mother. Your generosity has been so appreciated!” serving in accorandance with our talents We are giving according to City and Global Mission Giving 2019/2020 11,893,574 95.15% budget Build More Room for God Capital Development Fund Giving 2019/2020 - $5,209,000 Total Giving from May 2019 to June 2020 toward $18M Min Goal: $12,150,000 generously Biblical principles Pursuing Simplicity "Once covid started, we couldn’t see our friends on Sundays or during the week for our Bible Studies and that was very hard. People were not allowed to leave their homes to go to work, to volunteer, to go to their day programs or to work. There was nothing to do. Then we learned about Zoom classes that Pastor Corinne was doing. We have fun each week on Wednesday and Sunday at the Zoom classes. We get to see our friends on the computer and we feel happy. What we learn about God comforts us and makes us feel better. We look forward to it and it gives us something to do. We feel good when we are at the Zoom classes; we get to worship together, pray together, memorize Bible verses, and we get to learn about God. Pastor Corinne makes lesson plans so that we can follow along as well. Favourite topics included the Armour of God. We also like learning the signs for the memory verses. Did you know that we are made in the image of God? Psalm 139:14 says, 'I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well'." – Participant, special needs ministry online group We establishing a daily and weekly abide in rhythm of rest Christ COVID-19 forced many of us slow our pace and focus the things that really matter… to on by work and living simply within our means and We focused time on groups participants in Alpha online this spring 20 150 gathering new Christians and those searching for answers together for Alpha Online. 30 leaders + + Special Needs Ministry connection points each month with an average of 20 connecting with one another learning about God’s goodness gathering online. through and focused on 60 people gathering online weekly Maranatha Ministry distanced gatherings such as: hosted - Game cafés - Picnics in the park - A Drive Through Gathering at Central Campus Investing in the Next Generations “For four months I have spent every weekend with our grade school kids in Children’s Ministries. Let me just say... what a blast!! Every week I love the kids more and more - and vice versa! I love hearing about the kids weeks, their families, their favorite things, their amazing facts about dinosaurs and stars and other countries, their worries and problems they can’t solve. I could listen to them all day; there’s never enough time to get to know each child the way I want to! And I love when they ask to sit with me or say they are hoping they will be in my small group... Oh my heart! And, of course, I love watching them learn about Jesus. Sometimes they have big questions, like “who wrote the Bible,” or “what is hell and why does it exist.” Sometimes I feel like I am in over my head, and I am inspired anew to understand my faith in a deeper way. And sometimes God blesses me with moments that I will treasure forever: like last week when I sat with two girls while they prayed to accept Jesus as their forever friend for the first time. Seeing their understanding, their soft hearts, and desire to know the Lord is such a beautiful, precious thing. CHILDREN'S MINISTRIES "Sometimes they have big questions, like 'who wrote the Bible,' or 'what is hell and why does it exist?'" Read Story YOUTH MINISTRY "Becoming a youth leader was my way of being what I wished I had in my own life." Read Story YOUNG ADULTS MINISTRY "After the Gospel message, she and seven others raised their hands to accept Jesus." Read Story “When I was in youth, I did not have any consistent youth leaders that I could build a deep relationship with. In those youth aged years, I felt a lot of loneliness. I wished I had someone older and wiser that I trusted to go to, to talk about what I was struggling with. As soon as I graduated high school I volunteered to be a youth leader. Becoming a youth leader was my way of being what I wished I had in my own life. The youth are going through so much development in their life: discovering their identity in Christ, growing into their personalities, and building their character, all while facing various and differing pressures of the world around them. My desire is to be someone that the youth can trust and rely on in their daily lives, in life’s struggles, and for fun and ice cream. “ – Anna, Youth Leader On December 17th our Young Adult groups gathered together for a Christmas turkey dinner and activities. Over 200 people joined in, some of which had never been to Young Adults before. One couple saw the advertisement and came. He was not a Christian but seeking, and she had walked away from the Lord five years ago, but was feeling like there was something missing in her life. After the Gospel message, she and seven others raised their hands to accept Jesus. They are excited about joining our Central Young Adults starting in the New Year. Youth Story > < Young Adult Story Young Adult Story > < Children's Story Children's Story > < Youth Story Centre Street Church is empowering, developing, and leading the next generation to make disciples We are a church with a mission to introduce people to Jesus and to help them become fully devoted followers of Jesus. In 2018, after praying about how we could reach more lives and more communities, God led us to build a permanent location in NW Calgary. Today, CSC has a total of 5 campuses (Central, NW, Bridgeland, South, and Airdrie), allowing us to reach deeper into communities in Calgary and Airdrie. This means our mission is carried through the thousands of people who meet in hundreds of community groups that are short walking or driving distance from home. Laying stones, milestones, and living stones - those were the themes in our journey to... Laying stones... September 22, 2019 The stones were laid in the Northwest Campus foundation as a reminder of who we are about and who God has called us to reach. On these stones are the names of individuals our church family is praying would come to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. "These stones of remembrance here in front of us are being placed into the foundation of our new CSC Northwest Campus as a memorial to remind us of two things. First of all, it's a reminder of God's faithfulness in providing us all that we have needed to accomplish his purpose, his mission and also his redemptive purposes in our city, our nation, and around the world. And secondly as a reminder to pray regularly for the people whose names are written in these stones that we wrote a little over a year ago." - Pastor Henry, to the congregation while laying stones in the Northwest Campus foundation Milestones... NORTHWEST CAMPUS - Foundation and most walls completed. - Poured main floor and basement floor concrete. - Installed elevator shaft. - Installed steel structure. Underwent steel stud framing on main and second levels. - Resumed outside work, site grading, underground utilities and landscaping wall. CENTRAL CAMPUS - Received Development Permit and Building Permit from City of Calgary. - Excavated for expansion. - Tender materials and labour for Central and NW Campuses. - Prepared to expand parking lot and south lawn. - Began installing underground services. - Began reinforcing ceiling steel, renovations and reconfigurations in worship centre. - Began NE corner renovations. - Began reconfiguration of 2nd floor office areas. AIRDRIE, SOUTH, AND BRIDGELAND CAMPUSES - Soundproofed of Airdrie Campus worship area. - Added space to Airdrie Children's Ministry. - Installed electronic security at South Campus. - Enhanced kitchen facility at South Campus. - Upgraded Bridgeland Campus roof. Financial Milestones... PHASE 1: $21.5 million Build and enclose the expansion IN PROGRESS PHASE 2, 3, & 4 Estimated: $8.1 million Main floor built out: Multi-purpose rooms Centre for the City Children's Ministry renovations Second floor built out: Classrooms Global Ministries Third floor offices Central Campus Living stones... We shared stories about people BUILDing more room for God in their lives. - In the Fall we focused on Special Needs Ministry Stories. - In the Winter we focused on inner healing stories. Each of these ministries need more purpose-built space. THIS STORY IS FROM ANDREW WHO BUILDS MORE ROOM FOR GOD THROUGH EVANGELISM: Read Andrew's Story “Through healing ministries like Encounter God, I experienced a lot of healing. I had an attitude change. the Lord put on my heart to start a ministry called Fishers of Men. We go out on the street, feeding the homeless at the DI. I found out that I love telling people about Jesus. There was this one gentleman – I will call him John. He’s been living at the Drop-In Centre and I used to sell narcotics to him 15-20 years ago. He saw me and was floored by the change in me. I believe that God filled me with more joy and John could see that. I shared the gospel with him and actually ended up accepting Christ. Fishers of Men had been using space in the church for the last five years, but because of our growth challenges, we’ve had to move. And we’re kind of floating around right now, trying to find space to meet before we go out, for a time of teaching, prayer, com- munity fellowship. Having more space would be huge for us and many different ministries around the church. As we BUILD more room for God in our lives and our church, my faith is strengthened, because I can tangibly see Jesus at work.” Thank you for reading stories of God at work in our community in the 2019-2020 ministry year! We can’t wait for all God has planned for this coming season. Want to learn more about who we are? LEARN MORE Want to share what God has been doing in your life? SHARE YOUR STORY