What's Next?

Dear CCC Friends and Family,

What a start to 2016!  We have approved a budget expected to stretch us, and we have hired a part-time Children’s Ministry Director.  Our study of the Beatitudes of Matthew 5 has challenged us as disciples, and the youth ministry is preparing to multiply into Middle School and High School groups under the leadership of Beth Griffin.  Outreach is ramping up as we approach Easter followed quickly by Summer Sports Camp, Youth Retreat, and Elevation Celebration.  We are also working through the rezoning process in order to launch a capital campaign with its goal to finish the remaining incomplete construction on our campus.

As we left budget plans during the annual meeting, the Trustees and Elders have been watching the weekly giving totals closely.  It was determined at the end of February that giving has increased to meet and in some cases exceed the budget approved for 2016 enough to approve the hiring of Kirstin Pulioff as Children’s Ministry Director.  How exciting it is to expand the staff as we grow and set ourselves up to reach our community in a more effective way into the future!  

What’s next?  With both attendance and giving on the increase, we will be working to accommodate more people and increasing funding to programs and facility.  In the mean time here are a few ways you can make a difference right now…

1. Parking is a growing issue with increased attendance.  Any who are able to arrive a few minutes early and wouldn’t mind walking across Barkley Rd. can help open existing parking at the church by parking at West Jeff Elementary School.  This would allow our guests to have the opportunity to park in our church parking lot as they determine if CCC will become their church home in the future.   
2. Designated Giving is a way to help us move forward on a few special projects that our current budget doesn’t contain.  This would be a special offering designated as “Special Projects” outside of regular giving.  There are two $3,000 projects (Overflow monitors and sanctuary remodel) pending the funds available for their completion.  These projects would improve the overall experience for our Sunday morning worship services and allow the youth and children’s ministries to launch some outreach efforts in a more immediate way.  If you would like to help with these projects, you may give through our website online giving option or by writing a check designated to “Special Projects.”
3. Volunteer to help our church continue it’s effective growth and impact on our community.  April 3 we will be hosting our first Volunteer Fair to make it clear and simple how to join with a ministry team in furthering our great eternal cause of building the Kingdom of God.  Plan to stay for the potluck lunch following the 9:15 service and take some time to talk with ministry leaders while checking out opportunities in our church to join the volunteer team. 
4. Continue in kindness…  It is very encouraging to hear stories of kindness spreading in our community through CCC.  Please continue to act kindly and share the stories as we seek to build a community of kindness here in the Conifer area.

There are many things to celebrate right now in the life of our church!  And we want to continue the momentum as we move toward Summer.  After Easter, we will begin a new series studying the book of Nehemiah.  This book will help us develop a deeper burden for the work of God in our community and develop our vision for what God wants to do today through His church as we seek Him with all our mind and strength.  Let’s continue to march together in step with our savior and with all grace and kindness.  

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Lance

Announcing Children's Ministry Director Kirstin Pulioff

We are excited to announce the hiring of Kirstin Pulioff as the Interim Children's Director at Conifer Community Church.

Kirstin and her family moved to Evergreen, CO two years ago from Oregon. Immediately, they found a church home here at CCC. Leaving a staff positon at her previous church, she became involved with the children’s ministry program here: volunteering in the nursery, teaching Sunday School, family nights, and sports camp.

Kirstin is a substitute teacher with the Jeffco School District and para-professional at Marshdale Elementary working with students from Kindergarten through 5^th grade. She has a passion for working with and teaching children and is excited to step up into the role of Director of Children’s Ministry at Conifer Community Church.

Building upon the strong foundation created by Barb Ludwig, some of her plans are to build a cohesion between the Sunday School programs, provide engaging curriculum in family night classes, build a fun and purposeful summer program, and have the children perform worship songs regularly.

Continuing to Grow in 2016

Continuing to Grow in 2016

“We are carrying on a great work, and we cannot come down.”

Nehemiah 6:3

Dear CCC Family,

I believe God has some tremendous things in store for 2016 at Conifer Community Church.  In preparation for our annual meeting on February 7, 2016, I wanted to cast a vision for what is ahead, give you some detail on our proposed budget, talk about how we will address space concerns, and allow you to ask questions in preparation for the big day, which will launch us together into the heart of 2016.

I.               Vision

Creating a Community of Kindness in 2016 is our overarching thrust both in awareness and action.  As agents of the gospel, all that CCC puts its heart and hands to should be in some way an expression of God’s loving-kindness both internally as a church and externally toward our community.  One way we have sought to express kindness to our community is opening our doors for groups to utilize the facility.  We currently have support groups, educational groups, networking groups, boy’s and girl’s scout groups, social groups, etc. using our building as an act of CCC’s kindness.  We are also serving a growing congregation through worship on Sunday, children’s ministry, student ministry, men’s discipleship, women’s discipleship, and compass groups.  Our average weekly Sunday attendance has grown from 141 in 2014 to 166 in 2015.  My hope is that we will grow closer if not exceed 200 on a weekly basis in 2016.  Those numbers represent lives of adults, teens, and children who are here to connect with God and others.  While this growth is exciting, it has created some issues with space and staffing.  These are areas we will address in 2016 to meet needs and utilize our tithes and offerings so that we may continue the pattern of growth and influence in the Conifer area proclaiming the gospel in word and deed. 

II.             Budget

The congregation sent a clear message in 2015 that the trustees and elders should seek to expand our ministry reach through the annual budget.  We met during the summer and voted to increase our budget for staffing.  With Stuart’s departure in August, the elders prayed over the next steps in staffing for CCC evaluating what has worked and what adjustments need to be made as we grow.  The desire to bring in a full time Associate Pastor was expressed and is needed in the near future as growth continues.  This would impact the annual budget in a very substantial way, and in the mean time, we have created two “interim” positions to keep ministries on track as we grow toward another full time staff member.  One interim position is the Director of Student Ministries, which has been filled as Beth Griffin came on staff in December.  Adding the second interim position, Director of Children’s Ministry, is the single largest increase to the 2016 proposed budget.  We have a candidate ready to begin this role when the appropriate time is upon us.  So we will be asking CCC to vote on a budget of $280,800.  This is an increase over the actual income of 2015 being $264,796.  If the congregational giving increases as our attendance increases, this should not only be doable, but we should be able to come back mid year with more increases proposed to continue fostering growth.  Please take some time to pray over your giving commitment for 2016, and allow God to stretch you in order that He may accomplish more through CCC.

III.           Space Concerns

Two big things from 2015 to celebrate and ride momentum into 2016: CCC IS DEBT FREE and we added both overflow seating and an additional worship service.  These great changes allow us to set our sites on completing the next phase of our building project, which would include worship space for 300 and a commercial kitchen.  We are currently working through the rezoning process to allow us more people inside our facility for church and other events.  The three areas outside the space itself that will be addressed in this will be water, septic, and parking.  When completed, we should be able to have up to 500 people on campus for church or an event.  We would also be able to serve our community with one of the largest commercial banqueting spaces available in the Conifer area.  What an opportunity for more lives to be impacted for the gospel with this facility fully completed and operational!  As we get closer to the completion of the rezoning to allow more people in the building, we will launch a new capital campaign to accomplish these goals.  It is our commitment to “pay as we go” so that there will not be another debt incurred at Conifer Community Church.  Having no debt allows us to more freely serve our community with God’s loving-kindness.

IV.           Feedback

Hopefully this message is both exciting and motivating to launch into 2016 with many exciting things on the horizon.  It probably also generated some questions that need to be addressed before we are jumping into this together.  Since there will be limited time for the business meeting(placed between our two Sunday worship services), we would like to have the opportunity to address as many of these questions ahead of the meeting as possible.  If you follow the link here to the question form, we will do our best to adequately answer questions and concerns in a timely manner before the annual meeting. 

Thank you for your participation in CCC and God’s Kingdom work here!  I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us in 2016!

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Lance