Your Investment in Changing Lives at Ebenezer

EUMC Annual Budget 2010

The church leadership at Ebenezer has constructed a strong plan of ministry to continue our mission to be a place where Jesus Christ changes lives.  We are blessed to have so many committed members who are willing to invest their money in this mission.

Our Plan of Ministry for 2010

A.  To continue to provide meaningful, life-changing worship services that are spiritually authentic and culturally relevant.

Worship is a vital aspect of following Christ.  We are called to fall at Christ’s feet and honor Him with all that we have.  One way that we express this is through congregational worship, which allows us to express our love for God, our neighbor and ourselves. We now have 5 worship services and average an attendance of over 1000 per week.  We have a very active music ministry which allows all ages to learn to praise God through music, including two children’s choirs, a youth choir, and adult choir, a hand bell ensemble and three praise bands.

Budget Total for Worship:  $325,568.92 (16% of total budget)

B.  To nurture and grow people in their faith journey

At Ebenezer we believe that inspired teaching is the primary catalyst for growth and positive life-change.  We also believe in lovingly challenging people to grow in their relationship with Christ.  We offer opportunities to help nurture this faith journey for people at all stages of their faith walk.  During 2009 we continued to offer programs for children and youth that teach the fundamentals of Christian living.  We offered relevant classes and small groups that offer opportunities for people to form meaningful relationships.  We sponsored Upward Basketball, which allowed Ebenezer to sponsor 120 local children who could be introduced to Jesus Christ and the gospel through the sports program.   We continued using the Church Communications Network (CCN) satellite system, which has allowed us to offer in-depth, powerful programming covering a broad spectrum of ministry areas including marriage workshops, women’s conferences and parenting conferences.   We will continue to focus on high level teaching programs that will help people grow in their walk with God.  In addition to the increased classes, we are in the process of developing “core curriculum” that will allow adults to learn the basics of the Christian Faith and grow in their knowledge of scripture.  Ebenezer attracts a variety of people with different levels of spiritual maturity and Biblical knowledge.  We are working to create a process that can allow anyone to grow no matter what his or her level of understanding and experience might be.

Budget Total for Growth:  $608,111.58 (31% of total budget)

C.  To continue to provide excellent facilities in which to do God’s work

At Ebenezer we have a beautiful Sanctuary in which to worship God.  We continue to grow and expand our preschool, classes and ministries through the use of our 31,000 square foot, 3 floor ministry center.  We believe that excellence honors God and inspires people and we strive to keep all our facilities neat, clean and in good repair.

Budget Total for Mortgages:  $448,879.64 (23% of total budget)

Budget Total for Facility Operations: $241,382.22 (12% of total budget)

D.  To serve beyond ourselves.

At Ebenezer we have a heart for mission and ministries that speak to human hurts and hopes and reach out into the community and the world.  We strive to reach out to people in their times of pain and need.  Ebenezer continues to deepen our involvement in community outreach and mission.  Locally, we have expanded our work with Micah ministries, which serves the chronic homeless in our community.  Through Micah ministries we are able to provide support to the cold weather shelter and meals ministry.  We also assisted with the relocation and support numerous refugees from overseas.  Nationally, the youth sponsored a summer mission trip to reach out to those in need in other communities.  Internationally, we support the Children’s Rescue Center (CRC) and Mercy Hospital in Bo, Sierra Leone, Africa.  Several members participated in the CRC Summer School this year.  We recognize that the needs and hurts are many, and God is calling us to find creative ways to minister to our broken world.  In addition, as a connectional Church, Ebenezer supports the larger mission of the United Methodist denomination.  Through our connectional support we help to empower our denomination to financially support local, conference and worldwide level outreach that no single congregation could do on its own.

Budget Total for Service Beyond Ourselves:  $352,778.52 (18% of total budget)

Ebenezer continues to be a community where people are connected to God and equipped to continue growing in His ways.  Through our mission to Worship, Grow and Serve we seek to be a Church where Jesus Christ changes lives.

The Total investment needed to fulfill our mission of

Changing Lives for Jesus Christ: $1,976,720.88

A detailed line-item budget is available in the church office for any who wish to review it.