Transformed by the Gospel
The gospel is the good news of what Jesus has done. It transforms who we are and it transforms what we do. Below are some ways that we’ve seen the gospel at work in our church in 2020.
2020
Weekly Attendance
While the church exists to be more than a place for Sunday gatherings, our corporate worship is important for many reasons. It is where we sing together, hear the preaching of scripture, take communion, fellowship, and pray for one another. This chart shows the impact of COVID-19 and the pressures of 2020 on our weekly gatherings.
Hurricane Recovery
and
Reach Global Crisis Response
Two years later, Ike and Ella Williams had yet to sleep in their own home due to pending repairs. Their home had been flooded and destroyed by Hurricane Florence. In September of 2018, One Harbor volunteers helped them to gut their family home. In our partnership with ReachGlobal Crisis Response, we were able to use hundreds of volunteers to rebuild their home – but more importantly, to love Ike and Ella.
In April of 2020, Ike passed away, having spent his last days visiting their home, seeing the progress and built the hope in his heart that they would soon be back in their home. In July of 2020, that hope became Ella’s reality. The first floor of her home was finished and we had the pleasure of moving her in.
168
Volunteers
16
Homes Served
8
Roofs Replaced
A Story of Gospel-Centered Romance
“In July 2019, my boyfriend Nick and I moved to Eastern NC in search of happiness, a calling for a better life, and to be less focused on money and more focused on time spent with family and friends. That summer, we enjoyed all Eastern NC had to offer. Then Dorian came along and we had no idea what to expect with memories of Florence lingering. Luckily, our community was spared, but Ocracoke was not so lucky.
We immediately jumped to assist in the relief efforts. Again, not knowing what to expect, we exited the boat in Ocracoke and were greeted by an incredible group of Christians. This was eye-opening as Nick had always been judged and stared at due to his tattoos. Donnie was the first to greet us with a warm welcoming smile, despite being worn down and in a knee brace. Travis and Ryan were the next to greet us and just as welcoming as Donnie was. We immediately felt like we were a part of the family.
We spent those three days doing the work of Jesus. With all of his strength and glory, we were able to assist, rebuild, spread the Gospel, and do the good works of Jesus for those who had suffered and lost so much. Upon arriving home, we felt the true calling of Jesus and something much greater than life. The fellowship and sense of community surrounding Jesus was the most incredible part of it all.
Spending several months with One Harbor MHC changed our lives in the most incredible ways as we began getting to know Jesus more and more. We began living with a purpose. Wanting to become closer to Jesus, we stopped living in sin, got engaged, and attended marriage counseling where Bryan helped us get to know Jesus more intimately, all while learning the true meaning of marriage. On Sept. 26, 2020, with Bryan as our pastor, we become one before the Lord. We’ve now been married nearly four months and have been blessed in more ways than we could have ever imagined with our most recent blessing being the gift of our first child on the way.”
– Nick and Mary-Lynn Perricone
2020 Sermons
We prioritize the preaching of the Word. At One Harbor, you won’t hear a sermon that’s not about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Below you can see some of the series that we went through as a church in 2020.
12
MHC Baptisms
16
BFT Baptisms
7
SBO Baptisms
7
HVK Baptisms
Streaming and Tech
Technology is merely a tool, but it is one we are especially grateful for given the restrictions of last year. God provided a way for us to upgrade the necessary hardware and software so that we were able to upload and/or live-stream Sunday morning services, prayer meetings, and even Bible studies.
956
App Downloads in 2020
66324
Sermons Played in 2020
23653
App Interactions in 2020
MHC SITE UPDATE
Living a Life of Worship
Worship isn’t just a genre of music. It’s putting God first, enjoying Him, and living sacrificially. Below are some ways that we have worshipped Jesus in 2020.
161
MHC Volunteers
64
BFT Volunteers
88
SBO Volunteers
87
HVK Volunteers
BFT SITE UPDATE
A Story of Recovery
“It was at Hope Recovery where I learned I was enough and that my life was worth living. I arrived exhausted and starving for so much more than food. At Hope, I was provided structure, built boundaries and learned the importance of honest hard work. The people loved me until I could love myself.
Today I am able to give back into the recovery community what was so freely given to me. If the only reason for my struggle is so I can look into another woman’s eyes and say, ‘I know how you feel’ then it was worth it. With almost 4 years of recovery it is only by the grace of God I am alive today. Long term Recovery is possible when you have a strong foundation of Hope.”
– Alison
20
Leaders Discipling Students
70
Students Being Discipled in Small Groups
74
Average Number of Kids Hearing the Gospel in Kids Ministry on Sundays
SBO SITE UPDATE
Committed to Community
As a church, we are called to love one another, grow together, and serve in community. There has never been a harder year to do life together, and yet by God’s grace, many of us remained connected to one another. Below are some of the ways we’ve joined together over the last year.
895
People in Community Groups
75
Community Groups
A Story of Benevolence
“My name is Mike Gothard. I’ve lived on the Crystal Coast for eight years, I own Beaufort Photography Co., and have been part of the One Harbor Church family for about three years. Prior to relocating here I was lead pastor of a church in Eastern NC for 20 years. As such, I’ve preached, taught, and spoken more times than I can recall about how Scripture teaches us to navigate seasons of surplus, as well as seasons of shortage, in life. However, I’m not sure I ever truly experienced a financial season of life that deviated so far away from surplus into the seemingly drowning waters of shortage until 2020.
Due to COVID, the shutdowns, and business changes for most small business owners, I found myself smack dab in the middle of a significant season of shortage. True shortage; the kind of shortage where you have no clue how you’re going to make this month’s rent, pay this month’s bills, or even make it through the remainder of the month, much less the following months.
Midway through 2020, I received an email from one of our pastors encouraging me to apply for the church’s COVID benevolence help. The truth is I had convinced myself some weeks before that there were others with families who were likely more needful than I was. I didn’t want to stand in the way of someone else receiving help. And I’m sure there was a sprinkling of pride mixed in with my rationalization, too. I couldn’t help but remember those times when, as a pastor, there never seemed to be enough benevolence monies to go around in times of crisis.
But that pastor responded with these words, “You can probably imagine what I’m going to say because it’s the same things you’d tell me if the situation was reversed. The fund was created for people in your exact situation. Imagining others have it worse than you will never allow you to receive help because someone always has it worse than you. But that’s not how benevolence – or grace – works.”
It was as if the Lord was directly speaking to me. I am eternally grateful, beyond words, to the One Harbor Church family for your help during this season of shortage. I have no clue how I would have made it to 2021 without your generosity, prayers, and grace. Thank you for “being the church” to me. While things are still precarious financially, I am convinced I would not be here today had it not been for your generosity and the Lord’s grace – thank you for giving above and beyond to help those of us experiencing this unprecedented season of shortage. The grace and mercy and provision of the Lord notwithstanding, I would have been crushed beyond hope this past year without your help.
The past few months I’ve learned there are no quick fixes for seasons of shortage; no short cuts. Seasons of shortage simply require a “long obedience in the same direction.” Thank you, One Harbor Church family, for helping me continue to move in that direction. I am so grateful to you, to my Community Group, and to the Lord.”
HVK SITE UPDATE
Partnering on Mission
Mission is for everyone. Mission is everywhere. Most importantly, mission is empowered by the Holy Spirit. Below are some of the ways we’ve partnered together for the sake of the mission in 2020.
Partnership
Partnership is what we call membership at One Harbor. We see the partners as co-laborers with us in advancing the Gospel in Eastern NC and beyond.
64
New Partners in 2020
729
One Harbor Partners
LOCAL MISSION
We take seriously our responsibility to help the poor and powerless. The figure reported here includes those dollars given away through our benevolence ministry and to other local non-profits with whom we are in partnership. (It does not include dollars given to disaster relief and addiction recovery, which are reported separately.)
88724
Dollars given away
27755
Dollars Raised
22
People helped or being helped into rehab and/or sober living programs
From Isolation to Community
“At the beginning of 2020, I was in isolation. No, I am not talking about the pandemic, I am referring to addiction. Sin isolated me. I lost my job, my family, and so many other important relationships. I had spent the last 20 years of my life running to alcohol as my source of hope. I thought that it was the refuge for my soul, my hope in my time of need. Because of so many environmental and societal factors, I also believed that I needed to get myself out of the mess I had created in my life. What I didn’t know, is that God had already prepared for me a way of escape.
The way of escape that Jesus had prepared was discovered through community. I was living at Hope is Alive with 14 other men at the time and we were all struggling with similar life issues. We were encouraging each other in this grace-filled community to find hope in Jesus and not in ourselves. I also began getting involved at One Harbor. Jesus put godly men in my life to help me understand Truth and not believe so many of the lies that had ensnared me. These men were encouragers and pointed me to a hope that was not found in myself but found in Jesus. I was no longer in unrepentant sin that led to isolation, I was now set free to be in relationship with my Savior Jesus Christ and so many of his adopted children.
My favorite adopted child of His is my wife, Casey Morris. She has been through so much with me over the past 15 years. God saw fit to reconcile us to Himself in 2020 and this is nothing short of a miracle. On top of that, the relationship I now have with my daughter (Emily) is better than I could have ever imagined. Casey and I have learned through this experience how much we need our community of godly men and women to support us in our marriage and in the raising of our daughter. We are also excited about what we have to give back to the community that has so generously given us so much. Thank you One Harbor for supporting the mission of pushing back the darkness of addiction, all for the sake of the Gospel.“
– Eric Morris
One Harbor is part of a global movement of more than 130 churches called Advance, which exists to plant and strengthen churches. Though many of Advance’s events were canceled in 2020, they were still able to still hold three hub gatherings where they raised $43,500, a portion of which was for a new church plant in Fayetteville, North Carolina launching in 2021. As a movement, we also raised nearly $100,000 to help Asian pastors and their families in a particularly brutal year. Though conferences could not be held as usual, the relationships between churches were as important as ever in a year that challenged pastors like never before. We cannot emphasize enough how grateful we are to be a part of this gospel partnership.
Our Allies
We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with some terrific organizations both locally and globally. A few of these organizations wanted to pass along their thanks for the ways that we have served them over the last year. Check it out!
Financials
Total Giving in 2020
$3,476,187
The Bible says that God gave His only Son, Jesus, so that we would be saved. But not only did God save us, He lavishes on us uncountable blessings and an eternal inheritance we can’t comprehend. God’s generosity towards us compels us to be generous in return. Therefore, our giving is first and foremost an act of worship. (This figure represents tithes and offerings and contributions to designated funds, such as the COVID-19 Benevolence Fund.)
Our Mission