As the stay-at-home order wore on, the reality of an Easter Sunday without a gathering at church became a reality. Ross Martin, Brandon Palmer, and David Niemi worked hard to produce a rendition of “Is He Worthy?” with 15 other musicians as part of our online service. A new sermon series on the Gospel of Matthew titled “New Kingdom Living” began in the weeks leading up to Pastor Keith’s arrival. KingdomZone, C-Team, and SWAT began producing weekly online segments and video chats to continue ministering to the young people in the church. Children were encouraged to draw sermon pictures which were shown during online services. The Women’s Bible Study continued with recorded messages and weekly emails, while the Men’s Study met in groups on video calls.
Elders and staff set up calling teams and care ministries to stay connected with the 2000 people in our congregation. During this process, significant cleanup of our membership roster occurred, and a number of inactive members were removed. A list of new members and those removed is available upon request. Throughout the shutdown, we continue to have new people join us online.
The church and school staff made the jump to being remote employees. File systems were moved online, remote network access was configured, video cameras and laptops were purchased. Like just about everyone in the state, we became masters of the mute button on Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. Our financial procedures morphed from a paper-driven system to a paperless one overnight. Despite the disruption, God’s provision was evident as our giving increased and we were able to make budget each month during the spring.
Work on the building expansion continued in earnest despite the shutdown. Over $1Million in savings were identified, bringing the project inline with the approved $6.8Milllion budget after almost 10 months of work by the construction committee. In June, the plans were submitted for state approval and the focus shifted to preparing for ground-breaking.
In late May, the shutdown ended and plans were made to restart in-person worship services while continuing to offer online services for those staying home due to health concerns. Lights, cameras, and controls were purchased and installed. Staff and volunteers were trained on new equipment. The sound booth was renovated and prepped to handle a larger tech team. New procedures were developed based on the recommendations of health agencies and our medical advisors. Volunteer teams were recruited to welcome, usher, and clean for worship services.
Ministries developed restart plans as well. SWAT & C-Team started meeting outdoors in early June. AWANA hosted a drive-thru award ceremony for the clubbers who continued to memorize scripture and recite to parents and leaders over the phone or online.
We resumed in-person services on June 27 & 28 with three services: one on Saturday evening which was recorded, and two on Sunday. Online services continued using the Saturday night recording. Pastor Keith was able to preach to the congregation live for the first time since becoming the Senior Pastor. Our first livestreamed service was held August 16 as hundreds of congregants were able to worship together in-person and online.
Late spring and summer brought a flurry of staffing changes: Patti Seegers retired after years serving as the front-desk face of the church office. Jamie Brunel took full-time work elsewhere, and Julie Anderson joined the church staff. FVCA also experienced a number of departures with office staff and teachers leaving due to retirement, COVID concerns, and other reasons. A task force was commissioned to help the school restart in-person classes in the fall. Joy Radford was hired as the interim administrator to pilot FVCA through a sea of changes.
August 2 marked a significant day in our church history with a congregational vote to approve financing for our building expansion. Preparation for groundbreaking began immediately, with a dedication ceremony on August 16. By August 21, the old Campus Center was gone, making way for construction of the new welcome space.
Things were not quiet around the church campus. In addition to the start of construction, a number of projects were completed during the summer months. The church office reception area was reconfigured to allow more space for visitors. New subwoofers were installed in the Worship Center to provide a fuller sound, and the black curtain was replaced with a decorative wood wall. Wilde Design was hired to help us develop a plan to update the Worship Center and lobby to be sacred and welcoming while also blending in with the building expansion.
Other ministries changed their plans to ramp up throughout the summer: C-Team and SWAT held modified versions of their summer retreats at the Jeske Cottage in Townsend, WI. KingdomZone hosted a Fourth of July kids parade and a Back-to-School “CARnival” for our families. The local evangelism team went door-to-door to let our neighbors know about upcoming construction plans and invite them to join us for worship services. In August, Equipping Connection Classes began meeting outdoors between services on Sunday mornings.
As fall of 2020 begins, our ministries have put together plans to restart while the pandemic continues to disrupt the normal rhythm of church life. Women’s Bible Studies will resume mid-September; AWANA will start online and beginning meeting onsite in October. KZBabies has made plans to reopen for infants and toddlers during the second service on September 13. Despite all the challenges of 2020, our church family is responding to the changes and continuing the work of “Making Disciples Together.”
Financial Update
