Each year of my Bible Reading plan I read across Genesis 26:12, which says,
and every time I come across it I circle it, in awe that somebody could be as blessed as Isaac was in this year of his life. Whether the verse is stating an actual numerical fact or trying to state a tremendous spiritual fact with metaphor (which is most likely the case given the round number of a “hundredfold”), I believe that I now know what it feels like to live through a year like Genesis 26:12. Very simply put, in 2022 Journey Church International reaped far more than we sowed, far more than we deserved, and far more than we could have asked for or imagined. It was an incredible year.
As you review our Annual Report to see and celebrate how God used your generosity in His Kingdom, please know that we see and celebrate your faithfulness. While no one person at our church gave an amount (or could give an amount) that accomplished our entire vision and mission by themself, the thousands of us who gave together allowed us to have a significant impact on our world for Jesus. Here’s a small sample of our spiritual impact in 2022 because of your giving:
72 participants on missions trips, serving 6 different countries.
Nearly 800 individuals served our local community through our Community Impact ministry.
Almost 1,000 people engaged in our Discipleship Groups throughout the year.
More than 80 people went public with their faith through baptism.
We had 2,225 registered first time guests who visited Journey in 2022.
We’ve now invested $3.2 million into global missions, community impact, and multiplying ministry efforts in our 11 years as a church.
Honestly, to try to report any type of numbers on the year in order to bring what God did at our church into focus would be to miss the point entirely. What is important to reflect on is the final four words of Genesis 26:12: “…the Lord blessed us.” And God blessed us because you shared in God’s blessings to you through your giving. As your pastor, I just want to say thank you. It is the greatest joy in my life to be part of our church and the leader of our mission in our community and our world for Jesus. I cannot wait to see what God continues to do at Journey in 2023 and beyond!
Let’s “Come and Follow” Jesus together with all our hearts in 2023.
22,687 WEBSITE USERS
50,075 LIVE STREAM VIEWS
29,880 HOURS OF WATCH TIME
57,829 PODCAST LISTENS
1,734 APP DOWNLOADS
WEBSITE VISITORS
This past year at Journey was a “Come and See” year. Our aim was to get as many people as possible come and see what our church—and what Jesus—has to offer them. To help us do this, we hosted several “Come and See Sundays” throughout the year to draw people into our church. As a result, we saw thousands of new faces in our building and provided critical resources and spiritual care to countless individuals and families.
In 2022 we encouraged new visitors to complete and turn in a Connection Card by donating $10 per completed card to various organizations. Over the course of the year, we received 1,326 Connection Cards and donated
$13,260
to the following causes:
HopeKC | NourishKC
WorldHelp | Teen Challenge
What an incredible year of ministry it was at Journey in 2022! It was the first full year that our ministry was able to operate in the new 50,000 square foot addition that, with God’s provision, we were able to build. It was a year of a lot of new and exciting ministry as our team worked to leverage our space to help our community “come and see” who Jesus is.
While we stand here today and celebrate all that occurred last year, I am reminded of the faith conversations of our Leadership Team as we projected the costs of operating in a much larger “ministry footprint”. We knew that it would require an extra measure of generosity for our ministry to accomplish the vision. What we couldn’t have imagined, nor would we have asked for, was that our generosity as a church would grow in 2022 by 25%
We are mindful of the words of Jesus in Luke 12:48 that say, “To whom much is given, much is required.” Our church leadership strives to practice sound financial stewardship year after year. We plan very strategically to develop ministry plans and then align them with the appropriate budget. These practices allow us to pursue and accomplish the vision by maximizing every dollar that is given.
As you review the Annual Report, here are some key highlights of generosity that we are celebrating from 2022:
- Our general giving was up over 25% over the previous year.
- Our operating budget was 90% of our general “undesignated” revenue, applying 10% to cash reserves.
- We invested $630,000 into Global Impact, Community Impact, and Multiplying Ministry, surpassing $3.2M in our history to date.
- We had 396 new people make a first-time gift to Journey.
- We were able to build a school building, a church, and a home in a new village in Guatemala.
Thank you so much for your generosity and believing in the mission and vision of our church. We value every dollar that is entrusted to us, and we always strive to steward it for maximum impact!
We hope you will join us in celebrating all that God has done. You can see in the accompanying charts the percentages of where and how money was spent in 2022 by category. If you hover your cursor over individual chart sections, you will see an actual dollar amount that was spent in each category. If you have any questions regarding finances at Journey, I would be honored to talk to you and answer any question you may have.
Scott Courtney | Executive Pastor of Administration
FUNDING THE VISION: 2022
$4,196,000 GIVEN
OPERATIONS OVERVIEW
OPERATIONS BREAKDOWN
Volunteers
Volunteer Headquarters; Inspire Events; Volunteer Appreciation; Journey Swag (t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, etc.)
Weekend Worship
Audio & Video Technology; Special Sundays (Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day, etc.); Guest Expenses for “Come and See” Events; Streaming (Online Church) Equipment
Spiritual Growth/Leadership Development
Small Groups; Discipleship Tracks; Leader Development Coaching, Training, and Resources; Prayer Ministry (prayer guides, celebration meals, etc.)
Communication
Print Materials; Website Development & Maintenance; Marketing (mail, social media, branding, etc.)
Administration
Church Database Software and Management; Risk Insurance; Professional Services (lawn care, accounting, consulting, police officers, legal fees, etc.); Office Supplies
We live out our mission by investing the first 15% of giving to local missions, global missions, and multiplying ministry initiatives.
748
VOLUNTEERS ON
TEAM JCI
800+
PEOPLE ATTENDED
INSPIRE EVENTS
900
PEOPLE IN
DISCIPLESHIP GROUPS
80
BAPTISMS
362
PEOPLE ATTENDED
GROWTH TRACK
“Participating in Week of Prayer changed my life. I can’t wait for the next one!”
146
SPONSORED CHILDREN
87
IN LAS SIDRAS,
GUATEMALA
59
IN PEÑA BLANCA,
GUATEMALA
“This is amazing and World Help is so grateful for all the people at Journey Church who are sponsoring these children.”
GLOBAL MISSIONS
72
PEOPLE WENT ON
A MISSION TRIP
GLOBAL PARTNERS
We support a number of organizations and individuals around the globe as they seek to support and expand the Kingdom. We have key partnerships with organizations in Scotland, Israel, Turkey, Panama, Thailand, Malaysia, among others.
GUATEMALA
Through Total Village Transformation (TVT) projects, we’ve been given the opportunity to adopt a village in order to help provide the community’s most urgent needs, such as a school, homes, a church building, clean water, and medical clinics. Not only did we continue our TVT efforts in our first village, Las Sidras, but we also started work (and visited for the first time) in a new village, Peña Blanca.
UGANDA
We’re also so excited to be launching a Total Village Transformation project in a brand-new country—Uganda! We will be partnering with a ministry that has planted churches and engaged in sustainable community development for over 30 years. We’ve already begun funding different projects within this partner community and cannot wait to visit this year.
87
SERVE PROJECTS
1,474
VOLUNTEERS
2,287
HOURS SERVED
2,682
MEALS SERVED
3,500
LBS OF FOOD
$1,650
RAISED
5,822
HOURS SERVED
$215,288
ECONOMIC IMPACT
29,117
ITEMS OF CLOTHING
DONATED
33,614
LBS OF FOOD
DONATED
4,613
INDIVIDUALS SERVED
Here at Journey, we’re passionate about pouring into and raising up the next generation. That’s why we’ve dedicated so much time and so many resources to our internship program. Interns at Journey can serve at various levels and get in-depth experience working in ministry. In 2022, we had a total of
31 INTERNS
serve through our internship program.
In addition to running our intern program throughout the year, we were blessed enough to be able to provide
$60,000
in scholarships to interns in our Summer 2022 Leadership Intensive who had completed at least one full year of Bible College and were returning to Bible College to pursue a degree track in ministry for the 2022-2023 school year.
SINCE 2011…
801
baptisms
$3,283,600
invested in local & global missions
421
sent on global impact trips
