In 2019 we kicked off our Imagine Annual Offering that focused on strengthening and improving our campus and facilities, increasing our impact on our city, deepening our ministry to our attenders, and multiplying our efforts to reach those who don’t know Jesus.   This investment was for greater kingdom gospel advancement.   Here are the ministry initiatives that the IMAGINE offering helped support in 2020:

• To support ministries that reach the next generation 
• To expand our evangelistic outreach to our community 
• To replace our aging plow truck 
• To enhance the worship experience and to fund necessary building upgrades 
• To update our campus technology

We are continuously looking for ways to enhance our outreach here at City United Church.  Your gifts to the IMAGINE Offering assisted us in providing an amazing online experience beginning in March of 2020 and continuing through today. New production and editing computers were purchased, as well as the software we needed to make online church as good as it could be. Your faithful giving to this offering prepared us for drastic shifts that needed to take place when COVID hit, and we had to change gears quickly. Our online experience was our biggest evangelistic outreach in 2020, and you helped to improve it dramatically. $8,000 was spent on the transition to digital outreach, which became our front door when COVID-19 hit. $706.11 was spent on Easter 2020 pre-COVID.

Sunday morning is our number one evangelistic tool to help people invest in and invite their friends to meet Jesus at our worship gatherings. We purchased a large projector screen that mounts to the wall, large secondary televisions, and a whole new ecosystem for the visual experience (lyrics, videos) that included a new computer and hardware connections. New lights and lighting mounts were also purchased and installed so that you can see better what is on the stage. We also needed to update the main church sign to reflect both our new name as well as the energy from the inside to the outside. It has been challenging meeting in the back of the property, away from traffic, and not having an active presence near the road. A brand new sign was installed using the framework of the old sign, and we have received many compliments and first-time guests because of it. $6,735 was spent on the new road sign. $3,974.48 was spent on building upgrades. And $9,704.03 was spent on worship area updates and upgrades.

Our technology and computers were in desperate need of upgrading.  Many of our computers were outdated and in need of replacing.  Technology is necessary to the overall function of the ministry and our ability to fulfill our mission and vision.  In a digital world, it is imperative that we stay current with our campus tech and software.  With your generous offerings, we purchased new computers for staff offices, WiFi routers for the entire building, and smart televisions for the classrooms. 

Having our own City United Church plow truck helps us save thousands of dollars during the winter months plowing and sanding.  However, the current truck is getting old and will need to be replaced soon.  The money raised for a “new-to-us” church plow truck will put us in a better position to be ready to make this purchase. During this offering, you raised and we set aside $10,000, and we plan to raise an additional $10,000 during the 2020-2021 offering so a new-to-us truck can be purchased.