2004
| January | July |
| February | August |
| March | September |
| April | October (Ministry Fair/Trunk or Treat Pictures!) |
| May | November |
| June | December |
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In preparation for our relocation project, each Sunday's message had a different theme or building block necessary in the building of a church. Every Sunday a cardboard box, hand-lettered by Dennis McDaniel, was symbolically placed into a wooden framework on the stage. God the Foundation was the first building block. The picture shows all of the others:
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One of our biggest Sundays was March 7, 2004 - Commitment Sunday. In order to raise money for the Relocation, everyone was asked to make some type of monetary commitment above and beyond their regular tithing and place it in what was called a First Fruits Offering. And after this offering, we were asked to make a 3-year commitment of a certain amount that again would help with the relocation project.
Nicholas Smith who was only 11 years old, had been the first person to offer money for this project back when it was still an idea. He had offered Bro. Doug all of the money in his pocket: 16 cents. This money was generously increased by Bro. Doug to the amount of $16 and Nicholas placed this offering for Commitment Sunday.
The cardboard boxes were temporarily taken from the wooden framework and placed around the altar. People lined the aisles to make their way up front and place their money and commitment cards in the boxes. There were stories of church members making all kinds of sacrifices in order to make an offering and a commitment. Money, jewelry, stock certificates, and even a fur coat were all given on this wonderful Sunday. Two police officers attended the service so as to escort the money to the bank.
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The grand totals for this collection came to $427,034 for the First Fruits Offering and $646,406 for the 3-year commitment. This gave us a total of $1,073,440!!
What a glorious day!
March also brought about an new ministry for North Highlands. A hand bell choir, under the patient supervision of Ronnie Nelson, was formed. Two groups, one beginner and one advanced, began practicing diligently to learn the art of ringing bells. The hand bell choir performs special music on occasion during our services.
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March 28, 2004 was another historical day at North Highlands as we celebrated the Ground Breaking for the new building. Bro. Doug sent out this message to us from the Harbinger:
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| Everyone did bring shovels and lawn chairs on this beautiful, sunny day and it was magnificent! Every person had the opportunity to break ground for the new church building. God was truly at work on this day. There were two Professions of faith, eight new members, and two re-dedications. The eight new members along with all other NHBC members will be considered the charter members of the NHBC church. |
| Church members gathering in the field | Reggie and Marilyn Hallman break ground! |
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| New members of NHBC, those professing & rededicating their faith | Perry Brown passing the "hat" |
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| New Members of NHBC March 28, 2004 |
| James R. (Rusty) Little |
| Wendy Stewart |
| Terry Hinton |
| Jason Stewart |
| Richard & Kerri Turner |
| Brad Christian |
| Brittnye Cummings |
| Cristy Samsal |
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The man we never get to see since he is always behind the camera... Craig Colvin! |
During July, Frank Nelson and Bud Porter had been working to totally re-do the church's website. While working on this project, Bud also approached the problem of Brother Doug having to spend hours preparing the online prayer email that was received by more than 600 people each morning. July 20, 2004 marked a momentous day in the history of NHBC as this tremendous task became automated. Brother Doug was thrilled with this "brand spanking new" online prayer ministry!
August 1, 2004 was the release of the new website. WWW.NHBCCARES.ORG got a wonderful new facelift and the addition of a history webpage (which you are now reading!) thanks to the diligent efforts of Frank Nelson and Bud Porter.
August 20th marked Brother Doug's 26th anniversary with North Highlands Baptist Church. August 25th was Brother Doug and Barbara's 48th wedding anniversary.
August 25th was a memorable day in our history. What started out as a prayer walk at the new church site turned into a "first service" inside the new building. The prayer walk began that evening at 6:30 pm. Brother Doug stood about where the pulpit was to be located in the new worship center and spoke to those who gathered for the first service held inside the building on 15th street. There is a list of names below of all who were present. Brother Doug told them about the progress of the project, pointed out where classes and departments would be meeting, and shared some current special prayer requests. They then broke up into teams and went throughout the structure praying for specific things.
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September 18th was the day for the ladies annual Tablescapes. Our theme this year was "Taste and see that the Lord is good." With a lot of preparation, creativity, and ingenuity the event turned out 22 beautiful tables. The brunch was catered by the Candlelight Tea Room and the food was wonderful. Gina Norris was the guest speaker and told her inspiring story of her life with her late husband Jeff who died in August of this year after dealing with brain cancer for over 8 years. We had approximately 175 in attendance and it was one of the best tablescapes we've ever had. Click here for pictures of all the tables.
September
19th began "40 Days of Purpose" for North Highlands Baptist Church. We
began a study of the New York Times #1 Bestseller The Purpose Driven Life
to help us answer the question "what on Earth are we here for?" Our
church along with 10,000 other churches across America began this spiritual
journey with a National Simulcast featuring Pastor Rick Warren, the author
of this book. A new Sunday School format was started by having
everyone sign up for small groups of 10 or less. These new temporary
Sunday School classes would meet for the duration of this study in the hopes
of providing a deeper understanding of God's purpose for us while building
lasting friendships.
Construction on the new church building continued move right along and the church itself continued to grow. There was a New-Members Luncheon in October for 50 + people. What a growth! As part of the 40 Days of Purpose, North Highlands held a ministry fair where church members were able to look at all of the possible ministries they could get involved in.
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The Computer Guy! |
| The Wellness Ministry |
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Phil and Ronnie promote the Music and Sound & Video Ministry |
| Hot Dogs, popcorn, cookies, you name it! |
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Waiting their turn for the moonwalk! |
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The Student Ministry under the direction of Michael Wallace |
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NHBC Missions Ministry - Come and sign up for the mission trip! |
| Rated E! for Everyone |
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The Adult's Ministry |
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The Children's Ministry |
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The Women's Ministry |
We also held a "Trunk - or - Treat" in the large parking lot. This was considered an outreach event as many people from the community came and enjoyed the festive decorations and of course, the candy.
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| Cindy and Frank pass out candy | Lisa as a scarecrow |
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| Angie and her trunk of "bubbles" | War Eagle! |
November 7th concluded the 40 Days of Purpose study. There was a powerful service, Celebration Sunday, with many people giving testimonies as to how the study changed their lives or how their purpose was found. With this new format as our precedence, we once again signed up for small groups to begin the Foundations. Some people reunited with their old Sunday school members while many of the newly-created small groups chose to stay together. All in all, we had made new friends, found new common ground and many of the new teachers found out they had a real gift!
New Sunday school classes were in full swing and the Christmas festivities began. The Choir under Ronnie's direction gave another wonderful performance in the production of Treasures of Christmas. The Children's Choir directed by Karen Jansen sang with the adult choir on several songs and did a marvelous job. Ronnie also directed both handbell choirs for their Christmas performance. Giving from our hearts with Jesus as the reason for the season seemed to be the theme for everything in December as many stockings were filled and Angel Tree wishes were granted. And one of the nicest treats for all of us...the Poarches came home! They came to church on the 19th and that evening, a fellowship was held for them. What a wonderful evening!
