Dear Friend, I am grateful that you took the time to visit our website and 
learn more about us. As a Christian community of faith, we take seriously and joyfully our calling to welcome others as God has welcomed us. 

I have been the pastor here at GPMC since January, 2007.  In my three years here, I have discovered what I hope you will encounter if you join us on a Sunday morning: grace, love, faith, commitment, and sharing.

Here at GPMC you will find fellow sojourners in this journey of life, people who walk together through the hills and valleys that we all experience along the way. We do so as people who are called by God, equipped by the Holy Spirit, and sent out into the world by Jesus Christ. Wherever your faith journey is taking you right now, you will find with us other people who are at a similar stage in life. Look around the website, email with questions, and, by all means, join us some Sunday and introduce yourself. I would love to meet you in person.

For those of you who are interested in joining our church, we hold new member classes at least quarterly. Please call me or email me (phenry@gpmchurch.org) for more information about the latest schedule of classes.

In order to give you a "snapshot" of our life together, here are some fast facts abour our community of faith.  For an illustrated version of this same version, you can access part of a recent "pastor's report" at our annual officer retreat.

    We are a 1300 member Presbyterian church; this means, among other things, that we elect     our officers.  Currently we have 26 elders (including 2 youth), 32 deacons (including 3             youth), and 12 trustees.

    We are part of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), an historic “mainline” Protestant church of     roughly 2.1 million members.

    Our worship attendance has been growing for the last 4 years.      

    We are a friendly, faithful congregation open to change and growth: 21% of our members         have joined in the last 10 years, 50% in the last 20 years.

    We are a vibrant church that has added many new outreach, Christian education, and             fellowship opportunities in the last 12 months.  Among the additions have been an                 intergenerational mission trip, a small group ministry, and mentoring to inner city children.

    Over 15% of our budget is committed to outreach.

    We are a growing church that is holding its own in a tough economy: we had the same             number of pledges for 2009 as we had for 2008.  Pledges account for 60% of our budget         and last year over 55% of our members made a pledge to the church.    

    We are a traditional church without traditionalism: rather than say “We can’t do that” our         committees, councils and boards ask, “How can we help make that  happen?”    

    We call ourselves “A light by the lakeshore” and expect “every member to be a minister.”    

    Over the last 18 months we have increased the staff hours committed to young families,         children ,and youth to include 2 full time positions.

    Ours is an intergenerational congregation: 37% of our congregation is over the age of 65;     33% of our congregation is under the age of 45; and people of all ages serve in all                 ministries of the church.

    The Session has established expanding our outreach opportunities, starting small                     fellowship groups and implementing a recent worship survey as the top three priorities for     the next 18 months.    

    Christian Education at GPMC encourages and nurtures us to think about what it means to         be a Christian, not only for a moment, but for a lifetime.

    GPMC is comprised of people of all ages, talents, and possibilities but we are not complete.     We are always open to welcoming others and participating in God's amazing creation
 

I look forward to meeting you soon.  May the Lord bless you and keep you.

The Rev. Peter J.M. Henry