2021 Annual report
This report represents hundreds of contributors with one purpose, to help those who have not encountered Jesus and to find Him. We would be missing out if we only look at the financial numbers and not the people.
The main reason we exist is not just to be a place to gather, nor is it just to be a place to fill in some obligation to attend another “service.” But this place is a place of hope and a beacon of light for those that are lost and searching for an answer this world cannot give.
We rejoice with every life that was changed by the power of the gospel. As you scroll the pages of this annual report, celebrate with us the incredible things God has done right here in Manchester, reaching around the world.
Crystal and I say thank you to every faithful giver. Thank you for making God a priority in your finances. You have made a difference once again in 2021.
Grateful
Kent W. Elliott
Senior Pastor
Faith TV
As the youth pastors of Faith, we would just like to share a few words of gratitude for this ministry and our church. We are here to be a support to the mission and vision of our Senior Pastor Kent and Faith as a whole. For the past two years, we have been working prayerfully and diligently to create an atmosphere rooted in the love and Word of God for your students. We can’t thank this church enough for your support for we know that we are not able to do what we do without you. At Elevate Youth Ministries, we strive for your students to have a place where they can belong, love God, grow in their relationship with Him, and become the person He wants them to be.
This year we had an incredible year during our 6th annual EYS. Not only did we raise a record-breaking offering of over $30,000, but we also had fun! Water Wars was one of our best attended events ever with 50 students present. This year, we challenged each student to become an MVP and raise $750. The students rose to the challenge, and we had fifteen students raise $750 or more! With a record-breaking year, we were able to help multiple orphanages, build a well in Africa, support a local food pantry, help provide vehicles to missionaries, and several other awesome initiatives.
This year, we introduced a community life skills class called Lift. The purpose of this program is to introduce high school students and recent graduates to real world situations from professionals in the community. This course was focused on educating young people about key topics such as choosing a career, funding your education, budgeting, incorporating ministry into your professional life, how to get a job and interviewing tips.
The class consists of total of 12 hours of teaching and practical application over the course of three Saturdays. Students completed the course armed with knowledge, tools, resources, and a certificate of completion. It was a huge success!
Our LIT program has changed the atmosphere of Elevate Student Ministries. Students in 6th grade and up can be leaders in the church to help further God’s kingdom and the work here at Faith. This program has continued to grow, and more students have been added. You may see these students on Sundays taking photos, recording video, working in Kids Rock, greeting, or putting words on the screens. Each of these areas are essential to a church service. If you see these students, continue to encourage them as they are a Kingdom-minded generation that we are thankful for.
Kids Rock’s mission statement is “Connecting children to God through His Word” and we strive to do that each and every week. Thank you for allowing your students to be a part of Kids Rock!
That Kids Rock Show
In 2021, we launched That Kids Rock Show – a weekly “show” that provides kids and families with fun, God-centered content. Each episode includes a game, action songs and a Bible-based lesson geared just for your child.
You can check out episodes of That Kids Rock Show at tv.faithtabernacle.com and on all connected devices at Faith Tabernacle TV.
VBS
Our annual VBS was a huge success! This year, our theme was BEATS. We focused each night on a different BEATtitude from Matthew where Jesus gave us specific lessons on how we can be we blessed when we obey His Word. We had three exciting days of VBS filled with outdoor and indoor games, action songs and engaging learning stations for all ages. We also had a special guest, Alec Story from Lake Charles, LA, that ministered each day to our students. We wrapped up VBS with an incredible service on Sunday as we took over the “big kids church” and held VBS in the sanctuary. We thank God for an incredible week and for two receiving the Holy Ghost!
Backpack Give Back
This year we continued our annual Backpack Give Back! Instead of donating physical backpacks, the Town of Manchester asked us to give a monetary contribution which would then be used for families to purchase school supplies. Thanks to you and our community business partners, we are able to donate $6,131 to families in the Manchester area for backpacks and school supplies!
Trunk or Treat
Trunk or Treat made a comeback in 2021! We had over 25 trunks decorated and filled with candy for many families and guests from the surrounding area. There was also free food, a pumpkin launcher, and the famous candy cannon. It was an incredible night for our community!
Kids Rock Sundays
Each Sunday, Kids Rock provides classes for students from 3 months thru 5th grade. We have a class for each age group – Pebbles for 3 months thru three years, Stone Steppers for our Pre-K/K students and Kids Rock LIVE which is a high-energy kids church program for our Earth Shakers (1st-3rd) and Mountain Movers (4th – 5th). Each week we focus on Bible-based teaching using fun and entertaining methods.
Bible Quizzing
Even though the 2021 Bible Quiz season was unique, it was still a huge success. We had 7 quizzers that studied and memorized the book of Mark. We ended the year with an in-house tournament in which the quizzers competed against each other quoting the Word of God.
Finances
Tithes
Offering
Missions
Building
Giving Challenges
How we steward the treasures that God entrusts in us is a big deal to Him. We will give an account one day and will be judged according to what He has given to us. So, if it is important to God, it is important to us. Every spring and fall, we take a service to reflect on what His Word says about giving. At the end of each of these services, we present a four-month giving challenge to encourage everyone to take their giving to the next level. We celebrate 82 individuals that took this challenge in 2021.
Madrika Simpson
The blessings of giving have been taught to me from way back, however, my husband had no idea what the blessings of faithful giving would mean in our lives. Last year, we decided to go all in and give very faithfully our tithes and just see what happens. In one year, we have been SUPER BLESSED. God has opened the windows of Heaven and is pouring out blessings that we cannot consume yet. We are at this time so blessed that we are feeling guilty about having an abundance of everything. In one short year, I sound like an infomercial for how and why being financially faithful is a covenant between you and God, but it is so very important.
- I had the most successful year in my business that I had ever had.
- I graduated Law School, which was nothing but GOD.
- I got a job doubling, yes, literally doubling my income.
- I got laid off from that job and was so down about it.
- God allowed me time to sit down and pray about what options I had.
- A month or so later I got more job offers than I ever would have thought possible.
- During that time, we stayed faithful in our giving.
- I decided on a job and ultimately got an income 25% more than the last job.
- Jerry got a promotion and a SUPER raise that definitely was not expected.
With all these blessings coming, WE knew we had to give to all 4 points of giving. It is automated now so we never have to worry about snowstorms, vacations or business getting in the way of us being faithful.
My husband now sees and understands that when you give faithfully, God will be faithful to you and your family.
Every Easter, we give a sacrificial offering for our building fund, focused on improving our campus at 110 Utopia Rd. This year’s offering was used to create a broadcast room for our Faith TV channels that will allow us to stream to multiple platforms with excellence. This dedicated space will be a control room that will have up to five operators mixing sound, graphics, switching between multiple cameras and more. This room is only the beginning of our vision to reach more people with the Gospel in Manchester and surrounding communities.
Every Christmas, we choose to give our very best gift to Christ through missions locally, and around the world. This year was another incredible year as you gave over $110,000. Once again, this was a record-breaking offering! Thank you for sacrificing for others. Thank you for helping the gospel reach around the world. Your sacrifice has changed thousands of lives.
Glencia Joseph
Tineeka Fromerth
I give sacrificially to missions in December because I enjoy being used by God to provide others with a portion of what He has blessed me with. God has been a provider for me and gives me everything that I need. Giving to missions is just a small sacrifice compared to what God has sacrificed, giving Himself for me. So, giving of temporal things on this earth is worth it. Helping ensure that as many people can hear God’s plan of salvation and experience His eternal blessing beyond this world. I give cheerfully (2 Corinthians 9: 6-8). We can’t beat God’s goodness and kindness.
Global Missions
Missionary John and Jane Smith – $22,400
KQ Ministries – $11,000
H.O.M.E. Guatemala – $5,000
Brock House Haiti – $5,000
Move the Mission – $5,000
Save our Children – $5,000
Mothers Memorial – $5,000
Missionary Brad Thompson – $2,000
Missionary Michael James – $500
Missionary Nathan Hulsman – $500
Bangladesh Bible School – $500
Compassion Services International – $2,000
Global Missionary Hosting – $1,850
Global Missionary Monthly Partners – $4,600
North American Missions
Christmas for Christ – $12,000
Freedom Church DC – $5,000
New Beginnings Adoption Agency – $5,000
Multicultural Ministries – $1,000
IMPACT Community Churches – $1,000
North American Missions Hosting – $1,000
North American Missions Monthly Partners – $4,750
Local Missions
Elevate Youth Ministries – $3,500
MACC Kitchens – $2,500
TESTIMONIES
Steve Belleville
Baptism for me was about finding my faith. When I first came to faith I was lost; my entire life was in a state of loss. I didn’t know where to turn, and I felt like I had nothing keeping me going. It was through Pastor’s words that I was able to hear God; I stopped trying to do things my way. I started to walk by faith, and I started listening to God’s Word.
I wanted to ask for God’s forgiveness for all the pain I had inflicted, and I wanted to believe in something again… that’s why I got baptized.
Ricardo Ellis
I would like to start by saying how grateful and thankful I am for the entire pastoral team and this church overall. My life has literally been changed, as I’ve been made new. I used to go to church as a kid, so I’ve always been around and have been taught about the Gospel. Only being a kid at the time, I obviously didn’t understand everything or take everything seriously. As I got a little older and became a teenager, continuing to learn about the Gospel became more of a personal choice. I still didn’t make the effort to consistently keep attending church and pursue a relationship with God. I kind of just put God to the side and was more consumed with what the world and this life had to offer. My focus wasn’t where it should’ve been.
In conclusion, ever since I made the personal choice to start attending church again with a more mature mindset. God held on to me from the very first service here at Faith. My entire way of thinking shifted for the better. Within a few months was when God told me to get baptized. That was the life changing moment that urged my decision to live out for God.
Will Hunter
Everyone has their own unique journey in life. I can tell you that my 48 years around the sun have been filled with living in the world to the fullest. I had a desire and a love for money at young age, I basked in earthly pleasures for a very long time. I usually had everything I wanted and needed but still felt empty and wanting and needing more. I experienced the highs and the lows that life has to offer and often found myself dealing with it the best way I knew, which was not always healthy or good. I had many conversations with Nyree and she would always ask me to come to church. I would often laugh and tell her I couldn’t walk into church. Many times, she invited me and many times I declined the invitation. One Tuesday she invited me and I said, “Sure, I will go.”
Maybe it was just to have her stop asking me and maybe I was curious to see what she kept talking about. I went and listened to the message and found myself starting to attend on Sundays as well. I not only heard the messages, but I started to feel different and could really comprehend what was being said. Nyree then began talking to me about getting baptized, and I said, “One thing at a time. When I am ready, I will let you know.” The time came and I was ready, I remember telling my family and asking them to come to church that Sunday with me as I wanted them to be there. Saturday night came and we got a text message that church was going to be online only because of an impending storm. I thought, “Oh well, I guess it was not meant to be.” I remember Nyree saying that it was just Satan trying to keep me.
She made a quick phone call and before I knew it, I was going to the church on a Monday and getting baptized. I talked with Pastor a while before getting into the water. When I came out of the water, I felt really good. I felt like a lot of things I have been carrying around in this world came off me, like a weight had been lifted. Since being baptized, I can tell you that I am living life differently. I am glad that I made the decision that I did, a decision to not just change my current life but a decision for my eternity. I am thankful for Faith and the opportunity to grow in this new journey.
Tariq Ellis
First and foremost, I’d like to express my true love for this amazing church. Since day 1, the atmosphere of the entire place has been like no other. Everyone treats each other like a big loving family, and you can tell that it’s all genuine. That made a huge impact on me.
Before regularly attending this church again, I found myself being manipulated by the customs of this world and uneducated of the word. Growing up as a child, I’ve always been around church. My brother and I would go to church with our grandmother in Jamaica every Sunday and often during the week. As we grew up and came back to America, we found ourselves not as involved in church as we used to be. Just going with the flow of life. Finding ourselves living by the world’s customs and swayed by the negativity man’s world had to offer. I then met my brother, Kyshawn Boyd, a brother I noticed was always faithful to the Word. It was very inspiring, and this is when he introduced Faith Tabernacle to me. I attended church a few times with him, and it was always an amazing time and feeling. But it wasn’t until I took that extra step, to really seek the Lord for myself and seek education on the Word, that I was all in. Life has never been the same since.
On the first day I returned to church, I’ll never forget that feeling I had as I watched Pastor Kent preach the Word like no other. I remember him specifically mentioning not falling to the world’s customs and everything that was going on in world at the moment. As I watched him preach, I found myself unable to hold back tears all service. His words literally spoke through me. I remember speaking to God that day and just pouring everything out to Him. I knew I felt His spirit dwelling inside me. Pastor mentioned time after time to prioritize getting baptized. I kept telling myself I wanted to do it when I felt like it was the right, and it absolutely was the right time. And I can tell you that has been the best decision of my life. The moment felt surreal, it was literally a feeling of rebirth. God’s spirit dwelled in me that day and it was a life changing experience. Ever since then, my life has changed in so many ways. My perspective on life has changed. My way of thinking changed. And I can honestly say it is the best feeling getting closer and speaking to God every day. It is the best feeling knowing you are saved, learning about the things of God, and living this life-long journey for The Almighty Lord.
Dionna Levy
I was curious about the Holy Ghost and why I never experienced it before. I approached Pastor one day after service and inquired about it. He welcomed me and my husband to begin bible study with him. On my journey, he encouraged me to thank God and praise him for his glory and that I would receive the Holy Ghost as it is for everyone, and you will receive it when you are ready and thankful for God’s mercy and blessings.
The day before receiving the Holy Ghost, I saw a vision of myself being underwater, but couldn’t make sense of it. I talked with God, and he told me, “Walk in faith.” I questioned the message as if he was asking me to strength my faith or the walk into Faith (i.e., Faith Tabernacle). I laughed it off. That Sunday, I found myself uttering in tongues. Subsequently, I was asked if I would like to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Without hesitation, I answered yes. It was then I realized was showing me that I was going to get baptized just days before. I was thankful for His message. As the Holy Spirit filled me, I cried tears of joy and felt my body trembling. I felt renewed and lighter after being baptized. I was thankful to be welcomed into God’s kingdom. I felt whole.
BIBLE STUDY
Elsie Koduah
My Bible study with Ms. Marcia from Faith Tabernacle helped strengthen my faith and understanding of God’s Word. During that time in my life, I was going through a lot, but I would always look forward to my Bible study sessions. It gave me a sense of peace and understanding that God is always in control. Towards the end of my Bible study, I was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost! I’m excited to continue growing in Christ at Faith Tabernacle!
Jack Hobbs
Our explorations to find a church brought us to Faith Tabernacle. What a pleasant surprise! We were met at the front door by a greeter, Wayne. A very pleasant man, that immediately gave us the feeling of being in the “right place.” He introduced us to Pastor Kent, who was actually out in the entrance area. We spoke for a short time and then went into the sanctuary. We were so pleased with everything. Pastor Kent was a magnificent speaker.
We are now going on five years since that first Sunday. We feel accepted and find all the members so friendly and easy to talk to. Pastor Kent and his wife Crystal are both so blessed and “down to earth.” We have learned so much through the sermons, Bible Study, and classes we have participated in. Our faith and knowledge have grown, and we feel closer to our Lord.
Gloria Hobbs
As I reflect back, I know the Holy Spirit Led me to this church. I recall the first day I attended Faith Tabernacle, Wayne, one of the greeters welcomed me with such genuine kindness. As I continued to walk into the church, I met Pastor Kent. It was when I shook his hand. I literally felt God’s love pouring out of him into me. I was so humbled by that experience.
Pastor Kent and Crystal provide excellent teachings through the Sunday sermons, Tuesday night Bible teachings and My Faith Journey classes, which I have chosen to participate in over the past five years. I can testify my faith has grown and my desire to know Jesus has grown more. Jeremiah 29:13, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Faith Tabernacle does just that. They provide me with the tools I need, through classes, and encourage me to build an intimate relationship with my Savior on my own.
I have grown to know what the love of the Father is, through the leadership of Pastor Kent and Crystal.
It is God’s love anointing which drew me in and has supported my decision to continue to fellowship at Faith.
Missions is anything that propagates the gospel. I believe that it is more than a message to be preached, but something that can often manifest itself in deeds of service. We have the privilege of serving under a Pastor and wife that not only lead by example, but whose vision for this church goes way beyond its four walls, reaching out into a community they truly live to serve. Monumental wouldn’t even begin to describe the type of year we had. In a season that many would describe as uncertainly fearful, FAITH stepped in as a beacon of hope. I truly believe that one of the greatest gifts we could ever give one another is the gift of service, and the most impactful thing you could ever do in this world is to serve one another.
In 2021 YOU served…YOU showed the world the true meaning of Matthew 22:39 as you loved your neighbors as yourselves. It was a year of shattered records, immeasurable sacrifices, and an outpouring of love and support like we’ve never seen before.
In 2021,
- FAITH served as a mobile Foodshare site, increasing access to healthy and other supplemental foods to a total of 1,010 visitors!!
- We became the official church partner of Illing Middle School and provided their students and families with backpacks, essential foods, clothing, and met every other need that arose.
- For Thanksgiving, our P25 food pantry provided meals for 75 families, which included our neighbors on Rachel Rd., our FAITH families, students, and their families at Illing Middle School, as well as those at Manchester Regional Academy.
- For Christmas, YOU made a difference in the lives of over 35 families by providing Christmas meals and overwhelming them with an abundance of gifts.
- In December, when tornadoes devastated KY, we were able to help a church with a new roof.
When met with a need, time and time again you exceeded every expectation. And for that we say THANK YOU! We are constantly blown away by your generosity… you made a difference in thousands of lives in 2021!
Orphanages We Support
Haiti
Ke Nan Ke means “Heart to Heart” in Haitian. The orphanage, The Brock House, is a children’s home in Haiti that provides for children whose families are unable to care for them. The poverty rate, complicated by natural disasters, means that many children find themselves on the streets without food or shelter. Your sponsorship of The Brock House makes it possible for 16 children to know what it feels like to go to sleep in a safe place, with a full belly, and a hope for a brighter future. In 2021, our partnership helped build a computer library/study room and provided instruments for the church the children attend.
HOME International is a children’s home in Guatemala that provides faith, family, and a future for kids in need. This orphanage works to fight for the rights of children while giving them the tools needed for a better future. Your partnership provides food, a quality education, 24-hour care, medical attention, and, most importantly, an introduction to the hope found in Jesus Christ. In 2021, HOME provided care for 26 children total.
Hope Village in the Philippines brings hope to the hopeless in a country where poverty is widespread. With a medical clinic and soon-to-open children’s home, this organization is focused on spreading the love of Jesus through humanitarian aid. Your sponsorship helps save children in deep poverty and offers hope for their future.
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