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COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN CHURCH 2015 ANNUAL REPORT LIFE CHANGE GROWTH FINANCE GENEROSITY

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Page 1: 2015 ANNUAL REPORT · Students 812 All 5565 ATTENDANCE AVERAGES BY YEAR Adults, Kids and Students ATTENDANCE AVERAGES BY LOCATION 7 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 1000

COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN CHURCH

2015 ANNUAL REPORT

LIFE CHANGE GROWTH FINANCE GENEROSITY

Page 2: 2015 ANNUAL REPORT · Students 812 All 5565 ATTENDANCE AVERAGES BY YEAR Adults, Kids and Students ATTENDANCE AVERAGES BY LOCATION 7 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 1000

Dave FergusonLead Pastor, COMMUNITY

2

AT COMMUNITY, EVERYTHING WE DO AND EVERY DOLLAR WE INVEST IS ABOUT THE MISSION OF HELPING PEOPLE FIND THEIR WAY BACK TO GOD.

That is not just our church’s mission statement, but also my mission and your mission. In March of this year, Jon and I wrote a book inspired by our mission: Finding Your Way Back To God. This book tells the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15) and how he found his way back home. It also includes the stories of many of us who have traveled a similar path; check out the story of my friends, Nancy and Patrick O’Connell, and how they found their way back to God at COMMUNITY.

God has, once again, favored us with a great year of growth and difference-making. Thanks to many amazing leaders and volunteers throughout Kids’ City, Student Community, Adult Small Groups, Creative Arts, First Impressions, Celebrate the Journey, Community 4:12 and more, 2015 has been another record year. Your continued commitment to the Jesus Mission has helped more than 340 people find their way back to God through baptism this year - now that’s something to celebrate!

As you review the 2015 Annual Report, I would love for you to join me in saying a prayer of thanks over each page for how God is at work through COMMUNITY. Every story and data point you’ll find in here is a result of God graciously working through your commitment to the Jesus Mission. I would also challenge you to say a prayer of re-commitment to the marvelous mission that we are on together!

Once again, thank you so much for your extraordinary generosity. I love each of you and love being on this mission together.

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3

LIFE CHANGE

GROWTH

FINANCE

GENEROSITY

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LIFE CHANGE

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55

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

3698

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

4000

10981167 1258

1341 1422 14571521

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1502

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

CONTRIBUTORSAdults and Students

CONNECTEDAdults and Students

3C CHRIST FOLLOWERSCelebrate - Connect - Contribute

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 20140

200400600800

1000120014001600180020003000 2313

2015

BAPTISM STORY - VICTORIA MALDONADOI would not be on this journey if not for my husband, Marco. Although baptized Catholic as a baby, I never had religion, God or Jesus in my life. At age 9, my family stopped attending church and, thinking that belief was not mandatory, I pursued other things. With no real problems growing up, I created my own, often about darkness and death, and I began to pursue writing at a career. As a literature student, I often encountered religion and faith, but it was just a frustrating or perplexing “other” experience above which I had evolved. In 2006, my comfortable life changed drastically. I began yearning for a more meaning and destroyed my first marriage when I unforgivably cheated on my first husband. Afterward, I sought happiness in a series of poor sexual and relational decisions, the worst of which ripped my life and career to shreds as I moved across the country into an emotionally and mentally abusive relationship—a self-imposed punishment for my sin. I finally admitted that I needed help and my parents moved me back home. In 2013, I met Marco. Our instant connection led to marriage in a few months, but I worried that we had vastly different views about faith. He asked me to attend COMMUNITY with him, and I begrudgingly did, skittish and terrified the whole time, convinced that everyone was judging me as a nonbeliever. So uncomfortable, I refused to go after a few months. Instead of going without me, Marco never pushed and stopped going himself. I had won! But I eventually noticed how he missed it, and I agreed to try again. Although I took baby steps, it was difficult accepting what I’d railed against my whole life, but last summer while directing a nonprofit outdoor play that almost failed, I prayed desperately, and God intervened with amazing people and freak windows of good weather for the production. Stunned, I came to church with a more open heart, but still unsure. Then came the Alpha program. Although skepticism reigned at first, eventually the discussions with genuinely amazing people and the weekend retreat helped me find my way back to God. My intense negativity simply lifted. I now mentor with Community 4:12, have a small group and help the Alpha program. I am excited to continue this journey and be able to raise our future twins in this amazing community. Thank you, Marco. Thank you, God.

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6

GROWTH

6

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Students

812

All5565

ATTENDANCEAVERAGES BY YEARAdults, Kids and Students

ATTENDANCEAVERAGES BY LOCATION

7

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

Kids

1209Adults

3795ALL

5816

0

500

1000

1500

2000

YELLOW BOX2292

DOWNTOWN242

ROMEOVILLE440

CARILLON196

EAST AURORA126

MONTGOMERY336 PLAINFIELD

646

SHOREWOOD618

YORKVILLE304

LINCOLN SQUARE96

LEMONT277

LINCOLN PARK134

CAR EAU EDG LEM LPK PSQ MON NDT NYB PLF ROM SWD YKV

EDGEWATER130

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CHICAGO

SHOREWOOD

LEMONT

CARILLON

ROMEOVILLE

YORKVILLE

MONTGOMERY

PLAINFIELD

EAST AURORA

NAPERVILLEDOWNTOWN

NAPERVILLEYELLOW BOX

LINCOLN SQUARE

LINCOLN PARK | OLD TOWN

COMMUNITY NETWORKS

JON FERGUSON NETWORK

LEMONTLaunched in 2011

LINCOLN SQUARELaunched in 2011

LINCOLN PARK | OLD TOWNLaunched in 2013

JOHN CIESNIEWSKI NETWORK

CARILLONLaunched in 2001

PLAINFIELDLaunched in 2008

ROMEOVILLELaunched in 1998

SHOREWOODLaunched in 2004

DAVE FERGUSON NETWORK

EAST AURORALaunched in 2010

MONTGOMERYLaunched in 2002

NAPERVILLE YELLOW BOXLaunched in 1989

NAPERVILLE DOWNTOWNLaunched in 2004

YORKVILLELaunched in 2006

THREE NETWORKS - TWELVE LOCATIONS

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#SHOWUPSUNDAYSeptember 20 was a BIG day! COMMUNITY kicked off the new ministry year with a big push to get more people to all 13 locations on a non-holiday weekend. We called that weekend #ShowUpSunday. Through FaceBook, Twitter, post card mailings and most importantly, personal invites from current attenders, we saw a huge number of people walk through our doors that weekend! At all 13 locations, we had 7,079 people join us for celebration services on September 20! Each location had a fantastic turnout and it was exciting to see so many new faces checking out COMMUNITY and hopefully, taking their first steps in finding their way back to God. Thank YOU for all your help and invites to your friends!

325 CARILLON

191 EAST AURORA

165 EDGEWATER

221 LINCOLN PARK

190 LINCOLN SQUARE

305 LEMONT

469 MONTGOMERY

332 NAPERVILLE DOWNTOWN

2,573 NAPERVILLE YELLOW BOX

749 PLAINFIELD

466 ROMEOVILLE

694 SHOREWOOD

409 YORKVILLE

#SHOWUPSUNDAY ATTENDANCE - 7,079

9

#SHOWUPSUNDAY09.20.15

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CAMPUS UPDATES

CARILLONCarillon had a record attendance for #ShowUpSunday of 327. A full-time Associate Campus Pastor was added. 44 water-purifying systems were purchased by Carillon attenders for people in developing nations who have need for clean water. Small groups continue to grow at the Carillon campus and also in Grand Haven, a neighboring active adults community.

EAST AURORA Small groups on mission held an Easter Egg hunt in a local park for their neighborhood and began “First Friday child care” - a night for couples to go out on a date and not worry about finding babysitting. The East Aurora Campus renovated the teacher’s lounge at Brady Elementary for teacher appreciation week. StuCo grew from two students in 2014 to 25 students.

EDGEWATERAfter much dialogue and prayer, COMMUNITY’s Lead Team and Leadership Commission determined that it was in the best interest of the mission in Edgewater to release our Edgewater Campus to become NewStory Community Church. NewStory continues to help more people find their way back to God in Chicago.

LEMONTIn 2015 Lemont continued to thrive in its new Adult and Kids’ City spaces seeing growth in attendance, generosity and celebrating 22 baptisms. Close to 200 students and leaders went to BLAST. Four new small groups were launched.

LINCOLN PARK | OLD TOWNAdded a second celebration service in March. Grew to 15 small groups through the multiplication of existing groups by leader reproduction. Nine people were baptized this year. Nearly $20,000 was given away at Celebration Generosity. Through apprenticeship, two new worship leaders were developed. Alpha groups were launched with 24 people getting connected for the first time.

LINCOLN SQUAREA new Small Groups Director was added to the Lincoln Square team. Campus attenders spent over 2,300 hours serving in the community. This year, Lincoln Square saw eight baptisms and experienced record attendance of 246 at Easter and 190 on #ShowUpSunday.

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MONTGOMERYMontgomery added a new Arts Director, a StuCo Director, a Small Groups Director, a volunteer Staff Admin and a new Kids’ City Apprentice Director. Campus attendance is on the rise and because of the generosity of Montgomery attenders, the fiscal year ended with a balanced budget. Six new small groups began and over 100 people are now in small groups.

NAPERVILLE DOWNTOWNApproximately 50 college students attend Naperville Downtown with over 20 of those students added this year. North Central College and their staff partnered with COMMUNITY to host an all-church Praise and Worship night at Wentz Concert Hall with 400 in attendance. In 2015, Naperville Downtown began offering two celebration services, Kids’ City reproduced more leaders and small groups grew by 75%. Naperville Downtown will have its first attender take part in the Leadership Training Center... a win for COMMUNITY!

NAPERVILLE YELLOW BOXThe Naperville Yellow Box has had a busy year where it seems no matter what night of the week you drive by, the building is in use. The new space has been a huge hit with the community- hosting various conferences, recitals, book signings and other events. Attendance is up over 500 people a week. We’re very excited about our outreach into the community and how many people are checking out the Yellow Box and hopefully taking their first steps to finding their way back to God!

PLAINFIELD & SHOREWOODThe Plainfield and Shorewood Campuses began the process of working together in all aspects as they plan to join forces as one campus in 2016. The ideal property for a future facility was identified and secured. Two new Small Groups Directors were added, the Kids’ City staff team expanded to accommodate 400+ kids every weekend and the StuCo teams have already combined. Plainfield and Shorewood welcomed new campus pastors as John Ciesniewski moved to Plainfield and after apprenticing at Shorewood, BT Norman became the new Shorewood Campus Pastor.

ROMEOVILLEThe Romeoville Campus welcomed a new StuCo Director and Campus Pastor in 2015. Over 20 baptisms took place.

YORKVILLEYorkville launched their first Alpha group and Finding Your Way Back To God small groups. 125 kids attended Vacation Bible School and were led by 75+ volunteers. The Arts Team added 10+ leaders and Welcome lunches resulted in 25 people being connected in small groups. In 2015, 25 people were baptized and we experienced record attendance for StuCo, Easter and #ShowUpSunday. 11

CAMPUS UPDATES

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FINANCE

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REACHCampus Ministry OperationsCatalyst Ministry OperationsFacilitiesCapital Replacement Savings

RESTORECommunity 4:12Compassion InternationalPhilippine Frontline MinistriesGlobal MissionsBenevolenceHands of Hope

REPRODUCENewThingMultiplier FundLeadership ResidentsNew Locations

RESOURCE ALLOCATION2015 Fiscal Year*OCT 2014 - SEPT 2015

REACHReaching those who are far from God.

RESTORERestoring God’s dream for the world.

REPRODUCEReproducing the Jesus Mission in others.

*NOTE: Compensation has been split between Reach, Restore and Reproduce since each ministry is involved in all three areas.

HISTORICAL GIVING1989 - 2015 CALENDAR YEAR

2015 CALENDAR YEAR GIVING $7.3 MILLION*

*Giving for 2014-2015 includes ALL IN intiatives at several of COMMUNITY’s campuses.

REACH

REPRODUCE

RESTORE

48%28%

24%

89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15

$1 Mil

$2 Mil

$3 Mil

$4 Mil

$5 Mil

$6 Mil

0

$7 Mil

$8 Mil

$9 Mil

$7.3 MILLION

13

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2015 SPENDING - $6.9M

WHAT IS 10-20-70?COMMUNITY has established a financial model that enables us to operate effectively as a reproducing church. Here’s how it works...

10% - MULTIPLIER FUNDCOMMUNITY has always been committed to reproducing at every level—leaders, ministries, celebration services, campuses and churches. With multiple locations, it can be challenging to remain missional about new endeavors with so many worthwhile interests competing for resources. By allocating 10% of all offerings to the multiplier fund, we’re positioned to reproduce consistently, to invest in leadership residents and to resource our existing campuses as they model our reproducing DNA.

20% - CATALYSTCatalyst operations include creative arts, business administration, and ministry visioning, collaboration and alignment. Operating the Catalyst at 20% of all offerings requires us to continually refine our operations and ensure fiscal responsibility.

70% - CAMPUSEach network (3-5 campuses) operates on 70% of its collective annual offerings, which are used for staffing, facility, capital savings and ministry operations. Operating at 70% takes the guesswork out of future staffing, facility usage and other expenditures, since annual budgets are established based on projected offerings.

70%

20%10%

FISCAL YEAR BY CAMPUS**includes each campus’ 10-20-70 spending

WHY IS OUR SPENDING LOWER THAN OUR GIVING? ALL IN initiatives concluded early in 2015 (see page 16) and excess resources are being applied to capital projects.

2015 GIVING - $7.5MFISCAL YEAR BY CAMPUS**includes All In giving (above operating budget)

14

CARILLON $223K (3%)

DOWNTOWN $455K (6.1%)

EAST AURORA $121K (1.6%)

EDGEWATER $150K (2%)

LEMONT $361K (4.8%)

LINCOLN PARK $224K (3%)

LINCOLN SQUARE $175K (2.3%)

MONTOGMERY $339K (4.5%)

PLAINFIELD $683K (9.1%)

ROMEOVILLE $296K (3.9%)

SHOREWOOD $573K (6.7%)

YELLOW BOX $3.600M (47.9%)

YORKVILLE $310K (4.1%)

CARILLON $218K (3.2%)

DOWNTOWN $448K (6.5%)

EAST AURORA $177K (2.6%)

EDGEWATER $167K (2.4%)

LEMONT $364K (5.3%)

LINCOLN PARK $229K (3.3%)

LINCOLN SQUARE $193K (2.8%)

MONTOGMERY $285K (4.1%)

PLAINFIELD $630K (9.2%)

ROMEOVILLE $433K (6.3%)

SHOREWOOD $585K (8.5%)

YELLOW BOX $2.82M (41%)

YORKVILLE $331K (4.8%)

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GENEROSITY

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all in UPDATES

NAPERVILLE YELLOW BOXThe Naperville Yellow Box successfully wrapped up ALL IN in March 2015. The new auditorium has been a huge hit with the community, hosting numerous events through Anderson’s Bookshop and welcoming Drew Barrymore, David McCullough, Cary Elwes, Rainn Wilson and others. Also, the Naperville Yellow Box is the new home of the TedX Naperville talks, and has hosted various recitals, weddings, receptions, and conferences from people in the community. The first cohort from the Leadership Training Center, a place for training church planters, graduated in 2015. The updated and expanded Kids’ City and Student Community spaces are attracting more attenders, and growth was seen in attendance in both of these ministries this year. The increased auditorium and lobby spaces resulted in more people attending the Naperville Yellow Box for the first time and taking their first steps to finding their way back to God!

EAST AURORAThe East Aurora Campus is in the process of finalizing plans to move into a new space on LaSalle Street in 2016! The new location is a preferred location with ground level access and street front visibility. This will make COMMUNITY East Aurora much more visible to the publc and easier to locate. Renovations will begin in early 2016.

LEMONTAll IN at Lemont enabled this campus to double the size of their adult celebration space, build a lobby/cafe area to welcome newcomers, and expand the Kids’ City, StuCo and small group meetings spaces. Scholarships were given to over190 students to attend BLAST, as well as sending $10k to support church and orphanage in Haiti through 1013 Missions.

PLAINFIELD / SHOREWOODThrough ALL IN, the Plainfield and Shorewood Campuses have celebrated more people saying ‘Yes’ to Jesus, His mission and generosity than ever before. The BIG Serve, an annual event partnering with the Village of Plainfield and several other churches and organizations to impact our local community, was held. A new church was planted in the Chicago area and we invested resources in our global partnerships. In 2015, COMMUNITY was able to identify and purchase a 92,000 sq. ft. facility near downtown Plainfield that will become the new home of the Plainfield and Shorewood Campuses. This space will allow 1,000s more people find their way back to God as a church home, create a hub of recreational activity and house a state-of-the-art Community Center.

In 2014-2015, several COMMUNITY campuses went ALL IN for the Jesus Mission. ALL IN took on slightly different meanings at each location but one thing remained the same: our unyielding dedication to reaching those who are far from God, restoring the world to His original dream, and reproducing the Mission in others. We completed our ALL IN Generosity Initiative at a number of our campuses this past year. Here’s some brief updates!

16

Matthew West Concert at the Naperville Yellow Box

Current East Aurora Campus Facility

New Lemont CampusConnecting Space

New Plainfield - Shorewood Campus coming in 2016

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COMMUNITY is a generous church, and each year we choose one weekend during which we give our entire offering away in support of the Four Teams. That weekend is called Celebration Generosity, and this year we gave away $527,363! On the following pages you can find updates from each of the teams.

COMPASSION NEWTHING PHILIPPINES RESTOREINTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

1526

2015

1209

2009

1098

2010

1084

2011

1236

2012

1333

2013

CELEBRATION GENEROSITY GIVERS BY YEAR

CELEBRATION GENEROSITY TOTAL TO DATE: $4,063,061

CELEBRATION GENEROSITY GIVING BY YEAR

$252,789 $417,251 $586,665 $534,031 $586,273 $536,247

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013$622,941 $527,363

2014 2015

1437

2014

17

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NEWTHING TEAM

PHILIPPINES TEAMCOMMUNITY attenders continue to have a huge impact in the Philippines through our partner, Philippine Frontline Ministries.

31 of the 40 children in the Face the Children (FTC) program are now fully sponsored because of COMMUNITY’s investment. Sponsorship provides for clothing, medical needs, meals, maintenance as well ensuring that FTC graduates have the opportunity to continue their education at the college level. Frontline Worship Center (FWC) experienced remarkable growth throughout its six sites. As a member of NewThing, FWC conducted the training of 70 pastors and church leaders in the first NewThing Catalyst Community Conference. COMMUNITY’s generosity has provided the funding to continue developing the Livelihood Sewing Program. Through this program, jobs are created for people living in the local garbage dump by sewing uniforms and t-shirts. Frontline Christian Academy (FCA) continues to raise the bar both academically and in ministering to local families and children. FCA has a reputation for being a school that cares about its students and serves the FTC kids as well as children from the local community, FCA has hopes of expanding to a new facility and growing to 500 students over the next five years.

THANK YOU Community, for your continued friendship and partnership with Philippine Frontline Ministries.

Jeff and Rowena Pessina, Philippine Frontline Ministries

Thanks for your faithful support of NewThing in 2015 - it’s been a great year! We now have over 260 churches in our movement. We are training 240 leadership residents - more than ever before - and we have a ton of momentum around our global strategy!

One of the biggest wins of the year is Matt Millar. He is apprenticing with me in Chicago and will depart for Africa this summer to be our first Regional Director. Other highlights include:

Reproducing – We graduated another cohort of reproducing network leaders. We have new networks in places likes India, Thailand, Atlanta and Nashville and Ohio. Relationships – We had more people than ever attending our events at Exponential East and West. Over 400 people joined us for our Gathering in December. Resources – We produced a new Field Guide for network churches. We also rolled out a brand new website! Residency – We graduated our first cohort of Leadership Residents at the Leadership Training Center. Our second cohort begins in January of 2016.

Thanks to COMMUNITY, NewThing will continue to have a global impact and help people find their way back to God in 2016.

Patrick, O’Connell, NewThing Director

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As we look back on 2015, we are grateful for the dedication of countless contributors who are uniting to help restore communities across Chicagoland.

In East Aurora, over 100 volunteers served weekly providing tutoring, mentoring and early childhood programs. A third Saturday Stars tutoring program, a second Chess Club and two Dominoes Clubs were started. Our partnerships with Family Focus, World Relief and Emmanuel House continued, along with serving at Lifespring Women’s Shelter and at Hesed House Homeless Shelter.

In Joliet, we continued our work with Joliet School District 86, and also expanded our partnership with Hands of Hope, Daybreak Shelter and The Forgotten Initiative.

In 2015, five Giftmarts were sponsored, serving nine schools in East Aurora, Joliet, and Naperville. 11,500 toys were collected, 1,081 volunteers participated, 1,500 families were served and over $18,000 was raised for partner schools.

In Chicago, our support continued for renovating the auditorium at Swift School through Friends of Swift.

Community 4:12 also began a Justice Film series to raise awareness and facilitate discussion about issues such as immigration, education, race relations and global poverty - over 300 people have participated.

Kirsten Strand, Restore Community Team Leader

RESTORE COMMUNITY TEAM

COMPASSION INTERNATIONAL TEAMBecause of your generosity, 2015 has been an outstanding year in global ministry! The number of lives being changed at each of our three partner churches in Haiti continues to grow.

Jean Darnel Morose, pastor of the Assembly of God Church in Brisetout says that the children “are learning about Jesus” and that Compassion “is a great blessing for their families, for the children and also for the entire community.” The pastor from the Church of God Church in Thiotte adds, “When your partnership came, everyone in the community was happy. Many children hadn’t attended school at all. I am very happy to thank you for your significant and positive investment that contributes to the process and struggle against poverty in Haiti.” And major changes are happening at our oldest partner. A bathroom has been installed, a playground built, a library created and training in sewing, pastry making and computer basics has been initiated at Duvivier Baptist Church. Pastor Jean Yves Saint-Victor notices the difference. “Because of this newly established center, residents in the community are now able to see the impact the church is having. Residents in Duvivier now have higher hopes because their children are going to school.”

Thank you for helping to alleviate extreme poverty, one person at a time.

Jim Melton, Compassion International Team Leader19

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