Letter from Bruce Wesley, Lead Pastor
Dear Clear Creek Community Church Family,
I hope you will take a moment to review this annual report. The stories and numbers you find here are an effort to celebrate the goodness of God.
I wish we could tell all the stories of life change, spiritual growth, the impact of serving in the church and in the world, the results of our local and global mission efforts, and more. There’s not enough time or space for that. Rather, please take a minute to read a few stories that help make these numbers personal.
As I think over the last year, my mind goes to 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting as we sought awakening together, the Awakening message series, and the small groups that prepared to B.L.E.S.S. the people in our lives. Let’s keep pursuing God this way.
I hope that for decades to come, we will celebrate the power of the gospel at work through the counseling services at Life Tree Counseling, which we started in partnership with Bay Area Church last year. After moving into their new building, the 528 Campus has experienced significant growth during the first 18 months. We are seeing the missional effect of God’s people working in the context of this new building at 528. In addition, the building of our East 96 campus is in the design phase. Construction will begin this fiscal year.
I know there is so much more to mention. I hope you will take a moment to give thanks for what you recall God doing among us over the last 12 months.
In October, we will celebrate 30 years of leading unchurched people to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ! As that milestone approaches, let’s reach our Top 5, stay engaged in a small group, give generously, and serve faithfully. With God’s help, we will have more stories of life change to tell next year.
I’m grateful for your partnership in the gospel.
Grace and Peace,
Bruce
BAPTISMS
Cody Edwards
When I hit rock bottom, I hit it hard.
My life as I knew it had been secretly falling apart for more than a decade.
My relationship with God started at an early age praying each night with my Maw Maw — the matriarch of our entire family. The day she died I became angry at God and ran for nearly 20 years. Long story short: I blamed him for taking her. I became the center of my own universe. I put myself ahead of everyone and everything I loved. If I was in control then I couldn’t be hurt.
Over those two decades I consistently abused drugs and alcohol while not only giving into lust and temptation, but seeking it out. Consequences did not exist to me because I was my own God.
At least I didn’t think consequences existed.
What I wasn’t conscious of was the overwhelming guilt and shame that was building inside of me. Rock bottom came when the double-life I was living was exposed. I spent three months in our guest bedroom crying myself to sleep every night and confessing every sin I could remember and asking for grace for the ones I couldn’t even recall.
I’m here today because I felt that grace through prayer. I also felt God’s grace through my wife Lindsey who is baptizing me today.
AVERAGE ADULT WEEKLY ATTENDANCE
2,978
Campus Celebrations
Campus Pastor | Ryan Lehtinen
Egret Bay Campus
celebrating:
- 30 people baptized in 2022
- 101 new people in small group, totaling 685
- Increasing attendance
Campus Pastor | Lance Lawson
Church on Wednesday
celebrating:
- Continued increase in numbers and connection
- The opportunity to provide for those who have challenges making Sunday worship a regular rhythm
Campus Pastor | Karl Garcia
Clear Lake Campus
celebrating:
- 50+ small groups
- Growing diversity, reflecting the community we serve
- A deep and rich culture of fellowship
Campus Pastor | Chris Alston
528 Campus
celebrating:
-
- A spirit of confession, repentance, and accountability
- Living on mission and blessing neighbors
- New people coming and getting connected
Campus Pastor | Aaron Lutz
East 96 Campus
celebrating:
- Five years as a campus as of September 2022
- More baptisms in 2022 than 2020 and 2021 combined
- Christmas Eve was the largest attendance of any East 96 service in five years
AVERAGE ADULT WEEKLY ATTENDANCE
Campus Celebrations
Egret Bay Campus
celebrating:
- 30 people baptized in 2022
- 101 new people in small group, totaling 685
- Increasing attendance
Campus Pastor | Ryan Lehtinen
Church on Wednesday
celebrating:
- Continued increase in numbers and connection
- The opportunity to provide for those who have challenges making Sunday worship a regular rhythm
Campus Pastor | Lance Lawson
Clear Lake Campus
celebrating:
- 50+ small groups
- Growing diversity, reflecting the community we serve
- A deep and rich culture of fellowship
Campus Pastor | Karl Garcia
528 Campus
celebrating:
- A spirit of confession, repentance, and accountability
- Living on mission and blessing neighbors
- New people coming and getting connected
Campus Pastor | Chris Alston
East 96 Campus
celebrating:
- Five years together as of September 2022
- More baptisms in 2022 than 2020 and 2021 combined
- Christmas Eve was the largest attendance of any East 96 service in five years
Campus Pastor | Aaron Lutz
1,231
Students active in small groups
948
Average Children’s attendance
SMALL GROUPS
Abby Steele
Small group is a place you can come as you are without fear of judgment, and be met with authenticity and acceptance.
Here is the story of Abby Steele’s small group experience.
SERVING
2,780
Total Volunteers
241
New Volunteers
Serve One Another as We
Serve the Lord
So much of what happens around here seems to get done by some invisible force. People here at Clear Creek serve in a variety of different ways which can be visible to many or invisible to most.
Collaborative Partnerships
Clear Creek Community Church works with non-profits that help churches do the work of the church better. We consider three non-profits as collaborative partnerships. We relate to collaborative partnership differently than the way we relate to those that we call community partners. Here’s why:
- We started these three non-profits in collaboration with other churches.
- We have representation on the governing boards of each.
- We provide financial support annually.
With the non-profits that we refer to as collaborative partners, we seek to provide volunteers that will support their work. Below, you will find a brief report for each of our collaborative partnerships.
LifeTree Counseling Center was founded by Bay Area Church and Clear Creek Community Church to provide affordable faith-based professional counseling. The counseling center is focused on demonstrating God’s love by offering quality and accessible counseling services to provide hope and restoration to people and families in our community. Learn more at lifetreecounseling.org
- 12 (soon to be 13) Clinicians
- 1,000+ sessions with over 1,800 counseling hours
- Serving over 300 clients in six months
Following Hurricane Harvey in August 2017, the 4B Disaster Response Network was formed to mobilize a network of churches to reflect the gospel of Jesus Christ by serving people affected by disaster in the 4B Area (from the Beltway to the Beach and the Bay to Brazoria County.) Business partners, local agencies, and community support play a vital role in our mission through the generosity of donations, monetary gifts, and volunteer assistance. Learn more at 4bresponse.org
-
Over 1,700 individual homes served
-
More than 500 houses brought back to pre-disaster condition
-
10,000+ volunteers
Clear Creek Community Church started the Houston Church Planting Network in 2009 in collaboration with church planters across the city. In 2014, other churches joined the collaborative effort with this mission: “HCPN is a network of networks that strengthens church planters to multiply churches to reach every man, woman, and child in greater Houston.” HCPN hosts gatherings that seek to encourage leaders of new churches, prays for the city, and fosters collaboration in the city. HCPN assists participating churches in the collaborative work of planting new churches. Learn more at HCPN.org.
- 37 Networks
- 137 Participating Churches
- 80+ New Churches in Greater Houston
Finding Purpose
The Jordan family’s Journey to Japan
Heather May always wanted to be a missionary, specifically to eastern Asia. But growing up in a harsh environment at home muddied the waters of her faith as a teenager. After some tension with a friend in high school, the friend took his own life and left Heather May to walk with the baggage for many years, wondering if she could’ve or should’ve done something different to avoid such a tragedy. When she tried to turn to her church family, she was left feeling like an outsider with too many scars to be healed.
Alex always wanted to be a teacher — specifically, a high school teacher. He grew up going to church, but his understanding of God led to a prideful, inflated view of himself. As a believer looking back on his teenage years, he saw how he judged other people based on their performance compared to his own.
Heather May and Alex met at church in New Mexico and started seriously dating and married soon after. After a challenging three-month mission trip to Africa a month into their marriage, the Jordan’s returned to New Mexico to begin their lives together before eventually relocating to Houston for work. They searched for an Acts 29 church, and found their way to Clear Creek Community Church, which they said quickly felt like home. It was there that they both began to grow in maturity and in their faith in Jesus.
Alex was a high school teacher with a wife and kids and felt like he was living his dream. Meanwhile Heather May struggled to reconcile her strong call to overseas missions with her current circumstances of simply being a wife and mother in America. Heather May, despite her confusion, did her best to submit her plans and dreams to God and live in contentment.
Then the pandemic hit.
Alex and Heather May reconnected with friends from New Mexico over video call as a way to interact with others during the quarantine. Their friends told them they were preparing to become missionaries to Japan and asked if Alex and Heather May would pray for them.
Each week on their regular video call, the friends would share more about their plans, and the Jordans were excited along with them.
One day during this time, Alex told Heather May he felt that God had given him two of his greatest dreams — being a teacher and a father and husband — and asked if she had any dreams that were still unreached that perhaps they could work toward.
Heather May shared about her desire to do missions in eastern Asia, and Alex suggested they ask their friends about accompanying them to Japan.
After being encouraged to apply to be missionaries, Alex and Heather May found that their application was denied due to Heather May’s results from her emotional health assessment. But rather than making her feel like a damaged outsider, the missions organization encouraged her to seek help through therapy, continue to dig into her relationship with Jesus, and come back and apply again.
She did.
And through her recovery, Heather May was able to work through so much of her past that had haunted her for so long. She realized she had spent so long being resentful towards Alex, bitter at God, mad at herself, and feeling unworthy and useless. But through her journey to emotional and spiritual health, the love of Jesus seeped into her heart and restored her purpose in life and her confidence in her Savior, reinvigorating her hunger to reach the nations with the Gospel.
Alex, Heather May, and their four children now have plans to move to Japan as long-term missionaries in 2024, where Alex and Heather May will serve as school teachers.
172: Global Mission — Feet on the Ground in Africa
In this episode, guest host Ted Ryskoski, sits down with Karl Garcia, Greg Poore, and Richard Sarpong to discuss our church’s heart for global missions, church planting, and their recent trip to Africa.
GENEROSITY
162: What Does Generosity Have to Do with My Faith?
Why do we struggle with generosity, how it is central to our faith, and how can we can cultivate generosity in our hearts? Rachel Chester discusses with Patrick Johnson, visionary and founder of Generous Church, these questions and more.
Financial Report
$11,535,572
Total Giving
Summary For the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2023
DONATIONS |
EXPENDITURES |
|
General Fund |
$10,237,315 |
$7,712,800.92 |
Building Fund* |
$162,901 |
$1,919,960.49 |
Camps Fund** |
$171,922 |
$148,835.63 |
Church Planting and Missions Fund*** |
$420,288 |
$365,267.83 |
People in Need Fund |
$543,147 |
$643,121.06 |
TOTAL |
$11,535,572 |
$10,789,986 |
*Building Fund expenditures include $1,739,039 of general funds designated for building purposes.
**Camp Fund expenditures, net of camp registration fees.
***Church Planting & Missions Fund donations include trip donations and Ukraine relief donations.
Cash Balances
April 1, 2023 |
|
General Fund ** |
$1,315,491 |
General Fund Reserves |
$5,304,145 |
Building Fund *** |
$12,951,835 |
Camps Fund |
$173,917 |
Church Planting and Missions Fund |
$648,605 |
People in Need Fund |
$425,865 |
TOTAL |
$20,819,858 |
*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.
** General Fund remaining (April 1, 2023) balance is allocated to various General Fund Capital projects.
***Building Fund cash includes $12,429,234 of General Funds designated for building purposes.
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11,600 Followers
4,940 Followers
2,954 Subscribers
1,528 Followers
95.4K Downloads