Looking Back
Bruce Wesley | Lead Pastor
Thank you for taking a moment to read the annual report of Clear Creek Community Church. It’s filled with numbers, financial information, and stories, all of which help us celebrate the work of God among us.
The last 15 months have been “a stormy season” like none other. We experienced at least seven major storms:
- A Global Pandemic
- Racial Tension
- Hurricane Laura
- Financial Uncertainty
- Social Unrest
- Political Division
- An Arctic Storm
While all of these storms impacted us, none of them could stop us from pursuing our mission of leading unchurched people to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. We had to change some of our methods, but we stayed on mission. That’s why the theme of this report is the mission never stops!
Many of the stories in this report serve to highlight the sacrificial work of volunteers and staff members who helped us adjust our strategy for ministry during the pandemic. I’m so grateful for each person who did the hard work required to keep us on mission when we were unable to meet in person. Only some of those people are included in the stories in this report.
After you’ve had a chance to read the report, I hope you will feel inspired for the next leg of your spiritual journey and our journey together. We will focus on recovering from the storms and reengaging in worship, reconnecting in small groups, and serving our community together. It is a fresh, new season for leading unchurched people to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
With Love and Gratitude,
Bruce
BAPTISMS
Despite not gathering for services most of the year, 41 people were baptized!
A People Not a Place
Aaron Lutz | East 96 Campus Pastor, Programming Director
It was the week of Spring Break when everything shut down for COVID in March 2020. We came into the office that Thursday and decided that we were going to have our first all–online worship service three days later on Sunday. It was a bit of a frenzy, but our Arts team was able to turn around a service, and the hope was that we could give people as much familiarity from a Sunday service as possible. Music, Scripture, prayer, sermon – all of that. As those initial weeks of quarantine went by, we planned with a Sunday morning (or Wednesday night) service in mind.
But the longer we stayed exclusively online, the more we realized we needed to treat this like a permanent extension of Clear Creek, instead of just a placeholder until we could “get back to normal.”
We started to plan services with the online, unchurched audience in mind nearing the fall of 2020. Clear Creek has always existed to lead unchurched people to become fully devoted followers of Jesus, but we began to ask what does the online unchurched person look like? And what do they need from a church service?
So, we started to create our content specifically for the online audience. We started having speakers look directly into the camera, we shot video from different interesting angles, and we made the decision to include less music and more interactive engagement.
Once we started returning to in–person services, we knew we now had two tracks: one online and one in-person. But a new question began to arise: Why would people want to come back if they could just watch from home? So, the challenge then became creating in-person services that people just couldn’t miss. We still wanted to provide great online content, but we also wanted to provide non-downloadable experiences for our in-person congregation.
So, we did things like allowing space and time for silence in a service. You can do that online, but there’s not the accountability to participate in that when you’re sitting on your couch by yourself. You could just fast-forward. But when you’re in a worship service, and you’re surrounded by hundreds of other people, and you’re called to participate in a moment of silence and really be silent before the Lord, there’s accountability to do that. And then to respond and worship afterwards with a whole bunch of people and hearing their voices – it’s hard to replicate that online.
Even though we are still figuring out exactly how and when this COVID saga ends, what we do know is that Clear Creek Community Church still exists to lead unchurched people to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ and we remain committed to seeing that come to fruition each and every week.
We know there is a lot of value in togetherness, especially in a year where there was so much separation.
So, we hosted outdoor Gatherings where people could be together, worship together, and get out of their homes. We had outdoor Christmas Eve services where there were no registration caps and people came out in droves to stand in the cold and sing about Immanuel and hear the story again of God choosing to send his Son to earth to save us. And we even did Easter Egg hunts which aren’t something we’ve typically done, but something that can’t be replicated online, and that brought families together to enjoy a few moments of levity.
Looking back, it’s easy to see that COVID accelerated digital ministry for every church in America, including Clear Creek Community Church. We are excited to be reaching people we’ve never reached because of our online presence. And we’re excited to be back in person with renewed appreciation and new ideas.
Even though we are still figuring out exactly how and when this COVID saga ends, what we do know is that Clear Creek Community Church still exists to lead unchurched people to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ and we remain committed to seeing that come to fruition each and every week.
ATTENDANCE
Since our return to in-person services in October, through March, our weekly attendance averaged 1,268 people gathering for services across our five campuses. This does not include our many online participants.
CLEAR LAKE
EAST 96
EGRET BAY
WEDNESDAY NIGHT
WEST CAMPUS
Traditionally, churches measure health in adult attendance. But, in 2020 we’ve had to look for measurables other than attendance to indicate the health of our church because we don’t possess reliable attendance numbers. In-person attendance has been drastically reduced by COVID, but it’s hard to really know how many people are watching online because views are not always 1:1 views to viewers. Some people are watching with their families and some by themselves.
CHILDREN & STUDENTS
After our return, an average of 280 children attended Children’s Ministry each week and an average of 221 students were involved in small groups.
Better Together
Mason Cheatham | Student Director, East 96 Campus
Like most things at some point last year, we pivoted to being 100 percent online during quarantine. The students engaged really well. We were averaging about 600 people or viewers, which was awesome because it was nearly double our normal weekly programming attendance.
We switched to online small groups, and we tried to create online platforms that were exciting and engaging for students to participate in, not that they were short of entertainment options when everything went digital. But we still just wanted to get in front of them and be a presence of positive biblical community and be able to have fun without the stressors of feeling like this was something they had to do for school. We tried to just make it a fun environment to hang out in socially even though it was online.
It was amazing to watch the Navigators finding creative ways to stay in touch with their students even outside of hosting virtual small groups. They were (and continue to be) awesome!
During that season, we started to engage students primarily through YouTube. We did our regular programming for small groups, we led Bible studies once a week, and then also added in some gameshow type stuff all on YouTube.
Students sometimes get a bad rap for being a digital generation. It’s true to an extent. They are the most digitally savvy generation in history because they were raised on it. This is the generation that doesn’t know life without an iPhone.
Automatically, everyone thought that students were going to take better to the shift because of the pandemic better than anyone else.
And they did… until we hit that screen fatigue wall.
I started to hear them say things like “I hate technology. This is not what I thought it was going to be.”
Days and days of being able to scroll through Instagram and being able to reach the bottom of the newsfeed is depressing.
The biggest thing they found that they needed – that they were missing – was community, especially face-to-face community.
Once that was able to start back in November, even though it didn’t look quite the same as it had, it felt like a cold drink of water after walking through the desert. It was so good, and so needed.
And that’s why we’re looking forward so much to camp this year!
Camp is where students are able to be removed from so many of the distractions of the world to spend an uninterrupted week of incredible shared experiences, meaningful conversation, and life-changing encounters with the hope of the gospel.
By the time quarantine went into effect, 2020 camp was almost completely planned. Big bucket items had already been nailed down, and we had a really exciting vision for camp. We were moving to a new camp venue we’d never been to, so there was a bunch of excitement around just being in a new place.
It was really heartbreaking when we made the decision to cancel it in April.
So, we’ve been sitting on everything we’d planned for a year now which really just makes it that much better. We’ve had time to think through it and fine tune some of the details and things. But regardless of that, I think the excitement and hype is there from the students and leaders just to be back.
It feels like the world has come to a screeching halt. People are stuck inside, left to mine the tumultuous caverns of social media and the bleak news on TV. Some without a source of income. Some with an ever-present fear of the virus making its way around the globe.
It’s scary. It’s tedious. It’s boring.
But, for four brothers on the west side of League City, it’s been an opportunity for them to use their gifts in a way they never expected…
Patience, Persistence, and the Pandemic
Lisa Carden | Children’s Ministry Director
The goal of Children’s Ministry at Clear Creek Community Church has always been to provide a safe place to lead children to become fully devoted followers of Jesus. In Children’s Ministry we seek to build a strong foundation in faith that can be built upon throughout the years. We want to provide a fun environment where kids can explore the world, its Creator, and the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Our ministry has always been very procedure heavy. But 2020 took us to a whole new level as we worked at mitigating COVID. We are so thankful for families that accepted changes with grace, and an amazing volunteer team that went the extra mile to create a super clean space for our kids that no germ would dare to invade.
Our staff and volunteers had to pivot hard in 2020. We have a ministry that revolves around in-person teaching, and they turned it into a virtual community with digital curriculum. We worked hard to provide resources for our parents to use to disciple their kids at home. More than any other year, our team was full of shining stars!
After creating a Youtube channel in June 2020, Children’s Ministry has 260 subscribers and over 17,000 views.
Now that we are fully open, we are working just as hard to grow our team so that we can continue to partner with parents in person at all of our services.
Although this year looked nothing like we expected, we trust that God remains in control and that he loves us so much. Because of this truth, we can remain committed to helping children – from babies to 5th graders – learn to love him too.
SERVING
We had a total of 2,626 volunteer positions filled across all of our campuses, helping make ministries and services happen.
*Reflects current number of positions for each ministry filled. There may be the same person on multiple teams.
As far as Josh Fasske knew, it was going to be another long and cold work night driving around the greater League City area. The last few days had passed as a whirlwind for him and his wife, Brittani, owners of Grand Slam Plumbing, a small business they started in 2017.
As Winter Storm Uri wreaked havoc in League City, Josh and his small crew worked long days and nights and even into the early hours of the morning to restore running water to their customers. They were already slammed just a few days into the storm, and Josh was exhausted physically and mentally.
Not only was he working around the clock to help panicked customers, but he and his wife and young children were displaced from their apartment as their building went without electricity and running water.
It was on such a night the week of the storm that Josh received a welcome surprise from fellow church member, Vijay Rajaji.
“I was at a job in Seabrook,” Josh recalled. “When [Vijay] got there, he sent me a text that said ‘Hey, come outside.’ I saw it and thought he sent it to the wrong person, so I called him. He said ‘Hey, come outside. I’ve got something for you.’” …
For over a decade there has been a men’s small group that meets on Friday mornings at 6 a.m. at a local Denny’s. Many of the faces have changed through the years, but a few have remained the same, including Navigator Pete Fuller, and one of the group’s two usual waitresses, Angie.
Just before COVID-19 swept through the nation, the transmission in Angie’s car went out and she no longer had a way to get to work. Then the government orders went into effect and Denny’s was forced to close its doors, leaving Angie without the job she’d held for over 15 years.
As their usual meeting place was no longer available, Pete quickly thought about Angie and wondered how she was faring without a car and a job. He gave his number to a few of the Denny’s employees to see if he could get in contact with her.
It wasn’t until almost two months later that Pete got a call from Angie…
SMALL GROUPS
Each week 1,907 people met in homes and online for group across the 4B area. 379 Navigators were committed to leading these small groups. In spite of COVID, 54 groups were added last year!
LOCAL PARTNERS
Over the last year, we supported 25 local partners across the 4B area.
Like many others in the League City area, Jason and Melissa Davidson kept close tabs on updates on Hurricane Laura as it prepared to make landfall.
The Davidsons, who live in Friendswood and attend Clear Creek Community Church’s West Campus, had experienced the horrors of Harvey three years ago (almost to the day), and were preparing again for what they knew no could ever really prepare for.
But that was all before Laura spun away from Galveston and crashed into the Texas-Louisiana border as a Category 4 hurricane.
The Davidsons were left feeling relieved for their own home, family, and community, but knew that just a few hours away people were hurting and would need help.
“I kept seeing all my old Facebook posts of our house under water,” Melissa said. “[During Harvey] we had all of these people show up at our house, and 80 percent of them I didn’t even know their name. I don’t know what we would’ve done without that. What a blessing it was for our family.”
Missions from Afar
Jonathan Newport | Go Global Missions
After hearing about things a few other churches were doing during the pandemic, our global missions team began to discuss ways we could leverage technology to maintain some connection with our partners in Honduras while we were all locked down last May. Ultimately, we decided on a weeklong twice-a-day Zoom prayer event, with each day focusing on a specific area of the Hope for Honduras ministry.
Staff, volunteers, and members of Clear Creek Community Church participated along with much of the Hope for Honduras staff, which meant we were able to see and connect with familiar faces, even though we couldn’t be together in the same place.
We almost take it for granted now, but last May it was incredible to be stuck sitting at home but still able to see some friends from Honduras – to show our support and pray for them and tell them we love them.
For me, the highlight was the final day, which was focused on praying for the church planters that work with the Hope for Honduras Church of Life and Hope. That’s not an aspect of their ministry that lots of mission teams are exposed to. And given our focus on being a church that helps plant other local churches, it was really cool to be able to see and pray for and with the men in Honduras who are doing it.
We almost take it for granted now, but last May it was incredible to be stuck sitting at home but still able to see some friends from Honduras – to show our support and pray for them and tell them we love them.
Of course, we’re looking forward to the day when we can be in the same room again and give hugs and handshakes, but we remain committed to supporting the work they are doing even from afar.
GLOBAL PARTNERS
Over the course of the year, nearly 80 people participated in “virtual mission trips” benefiting our Honduran and Brazilian partners.
Last year we continued to engage Clear Creek Community Church members and attenders with our global partners through virtual events. Over the course of the year, upwards of 80 people participated in “virtual mission trips” benefiting our Honduran and Brazilian partners. In addition, technology allowed us to stay in close contact with our brothers in the Caribbean and provided new and creative means to continue supporting them through this difficult season. We are hopeful that travel will resume in the second half of 2021 or early 2022.
Clear Creek families supported 534 Compassion children worldwide. 168 of those children were from our partnership in Patos, Brazil.
Last year we gave $343,245 to our church planting partners including organizations like Acts 29, Houston Church Planting Network, Hope for Honduras, Restore Brazil, and our Caribbean Network of Pastors. We also gave $252,150 towards supporting new church plants, locally and globally.
Opportunity and Grit
Chad Clarkson | HCPN Executive Director
I don’t want to over-spiritualize things, but I do think there’s an element of the fact that they were called to plant churches. The mission must go on. Even in the midst of all this, we’ve got to figure out ways to move forward.
We’ve got a couple programs we do through the Houston Church Planting Network (HCPN). One is called the functional residency and the other is the finishing residency. We recruit for those programs between January and May each year.
So right in the middle of recruitment season in 2020 the pandemic hit.
Everyone was wondering if we were going to do anything, and we didn’t know.
Initially, I thought, Well, we could still do the functional residency, which is more of our pipeline for future church planters. I figured the guys getting ready to plant churches through the finishing residency would be like, “No, I’m not doing that in this season. That’s foolish. It doesn’t make sense.”
But I was wrong. It turned out to be the exact opposite.
The guys who already felt the call to plant were like, “I’m all in. I want to move forward. Even though this pandemic has hit, I feel like God has called me to do this. I’m still married to the mission. This isn’t something the Spirit has released just because of the pandemic. So, we’re going to move forward with it.”
In the past, we’ve been able to provide a stipend with HCPN, but we didn’t know if any of that was going to be available, because it was impossible to know what our partner churches were going to be able to do in terms of giving. So I kind of communicated that. And all seven guys I approached said, “It doesn’t matter. I’m in.”
It’s actually been one of our strongest groups of church planters. I keep thinking, if you want to plant a church during a pandemic, you’ve probably got the right guys. This group has a lot of grit; they’re hungry. And they have made adjustments.
In the past, it’s always been, “Let’s begin to develop a launch team, and bring people together.” And you just couldn’t do that last year. They’ve had to utilize technology a lot more. But they’re seeing the fruit of that. In some regards, it’s made them more laser focused.
For example, if they were trying to have a fundraising conversation with someone and they’re going to go meet them for coffee, they could do a couple of those a week. Now they can do 20-minute Zoom meetings back-to-back, if they want. And they’re seeing a lot of success with that.
I’ve been encouraged by all of it. All the guys have good teams coming together and two of them even got to actually launch their churches on Easter!
In total, there are seven guys in our finishing residency who are all planting in greater Houston.
Now we’re into recruitment for next year, which begins in September for this season.
I don’t want to over-spiritualize things, but I do think there’s an element of the fact that they were called to plant churches. The mission must go on. Even in the midst of all this, we’ve got to figure out ways to move forward.
You have to have a certain amount of tenacity to plant anything. And what I’m seeing as a whole, even throughout the pandemic, for churches that have recently launched, or planters who are in the process of launching, planters who have put their foot on the gas, versus their foot on the brake, have done well. It’s like, “Hey, we’re going to push through this. We’re going to be creative. We’re going to think up new ways of doing ministry.”
I liked the way one recent resident put it: “Crisis is opportunity.” 2020 created new opportunities for the Gospel. Another one of our guys from last year had just finished his residency when the pandemic hit. But now, it’s opened up things globally for him. His church has started groups in multiple countries around the world that he hopes will turn into new church plants.
And what more can we ask for? That’s the goal of everything we do.
GENEROSITY
$10,869,102.85 was generously given last year.
Financial Information
Summary For the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2021
DONATIONS |
EXPENDITURES |
|
General Fund |
$9,531,504.13
|
$6,900,473.20
|
Building Fund |
$303,330.26
|
$3,581,154.10
|
Camps Fund |
$64,319.11
|
$18,051.95
|
Church Planting and Missions Fund* |
$343,761.86
|
$210,033.09
|
People in Need Fund |
$626,187.49
|
$400,993.69
|
TOTAL |
$10,869,102.85
|
$11,110,706.03
|
*Church Planting & Missions Fund includes trip donations
Cash Balances
March 31, 2021 |
Year-end Reallocations* |
April 1, 2021 |
|
General Fund |
$3,876,687 |
$(3,343,426) |
$533,261 |
General Fund reserves |
$2,885,052 |
$1,450,000 |
$4,335,052 |
Building Fund |
$6,826,998 |
$1,893,426 |
$8,720,424 |
Camps Fund |
$161,446 |
$161,446 |
|
Church Planting and Missions Fund |
$581,840 |
$581,840 |
|
People in Need Fund |
$484,059 |
$484,059 |
|
TOTAL |
$14,816,082 |
$14,816,082 |
*As authorized by CCCC Members, the Finance Team reallocates General Fund cash at the end of each fiscal year to establish adequate operating reserves and fund capital projects.
CARE & SUPPORT
A total of $626,187 was donated to the People in Need fund last year, and $400,994 was used to assist families in our community.
For His People, Through His People
Greg Poore | Associate Pastor
Imagine adding to the disruption and isolation brought about by COVID, the loss of a loved one, a job loss, or a family crisis. Maybe you don’t have to imagine. The pandemic didn’t relieve people from financial struggle or grief, but it did make serving them much more complicated and sometimes restricted. Through it all, the Care and Support teams at Clear Creek Community Church have been both creative and determined, and their service and sacrifice have been undiminished.
The unsettled nature of 2020 goes alongside the catastrophes of hurricanes Ike and Harvey to serve as one more proof that God steadfastly and amply provides for his people and his church at Clear Creek, and one more illustration that God often provides for his people through his people.
The servant leaders in the various teams that comprise Care and Support at Clear Creek have been undaunted by the changes and challenges we have faced through the months of COVID precautions and social distancing.
The People In Need teams at our campuses adapted their processes to continue to connect people to the body of Christ while meeting financial needs, finding ways to meet virtually while administering our resources with diligence and integrity. As in prior challenging seasons they didn’t miss a beat. Our church and our community are blessed by their faith and devotion, and by their wisdom with which they combine mercy and relentless stewardship.
What is equally encouraging is that the level of resources the PIN teams have to work with has been unaffected by the implications of the pandemic. The people of Clear Creek have been faithfully generous! God provides for his people through his people.
One of the most consistently heartbreaking consequences of COVID over the last year has been the hindrance in our ability to come alongside people during seasons of grief and loss. Many people in our church have had to bear such painful seasons without the kind of presence we long to give. Still, Carol Bertsche and our funeral team has gone above and beyond to provide presence and host services whenever and wherever possible. Faithful leaders Dave and Denise Ward and Greg and Kari Murphy have continued to provide GriefShare classes both live and virtually. God provides for his people through his people.
What is equally encouraging is that the level of resources the PIN teams have to work with has been unaffected by the implications of the pandemic. The people of Clear Creek have been faithfully generous! God provides for his people through his people.
The same is true of Jay Ellis and his team of leaders who host Pathway to Peace, our ministry to those in recovery from substance abuse and those who are trying to love and serve someone struggling with some form of substance abuse. Pathway to Peace not only adapted to the challenges of 2020 by meeting remotely as necessary, but even managed to grow the scope of their ministry to include an environment to help people struggling with sexual addiction. The leaders of Pathway to Peace do hard work with people who are facing hard times, and they do it with grace and love. God provides for his people through his people.
In spite of the inconvenience and practical hurdles, many Navigators and ministry leaders continued to invest in developing their ability to bring the wise counsel and Biblical wisdom to the people in their groups and ministries through attending Gospel Care class. God is providing for his church through their humble willingness to learn and grow in how we bring the gospel of Jesus to bear in practical ways.
Hopefully this brief summary reminds you of some of the ways the Care and Support teams serves the people of Clear Creek Community Church. Even more, we hope it causes you to give God thanks for his ceaseless provision of people and resources to help our team lead unchurched people to become fully devoted followers of Jesus.
Building 528
Chris Alston | Campus Pastor, West Campus
Hey Clear Creek! If you haven’t driven down FM 528 on the west side of I-45 and into Friendswood, lately, you’ve been missing out.
Our new 528 Campus will be coming online at the end of 2021.
So let me just say, I’m super excited! Actually, that’s probably an understatement. Our West Campus has been in portable facilities for 13 years, and as grateful as we are for Friendswood ISD and Clear Creek ISD for allowing us to rent space, what a day it will be when we get to be in our own facility.
This new facility on FM 528 is a strategic location for multiple reasons. One reason is that we will be uniquely positioned at the epicenter of three main high school communities – Clear Brook High School, Clear Springs High School, and Friendswood High School. And on top of that, up to 50,000 cars drive by the new location each day.
In the early months of 2021, we’ve seen the steel frame erected, the roof and walls put on, and the parking lot poured.
But as we say a lot at Clear Creek, we are a people, not a place. And although we cannot wait to get into this new facility, we are most concerned with who will be joining us within its walls.
One of the traditions we have around here is to write on the steel beams of our buildings the names of some of our lost friends and family members who we want to see come to faith in Jesus as a result of what’s going on here. We were thrilled to get to do that once again as a church.
And speaking of doing things as one church, we fully anticipate getting into this building debt-free, so thank you! Thank you for your faithfulness, your generosity, and all your prayers as we continue to see this campus come to fruition and the mission of Clear Creek Community Church be carried on.
DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT
11,038 Followers
4,469 Followers
2,129 Subscribers
1,604 Followers
Almost exactly one year after the world went digital, Clear Creek Community Church preached through the Faith & Technology message series – three weeks talking about the ways technology helps, hurts, and how we can steward what we have to glorify God, even through our devices.
It was a fitting pitstop for a world returning from the far country of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last March, we had just rolled out a brand-new website in Clear Creek Resources, a reimagined version of clearcreek.org, and a redoubled strategic social media effort. We had no idea how useful those tools would become as we worked to continue to minister to the people of the 4B Area in the midst of a nationwide quarantine.
March 2020 feels like a long time ago. A lot has happened. A lot has changed.
In the year since that time, we learned to function as an entirely digital church community. And we also learned the true value of face-to-face interaction.
We were reminded again how hard life can be and how broken the world is. And we were also reminded how sweet it can be to slow down.
Now as we return to unrestricted in-person services and something akin to what we once knew, we bring along the lessons we’ve learned to embark on this new leg of the journey.
And although we may not know what awaits us around the next corner, we know we have a relationship with the God of the universe who does. And although it may look different, feel different, and be entirely different than it’s ever been before, we remain committed to leading unchurched people to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. However we can. Now and forever.
