“We exist to see people far from God become passionate Christians who make a difference in the world.”
To do this, we’ve implemented a strategy that revolves around four Es: Experience, Engage, Embrace, and Equip. By encouraging everyone at our church commit to these four areas, we’ve witnessed countless stories of people learning how to Come & Follow Jesus in 2023.
To do this, we’ve implemented a strategy that revolves around four Es: Experience, Engage, Embrace, and Equip. By encouraging everyone at our church commit to these four areas, we’ve witnessed countless stories of people learning how to Come & Follow Jesus in 2023.
I wanted to take this chance to say thank you for your 2023 generosity that fueled the ministry direction and ministry impact at Journey Church International last year. The theme of 2023 at Journey was “Come and Follow”, and we had very specific ministry initiatives that helped people to take their next step in following Jesus. While each step was small, and so many steps were different, together they created a movement that had tremendous impact for the Kingdom of God in our city and around the world. Here is a quick look at the top ten highlights from 2023:
God is moving at Journey, but His method of moving is through the faithfulness of His people. We are so grateful and so excited for the future at Journey.
Thank you for your faithfulness and generosity. I love you, Journey, and it’s my honor to be on mission with you!
Christian Newsome | Lead Pastor
Every Sunday, we encourage new visitors to complete and turn in a Connection Card. In return, we donate $10 to local ministry partners. Our giving partners this year were Teen Challenge, Hope Faith, Lullaby of Hope, Refuge KC, and Lifesong for Orphans.
SPIRITUAL DECISIONS
PEOPLE BAPTIZED
BIBLE READING COMMITMENTS
This is particularly true for our kids and students. At Journey, we’re passionate about investing in the next generation of Christ followers so they can be disciples who make disciples and be catalysts for change that glorifies God. Two of our biggest events of the year – Kids Camp for elementary-aged kids and Student Camp for middle and high school students – help us do exactly that! Each camp helps us teach kids of all ages about Jesus and show them how following Him can change their lives!
KIDS CAMP
670
kids attended
199
spiritual decisions
STUDENT CAMP
309
students attended
151
spiritual decisions
COUPLES GROW TOGETHER & LEARN HOW TO LEAD WELL AT MARRIAGE CONFERENCE
New to Journey in 2023 was our first-ever, in-house Marriage & Relationships Conference. Couples seeking to revive and strengthen their relationships were invited to attend and gain new tools to live out their marriage the way God intended and deepen their intimacy with one another.
We welcomed special guests Pastor Daniel Floyd and his wife, Tami, from Lifepoint Church in Fredericksburg, VA, whose insightful talks and shared experiences resonated deeply with every couple in attendance. The Floyds’ message focused on the importance of faith, communication, and mutual respect in nurturing a healthy marriage. Joining them were Pastor Christian and his wife Danielle, who brought their unique perspective and wisdom to the table, and Journey Teaching Pastor Marcellus Casey and his wife Stephanie, who shared their journey of overcoming the challenges every couple faces in marriage and in life.
As a follow-up to the conference, a variety of couples and parenting groups were launched to offer continued community and support. Ultimately, the conference served as a great conversation starter for many couples and served as a catalyst for further discussion and support to be had.
2023 PRAYER INITIATIVES
FIRST WEDNESDAYS PRAYER
In 2023, we launched a new monthly prayer initiative called First Wednesdays Prayer & Fasting. The purpose of these Wednesday evening prayer services was to help us practice the spiritual disciplines of fasting, personal prayer, and corporate prayer.
WEEK OF PRAYER
To kickstart our annual prayer focus, we started the year with an entire week of morning prayer services to allow people a space to practice starting their days with God. We hosted another week of prayer at the end of the summer to re-focus and pray for new breakthroughs.
ADVENT FAMILY PRAYER NIGHT
We were especially excited to have our first family-focused prayer night in December. As we anticipated the celebration of Christ’s birth at Christmas, we invited families to come worship, pray, and participate in interactive Advent activities together.
BIBLE IN A YEAR READING PLAN
Reading your Bible daily is one of the best ways to grow in your walk with Jesus. Not only does it make you a stronger disciple, but it helps you better disciple others as well. That’s why we encouraged every single person to read the entire Bible in 2023, and had several initiatives throughout the year for people to jump in with us or join a New Testament reading plan. As a result, we saw hundreds of people engaged in Bible reading, many of whom had never read the Bible so consistently in their lives!
ENGAGING THE NEXT GENERATION IN SPIRITUAL GROWTH
We’re passionate about discipleship and equipping the next generation with a strong Biblical foundation. In 2023 we launched a brand-new curriculum to help us do just that! As we have focused on engaging, age-appropriate lessons rooted in God’s Word, we have seen tremendous spiritual growth in our kids.
Throughout 2023, our Kids Ministry team led children of all ages through initiatives that were designed to help kids engage with God and the Bible, as well as equip parents to build a strong foundation of faith for their families at home.
One of these initiatives was the Kids Bible Challenge, which we did several times throughout the year. The goal of this challenge is to help kids establish spiritual practices throughout the week, such as Bible reading, prayer, and fasting. Kids who completed all four weeks of the challenge were treated to a special prize!
We were also thrilled to partner with YouVersion to create devotional content for their Kids Bible Experience, which reaches thousands of kids all across the world! Take a look at one of the videos our team created for this partnership below.
“It is not the experience of Christian community, but firm and certain faith within Christian community that holds us together.”
—Dietrich Bonhoeffer
GROWING CHURCH CREATES STRATEGY FOR PERSONAL SPIRITUAL CARE
As God has continued to bring more and more people through our doors, providing opportunities for personal relationships to form and genuine, one-on-one spiritual care to happen has been one of our highest priorities. Even in a large church, everyone needs smaller pockets of community.
At the beginning of 2023, we created what we call our Spiritual Care Triangle. While the visual was new, our heart behind it has been our approach from the beginning—we believe the more involved you are, the greater opportunity you have to receive spiritual care.
We introduced the Spiritual Care Triangle to illustrate the level of care and closeness you can experience the more you take advantage of the connection opportunities available to you.
NEW GROUPS:
Journey for Life | Never Alone Widows | Home Groups | Parenting | Newlyweds & Premarital | Blended Families | Sunday Morning Groups
SUNDAY STUDENT GROUPS
For the first time in our Student Ministry, we created discipleship groups specifically for our middle and high school students. In addition to their weekly small group time on Wednesdays, students seeking to grow even deeper in their faith gathered every Sunday morning throughout the fall to study scripture, pray, and enjoy fellowship together.
Between middle school and high school, nearly 80 students actively participated in a discipleship group.
As Christians, we know that we’re called to a higher purpose. The Great Commission says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.” (Matt. 28:19) That’s why we encourage everyone at Journey to embrace serving at our church, in our community, and around the world.
One of the cornerstone initiatives we’ve had at Journey for years is our Growth Track. Each month, people who finish Growth Track feel more connected at Journey, and they are grateful for the information they gain about our church, God’s purpose for them, and discipling others.
Throughout 2023, we’ve seen huge growth to all of our volunteer teams (collectively called Team JCI) and we’ve added multiple new serve teams and opportunities to give people with every gifting and in all walks of life an opportunity to serve using the skills God gave them.
KANSAS CITY IMPACTED BY LOCAL CHURCH SERVING AS THE HANDS & FEET OF JESUS
One of the biggest ways we encourage people to embrace community service is through Serve Week. Serve Week is one of our largest annual events and is jam-packed with different ways to give back to Kansas City. From serving meals to cleaning up neighborhoods to giving blood, we have projects that anyone can participate in.
In 2023, we had the biggest impact on our community yet through Serve Week. With over 1,000 volunteers serving in 80 different projects, we were able to show people the love of Christ through action across Kansas City.
EASTER EGG HUNTS
PEOPLE
ATTENDED
SERVE SATURDAY
THANKSGIVING MEAL BOXES
MEALS
SERVED
In 2023, we celebrated four years of serving our community’s physical needs through radical generosity at our Impact Center. The Journey Impact Center is so much more than a food pantry; it’s a safe place for anyone to get free food and clothing and provide community resources for assistance with housing, mental health, job assistance, and more.
Our hope and prayer has always been that those who shop with us feel welcome and experience God’s love. We were blessed this year to serve more shoppers than ever before. Our ability to have a positive impact on so many families and individuals is all thanks to you who so faithfully give your time, talent, and treasure to keep the Impact Center thriving.
EMBRACE SERVING AROUND THE WORLD
This past year, God opened doors to new global partnerships, allowing us to visit four new countries—Scotland, Ireland, Uganda, and Poland. In each of those countries, we were able to establish and deepen partnerships with local organizations who we hope to work with for years to come. We’re excited to be expanding our global reach and getting closer to our long-term goal of having a presence on every populated continent in the world.
NEW PARTNERSHIP: UGANDA
In Uganda, we’ve been able to expand what we call our Total Village Transformation initiatives to the village of Zimudi. Total Village Transformation is a unique opportunity we have to partner long-term with a village in a developing country to create sustainable impact.
Through this partnership, we’ve been able to help the community build a church and a school, as well as provide much-needed supplies, medical care, and even Christmas meals. Over the summer, we also got to take our first team of Journey volunteers to visit the people of Zimudi, host a medical clinic for them, and put on Vacation Bible School for the kids in the village and surrounding areas.
NEW PARTNERSHIP: SCOTLAND
Another new country we’re excited to be expanding in is Scotland. This is the first country in Europe that we’ve had a presence in and we’re excited to be partnering with both YoungLife Scotland and Cornerstone Community Church in Stirling. We took not one, but two impact trips to Scotland in 2023, aiming primarily to serve the local youth and equip YoungLife with the infrastructure to expand their gospel outreach efforts.
On these trips, we were also able to visit a local church in the community and begin learning about their unique struggles and identifying where we could forge a mutually beneficial partnership. We look forward to many more trips to Scotland in the coming years and can’t wait to see what God does in that area.
CHURCH IN LEE’S SUMMIT SENDS CHURCH PLANTERS TO LAS VEGAS, NV
One of the biggest changes for our church in 2023 was the commissioning and sending of our church planting resident, Christian Gracia, and his family to Las Vegas, NV after they’d spent the previous two years here in KC as part of the Journey family. In Las Vegas, the Gracias plan to start their own church in the fall of 2024 called King’s City Church.
But their commissioning was just the beginning.
Along with the Gracias, we commissioned and sent multiple other staff members and interns who felt led to join the Gracias in Las Vegas and help them with this new endeavor. We will continue to send additional interns, staff, and Journey-goers in the coming year as we seek to equip the Gracias with an incredible, talented team of Jesus-followers and support each individual in God’s calling on their life.
In addition to King’s Church, we also support other church plants throughout the country. In 2023, two other churches we help support—Hope Church Union Hill (GA) and Mission Lakewood Church (CO)—moved into their own buildings after several years of meeting in schools and other shared spaces.
HOPE CHURCH UNION HILL
The congregation at Hope Church had their first service in their permanent space on May 21st and the church celebrated its second anniversary on August 1st. Their congregation grew 55% in 2023, and they launched a new capital campaign, called Expand, with the aim of expanding their facilities to also expand their reach and impact.
MISSION LAKEWOOD CHURCH
For Mission Lakewood, who also moved into a new building in the spring, having a permanent space was not only meaningful for them, but for the surrounding community as well. With this building, they became the first church plant in their area in over a decade that has survived the pandemic and purchased their own building.
We celebrated year five of our internship program at Journey, and since its inception, it’s evolved into something that we hope will draw more and more young adults who passionate about pursuing ministry to get practical, hands-on learning and mentorship.
Here at Journey, our interns get the opportunity to take ownership of tasks within their departments, gain confidence in leadership, and get to be a part of something bigger than themselves. This year we had 26 interns from 14 different schools take part in our internship program.
Every year, we release the annual report as a celebration of what God has done in the previous year. At Journey, our ministry team is deeply committed to financial stewardship and fully embraces our responsibility to apply every dollar in a purposeful manner, and with the highest integrity, to accomplish the vision (2 Cor. 8:20-21). What an incredible year of ministry it was at Journey in 2023!
Our team begins the process of financial stewardship every year by creating a ministry plan that allows the team to fund and execute the most important goals that align with the overall vision of the church (Matt. 6:33). This ministry plan is then supported by the development of a master budget that itemizes all the expenses necessary to accomplish ministry goals and objectives (Lk. 14:28). We then execute this plan by utilizing the proper financial systems and processes to track our expenses throughout the ministry year (Lk. 16:10, Prov. 22:3). This annual report is a celebration of the measurable things God accomplished through your generosity to Journey!
The financial information in this report represents our operating budget based on the general offering that was received in 2023. We break these into general categories that are necessary to accomplish the vision. Additionally, there is breakdown of the operations categories that provide a clearer representation of how those funds were used to support “mission critical” ministry.
In addition to our general offering that was received, we have also received what we would call Legacy gifts that have come from a few individuals above and beyond their general offering. In 2023, we were able to use this money to pay off an additional $1 million in building loan principal, as well as fund additional global impact and multiplying ministry initiatives that are specific to developing and supporting the next generation of ministry leaders. Stay tuned for more details on this Legacy giving ministry opportunity in years to come.
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 steward it for maximum impact. If you have any questions regarding finances at Journey, I would be honored to talk to you and answer any question that you may have.
Scott Courtney | Executive Pastor of Administration
$5,193,000 given
Missions: $791,000 | Facility: $1,107,000 | Cash Reserves: $202,000 | Operations: $1,081,000 | Labor: $2,012,000
Investing the first 15% of our offering into local missions, global missions, and multiplying ministry initiatives
Volunteers: $107,000 | Weekend Worship Experience: $318,000 | Spiritual Growth/Leadership Development: $183,000 | Communication: $82,000 | Administration: $391,000
Ephesians 3:20-21
