First Free Church 2005-2006 Annual Report

Senior Pastor

Student Ministry

Worship Ministries

Parish Nurses

Creekside Friends Children's Ministry

Liaison to the Community

Church Council Report

Finance and Property Board

Audit Committee

Treasurer's Report/Financial Statements

Ephesians 2:22 says, "And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." God has continued His work in 2005-2006 of building us together to be the church He desires!

Our Purpose: First Evangelical Free Church exists to Bring people into a relationship with Jesus, Connect them to God's family, Mature them in their faith, and Equip them for ministry so that God's name will be Exalted.

We desire to Exalt God! Although stated last in our statement, worship is our central purpose!

We desire to Bring others to Christ! Our vision is to see our church's evangelistic temperature raised. Although we are seeing some positive growth in this area, I believe it requires more of our attention.

We desire to Connect people to God's family. The place that this happens most effectively is through our Adult Bible Fellowships. It's in our ABF's that we practice the "one anothers" of Scripture.

We desire to Mature people in their faith. We want to be intentional about helping people develop Christ's character and priorities.

We desire to Equip believers for ministry so they can serve God. God has called us each to serve, and He has given us His gifts to do so. We envision people discovering their gifts, developing them, and using them for the building up of the Body.

I cannot say enough about those with whom I partner in the ministry here at First Evangelical Free Church. I continue to pray with joy for Cindy Sawyer and KaWan Olson in the office . . . for Pastor Eric, Beth Brown, Russ Anteronen, Mark Meyers, Maureen Juarez, and Dee Huanca for all they do as ministry staff . . . for Scott Beckett and Julie Owens in taking care of our church facilities. Please, keep these individuals and our ministry team in your prayers this next year.

I also want to thank Steve Mondy, Chairman of the Council. Steve and I spend a lot of time together, and I appreciate his love for God, his wisdom and his commitment to First Free. Continue to pray for Steve as well.

May we continue being built together to become a dwelling in which God desires to live by His Spirit!

I recently tried my hand at planting a bunch of different kinds of seeds. Four days later, I am amazed at how something is already growing. I followed the instructions for watering, soil, and temperature. Bam! Seedlings were popping out of the ground. While last year I started out my letter referring to spiritual growth as being like watching grass grow, I think this year has been one of some obvious new growth in a good environment. Here's some of what has gone on this past year.

A number of our students have had a difficult year, dealing with things from getting kicked out of their homes to facing probation. While most of these students I wouldn't say are devoted followers of Christ, they have seen our church come through for them in ways that are life changing. Whether it is a family reaching out to take in the teenager, or a volunteer taking time out of his schedule to follow-up with a student who can't attend youth group because of a needed job, we've stepped up to the plate this year in loving students where they are at. I've even had the opportunity to invite one family to our church for services, and they came!

We challenged students to walk on water, if you will, and share their faith with folks in the downtown area this past winter. Students were empowered to reach needy people with the gospel, even leading one woman back to the Lord. Students were also clearly presented with the gospel at Camp Shamineau this winter and one student accepted Christ!

The environment for growth was monitored and tended to by Mark Meyers, our youth associate. He taught 7-12^th graders on Sundays and 7-9^th graders on Wednesday nights. He covered topics including creation, apologetics, the gospels and sex. We also put some purpose to our District's conference this year by asking students to memorize verses from Ephesians in order to go. As of last count, 13 students had done the work.

Our summer was centered around 2 ministry trips. 5 students accompanied me with a larger group of First Free adults to the Dominican Republic where we served at El Arca, a home for orphans. Our students were able to use their gifts and abilities to serve these precious young people. We had fun, too, playing "stick dance" with the group and just hanging out. Sixteen of us, including four adults, drove the 11 hour path to Michigan for a great time of helping out at nursing homes, a kids club, and rehabbing a community theatre. We were challenged to serve like Jesus served. It was a lot of fun spending July 4^th watching fireworks over the locks and eating ice cream while mosquitoes ate us.

Twice this past year, we joined with other youth groups for praise and worship locally. St. Louis Park Evangelical Free and Edgewater Baptist joined us for worship, and the energy level was high. It was great to have 80+ students gathered for youth group. A number of our students continue to lead music for the kids' ministry on Wednesday nights. Let me say here that anything good that happened this year all comes back to who Jesus is and what he did for and through us. Hallelujah!

The ministry to students really doesn't happen without the direct support of volunteers and parents. Many thanks to Erica Bauer, Emily Lane, Mark & Melinda Meyers, Ben Nordell, KaWan Olson, Jill Rose, Aaron Rusnak, Sharon Stacknik and parents for their part in our youth ministry. As I transition out of overseeing the operations of the youth ministry, I am happy to hand things off to Mark Meyers, my gifted successor and friend. It has been great fun to work with you this year. May God bless the seedlings in your care.

This past year, our orchestra, or more aptly named "Big Band" played numerous times during worship services. Jerry McDonald stepped up to be our director, and the group has been steadily developing under his leadership.

This was Rick Olson's second season of directing choir. He continued to encourage and challenge us with a great repertoire. We performed pieces that ranged from black gospel (Wonderful Counselor, More than Enough, Glory Hallelujah) to the classical (There Shall A Star Come out of Jacob). Our choir includes about 30 members. We took the choir on the road once this winter to the Marie Sandvik Center, where we also served dinner and visited with neighborhood folks.

Most of this past year, our meetings have been focused on brainstorming and planning worship services together. We also discussed the two services idea at length and committed to the eight week trial period. As usual, the worship commission has been a great sounding board and support for me as we pursue the vision "to EXALT God in Spirit and truth, CELEBRATE God for who He is and what He has done, and RESPOND to God through service." Julie Danielson, as always, has helped to spur us on to think and feel deeply about the God we lead others to worship.

Our instrumentalists and vocalists rehearsed and "performed" faithfully each week. Many thanks to key players: Debbie Smith keeps our vocal team on track. Jerry McDonald flexes to play whatever is needed. Jordan Goodman is so faithful that he even showed up the Sunday after he was married to play. Jenny Merry keeps the beat in that 70's kind of way that we like. Barb Olson leads out on the organ week after week. Additional thanks to others in the singing and playing rotation: Brett Friesen, Carl Holman, Anita McDonald, Katie Hucek, Rachel Olson, Vanessa Stacknik, Johanna Holliday, Kris Larson, Linda Beckett, The Marks (McClun, Mellema, and Fleming) and Jeff Olson. Without their dedication and hard work, worship services wouldn't be half as fun or meaningful.

Besides what happens from the platform, there are many others who make our services go. Karen Beckett keeps all of us on the same page when it comes to the words we sing on Powerpoint. Matt Beckett and John Londborg make our voices and instruments audible, sometimes making us sound better than we actually are! Thanks to the video guys for showing up early to run through songs (Adam Nordell, Pete McWilliams, and Hong Gu). The Ushers greet and seat folks before services, sometimes being the first contact people have with First Free. Thanks to Norbert Jensen, Jon Boyum, Julie Danielson, Craig Hucek, Ben Nordell, Charlie Sawyer, Ron Olson, Brian Gallagher, Guy Hugo, Jim & Nadine Mayo, John Lande, Dan & Donna Larson, Gail Marchand, and many others who filled in where needed.

I am reminded of the sheet of paper I saw that one of our tech people had put up. It said "It's all about GOD." That's really the heart of what we're about. We look forward to worshiping God and letting God use us to continue fanning the flame of worship here at First Free.

On April 1, 2005, the Parish Nurse ministry at First Free officially began. Two goals were identified for the first year;

With Bob Chapman's resignation on July 1^st, the focus changed to visiting the homebound and people in crisis. Approximately 40 people from church are homebound; in homes, hospitals, assisted living environments, or nursing homes. Our goal was to ensure that each person had a least one visit per month with someone who would visit, read scripture, and pray with them.

A class to prepare members to visit the homebound was offered four times during the past year with a total of 31 members in attendance. Since then many of the trained visitors regularly visit the homebound. In March, there were 19 trained visitors along with Parish Nurses and Pastor Joel who made a total of 50 visits to 38 homebound people. People who are hospitalized or awaiting surgery are also visited.

In conjunction with Pastor Joel, the Wellness Advisory Team, the Caring Commission, and the Property and Finance Board, a number of changes were instituted to improve accessibility to the church. These include a "drop off area" with curbside greeters, handicap accessible signs, parking designated for elders and handicapped, and doorbells at the kitchen and gym door.

We are thankful to Bob Chapman and to members of the Wellness Advisory Team who have provided much support in beginning this ministry. The Wellness Advisory Team (Marilyn Fisher (Council), Char Boyles, Carolyn Berg, John Lande (Caring Commission), Rod Holman (Seniors' ABF), and Phyllis Nordin) met bimonthly with us for the past year. Jenny Merry was on the team for a portion of the year and oversees the defibrillator and the first aid box.

Additional activities over the past year include initiation of a blood pressure screening program organized by Apryl Hultstrand and providing a preceptorship experience for a parish nurse intern from the Japanese Fellowship on 42^nd and Bloomington. We were the recipients of a grant for parish nurses for a PDA and a laptop computer which assist us greatly in communication and coordination of our services.

We are grateful to be a part of the ministry team that gives us the opportunity to assist those who are facing life challenges. It is exciting to be a part of the spiritual growth of individuals and families.

growing, Growing, GROWING…Not only are our children growing so has our children's ministry during the past year! Why is this? Let's take a look.

We only have a couple minutes to make the first impression on new families that come into the church.

Creekside Friends was launched on Rally Day in September. It was important for the children's ministry to have their own identity, and the Minnehaha Creek down the block from church was the inspiration for the name and logo. Kid-friendly areas exploded as KaWan Olson began painting murals in the children's departments and an information booth, the CREEKSIDE CANTEEN, was created by Scott Beckett.

We also have an up-to-date check-in system for parents to check in their children at the Nursery and Preschool areas. Pagers are given to those who want them. All our "Partners in Ministry" are wearing blue Creekside Friends lanyards for all to see!

This past year we as a church and as individuals have allowed Christ to work through us to impact our community. Some of the Salem ESL ─ Tutoring families received food bags at Thanksgiving, as we cooperated with Union Gospel Mission.

We continue to refer many people with needs to Community Emergency Services and try to lend a sympathetic ear or a prayer to those we are unable to help directly.

Several parents and I are involved as volunteer helpers at Hale Elementary. Mentoring and tutoring continue to be wonderful ways to build relationships and impact our future generations.

Assistance is always needed in our aiding the Children's Gospel Mission downtown. Some from there are connecting to churches, but many come with little knowledge of true Christianity but starved for attention and in need of God's love.

Our church again gave the McCrae Park Basketball Team a gym to play in and a chance to develop both their character traits and their athletic skills. The Southside Athletic Association asked for my help in conditioning and basketball skills one evening a week. This gave me the opportunity to continue relationships with some former McCrae and Hale children.

Some time is spent in helping Hospitality House Youth Ventures track team in the late winter, spring, and summer. I even had the privilege of visiting a few of our hospitalized or shut-in members.

I want to thank you for allowing me to serve these organizations, the church, and Jesus Christ in these ways this past year

"Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare." Psalm 40:5

"First Evangelical Free Church exists to: BRING people into a relationship with Jesus, CONNECT them to God's family, MATURE them in their faith, and EQUIP them for ministry so that God's name will be EXALTED."

This past year has been filled with many blessings and challenges as we have sought to live out the details of this statement. Many people have decided to accept God's gift of forgiveness this past year. Many others have decided to make First Free their place of worship and service. Hopefully we have all matured as we have studied God's big picture with Pastor's sermon series, attended an Adult Bible Fellowship (ABF), and spent time alone with God. Many of us have been involved in ministry both at First Free and in our various spheres of influence. We seek to exalt God's name not only in our worship services but also through our love and service to others at First Free and in our daily lives.

It is always worthwhile to consider how God has blessed us and to express our thanks to Him. While it is not possible to list all of the good things God has given us, I will mention a few. I am thankful for our wonderful staff. They do their work so consistently well that I frequently take them for granted. Another obvious blessing is the addition of new people of all ages. I especially like to see all the children who bring so much enthusiasm and energy. They also provide us with the opportunity and responsibility of teaching them about Jesus. I am also thankful for all of the good work our commissions have done. Many dedicated people have worked hard to make sure all of the various needs of our ministry are being met. I am thankful for God's guidance as we seek to follow His plan for First Free. However, rather than continuing to detail additional blessings here, I think it would be better if each of us would take time daily to thank God for His many works.

We have also had challenges this year. A few are especially noteworthy. After over 50 years of use our aging boilers failed and had to be replaced at an expense of nearly $150,000. Through your generosity we raised approximately $110,000 toward this expense. However, we still had to pay the other $40,000, which significantly reduced our cash reserves. In addition we had a deficit in our ongoing regular budget. These monetary challenges make it especially difficult to put a budget together for the coming fiscal year. For this reason the budget we are recommending represents a significant step of faith. Nevertheless, we continue to be optimistic about how God is going to move in these areas of need.

Another challenge is the flip side of one of our blessings. We are thrilled to see more and more people choose First Free as their place of worship, but along with more people come more work and expense. We are adding a second worship service for the spring and are planning to resume the two service format in the fall. Adding a service is not an easy thing to do. It has required much planning and will continue to require more workers in all areas on Sunday mornings. Please consider how you might be involved if you are not currently serving somewhere else.

Only God knows His plan for our future here at First Free. We only know that as we seek to follow Him we will continue to be surprised by both blessings and challenges. And, for that matter, the challenges simply provide us with opportunities to trust Him more. Be assured that those of us serving on the Council take our responsibilities seriously and joyfully. We have no agenda other than to seek God's will for First Free. Thank you for giving us the honor and privilege of serving our church family.

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 attendees, and those within the church's neighborhood community.

Parish Nursing - Dee Huanca and Maureen Juarez have used their expertise in nursing to help assist the Pastor to meet the needs of our congregation. Parish Nurses provide counsel and spiritual support, encourage healthy lifestyles, find health resources, provide health information, and organize support groups. Their focus this past year was visitation to seniors of the church, preparing others to do visitation to those who are ill or not able to come to church. In the future they would really like to see their primary goal to be preventing illness, finding more health resources, providing more health information, and organizing support groups. They would do all this work in coordination with the Wellness Team and the Pastor.

Visitation - Parish Nurses and Volunteers have 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 Maureen and Dee's wisdom and understanding of the medical field, so they can so appropriately assist church body members in their times of need.

Funeral Receptions - Betty Carlson, Phyllis Nordin 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.

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 & 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.

This past year has been one of continued growth for our nurture ministries at First Free. Increasing numbers of faithful workers invested their time and their individual gifts to minister to a growing contingent of kids and youth. We are very thankful for our volunteers' service, and trust they had a blast giving it!

Under Beth Brown's leadership, we've continued refining our kids' programs (birth-6^th grade) to improve curriculum, teacher support, safety, and communication. Our youth program continues to expand, while adding focus. We are very grateful for Eric Twietmeyer's dedicated service, and we anticipate a smooth transfer of leadership into Mark Meyers' capable hands.

As a commission we had the privilege of helping twenty First Free kids (grades 1-12) experience camp at Shamineau, Rock Ridge, and Nathanael last summer through camp scholarships. Another twenty (and counting) have received camp scholarships for this coming summer. Beth's and Eric's reports contain many more highlights of our kids and youth programs this past year; you won't want to miss them.

Please continue to pray for our staff, our volunteer leaders and our kids, as we seek to honor our God and raise up our next generation to serve Him.

"How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God." Psalm 84:1

This is how we as a commission desire to have the church body feel about time in God's house during our sacred assemblies. For this to happen, we will need to continue focusing on the One whom it is all about-and not ourselves. We all have ways in which we need to grow-maybe it's as simple as being willing to give up our "normal seat" to make room for newcomers, learning to like a kind of music that we normally wouldn't because it helps someone else in our body draw near to God, or making time to come early to prepare for worship. For our commission, we need to be intentional about "setting the stage" for that preparation. You get the idea.

Much thanks and appreciation to Pastor Eric Twietmeyer for continuing to expand our repertoire of hymns, songs, and spiritual songs! Thank you for all the preparation and coordination of the many individuals and teams it takes to help each of us worship corporately on Sunday mornings, as well as during the special services and Concerts of Prayer we are able to participate in throughout the year.

Thank you to Debbie Smith for coordinating the worship teams, accompanying this choir of saints, and the many ways you serve our church family. Thanks, too, to Rick Olson for your gifted and God-centered leadership of the choir-and to the many members. What a blessing to our church family! Thanks also to Barb Olson and Rick for accompanying us on the organ.

We are blessed as a body for the many worship team members, band members, instrumentalists, sound booth operators, ushers, etc. As we expand to two services, the sacrifice is great for you and your families. We are grateful for each one of you!

As we grow numerically, there is also a need for more workers. We are grateful that several have stepped forward to serve in our ushering ministry. We are in the process of rearranging teams and adding a team that incorporates our new volunteers. Thank you to Norbert Jensen for the invaluable leadership he has given to this ministry for so many years! We also want to welcome John Lande as the new ushering ministry leader.

As we experience numerical growth as a church body, we need to be on guard that this is not the only kind of growth we experience. Our vision as a commission is that "Our worship at First Evangelical Free Church seeks to EXALT God in Spirit and truth, CELEBRATE God for who He is and what He has done, and RESPOND to God through service." We will employ many different strategies to lead people to a place where they experience God in our assemblies including testimonies, a central Biblical theme, music that draws in people from many different tribes, tongues, and nations, drama segments, times for meditation, quiet time for preparation, etc.

We have recently experienced what Christy Fleming and Carrie Boyum have been working on as far as adding "drama" to our services. Thanks you two and to all those you recruit to be a part. It is great!

Thanks to the Worship Commission members; Pastor Eric, Jerry McDonald, Vice-Chair, Debbie Smith, Jenny Merry, Rick Olson, Doug Brown, Council, and adhoc members Carrie Boyum and Christy Fleming-for their hearts for worship, faithfulness, and for being the joy they are to serve alongside.

To our gracious and merciful God - "better is one day in your courts, than a thousand elsewhere! I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked." Psalm 84:10

First Free has been blessed with a vital ministry in missions for over a century. This year has been no exception. We have helped to send short term teams to New Orleans, the Dominican Republic (including a youth team), Canada, and Peru.

During the year we have been fortunate to have several of our missionaries visit us who haven't had the opportunity to be with us in some time.

We praise God for these and others who are willing to go, and we respect their commitment.

We, on the other hand, here at First Free have been called to send. In Romans 10, Paul teaches us that while some must go, others must be willing to send. Sending also takes commitment. It takes time, it takes money, it takes prayer. We've been faithful in the past, and as a commission our hope is that as we experience new growth as a church, we will also experience new growth in our commitment to evangelize the world. We need everyone to commit to a ministry of serving as senders.

I want to thank all the women for their faithfulness in coming together each month to encourage each other, serving and helping in any way to make our time together a blessing.

Thanks to Barb Olson, Nancy Fowler, Ardese Barrett, and Fran Nelson for providing music for us. Thanks also to Warren Ahlgren, who has played his accordion for us at two meetings.

Missionary moments with Grace Vandervort bring us news from our missionaries. She also shares prayer requests with us, which we are encouraged to pray for.

The June picnic was at Verna Beckman's party room. Annette Cairns challenged us on the importance of prayer in our spiritual walk.

Several people have shared their ministries with us: Mary Damon, Diane C__________ [[name removed]], Sue Haglund, Beda Anderson, Debra _____, and Mary Johnson.

The Christmas luncheon at Vi Fjellman's party room is always a highlight. Pastor Joel and Becky Sutton spoke. They are always a blessing. 24 boxes, filled with toys, toiletries, candy, and clothes, were brought to give to children at the Marie Sandvik Mission.

Four of our ladies have gone on to their reward in heaven: Helen Duncan, Myrtle Olson, Pearl Lotsberg, and Mildred Hines.

Money was given to Heat Your Seat, the Hultstrands' trip to Peru, the Children of Cebu, and Camp Shamineau scholarships.

For those of us serving on the board, we will remember 2005 as the year of the boiler. It was our aim to change our heating plant without an interruption in environmental comfort. In the end, we had to call on the Lord for a warm autumn. Our four new boilers came on-line in late October just ahead of the winter winds.

Charlie Sawyer and Scott Beckett provided oversight and motivation for the project. They challenged the contractors to get it right. In the end, it was they who made it right.

We continue to incur costs for MPCA mandated ground water monitoring associated with soil and water contamination from underground fuel tanks that we have removed. The state's Petrofund has begun reimbursements at a 90% rate.

Matt Beckett and Bob Gu have continued in their stewardship roles of our houses at 5147 and 5151 Chicago Avenue.

Due to burglaries, we have taken measures to improve building security. We have installed doorbells that enable us to lock our doors once a hosted event begins. Scott re-keyed the exterior and interior doors, and he established a method for issuing and tracking keys.

Sound booth improvements and relocation were completed. The new balcony location provides for better security for our audio and visual equipment.

Our expanded Sunday morning program and the growth of our church body puts a greater load on our facilities and equipment. Some of the limited-life building elements, like carpets, are near the end of their usefulness. Some of these anticipated replacements will need to be made in the year ahead, and other facility needs will make themselves evident.

Thanks to all those who pitched in this past year to help us be good stewards of all that God has entrusted to us.

The audit committee examined the financial records and statements of First Evangelical Free Church for the fiscal period of April 1, 2005, through March 31, 2006. Included in the audit were examinations of the Quicken banking system monthly deposits, check writing, and payroll-related entries. The financial statements were examined for accuracy when compared to the Quicken banking system's monthly and fiscal year-end balances. Paid invoices were sampled to confirm that invoice payments were properly approved and accurately made in a timely manner. We confirmed that appropriate procedures were used in the handling, counting, and deposits of weekly contributions.

The committee's opinion is that the above referred to financial records and statements present the financial position of the church.