Prior to Covid, MCC had maintained a steady pattern of growth (for which we are deeply grateful to Christ). We have seen growth in our memberships (we now have just over 200 people listed in our directory), we have seen growth in our giving (an increase of 80% in the past two years), and we have seen our Alpha program continue to reach people not connected with Christ or the Church. In order to sustain this pattern we thought it was time to “risk” hiring an associate pastor. MCC called Daniel Joo, a candidate from Calvin Seminary in January of 2020. Soon after Covid hit.
Covid has certainly impacted the life and ministry of MCC but there are some wonderful things to celebrate. Daniel (now Rev. Daniel Joo!) helped lead out Alpha Team as they re-imagined how to do Alpha amid covid. We launched our first ever Alpha completely through zoom and each week we have been amazed at how the Spirit has worked. Our volunteers have said they have had some of the best Alpha small group discussions the have ever experienced in this session. Lives are changing! When all the conflict arose over George Floyd, Daniel helped preach a series of messages on race and reconciliation that were powerful and timely. Amid all this Daniel is helping to reconstruct a youth ministry, helping to run a weekly prayer gathering by zoom since the beginning of Covid, he is putting together a team to help MCC transition well into our new facility, and he has participated in MCC’s new Leadership Cohort, a pilot project we have been running (and are preparing to offer to Classis South). Daniel has made a very positive impact on the life of MCC in a very strange and demanding time.
We are very grateful for how much Classis South has invested in MCC sine 2017. We are certain we would not be where we are without the support Classis has given. We are concerned about the impact of covid, we are certain we have lost momentum as well as people. However, we have good faith that “He who began a good work in us will see it through to completion”.
Submitted by Jim Boer
