Yesterday, I shared some exciting news with the Beach Church staff that they had not heard in a long time. On March 10, 2024, Beach Church experienced record-breaking attendance!
For the past four weeks, we have broken 1200+ in attendance. The last time Beach experienced four weeks in a row of 1200+ was in the spring of 2020, before COVID-19.
2022 was such a difficult year for all Beach Church partners and friends that I thought I would write a post so everyone could celebrate what God is doing!
On March 10, 2024, 1238 people attended our 9:30 and 11:15 worship services. This is the highest attendance recorded for Week 10 in Beach Church's history!
A TOUGH SEASON
2022 was the first full year Beach Church was without a lead pastor for quite some time, and it was a tough season. Beach Church set record-breaking lows because of “church hurt” in 2021. It was a drought. Other pastoral staff and ministry leaders left during that season, and morale was low. The staff was overwhelmed and discouraged, and it wasn't easy for many to attend work every day.
But they did show up.
Each day, they showed up at work.
Every weekend, they showed up for worship.
They kept doing the work of the Lord. They kept praying, plowing, and watering hard ground. Even though some were not always convinced that God would turn things around, they focused on the work of God's Kingdom.
If not for the faithfulness of the team, the board, faithful volunteers, and generous supporters, we would not be experiencing this rapid growth today.
BUT, GOD REDEEMS THE HARD
For the first ten weeks in 2024, our worship attendance shows a growth of 60% over the first ten weeks in 2022!
So far in 2024, Beach Church has experienced:
300 guests in worship (169 first, 79 second, 53 third)
18 decisions to trust in Christ
12 Baptisms
180 Bibles given away
35% increase in Kids Ministry
60% increase in Worship attendance over 2022
I served in Student Ministry for 17 years. I have seen this type of growth in Student Ministry, but I have never seen this type of rapid growth church-wide.
God is moving!
And let me be clear. This growth is life-changing.
LIFE-CHANGING GROWTH
Let me share a quick story about the life-changing impact we see each week.
Cue inspirational music.
On Sunday morning, a family dedicated their Baby to the Lord in one of our services and brought newborn diapers they no longer needed to Guest Central for us to give to a family in need.
"Great. Now, what are we supposed to do with all these diapers?"
While leaders in that area were trying to figure out where to store these diapers, a 15-year-old young lady walked up to Guest Central with her new baby.
Let me say that again:
A 15-year-old child brought her newborn baby to Guest Central...
...and needed diapers!
Because of the work of the Lord, we were able to pass along the blessing of newborn diapers, encourage her, and prayerfully help her see a bit of light and hope.
That is an example of the stories the staff shared over the last 15 months at Beach Church.
GOD IS THE GROWER
When it comes to growth in a church, the Apostle Paul has words of wisdom:
1 Corinthians 3:4-8 (NLT2) 4 When one of you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world? 5 After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. 6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7 It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work.
God is the one who produces growth in the church. Yes, our staff and volunteers worked hard in a season of storms and rocky ground...But God is the one who brings the growth.
Over the last year, we have refined our mission, guiding values, and assimilation strategy, but God is the one who has brought the growth.
CAPTIVATING CELEBRATION
Everyone who remained faithful in 2022 should Celebrate! If you had not remained faithful to do work the ground, plant, and water, we would not be seeing God growing the church now.
You all deserve to celebrate!
Today, God is blessing your persistence and faithfulness.
1 Corinthians 15:58 (NLT2) 58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
I am so proud of our staff, ministry leaders, and Board, and of each and every person who stuck it out, kept their chins down, and kept moving forward when the going got rough.
I am so thankful to be the Pastor of Beach Church!
If you are a Beach Church partner or friend, please leave a comment and share with me what you love about Beach Church or the lifechanging stories you have watched unfold.
God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Joe, Jerry & I left Wisconsin in October 2019, no more freezing cold Winters! We found an apartment, mainly sight unseen, not quite what we expected. But, being nearby, God lead us to Beach Church. Since then, moved to Murrells Inlet, much better apartment complex, & have stayed with Beach Church, even through the hard time. Beach Church is where God wants us to be. We like Wednesday night Bible studies. We have many good friends within the Beach Church family. About 1 1/2 years ago, we took over for another couple who left for health reasons, as the Hand Waving couple as people leave the parking lot after services. It puts smiles on their faces & helps bri…
I believe God has just enough of what was going own behind the scenes. He love His faithful church and stepped in to have us look back to Him, His greatness and love for us.
We are so thankful for His blessings on Beach Church! Thankful for such faithful staff/ volunteers/congregation during the hard season. Thankful for Pastor Joe and family accepting the challenge to lead Beach Church into recovery! He is a "turn-around God"!!
God is so faithful and we now get to reap the rewards of all the hard work that has been done to plant seeds over the past 2 years! It's awesome to see the continued growth at Beach Church!