In October 2024, Pastor Jonathan encouraged the church family to take a survey to get a sense of how the church and her people were doing spiritually and personally. For the most part, the survey confirmed what we were already hearing and experiencing, but it also unveiled some areas of actionable intelligence that would strengthen and empower Cedarbrook to become radical in following Jesus on mission in this next year.

Two insights from the survey which God is now positioning Cedarbrook to capitalize on related to this Empower initiative is as follows:

• 52% of all respondents said the church doesn’t provide adequate opportunities to help the suffering or marginalized in society

• 67% of all respondents said the church is not involved enough in addressing injustices in society

  
  

The implications of each of these insights are as follows:

There is a hunger within our Cedarbrook family to address societal issues as they relate to suffering and marginalized in society. We are uniquely positioned and have an opportunity to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21).

How can Cedarbrook capitalize on these insights?

• Bolster reach and effectiveness of Cedarbrook’s own relief ministries (Clarksburg Closet, Clarksburg CAN, public school outreach, etc)

• Develop and grow missions partnerships ministering the gospel and aid to suffering and marginalized people groups

Bolstering Cedarbrook’s Own Relief Ministries

Our volunteers are the heart of our benevolence and relief ministries, including Clarksburg Closet and Clarksburg CAN. However, their dedication is often stretched thin due to limited resources. To ensure we can continue to provide essential support to those in need, we aim to enhance our organizational capacity. This will allow our volunteers to spend more time connecting with individuals and less time on administrative tasks.

Goals

• Q2: Digitize inbound requests and outbound fulfillment tracking

• Q4: Systematize volunteer recruiting and scheduling

  
  

Developing partnerships ministering to marginalized people

Similarly, our ability to minister to unreached, marginalized people groups is limited to the availability of our dedicated volunteers. As a church, we believe God is calling Cedarbrook to be a disciple-making, missional church committed to planting new churches in the Baltimore-Washington DC metro area and beyond with the goal of reaching unreached people groups with the love of Christ. 

Goals

• Q1: Expand and develop our lay missions team to be able to fully support existing local and international missions partnerships and grow our missions capacity

• Q3: Extend our local and international missions partnerships by 20%

• Q4: Identify and build capacity for two short term mission trips for 2026