On January 27th nearly 90 Emmanuel members packed the Fireside room for a Congregational Meeting and potluck. We received the 2019 budget highlights and heard the exciting ways God was active in the life of our church in 2018. In addition we heard about some of the things that are planned for 2019!

 

Everyone was given a printed copy of the 2018 Emmanuel Annual Report, you can click the link to read the document in its entirety.

 

However, this article will bring you through what was covered in the evening – which is still quite a bit! Due to time restraints we couldn’t cover everything from the report. However, you are able to read the full narrative in the linked report here. 2018 Emmanuel Annual Report. If you are looking for financial information please contact the office.

 

Taking Care of Those Who Take Care of Us

 

This was likely the most exciting news of the night and met with much applause.  In 2019 we are able to give our staff their first raise in about four years.  We appreciate our staff and your dedication to Emmanuel, thank you!

 

Missions

 

Did you know that 10% of offerings received go to missions? What a beautiful way to commit to supporting the call of those committed to doing God’s work locally and abroad. While Emmanuel supports several missionaries through regular offerings, we heard four stories highlighted from Dan VanGent and Carol O’Keefe.  Together they thanked Emmanuel for their time, continued financial assistance and prayer.

 

First, we heard about the struggles of the space constraints of Manna Food Bank.

 

Currently, Manna operates out of the space of a single car garage yet manages to serve 1,000 people a month. They run out of parking and need to rent other space just to provide a minimum.  Emmanuel was able to participate in funding a part of a new building pictured here that will be renovated. This location will have three times the storage size and allow Manna to provide more relief to hungry members of Conejo Valley.

 

Second we heard about Front Porch Ministry in San Luis Obispo.

 

This unique program is a student coffee house where everything is free. Here the community is cultivated and shaped by the teachings of Jesus. From hiking, worship to studying together, this successful ministry works with a large group of students. They live life with love and inclusivity.  When they were struggling financially, Emmanuel was able to step in to assist.

 

Third, the story of a burned down staff building in Zambia and The Esther School was shared.

Emmanuel supports the ministry work of Rachel VanGent. Rachel is a teacher at The Esther School a Christian school for orphans and other underprivileged children in Zambia. When one of the staff homes experienced an accidental fire, Emmanuel was able to assist in the rebuilding of the home.

 

Lastly, we learned about Lifewater International.

Lifewater provides clean water wells and maintenance training, as well as education on hygiene and sanitation in developing countries.

 

There are numerous other missions Emmanuel supports locally and abroad, be sure to read about them in the 2018 Emmanuel Annual Report

 

Celebrating Successes

 

Kevin Lindsey spoke to the group about some of the bright spots we are proud of as we reflect on 2018.

 

Growing in God’s Love – over $83,000 towards the Children’s Area.

With a growing Children’s Ministry group, we were in need of some major work to bring us up to date. This campaign to update rooms and play areas shows families and our community we value children. Emmanuel answered the call! If you haven’t seen the rooms or playgrounds, please check them out.

 

What a gift to have a working sound system!

 

It may not be as flashy as the playground, but it was absolutely essential and so wonderful to be able to hear the message in that space. You did that Emmanuel!

 

A hundred children enjoyed art and science at Camp Joy.

 

Wrapped in love, reminded that God delights in them and in their joy, encouraged to explore – Emmanuel offers one of the most unique Vacation Bible Schools around. Packed to capacity, and with a waitlist, this is a great way to show the love of Christ in our service to the community.  Maybe you can join us this summer to help?

 

The Circus came to Emmanuel, bringing “exactly what I needed.”

God’s timing is perfect. He put a giant circus tent on our lawn when our community was ravaged in tragedy.  Each show had over half of the attendance as people outside of the Emmanuel family.  And for a brief time they connected, laughed and got a moment of relief from an extremely tough time in our Thousand Oaks history. People left the tent saying “That was exactly what I needed.”

 

Each month the Buddy Break respite group is hosted at Emmanuel. They were able to attend the circus with their families because of Emmanuel’s generosity.

 

Laughter is for everyone. I was able to talk to several Buddy Break families who were all smiles, this was a gift for them.

 

Our youth are led with Jesus centered actions in mind.

 

This summer at camp, when the youth learned that girls were instructed to wear a shirt over their bathing suits, all of our youth wore shirts that said “Double Standards Are Not Okay.” Our youth are not passive recipients of their faith.  They are strong and active and “seek out Jesus’ justice for the world.”

 

Communications

 

Myself, (Merideth Sullivan) and Eleana Nanz spoke about the communications efforts that have grown and evolved over 2018. Here they are –

 

Website

 

The reality of today is that our website is the first impression of us, it will make or break if someone comes here to even check us out in person. We were able to track how people find us on line over Oct-Dec which confirms that over 1300 people found us using terms like “church” “Presbyterian” “Presbyterian church” and “churches in Thousand Oaks” and in addition we have welcomed several new faces who have shared with us that they found us and were prompted to visit because of what they saw on our website. However, a website is only as good as it is being maintained. So we will always have it up to date and current and be looking for feedback and ways to meet the needs of our congregation and community through that vehicle.

 

Blog

 

Part of our website is our blog, you are reading the blog now! – a running interactive experience with our staff and guest writers. This is where we tell our Emmanuel story, and what we are thinking about – to members and those outside of our church circle. In addition to posts by program staff we will be seeing a missions profile or update post each month, a general EPC news post each month, member interviews and more event recaps.

 

Calendar

Additionally on the website is the upcoming events calendar for current members to get or stay involved and for visitors to see the vibrancy and activity of our community and congregation. This will get quite fleshed out to include groups or any event where people can get plugged into the life of Emmanuel and show a full comprehensive picture of EPC life

 

Email

 

You may have noticed the emails you are receiving from EPC have changed to more direct updates and one topic calls to action. Your time is valuable and we respect that! Will be more consistent, concise and personalized. You will know when to expect it and know that what is inside is of value to you and important.

 

Social

Instagram, Public Facebook page, Private Facebook group – maybe you are on there, maybe you aren’t! But they are there for building community outside of these walls – Gen X (35-49) spends 7 Hours a week (7 times the amount spent here!) on social so we are going where the attention is. Share reminders, updates, stories and happenings. You will see a lot more community building, streaming of our services, interactive videos and ways for us to extend and deepen our lives and our faith together.

 

 

Impact

 

Because we had effective communication strategies in place we were able to quickly respond when tragedy struck in November. We reached over 5,600 people with important updates, resources and invitations for care just through Facebook. Our doors were opened to displaced families, coffee and meals being prepared for those in need and the following week community children found a fun and safe outlet to explore art and science with loving adults while their parents had respite and could prepare their Thanksgiving in a difficult time. This all was made possible though the lines of communication created just the month before.

 

Publicity Request Form

 

All these great things, you want in! You want your event on the calendar, or your ministry information on the blog, a bulletin blurb or announcement! Cool – we can help you with that through the Publicity Request Form – fill that out. Paper copy is in the office or under the resources tab on website and you can fill it out online and it’s linked here.

 

EPC Census 2019

 

We want to know YOU! Also, there are so many small groups. we are going to gather that info into listings, help for people to connect, get involved and plugged in. Maybe your group is closed but another group may have a question about a study you did, we can work together!

 

Staffing

 

We can never replace Rachel Del Dosso, but she was able to complete necessary graphics for sermons until June so at that time we will hire a 40 hour a month graphic designer. In addition, with all of these things getting in place it is getting difficult to manage and to be able to take the next steps forward and make it actually move we are hiring a 15 hours a week communications and media ministry staff member to oversee and coordinate communications as a new ministry at Emmanuel.

 

Membership, Outreach, Stewardship, Placement

Megan Gappinger and Patti Yomantas spoke to us as the elders of this area and highlighted three programs.

 

MOPS – Mothers of Preschoolers and MOMSnext for those with elementary aged children

This group serves 42 moms and 27 children with 18 staff and church volunteers to help run the childcare!

 

Joy in the Journey small group for young moms

 

This group is funded by the church to provide childcare so the moms are able to meet in the daytime to connect and deepen their faith.

 

Safe Harbor

 

A support group for parents of LGBTQ children launched in 2018

But isn’t there more?

Yes! So much more! However that evening we only had so much time and even now if you have made it this far, congratulations! There are still some incredible stories and updates in the full narrative you can check out by clicking on this link here 2018 Emmanuel Annual Report.

 

For updated financial information, please stop in the office or call 805-498-4502. We will have it available on the website at a future date!