Year in Review 2024

Hey Friends, it is just so crazy to think we are ending 2024 and walking with anticipation into 2025. Five years ago now, our launch team started meeting at our house, practicing what we would begin doing just a short time later. Covid came, and we pushed back our launch plans, but we were faithful to what God was calling us to do. Because of faithful people like you we have continued to grow where we have been planted, impacting on both a local and global level, and God has continued to bless our church as we stand firm in where he has planted us. Thank you, I truly appreciate each and every one of your prayers and gifts that you have given to our church; below is just a glimpse of what we’ve done with your support. 

The Budget 

We made the jump to get onto the church calendar this year and aligned our finances in the same way. We maintained our previous year's budget through April and started fresh on May 1st, 2024; we also have begun paying our denominational budgets for the first time since launch. Our total approved budget is $56,797, broken down into three categories. Operations, Outreach, and Discipleship. Our income from May 1 to November 30 has been $32,947.00, our expenses during that time were $27,806.93, and our balance moving forward is $44,797.02. We are anticipating being under budget as we come to the end of our fiscal year, and we look forward to how God will continue to bless our church financially. 

So much went down in 2024

In March of this year, we said goodbye to Pastor Ryan and his family. After several years of faithful service in launching The Table, Ryan was called to WatzNaz in California, where he began his new ministry assignment. It was so hard to watch our friends head out west, but we have been prayerfully supporting them as they have taken on the challenge of bridging new life and new vision to that wonderful church. 

We had a joint Easter service with Fireside church. They share the Mesa Christian Academy in the mornings while we meet there every fourth Sunday in the evenings. It was so exciting to partner with Pastor Christian and Pastor Jonathan as they were launching their second campus in the East Valley. Pastor Christy brought a spirit-led sermon, and our worship teams combined to lead us to the cross. 

We were able to celebrate with Pastor Christy as she was ordained at our annual district assembly. After many years of faithful commitment to her education and her service to the Nazarene Church, the General Church of the Nazarene and General Superintendent Rev. Dr. Christian Sarmiento blessed and prayed over Rev. Christy, as she was granted the rank of Elder in The Church of the Nazarene.

As the summer began, we found ourselves needing to fill a few Sundays of sermons as we reflected on our mission, vision, and values. We had talked in our launch meetings about how we wanted to be a resource to the district and innovate new ways to do ministry, so we began bringing guest speakers each month. In collaboration with the chair of the ministerial studies board, we were provided with names of ministers in the ordination process, giving us our first three speakers. We had six ministers join us in the latter half of the year, gaining valuable experience preparing and preaching a Sunday sermon. On top of the experience, we also had the budget space to pay each person a small stipend for their time as they spoke truth into our lives. 

The summer continued, and we didn’t slow down; we sent multiple teens to Elev8 in California and then Summer Camp in Prescott. Pastor Christy built a strong team to lead the early childhood and preschool for Camp Meeting, our annual all-district family camp. We started to collect school supplies for Jefferson Elementary, our local title-1 school we’ve adopted. Over $800 of supplies were donated in partnership with Cup of Joey, a local coffee shop we’ve dubbed our church office.

Going Global

Pastor Christy was moved at our District Assembly by Flora Mwikali, who started The New Scent Center in Kenya. They believe that every girl deserves a chance to thrive, regardless of her past. Founded on this principle, New Scent has become a sanctuary where girls find safety, support, and the tools to rewrite their stories. Christy worked in tandem with Pastor Tina from Chandler First Church of the Nazarene, who hosted the event, and together with the donations of many creative people, we raised over $3,500 for them, putting the grand total over $170,000 donated by the Arizona Nazarene District. 

Back at Home 

Just a few weeks later, we found ourselves hosting our third annual Trunk or Treat. Because of our past partnership with Fireside Church, it was only natural to jump into this together and invite the leadership from the Mesa Christian Academy. It was another fantastic night where the small community on that county island was invested into. Members from Fireside donated 500 hotdogs and buns, and we had more candy than we had ever seen. Over a dozen cars lined up, creating a storybook theme throughout the parking lot. We even had a family from the community pull their truck up to help pass out candy. This was overall another amazing and successful event working together with multiple ministries. 

In the month of October Pastor Trevor presented an idea to the district leadership. What if we came together as one body and prayed and fasted with the goal of unity? We have just stepped into a new season of leadership in the Arizona District as Pastor Doug retired after 31 years of ministry. Pastor Brad Estep was elected our new District Superintendent and began his ministry in the Summer. Among other things, this was a great opportunity to pray for unity among our sister churches. Over 45 people signed up from 10 churches in our district and fasted each day, and prayed each hour in the month of October. 

The year has come and gone, and this is just a glimpse of what went on at The Table. We preached the bible from cover to cover, shared the eucharist weekly, prayed with each other, celebrated and grieved, and God has moved in ways more than I can put into words. We can celebrate this because of your faithfulness in joining what God is doing through your giving each month. Thank you for supporting the mission and vision of The Table; we look forward to 2025 and what God will continue to do!