2006 was a breakaway year for the 113 member Madison Church of Christ family, one in which God was glorified by the church???s efforts. Looking back at 2006 and the events that made it such a great year will help guide our path in 2007 and help us prepare for what God has planned for this congregation. In the past several years we have given much focus to gaining and maintaining a healthy and balanced  family.  To really understand how far God brought us this year, it is necessary to look back in our history. 

Some would say that 2005 was difficult year; others would say that it was a year of tremendous growth as a family of God.  Still others would say that it was a combination of both.  The year united our congregation, glorifying God despite the trials we endured.

In November of 2004 our dear brother and war hero Chad Simon sustained a severe head injury while fighting in Iraq.  After a hard road of surgeries and intense therapy, he was stable enough to travel home to Madison in 2005.  His wife, Regina, our faithful sister in the Lord, and their son, Dylan were by his side, along with the rest of the congregation.  After many painful months and little significant change, Chad finally passed away from this world.  We were reminded in Second Corinthians 12:26 that, ???If one part suffers, every part suffers with it...??? The tragedy of our fallen brother in Christ united us in our suffering.  It was a painful experience, but God showed that He never lets a painful experience fall by the wayside.  Despite her grieving, Regina was a beacon of light to those around her.  She was able to share her life with Vicky Moeser, the mother of the only surviving Marine in the attack that killed Chad.  In January of 2006 Vicky was baptized and became our sister in Christ.  Then in December of 2006 Vicky???s husband, Bill, became a part of God???s amazing family.  Their conversions are constant reminders of our brother, Chad, whose brave efforts and sacrifice in the war also helped two other souls come to a relationship with God. We took the pain and lessons learned and accepted it as an opportunity to be pushed out of our comfort zones.

We began to re-think & re-shape how we ???do church???, by analyzing our worship services, service-oriented projects, discipling, and raising up future leaders.  Our attempt to become a better temple of the Lord meant nothing was considered ???off-limits??? for change.  After focusing on the health and balance in the MCC family this year, we began a new discipling model, called ???3-D groups???.  Groups of three Christians come together on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to study scriptures together and to disciple one another in love.  Each group???s goal is simple: help train one another train for Godliness.  This model of discipleship has been received with enthusiasm & participation.  The benefits as a church through greater individual righteousness are continually shining through.

We were blessed in 2006 to hear many guest speakers who came to us from all over the world.  Kevin Holland, who leads the AMS ministry in L.A., came in the early part of the year.  Michael Burns from Milwaukee came not only to speak, but to witness the baptism of his cousin.  Dave Pocta from Chicago spoke to the church about raising pre-teens and teens in today???s world.  Stan and Suzi Addis visited from Champaign, IL and spoke at our annual Marriage Retreat in March.  Guy and Loretta Berndt flew in from Florida this past December to offer words of wisdom and encouragement in raising our children at our Parenting Workshop.  Sasha visited Madison before returning to Odessa, Ukraine and spoke to the congregation about our adoption into God???s family.

We also began a new ministry this year called Crown Financial Ministry, which taught our congregations in the area of personal and family finances.  This ministry has been a blessing to many singles and married couples within the church.  It has enabled people to understand how God views money, debt, stewardship, and has offered hope to many families in financial distress.  As an added benefit of the Crown Financial Ministry Series, the financial giving in Madison has grown and has been consistent throughout the year.  We were not only to meet our Missions Contribution, but we surpassed our goal!  After giving generously throughout the month of December (typically a challenging month of giving for many families), the Madison family came together to show their generous spirit just one week before Christmas.  When approached with a need to purchase nearly sixty gifts for various foster children in the area, our 113 member congregation came together to offer $685 to buy presents for each child.  This was $350 over what we hoped to collect!  Praise be to God!

2006 was also the year in which we began ???Member Missionaries???.  Nine adults and four children led by Jeff and Lori Mannel paid their own way to travel to the churches in the Ukraine to teach, train, encourage and serve our brothers and sisters.  Relationships were formed and solidified, and as a church we felt tightly bonded with our sister churches in the Ukraine, where our Special Contribution is sent each year.  Member Missionaries will have the opportunity to travel to these churches annually to service, encourage and continue to build bonds between our congregations.  Many members of the MCC family traveled within our own borders to various events, including a mission???s trip to help rebuild neighborhoods in New Orleans.  We also traveled as a church to the Chicago Seminar in April, a Women???s Retreat with the Milwaukee church, and several members traveled to a Rob Bell lecture in Chicago.

Seeing the need to raise up new small group leaders and continue training the leaders that are already serving, the staff of the Madison church developed an exciting leadership training workshop called ???T-Time???.  Greg and Amy Hoyte facilitated a one day training event which focused on team building strategies.  These strategies could then be taken back to each leader???s small group and used to build the group.  There were two different tracts made available.  One track was for those who were new to leading and shepherding a small group; the other for the more seasoned small group leader.  Within each track, team building strategies were employed to reinforce the lessons given.

Just two weeks later, we had the privilege of hosting the Midwest Teen Event, ???commUNITY,??? just south of Madison.  Over 150 teens and preteens from the Midwest traveled to this event and had a great time of learning, fellowship, and fun. It was a cold, soggy day outside, but one would never know it because the energy and positive attitudes were on fire for God.  The desire to learn about what God expects from them and his love for them was inspiring to each volunteer from the Madison Church.  The youth were given opportunities to get to know each other by working together on teambuilding challenges aimed at putting their trust in God as they set themselves apart from the world.  During the breaks, the teens were able to jump on a trampoline, play basketball, and listen to music DJ'd by two of the Madison church's talented brothers.  We were certainly grateful to host the event, and look forward to the opportunity to do it again!

God spent much of 2004 and 2005 reshaping and refining our congregation.  During those years we had two, life changing 40-day campaigns, ???Purpose Driven Church??? and ???Purpose Driven Community???.  The first campaign helped to redefine and put into practice our purpose as a church.  It reminded us to glorify God with our lives through edifying one another, being unified with one another, and sharing our faith with others.  The second campaign helped us to look beyond ourselves to see the service that is needed within our community.  God worked to help teach us how to better minister to those in our community.

Taking what we learned from these campaigns, we created our own campaign in 2006 and called it ???Live the Adventure???.  This was a month-long campaign focused on learning to live life to the full as Jesus calls us to do.  Each week???s sermon was focused on a different aspect of living the adventure and focusing on what holds us back from living life to the full.  Each week featured a variety of real life adventures.  Some of the adventures included sky-diving, rock climbing, orienteering, cooking and art classes, night hikes, and family kickball games.  It was a fabulous way to share not only our faith, but our lives with our friends, neighbors, co-workers and family members.  From the ???Live the Adventure??? campaign, we were able to build and deepen friendships with many people and begin bible studies with many of those newly formed friendships.

But God was not done there.  Since our campaign ended, the MCC family has continued to grow.  The campus ministry group at the University of Wisconsin, Badger Ministry, went into full swing in the beginning of the semester.  At our Kick-Off Event we had twice as many guests as we had members of our ministry.  It was amazing to see so many conversations happening with such a diverse group of people.  From that event, several students began coming to church and our weekly ???Thursday Night LIVE??? devotionals.  They quickly became a part of our community because of the ???Live the Adventure??? campaign.  In our twelve member campus ministry, eight students began studying the bible and two women were baptized into Christ by the end of the semester.  Several more students are currently studying the Bible and are continuing to grow in their walk with God.  To God be the glory!

Because the Fall campaign was such a success, we began to consider how we could continue to glorify and worship God through our worship services.  We discovered and highlighted hidden talent within our church community.  We also learned when we serve together, we can truly glorify God through dramas, music and even behind the scenes acts of service.  For instance, when our worship band was initially formed, none of its members had ever performed in a band.  Needless to say, the MCC band has worked hard over the last several years to become a blossoming talent.  They have been asked to perform at the Midwest Teen Blast in February and also were invited to Minneapolis to teach them how to form a band. 

Jeff Mannel, the lead evangelist along with Kirk Stevens, the campus ministry leader, began preaching in a series format, studying topics and books of the bible.  These sermons have been tremendously helpful in continuing our outreach and expanding our worship services through arts and music.

God has worked and refined us in many wonderful ways.  He has blessed us richly with an amazing family right here in Madison.  With all of the blessings He has so generously poured out on us, the most gratifying for our church this year has been to see fourteen souls come to a saved relationship with Christ.  It has been such a blessing to see these young Christians build their relationship with God, build relationships with one another, and continue to flourish in both throughout the year.  We prayed for mature people and couples to become baptized into our fellowship.  We prayed for our campus ministry to build a community together and grow through our love for one another.  God answered our prayers this year with two mature married couples, a single dad, a single mom, a grandmother, and several professional singles.  Badger Ministry came together, deepening relationships, deepening our worship of God and being a light to the UW campus.  We baptized three campus students this year and look forward to what God will continue to do with our group. 

We were sad to say goodbye to eight brothers and sisters who moved to other cities and became a part of other churches throughout the country.  Although they are greatly missed, we take heart knowing that they are continuing to advance the Kingdom in their parts of the world, in their new churches.  Though the MCC family said goodbye to some, God blessed us with four brothers and sisters who moved to our family in Madison.  We are grateful for them as they have given their hearts to us and our great city.

We have had a tremendous year in so many ways and we can only look forward to 2007 with eager anticipation and great confidence that God will continue to use us to advance his Kingdom in this part of the world.   It is hard to believe that it has been three years of hard and specific changes within our church family, but we are finally able to see the fruit of those changes.  Looking back at 2006, Jeff Mannel and the Madison staff had many ???out of the box??? ideas, but it was the MCC family who came together to live a truly adventurous year.