Good news! Our church hasn’t “just survived” a global pandemic. In many ways, the distance of virtual worship and reconfigured ministry has brought us closer together as a congregation. We’ve seen the strength of faith and community as we deal with challenges we never expected. We’ve been inspired to innovate in how we reach our friends, neighbors, and even strangers around the globe.

This good news was shared in each of the reports from lay leaders during last Sunday’s virtual town hall. We recorded that meeting and you can watch it here:

Click: Town Hall  Zoom Meeting

Access Passcode: ^+Cix8K@

Lay Leader Chris Richter served as moderator and panelists include SPRC chair Ron Chinnici, interim trustee chair Mike Tucker, and finance chair Charlie Leftwich.

Here are some topline bullet points:

WORSHIP

• Main campus online worship reaches an average of 398 individuals weekly
• The Chapel livestream reaches an additional 95
• We have viewers actively engaged in worship from afar afield as California, New England, Florida, and Africa
• Our church family is growing organically. Galilee performed nine baptisms in 2020
• Small groups have grown online, with a few meeting in person. We currently count nine active small groups
• General questions and comments about worship can be emailed to layleader@galileeumc.org

SERVE 

• Schools shut down in March of last year, causing a huge reshuffle in our Backpack Buddies Program, which DID NOT shut down
• Galilee did not miss a single week of supplying food aid
• BPB delivered 9,200 weekend meal packs during the school year
• Our Family Break Bags program delivered a full bag of groceries to 25 families every week
• In the summer months, BPB supplied 600% more meals than a usual summer
• BPB also raised $24,000 in its fundraiser and was awarded the title of Loudoun Cares Outstanding Volunteer Team 2020
• BPB continues to reach seven local schools served
• Young persons were trained up in the serve ethos at SummerServe Camp, which went virtual this year with 25 adult and teen participants working on projects that benefited Linus Project, Loudoun PPE Makers, and Emergency Responders
• There were no in-person mission trips in 2020 and none are planned for 2021 in conformity to our bishop’s guidelines. But we are adapting and planning virtual educational mission trips
• Virtual educational mission trips will be launched with partners in Costa Rica and Sierra Leone in Summer 2021
• There will be serve options in Galilee’s hybrid summer camps and in all youth and children ministries
• Serve and mission trip questions can be emailed to rebecca.makowski@galileeumc.org

STAFF

• The SPRC supported Pastor Geitra as she completed her divinity degree and transferred her duties to the main campus of Galilee
• Pastor Steve came on board with the duty to oversee the Chapel
• Galilee hired Suzie Leftwich as Childrens Ministry Coordinator and Lisa Collins as  Youth Ministry Coordinator. Both these hires came from within our congregation
• Staffing questions can be emailed to spcr@galileeumc.org

TRUSTEES 

• There was no Covid reprieve for building maintenance issues like HVAC, snow removal, playground upkeep, lighting, siding, painting, landscaping, and parking lots. Trustees always have their to do list full
• Trustees did take the opportunity in 2020 to do a full upgrade of the Galilee website
• BlueTech Innovation has been hired to install new security and communication systems for the church
• There have been significant ugrades to our audio/visual equipment, and we cannot thank our A/V volunteers enough for enabling Galilee to do incredible livestream outreach
• Trustees have been developing plans for upgrades to our physical facilities voted on by the congregation, but these are currently on hold because of conference and Covid challenges
• Questions can be emailed to trustees@galileeumc.org

FINANCES

• While like most churches we continue to see decline in giving (about 3% per year), we’re doing better than many congregations and have been able to adapt to these cultural trends
• With the specific challenges of 2020, we applied for and received forgivable loans from the Paycheck Protection Program, which helped Galilee and our preschool meet salary and mortgage responsibilities. These loans were forgiven
• Preschool operations were suspended in March 2020, resulting in a loss of income, but teacher salaries were paid thru end of the last school year
• The school had an existing loan which was paid off in 2020
• Church expenses were down in 2020 from the prior year
• Total costs are down from the prior year 35%
• Galilee met its mortgage debt and paid conference apportionments in full. Apportionments have been going down, which is a trend we expect to continue into next year
• Church leaders are paying attention to expense and giving trends and continue to be good stewards of your generosity
• Your generosity has been especially valuable during Covid. The Covid Community Fund is one way that you have enabled Galilee to help others
• Finance questions can be emailed to finance@galileeumc.org

THE FUTURE

• The new normal is going to be slow, cautious reopening. We’ve already started limited in-person events and our goal is a full return to regular in-sanctuary worship services
• Preschool has reopened in a limited capacity and we plan on full reopening next year, though it may look different than in years past
• Questions about the future at Galilee can be sent to Pastor Jason.