First, I want to thank all of you for your year-end giving and helping the church to meet our financial and mission goals for 2021. Your generous giving made such a difference. I know that some of you provided very sacrificial gifts that helped us greatly. We were able to pay our Conference Apportionments in full, which allows us to be part of United Methodist mission work around the nation and the world. We also shared our care for children and families through the Christmas Gifts we brought for Valley View Food Bank and we helped many children and families to know that God cared for them.
As I look ahead to this coming year I see many opportunities for our church to grow in membership and in our ministry. Our High Neighbor Groups are helping to host get acquainted meetings for Kim and myself. Please come to one of these so that we can get to know you. Our Hi Neighbor Groups will play an increasingly important role in our church life at Lakeview. Also, this year we want to do more deliberate ministry with our online congregation. Each week we have anywhere from 800-2000 people who watch us online, an extraordinary number. Some of you watch online out of an abundance of caution with the Covid infections still running high. Many participate online and watch us during the week because it works better for their schedule. We want to be a caring and responsive church for our online folks, helping you to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ and know the presence of God’s love through our church community. I look forward to all that this year brings for us in God’s good ways.
In faith, Pastor Dave