First Free Church 2004-2005 Annual Report

Senior Pastor

Student Ministry

Worship Arts Ministry

Visitation Pastor

Children's Ministry Director

Liaison to the Community

Church Council Report

Finance and Property Board

Audit Committee

Treasurer's Report/Financial Statements

This year as I reflect briefly back on 2004-2005, I am able to say with the Apostle Paul,

Our Worship: Worship has continued to be a primary focus. Glorifying God each Sunday morning is the central event of each week. Our worship team develops and creates many varied opportunities for us to exalt God's Name together. Some worship highlights this past year:

Our Evangelism: The candle in the front of the sanctuary has been lit a number of times as we celebrate "new births" through our church's ministry. We have kept the spotlight on bringing people into a relationship with Christ. A few highlights . . .

Our Fellowship: The family has grown. It has become more difficult to know everyone. So helping people find others they connect with and where they belong has become even more crucial. Caring for our growing family has also become a larger task. Everyone must be involved. To help out in this area, we have also added two Parish Nurses to our ministry staff, Dee Huanca and Maureen Juarez.

Our Growth: Our vision is not complete until those who have received Christ are fully-committed followers of Christ. This means encouraging and assisting them to mature in Christ. A few highlights from this purpose area of spiritual growth . . .

Our Ministry: God has called us to serve. As each of our ministries has grown, so has our need for the church body to use their gifts and be involved in ministry. This past year, a number of people have asked where they can get involved, and they have stepped in. Each of our Adult Bible Fellowships have taken a month to be our Sunday morning greeters at the door. Others have volunteered in the nursery or on Wednesday nights at clubs or to serve during the fellowship time each Sunday. Each person is invaluable. Each person's gifts are treasured. Thank you for your ministry to the rest of the Body here at First Free.

Finally, I want to thank those whom God has put around me . . . Cindy Sawyer and KaWan Olson in the office . . . Pastor Eric, Bob Chapman, Russ Anteronen, and Beth Brown in their various roles as ministry staff . . . and Scott Beckett and Julie Owens in keeping the building in topnotch shape. Please, next time you see one of them - thank them for their invaluable ministry!

I also want to thank Steve Mondy as the Chairman of the Council. I greatly appreciate Steve's friendship, humor, insight, support and prayer.

To gauge spiritual growth is like watching grass grow. Day-by-day you probably cannot see much difference at all. If it is winter, you can almost bet there is nothing happening-especially here in the upper-Midwest. Fortunately, there has been significant growth in our student ministry this past year. Here's a report of what we (God in and through us) have been up to. . .

Recognizing a need for a better parent connection, Jill Rose joined us as a parent communication coordinator, helping us identify needs and encouraging communication with parents. We added our first parent-of-students volunteers since I've been here: Dave Byer, Joyce Friesen and James Amstutz! As our group has significantly diversified racially and economically this past year, we continue to work at crossing cultural divisions. Our trip to Camp Shamineau helped accomplish this. Our summer intern, Alicia Bontrager, and I took 6 students to the EFCA's National Student Ministry Conference in July where we shared a great trip together. Students even gathered to pray on their own initiative on the trip home! We shared our experiences intergenerationally at a dessert in August where a strong love from our church was felt.

This past winter we took 24 students and 7 staff to Camp Shamineau's outreach-focused camp. Seven of those students were non-churched or unbelieving students and three of them accepted Christ. Two of them were invited by friends, showing that students are beginning to own the introducing process.

Our students and staff worked together to plan and execute Cultivating, Planting, and Reaping events this past year for their pre-saved friends, including trips to Grand Slam, Roller-skating, Football and Lasagna, Comedy Sportz, and a slew of summer activities gave the youth group "fun" and an open door to invite friends along.

Our Sunday morning series this past year included a look at Ruth and the prophets. We have also been going through a series on the belief statement of the Free Church-our creed, if you will. Our students continue to take more ownership of their own growing process. Halfway through the year, a couple of senior high students agreed to meet at 6:00 AM at Starbucks to have devotions and talk. This continues to be a highlight of my week. They've begun to share some of the teaching responsibilities with me. It is interesting to watch God work in them. On Wednesdays we've gone through "10 Keys for Unlocking the Bible". I've also been privileged to work alongside other teachers/mentors: Debbie Smith, James Amstutz, Jason Pierce, KaWan Olson, and Sarah Roberts on Sundays. Thank you for serving the students!

Our student ministry team met monthly this past year. Our staff has grown significantly this past year. There are about 16 of us now. Our fall retreats (Senior High) at St. Cloud and EQUIP (Junior High) equipped us to do peer evangelism. We also served the children's ministry with music at VBS and during Kid's Clubs, visited some seniors over Christmas at Redeemer Residence, and worked at the Marie Sandvik Center this past year. Many thanks to Scott, Doug, Jill, Laura, Shana, Jason, David, Kayla, KaWan, Sarah, Brent, Peter, Marissa, Becky, Brett, Mark, Krista, Vanessa, and Dave Byer for your partnership in this ministry!

The student worship band continued to practice and play at various times throughout the year. Two significant moments for us were: 1) To worship with 5,000+ students at the national conference and 2) To begin the New Year by worshiping God and dedicating it to Him. Students have continued to own more of the worship ministry as they help plan, set up, and tear down equipment for worship nights. Many of the testimonies of staff that have been given this past year have put us in awe when we think about who God is. Any and all of the successes and growth that we've seen this past year have been due to God's working. We praise God for allowing us to be a part of His unstoppable purposes in this world!

This year the choir has been a blast to be a part of. God provided us with an excellent musician and leader in Rick Olson. Together we've been challenged to follow Christ's prayer for us that we be made one. We sang weekly during the Christmas and Easter Season and bi-monthly for the remainder of the year. There was significant growth in choir participation and a strong commitment to "being the message," not just singing it. Debbie Smith again played a key role in accompanying the choir on piano.

We've really enjoyed playing together as a band. I am most thankful for Jordan's flexibility in learning the bass, and Jenny's flexibility in rotating between real and rubber cymbals! Besides the discomfort of some stolen equipment, the band section has remained steady and growing in its ability to handle the various styles of music demanded of them (Latino rock, Pop Ballads, etc.) Thank you Jenny, Jordan, Jerry, and Debbie for holding down the grooves!

Traditional music also plays a significant role in our services and here we owe much to our organist, Barb Olson, and her amazing musical abilities. We witnessed numerous powerful preludes throughout the year, as well as strong accompaniment during hymns. Thank you Barb for blessing us with your gifts!

Jenny Merry has also expanded worship by creating a platform for lesser-heard artistic forms and coordinating various offertory pieces. Thank you, Jenny, for helping us think outside the box!

The orchestra played about 6 times this past year. Jerry McDonald has stepped up to conduct rehearsals and performances, especially during the Christmas and Easter seasons. He also has shared beautifully with us through clarinet and saxophone numerous times-to the glory of God! Many thanks to these faithful instrumentalists: Jerry, Katrina, Julie, Mark P., Steve M., Dave, John M., Mary, Debbie H., and Jackie.

Our worship team vocalists remain a staple to our worship leadership: meeting, praying, rehearsing, and leading the congregation in song. Debbie Smith's coaching and precision really helps us stay on the same page!

We had the privilege of watching and working with Carrie Boyum in her debut as drama director of "Pilate on the Beach." The play was very well put together, well attended, and drew us each to think of what we'd do with Jesus. Many thanks to cast and crew for their hard work!

Julie Danielson coordinated our monthly meetings this past year, helping facilitate communication regarding our worship services, as well as "usher" duties. Thank you for keeping a vision for leading others into the presence of God as priority!

This year saw several developments technologically. We purchased new wireless microphone units. We replaced 3 stolen pieces of equipment (2 keyboards and a drum sound module). The church helped me purchase a guitar. Jordan and Matt created an isolation booth for the drums. The choir pews disappeared so that we might have more flexible staging. Matt continues to pour in extra hours aiming lights and coordinating other technology operators, while Karen Beckett gazes deep into a PowerPoint screen creating a most pleasant experience for worshipers. Our tech people work faithfully behind the scenes and have laid themselves aside so that God is exalted. Thank you John, Hong Gu, Matt, Peter, Jeff and others for serving us and our Lord!

KaWan Olson continued to serve us by prepping our rehearsal music and creating visuals for our times of worship. Thank you for your letting God use your artistic sensibilities.

It has been my pleasure to serve the artists and congregation of First Free Church in worship this past year.

The delight of being a part of the family of God, having a part in serving that family, and seeing God's hand of blessing on our family has been great. Praise to God, and thanks to so many who also serve, some at significant sacrifice, making much of this possible. This has been such a good year.

My work for the year changed little in nature or in extent from the past. However, the establishment of a Parish Nurse program here has been a big encouragement. In our day and age with the growing gaps (communication especially) in our medical delivery system, they have much to offer.

I continue to keep in contact with those in our fellowship with special life situation stresses, and make visits when that seems welcome. That works out to about 10 visits and maybe 45 telephone calls a month. I am a member of the Caring Commission, and I have met with the Parish Nurses as they have worked through the establishing of that program which officially began April 1st. I assist Pastor Joel in minor matters like helping with funeral details, membership classes, doing prayer requests for the Church Concerns section of the Prayer Bulletin, and generally keeping him informed of church family members' needs that I become aware of.

Thank you to all who have provided alerts to special needs that have arisen, for the encouragements that have come, and to all who have assisted in many ways when it was needed. Thank you to the entire staff who, by their wonderful love, faithfulness and unity, make my service here such a pleasure.

Just Imagine… a place where you can hold babies, play pat-a-cake with toddlers, sing "Jesus Loves Me" with preschoolers, watch relationships grow amongst primary youngsters, and have amazing conversations with 5^th and 6^th graders. Welcome to the world of children…and Just Imagine all that can take place in the Children's Ministry at First Free!

It is a privilege and joy to be your Children's Ministry Director. Since I began this position in August, I have been impressed with the faithful, dedicated volunteers we have that work with our children and also with the wonderful families and children in our programs.

NURSERY - A loving atmosphere that has seen a true "baby boom" in the past year and has required 4 adult workers each Sunday. A paging system is new here, where parents can request a pager so they can be contacted if necessary. A huge THANK YOU goes out to a very special person, Sarah Clinton, for her many years of caring for our littlest ones!

PRESCHOOL - A place that was bursting at the seams so it needed to be divided into 2 groups: a 2 ½-3 year-old class and a 4-5 year-old class. These classes are jumping during the entire church service and during the Adult Bible Fellowship hours.

CHILDREN'S / JUNIOR CHURCH - Children are dismissed during the service to these places where 4^th-6^th graders meet and hear meaningful speakers, and Kindergartners-3^rd graders hear stories and make crafts.

CRAFT & VIDEO CORNERS - Fun places where kids in Kindergarten-6^th grade have fellowship time while their parents are conversing over donuts and coffee!

SUNDAY SCHOOL - Is a place where kids split into various classrooms to build relationships and learn about God. 65 is the average number of children we teach on a Sunday morning!

WEDNESDAY NIGHT CLUBS - A time where 1^st-6^th grade boys and girls have a blast singing praises, playing games in the gym, listening to stories, making crafts, doing woodworking, and building relationships in the Christian Service Brigade and Girls' Club.

MALICE IN THE PALACE - A musical about Queen Esther put on by our talented 2^nd-6^th graders in May.

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL - One memorable week in July where 88 kids participated in "Jesus Helps You Power Up!" and 62 people volunteered their time!

Just Imagine the impact we at First Free can have on children…I attended the Children's Pastors' Conference which is put on by the International Network of Children's Ministry in Kansas City, and I'd like to conclude this report with 3 messages I came home with…

The Importance of Children's Ministry: We have a high calling to love and care for children - to teach them about Jesus and His love for them. Most people who trust Jesus as their Savior do so before the age of 15, so we need to give priority to our children. We also need to help parents with their responsibility of raising spiritually grounded kids.

The Importance of an Effective Church Nursery: Elmer Towns said, "The nursery is the handshake of the local church." For many families, the nursery is the first impression that they receive. It is also a place for sharing God's love with little ones and their families.

The Importance of Having a Strong Team of Volunteers: It's important to have a dynamic presence of volunteers…people who want to work with children… and for the church to have a program/ministry where people want to get involved. We need to provide training, resources, and support for them, including prayer!

Children love to use their Imagination. Let's use ours as we picture the future of our Children's Ministry Program.

The past church year we as a church body and as individuals have allowed Christ to work through us to impact our community. We combined with Union Gospel Mission to help some of the Salem ESL-Tutoring families with food bags at Thanksgiving. Salem also appreciates the clothes we donate to their clothing ministry.

On a regular basis we redirect many who contact our church for needs to Community Emergency Service and other resources. Assistance has been given to the Children's Gospel Mission and their Sunday evening program. They are always looking for individuals to mentor or assist needy children. Tutoring and mentoring can have such a great influence on people; so we continually emphasize doing it, whether at Hale or any school setting, Kinship, church, or in your neighborhood.

I have had the opportunity to do some small group Physical Education in our gym. Also I assist Hospitality House Youth Ventures track team and the Washburn High track team in coaching. This year we gave gym access and some coaching and relationship building to two basketball teams from McCrae Park. We learned much more about character building and learning from loss, as they moved both teams from the recreation league to the classic league because of their success in previous years.

Thanks for allowing me to serve you, the church, and the community this past year.

"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all." James 1:5a

On behalf of your Council, I would like to thank our church family for entrusting to us the responsibility of managing God's plan for First Evangelical Free Church. Our sincere desire is to seek and follow God's will for our large and growing family. We ask you to pray that God will grant us wisdom for the many decisions we have to make. Frequently, we have seen God use the twelve minds of our group to come up with better ideas and decisions than any of us would have individually.

We continue to see God working among us. Hopefully, all of us will see changes in our lives as we try to accurately represent Christ to a needy world. Christ loved people enough to die for them. We need to love people also. There are endless ways for us to do this in our everyday lives. In addition, let me suggest a few specific ideas for the time we are together on Sunday mornings.

We can move forward in the sanctuary and to the center of the pews to make it easier for people to join us. If we, who have been here for awhile, feel uncomfortable walking to the front, just think how much more difficult that would be for new people.

It is essential that we deliberately look for people who appear to be alone during our fellowship coffee time. Keep in mind that even two or three people can be alone if they are new to our church and only know each other. Invite people to your ABF group and take them there personally.

In general we need to value people as highly as Christ does. Thankfully, He did not take the easy and comfortable path for us. Missionaries leave family and friends, cross oceans, learn new languages, and join unfamiliar cultures to share Christ's love. Can we move forward, move to the center, and cross the gym to express Christ's love to our visitors?

As we start a new church year, each of us needs to ask God what He wants to do in us to stretch our faith and cause us to grow in Him. A few of us may be asked to start new ministries, like MOPS or Parish Nursing. Perhaps He will send some of us on short-term mission trips. If it is God's plan for First Free to grow, He will ask many more of us to take on regular responsibilities here. We could be asked to join the choir, be a leader in our ABF, teach a Sunday School class, volunteer regularly in the nursery, or be an usher (just to name a few). Some of us will be asked to trust God more than we ever have in our personal situations, learning to rely on Him in the difficulties of daily life. And all of us need to be willing and available to pitch in on those myriads of jobs that always need doing. Things like helping in the kitchen, moving chairs, folding bulletins, shelving library books, and dozens of other tasks that are not very glamorous. However, done in Jesus' name, no job is insignificant, and we are rewarded by meeting a lot of wonderful people while working together.

As we do these things and look for other opportunities to express Christ's love to people who cross our paths, our First Free Family will grow and continue to be healthy. As we grow we will then have other decisions to make that will probably force us out of our comfort zones. For example, will we need to have two worship services? Will we need to add additional staff? How should we best use our facilities? Fortunately, we know God has a plan for First Free.

Again, we ask that you would pray for His guidance for all of us. Also, please feel free to express your concerns and ideas to us. You may be the person to whom God gives a great idea.

The Church Body has been busy caring this year. Here are some highlights from the Caring Commission on the caring that has been happening in our congregation.

Benevolent Fund - The church body has been very gracious in their monetary giving to the benevolent fund. We have been able to give money to meet the needs of a number of church members, regular attenders, and those within the church's neighborhood community.

Visitation - Pastor Bob Chapman has been busy this year keeping up with contacting and encouraging people in the hospital, other care facilities, and those who are shut in. Praise God for Bob's wisdom and understanding of the medical field, so he can so appropriately assist church body members in their times of need.

Parish Nursing - We are thrilled that Dee Huanca and Maureen Juarez have added their expertise in nursing to help assist Bob Chapman meet the needs of our congregation. The parish nurses are concerned about the health of the whole person; body, mind and spirit. Their focus this upcoming year will be to do visitation to the seniors in the church, working in coordination with the wellness team, and the Visitation Pastor.

Funeral Receptions - Betty Carlson and Ann Johnson head up the funeral receptions at church. They have done a great job of providing nice receptions for many families this past year.

Information Desk - Mae Olson maintains a very welcoming information desk on Sunday mornings. She's been busy with all of the visitors at church this past year. She continues to pass out visitor packets. And thanks to Scott Beckett for a beautiful new information desk.

Greeters - Gen Erickson coordinates the greeters on Sunday mornings through the Adult Bible Fellowships. It has been wonderful to have greeters of all ages-both inside and outside!

Fellowship & Food - Mary Londborg and Paulette Goodman head up all of the kitchen's activities. They keep the food coming-both on Sunday mornings during donut time and for special events at church. Sunday mornings have been a wonderful time to meet with the church body as well as visitors.

Visitor Desserts - Pastor Joel and Becky Sutton hosted a number of visitor desserts in their home as a time to get to know new people looking for more information about First Free.

We extend a big THANK YOU to everyone who helped CARE for the Body of Christ this year, whether in an official role, or on an individual basis. Let's continue to reflect Christ's love in tangible ways by caring for the people in our church.

It's been an exciting year for nurture ministries at First Free this year. Once again, many faithful workers gave of their time and used their unique gifts to shepherd our little (and not-so-little) ones. We are so grateful for their service; and we know they had a lot of fun rendering it! There are many jobs to do and they come with a most charming description. Consider cuddling a babe in the nursery, building a block tower with a toddler, reading a story to a preschooler or learning a new way of looking at an "old" Bible truth as you explain it to school-aged child.

Our nurture ministry received a huge boost in August with the hiring of Beth Brown as Children's' Ministries Coordinator. Under her outstanding leadership, our programs have continued to grow and change to meet the needs of our growing and changing kids.

Please continue to pray for the leaders and the kids as we seek to glorify our Lord and raise up our next generation to serve Him.

"Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise." (Nehemiah 9:5b)

As we reflect on this past year, we as a church family once again have much to be thankful for! Our end purpose as a commission is that God's name would be exalted above all else. How we long for all we say and do to glorify God rather than be about us!

A heartfelt thank you to Pastor Eric for the tireless effort he puts into planning worship services; coordinating musicians, practicing, finding and writing music, working with the worship team, choir, and working with Pastor Joel to be sure the truth is held in high regard in all we do here at First Free. It's a big and important task, and one that is very much appreciated by all of us!

We are thankful for the addition to the team of Rick Olson as the choir director! Thanks for sharing your passion for God and music with us. Thanks, too, for all of the angelic voices who have come out to fill the rafters with beautiful melodies.

Thank you to all who have participated in the Concerts of Prayer this past year. We pray that you were able to experience that "…In God's presence there is fullness of joy, and in thy right hand are pleasures forevermore." (Psalm 16:11b)

We are blessed by the many who work on the platform and behind the scenes to add depth to our sacred assemblies. Thanks to Debbie Smith, Barb Olson, Jordan Goodman and Jenny Merry for the regular part they play in accompanying us. Thanks to those who faithfully serve us on the worship teams, in the orchestra, sound booth, the ushers, the children's choir, and drama team, and the worship commission. We give special thanks to Karin Olson who "retired" her position as drama coordinator this year after many years of faithful service. We appreciate all you have done for us over these many years! Carrie Boyum has stepped in to fill this void which we are thankful for as well.

We know that many of the things we do bless us, but the more important question we need to ask is "does what we do and sing really come from our hearts and express to God our hearts' desires towards Him?" The songs we sing do not become worship unless it is a real and honest response from our hearts. "How do we make sure our worship is about Him and not us?" Woe to us if God were to chastise us as He did the Pharisees by saying, "These people come near to me with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." (Isaiah 29:13a) The question we all must answer is, "Where is my heart in our worship service?"

Let me share with you some of the exhortations various pastors and worship leaders have shared that have challenged me as an individual and could challenge us as a church body in our understanding of worship, and potentially help us to keep God the central focus:

"True worship always combines heart and head, emotion and thought, affection and reflection, doxology and theology."

Oh that our collective heart cry might be to say to God, "Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is nothing upon earth that I desire besides thee. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." (Psalm 73:25-26)

Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.
Let the whole world know what he has done.
Psalm 105:1

We praise the Lord for His continual faithfulness and provision. He continues to lead First Free by providing us with many members who have a heart to share the Gospel. Some go and some send; all serve for the glory of God.

This past year we not only reached our budget, but our income exceeded it. Your faithfulness honors God and should encourage each of us as we look forward to another year of supporting our missionaries and organizations. Currently we support 35 missionary couples or singles and about 25 organizations and ministries. Our plan is to increase our support for current missionaries, as well as maintain a reserve fund adequate to support members from our congregation called to long or short-term ministries. This fund may also allow us to support special projects as they occur throughout the year. The proposed budget for next year is based upon this principle.

Throughout the year we have met monthly to oversee the business of the commission and to pray for our missionaries. We have sought to encourage the congregation's participation in missions by means of a monthly prayer calendar, a missions page on the church website, and bulletin boards with information about specific missionaries.

Four high points of congregational participation do stand out as we reflect back over last year. Our Outreach Sundays in October and February were well attended and very informative. The missionary panels and church potlucks provided extended time to get to know a few of our missionaries, as well as a time for us to share a meal as a family. We plan to do the same next year, and we hope that John and Wendy Gerhardt can be with us in October to begin our year. Your participation was also very evident in the Christmas Card Fund and the Thanksgiving offering. The Christmas Fund went to the Pedal Pump Enterprise of Djibouti, and the Thanksgiving offering went to Community Emergency Services along with many bags of groceries.

We are pleased to be reinstating support for Dave Boeltl in next year's proposed budget. Dave has recently become a member of First Free, and he is a full-time missionary with Overcomers Ministries with a personal emphasis of reaching Native Americans for Christ. We are also pleased to be adding Rocky and Rachel Bliss to our budget for next year. They serve with Compassion Ministries, a part of the EFCA International Mission. Rachel attended First Free during her college years, and she is the daughter of Nils and Laura Oldberg, former EFCA missionaries to Congo and Belgium and supported by us.

Local programs of outreach continue to be financially supported by the Outreach Commission, for example, MOPS and Ten Keys. However, these and other neighborhood events may be better served by a group specifically dedicated to administering, recruiting and implementing local programs. A task force concerned with local evangelism, led by Pastor Joel, is considering this issue.

Thank you to all who have supported our missionaries and ministries this past year. Your heart for the lost is part of God's plan for the world. If you'd like to see your heart grow, try a short-term mission trip, I hear Peru is a beautiful place to visit.

I look forward to our women's meeting each month, and pray that all our women do also. I sense a bond of Christian love and concern for one another. Our time of fellowship around desert and coffee or lunch is an important part of our meeting.

We have been blessed with so many who have shared their work and service in various areas. The following have been our speakers: Apryl Hultstrand, Sheryll Erickson, Kristin Hink from Marie Sandvik Mission, Pastor Eric, Pastor Joel, Linda Gunderson from the EFCA, and Barb Hugo. Each one has left us with a vision for missions.

Nancy Fowler and Barb Olson volunteered to take care of music for our meetings. What a blessing this has been. We welcome anyone to volunteer to help out in any way.

Grace Vandervort keeps us up-to-date on missionary praises and prayer needs. We appreciate so much having her with us.

On May 15 we had our spring luncheon with Jan Barrett as soloist, and Betty Swanson spoke on the topic, "Tending the Garden of Your Soul." We would like to thank Gail Marchand for organizing this special event.

Our June meeting was at Gen Anderson's with a picnic, followed by a "Concert of Prayer." Our theme for the year was "Let's Pray, Believing." The Lord has answered many prayers for us this past year.

Our Christmas luncheon is always a good time and was held in Vi Fjellman's party room. Pastor Joel spoke and Mary Londborg gave us great music on her violin. Many shoe boxes were brought to give to the Marie Sandvik Mission.

Phyllis Brown always does a great job keeping White Cross going. A check was sent to Compassion Ministries for postage for material sent to Congo in the amount of $446.

Money gifts were sent to seventeen of our missionaries for Christmas. $400 was given to our youth for their summer ministries. A dresser was purchased for "The House" for $139.

"Give of your best to the Master, naught else is worthy of His love . . . Give Him your loyal devotion. Give Him the best that you have." (W. B. Grace)

This past year won't be notable for the quantity of projects accomplished, but it may be remembered for the scope of the projects undertaken.

First and foremost, we are well on our way to replacing our two tired, old boilers. This is a fairly major undertaking involving not only boiler replacement, but also removal of an underground fuel oil tank, boiler room modifications, and asbestos abatement. Final costs will probably be known later this month, but we continue to plan on a budgetary figure of around $75K.

Secondly, we have been made responsible, by the MPCA, for the clean-up of contaminated soil and ground-water in and around the church property. The contamination was first discovered at the time we removed one of our underground fuel oil tanks serving the boilers (about 2 years ago). The source of the contamination was not our fuel oil tanks; but rather, the source was determined to be the underground gasoline storage tanks that used to belong to the former gas station across Chicago Avenue. Even though the leaks predated First Free acquiring that property, we are still deemed the responsible party by the MPCA, because we were the last recorded owner of the tanks (we removed them back in the early 80's). Continued monitoring and remediation efforts will likely continue for another 18 months or more. The good news is that we should be eligible for up to 90% reimbursement of our expenses under the state's "Petrofund".

We continue to investigate ways of improving security around the church, and we continue searching for elusive roof leaks.

The church building is aging (not as gracefully anymore) even while demand and use continue to escalate. The coming year will likely find us considering even more upgrades and repairs in the ongoing effort to use these bricks and mortar to serve the purposes set before us by our Lord.

I sincerely thank those who helped with the many repairs, alterations, cleaning, etc. over this past year.

First Evangelical Free Church

5150 Chicago Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota