Hello Bedford Community Church,         

 Though 2022 did not come devoid of challenges and adversity, God showed himself faithful through it all. Through his faithfulness we saw many of the Covid restrictions from 2020/2021 loosen. I mention this because as we saw these restrictions loosen we saw the growth that we had been praying for begin to take place. I would like to take a moment to highlight three areas where we saw growth take place.

The first area I want to to highlight is the area of Children’s musical worship. Under the passionate, wholehearted leadership of Heather Zimmer, we saw the full reinstatement of Children’s worship. Our children are once again worshiping together in song during both services on Sunday mornings. We got to witness the beauty of what God has been doing in our children as they joined us in leading worship upstairs on Easter Sunday and on VBS Sunday. I look forward to more moments like these over the next year. Praise God for our children's worship department!

The second area of growth I would like to highlight is in the worship arts volunteer department. In 2022 we saw five new volunteers begin to serve on a regular basis in both the band and A/V department. Some of these volunteers have been attending BCC for years, others have just begun attending recently. I am grateful for all the volunteers that continued to serve faithfully over the past year as well as for these new team members.

The third area of growth I want to highlight is in the area of congregational singing/ participation. This is why we do what we do. To lead people in singing Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual songs to God and to one another.

Though there are several factors that contribute to a noticeable increase in congregational participation, there are three that I see as primary in 2022:  

1. Indoor mask mandate lifted. Though the wearing of masks indoors was necessary, the negative affect it had on congregational singing cannot be understated.  

2. Growth in attendance. There seemed to be a noticeable growth in attendance of 2022. This certainly contributed to overall participation. The more people hear others singing, the more likely they are to sing themselves.  

3. Remaining indoors during the summer. Though many understandably love being outdoors during the summer, there was a noticeable drop in engagement and in congregational singing. I think this has largely to do with proximity. In the same way that increased numbers lead to more people singing when people are closer to one another and to the worship band it has a choral effect. I think a part of that was lost when we held worship services outdoors.

  In addition to these three areas of growth, some other notable moments from 2022 include:

1.     I (Jeremiah)  became accredited in the C&MA  

2.     The BCC worship band again participating in Mt. Kisco Septemberfest.  

3.     George and Melinda Thomas getting married and welcoming their beautiful daughter, Elliott to their family.  

 

I praise God for all the areas he has shown himself faithful in 2022 and look forward to continued growth as we pursue Him in 2023.    

In Christ,

Jeremiah Wingerden, Director of Worship Arts