Impact 2023
2023 has been a year of IMPACT, and what a joy it has been to see Jesus move in our city.
We give Him all of the glory, and we celebrate the impact He is making through Rise City Church. Now, more than ever, we seek to see this city saturated with the life-transforming power of the Gospel. As we look back on 2023, we are truly humbled to have been used in this community and the world in such a powerful way.
The Lord continues to bring more and more people to our weekend gatherings with a nearly 28% increase in attendance this year, and Rise Kids serves over 220 kids each per week.
81 people publicly declared their new life in Christ through baptisms. This is the largest number of souls we have had the honor to baptize in our 9-year history, and we can’t stop celebrating what this symbolizes - the outward demonstration of faith in Jesus and inward transformation of life change. We pray this trajectory doesn’t slow down anytime soon. The Holy Spirit is moving in the hearts and lives of people in our city as the Gospel is declared shamelessly throughout the Gresham area.
In July, we hosted our annual Kids Camp at the Gresham Arts Plaza, inviting kids from all over the neighborhood. We took over the entire park to host 295 kids. Over 100 team members served to love on these kiddos. They helped with fun crafts, sang songs, and shared the Gospel to make this a truly incredible week in our city. Every year, God uses this event to bring new families through our doors that might not be comfortable otherwise.
We solidly believe - win the kids, win the future.
Our entire church came together at one time for two outside gatherings this summer - Church in the Park and Rise Together. Church in the Park, located in the heart of Gresham, was truly an amazing event where we were able to proclaim the Gospel to people from all over the city. As the Church, we are called to be salt and light to the city where we find ourselves. We don’t love our city because of what it has to offer us—we love our city because God has divinely placed us here to be an offering to them.
In December, we saw nearly 700 kids come through the doors for Santa’s Workshop where they enjoyed crafts, candy, and holiday traditions including hearing the Gospel story from a live nativity. Through our local Kingdom Builders partnerships with Laundry Love, Shepherd’s Door, and My Father’s House, we spent evenings building relationships, washing clothes, having meals, and playing with kids.
“Wherever Jesus has been proclaimed, we see lives change for the good, nations change for the better, thieves become honest, alcoholics become sober, hateful individuals become channels of love, unjust persons embrace justice.”
There are so many things to be excited about in 2024.
First, we are going to launch the year with a new sermon series called None Like Him. This will be a look into the character traits of God. This exciting 8-week series will renew your sense of awe for our Creator as we glimpse God in our world, through the lens of both faith and science. We will also be introducing a Bible Reading Plan specifically geared for each week of our series. This will be a chance to dive deeper into the Scriptures and reflect on who God really is.
And in March, we will celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Rise! Get ready to celebrate BIG as we reflect on all that God has done through this incredible decade. Part of turning double digits is realizing that we’ve learned a bit about who WE are too. We’ll be debuting a Rise Culture Book and a sermon series called We Are highlighting what makes us…well…us!
On top of all that, our team is diligently working with our architects for facility expansion. In October, the 8,000 sq feet on the east side of our building opened up as tenants vacated the space. Rise Youth has been taking advantage of the open area, but soon the facility team will finalize plans for a new Rise Kids space and to expand our lobby and auditorium.
As followers of Jesus, we are called to worship him with our whole lives. Giving generously of our finances is one of the ways we do that. Rise is supported entirely by the generous giving of people just like you. If you’ve given financially to Rise previously, you can view your current giving at rise.cc/give
Take some time to joyfully reflect on how your generosity has helped to grow God’s kingdom and rejoice that we get to join Him in his work!
If you have not given to Rise yet, we invite you to partner with us today on the mission of filling our city with the Gospel.
This message only shows the numbers, but behind them are countless stories. Lives that have been altered. Families that have been renewed. Depression, anxiety, and loneliness are overcome by the community we are forming. We are hope dealers in a dark world.
This truly is an amazing time to be Rise.