| God is good all the time and all the time God is good! Always has been - always will be! Everyday God is at work in, through and among us at Faith Lutheran Church. Some of the highlights of 2011 include: remodeling/expansion of the chancel area new carpet for the sanctuary installation and dedication of our new organ revival services with Fresh Visions Community Church all church studies: The Power of A Whisper True Spirituality According to Jesus our all church blended services the naming the fellowship hall 'Witkop Hall' in honor of the faithful service of Pastor Wellington and Marilyn Witkop to our congregation. With Pastor Witkop's recent death I am so glad that they could be with us last fall when we named 'Witkop Hall' and receive this honor from our congregation. We are thankful for the generous gift from the Henkle family of our new Albourn-Gallanti 3000 digital organ. It is rich in tone and beautiful in style. Everyone agrees that the remodeling of our chancel area makes the church look less cluttered, improves the flow at Communion, and brightens the sanctuary with new carpeting. Our sanctuary now has a more open feel to it. We are thankful to the Stech family for their generous gifts that enabled us to undertake these improvements. We are also thankful to the staff of D and S Builders and Albourn-Gallanti Organ for their fine work. In 2011 our membership remained stable and our worship attendance increased slightly. Financially we ended the year with a deficit of $2,014. Our expenses were right on track, but our income fell approximately 1% short of what was needed. We cannot compete with the large churches but we can offer personal attention, inspiring worship, discipleship training, and many opportunities to serve and make a difference. Let me encourage you to continue to invite those you know who are not actively participating in a church to worship, grow and serve with us. We are blessed with a fine staff of Kim Gietl, Jan Ambrose, Judi Muller, Cory Brown and Caroline Ziogas who serve us faithfully. Our worship and music are outstanding because of the leadership of our music staff and the dedication of our volunteer musicians. We are truly blessed with many talented musicians (both instrumental and vocal) who give of their time and talent to help each of us worship and praise the Lord. Kim keeps the office running smoothly and pleasantly. Our nursery care is one of the reasons young parents return. I thank God for each of our staff daily and I hope you regularly pray for them and their ministry with us. Our budget for 2012 is flat and does not contain any raises for our staff. We need to find ways to increase our income so that we provide adequate compensation to our staff and increase our benevolent support of the ELCA and other ministries. . Our Leadership Team and team leaders work hard on your behalf to lead our church forward in God pleasing ways and be good stewards of your gifts. Completing service on the Leadership Team is Steve McConomy and Jean Meierkord as chair of the Adore Team. Thank you for your dedicated service to our church. Special thanks to all who help clean our building and care for our grounds especially Pat and Henry Stuckey, Linda Shudrowitz, Tracy Scaduto and Claire Edgecomb. Their service saves the church substantial funds as well as keeps our building and grounds looking great. In 2011 we celebrated births and baptisms and weddings and mourned deaths and funerals. Blessed be their memory. We especially remember Sharon Farnam and her dedication to our youth, small groups, and fund raising. Thank you for the continuing privilege to serve with and to you. Thank you for all of your love, support, encouragement, cards, emails, prayers and understanding during my recovery from cancer surgeries. Thank you for your generous gifts to the ELCA Global Barnyard Project in my name for Pastor Appreciation month. I am proud to be the Pastor of Faith and look forward to what God is going to do at Faith and through Faith in 2012. We serve a mighty God. Glen VanderKloot, pastor | 
