OG REPORT 2017

ONLY GOD * 

Report 

2017

LEADING 

PEOPLE 

INTO A 

TRANS- 

FORMING 

RELATION- 

SHIP WITH 

JESUS.

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

04 MOMENTS THAT LEAD TO MOVEMENT 

08 TRANSFORMATION 

14 LOVE WORKS 

18 FINANCIALS 

ONLY GOD REPORT 2017 - SOUL CITY CHURCH 003

ONLY GOD REPORT 

Our mission is to lead people into 

a transforming relationship with 

MOMENTS 

Whenever 

we 

gather, 

we 

gather 

to go. 

THAT LEAD TO MOVEMENT 

Jesus. We want to join God in his 

transformational love of the soul, 

in the city, to change the world. 

Whenever we gather, we gather 

to go. 

004 ONLY GOD REPORT 2017

SOUL CITY CHURCH 

ATTENDANCE * 

1,291 

WEEKLY ATTENDEES 

...and the Lord 

added to their 

number daily those 

who were being 

saved. 

acts 2:47 

919 

FIRST-TIME GUESTS 

Every week, God continues to 

add to the number of people 

pursuing a great faith adventure 

at Soul City Church. 

2016 

2017 

1,248WEEKLY AVERAGE 

1,291WEEKLY AVERAGE 


005


Leveraging 

our lives for 

God. 



SERVING * 

831 ACTIVE VOLUNTEERS * 

*THOSE WHO SERVE CONSISTENTLY ON TEAMS 

We believe community is 

built and transformation 

happens when people 

choose to serve together. 

There are many ways our 

church serves both in and 

outside our walls each 

and every week. Hundreds 

of people have chosen 

to go "All In" at Soul 

City and serve on dozens 

of teams throughout the 

church. 

167 FIRST-TIME VOLUNTEERS 

146 BACK 2 SCHOOL VOLUNTEERS 

407 CHRISTMAS STORE VOLUNTEERS 

204 SMALL GROUP LEADERS & COACHES 

110 BREAKTHROUGH URBAN 

MINISTRIES VOLUNTEERS 


007


TRA 

NSFO 

RMA 

TION 

EVERYONE 

IS ACCEPTED, 

AND EVERYONE IS 

EXPECTED 

TO GROW. 



Dione Scott's Story 

Dione Scott is a high school 

student who found Soul City 

Church in 2016 when her 

internship through Heartland 

Alliance placed her at Soul 

City Kids Camp. God used 

Soul City Kids Camp to show 

Dione His love and challenged 

her to persevere in 

trust, even when things were 

hard. 

"I was sitting on the floor at 

Soul City Church during the 

morning lesson time. The lesson 

that week was about how 

God was with me wherever I 

went. That sparked an interest 

in me, so everyday I came 

to work ready to learn along 

with the kids. I have a lot of 

family problems - so many 

that it often feels like too 

much for a teenager to deal 

with. I was starting to feel 

” 

it felt so good 

to be loved 

by God. 

-Dione 

depressed and weighed 

down by all the issues in 

my life. I know that God led 

me to Soul City because the 

more I learned about Him 

and embraced His love, the 

less pain I felt. After camp, I 

started my junior year of high 

school, and I got slammed 

with a ton of work. I was 

busy. I stopped praying, and I 

stopped going to church. The 

temptation was to just power 

through and do everything on 

my own. I got an email from 

my friend Rachel inviting me 

back to Soul City one day. I 

came to church that weekend 

and cried up a storm! It 

felt so good to be loved by 

God. Now, I try not to let anything 

come in between me 

and God. I'm not perfect, and 

life isn't always easy, but even 

in the moments when I don't 

remember to trust God, He 

always shows me mercy and 

forgiveness. Remembering 

that he is with me wherever I 

go helps me lean on Him and 

persevere." 


009


SMALL GROUPS * 

We were designed by 

God to live in community 

with one another. So we 

pray, support, confess, 

celebrate, and love as one 

body unified by Jesus. 

1,032 

TOTAL # OF UNIQUE PARTICIPANTS 

59 

AVERAGE # OF 

SMALL GROUPS 

One of the most exciting groups this 

year has been our "Soul Mates" group 

for engaged couples. Over 23 couples 

have participated in learning biblical 

principles for marriage. 

Circles are better 

than rows. 



Jonathan Boyden's Story 

"'Jonathan, you’re not my employee 

you’re my son.' Those words pierced 

me until I wept, and I began to understand 

that God wanted more than just 

my mind. He was after my heart too. 

I knew it was time to let go of trying 

to be overly-independent and to surrender. 

As I got into the water tank, I 

knew that I was beginning an exciting 

journey with Jesus, and I felt the relief 

of knowing my heart is safe with Him. 

Now I know that my identity is based 

in my belonging to Jesus. I know that 

Jesus loves me beyond words, that He 

has truly forgiven me, and He’ll NEVER 

leave me. So now, Jesus has my heart, 

and I am an example of what transformation 

looks like in public." 

129 


0011


189 

KIDS & STUDENTS 

ATTEND WEEKLY ON 

AVERAGE 

Partnering with families to lead kids and students into a 

transforming relationship with Jesus. 

65 

CONTAINERS OF PUFFS EATEN 

327 

BIBLE STORIES TOLD 

1,000 

LOLLIPOPS DEVOURED 



Soul City Kids Camp 

We Believe that Soul City 

Kids and Students are the 

now generation. They are 

the church of today, and our 

hope for tomorrow. 

We partner with families to 

help kids and students understand 

what it means to be 

fully loved by God. 

Our desire is for each of them 

to learn how to love, serve, 

and live more like Jesus. 

191 

The Big Find 

TOTAL CAMPERS 

SOUL * 

CITY KIDS 

3,000+ 

ATTENDEES 

& STUDENTS 


0013


LOVE 

This year Love Works partnered 

with ENLACE, a non-profit 

organization that equips 

local churches in El Salvador 

to transform their communities. 

ENLACE commits to a 

10 year relationship with a 

local church, during which 

they train and coach the 

church’s leaders to work with 

their communities to develop 

sustainable solutions in the 

areas of clean water, sanitation, 

health, housing, infrastructure, 

agriculture, and small business 

ventures. 



_WORKS 

living justly>doing justice 

LW GLOBAL * 

"One of the initial things that 

drew me to Soul City was its 

evident passion for all people. 

Since I’ve started attending 

Soul City, it has been clear 

that it doesn't matter who 

walks in the doors or who is 

being served, Soul City loves 

all people equally. So, I was 

beyond excited to hear that 

Soul City was bringing the 

same passion it uses to connect 

with and serve others 

locally to initiatives around 

the world. 

Isaiah 58:10 says 'And if you 

spend yourselves on behalf 

of the hungry and satisfy 

the needs of the oppressed, 

then your light will rise in the 

darkness, and your night will 

become like the noonday.' 

This call is so clear. Treat everyone 

as brothers and sisters. 

Lift them up. Encourage one 

another because we are all in 

this together. Enlace looks to 

communities to express what 

their needs are and empower 

them to establish plans and 

work with one another to 

create lasting change. Enlace 

allows for teams to travel 

from all over the world to 

both learn from and encourage 

these communities, but 

they believe that we are not 

coming to be the savior to El 

Salvador. 

Our team was able to visit 

with a few communities and 

implement something called 

an Eco Stove. In thousands 

of homes across rural El 

Salvador, families use open, 

wood-burning fires to prepare 

their daily meals. This cooking 

method has devastating 

effects. They ravage the 

environment, cause respiratory 

infections and even cause 

adults and children to die 

from smoke inhalation. It may 

seem small, but it was beautiful 

to see our team working 

alongside experts in El Salvador. 

We got to hear stories of 

the large impact that a small 

Eco Stove could make. 

I now have the privilege of 

leading a team from Soul 

City back to El Salvador, and I 

am beyond thrilled to expose 

eyes and hearts to this beautiful 

country." 

MADELINE HOLLER'S STORY 

Global Trip Leader 

Completed Eco Stove 


0015


LW LOCAL* 

educate. equip. mobilize. 

Doing justice can quickly devolve 

into a one-off experience that 

can be more about us than those 

we seek to serve. It is seeing 

those in need as people we are 

called to fix. But Living Justly is 

personal, it’s long-term, it’s partnership. 

Living Justly is knowing 

that, server or served, we are all 

equally broken and crying out to 

God to fix us both. 

At Love Works we educate, equip, 

and mobilize volunteers to 

transform the city and the world. 

Because no one’s identity, status, 

or circumstance makes them 

more in need of grace than another 

“what we do” is interesting, 

but "how we do it" is everything. 

There are no saviors here, only 

people who are guided by the 

example of The One who came 

to save us all. 

6,338 

VOLUNTEER HOURS SERVED 

LOVE WORKS WEEKEND 

01 

BACK 2 SCHOOL BASH 

02 

BREAKTHROUGH URBAN MINISTRIES 

03 

THE CHRISTMAS STORE 

04 

Over the course of two days, 450 volunteers 

mobilized to serve at 12 sites throughout 

Chicago, generating a total of 1,000 service 

hours! 

GRATITUDE WEEKEND 

05 

In partnership with Lou Malnati's, Soul 

City volunteers organized, packed, and 

distributed 1,200 baskets of food to families 

at Breakthrough Urban Ministries during the 

Thanksgiving season. 

Every year we throw the families of Brown 

and Dett elementary a big party to make 

sure their students have the supplies they 

need. This year 146 volunteers helped give 

594 backpacks to students! 

SOCIAL JUSTICE SPOTLIGHTS 

06 

Love Works has fostered a movement 

beyond social media commentary and 

into real dialogue with each other about 

social justice issues. Monthly sessions 

have focused on topics such as race + faith, 

homelessness, refugees, and more. 

Our volunteers help to foster community 

and fellowship as they distribute food at 

the Fresh Market and serve meals to the 

homeless guests at Breakthrough Urban 

Ministries. 

HURRICANE RELIEF EFFORTS 

07 

Immediately following the devastation of 

Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Soul City 

Church joined together to raise more than 

$18,000 to purchase dehumidifiers for 

Ecclesia Church Houston. 

The Christmas Store provides families from 

Brown and Dett Elementary an opportunity 

to purchase Christmas gifts and warm winter 

coats at greatly reduced prices. Families 

experience a Christmas Wonderland right 

here in the West Loop! In addition to The 

Christmas Store being a time of great hope, 

joy, and unity for our 1,056 volunteers and 

guests; all of the funds raised are donated 

back to the schools! The families at Brown 

and Dett raised $4,785 for their schools! 



02 

01 

03 

05 

06 

04 


0017

FINANC * 

IALS 

our response to a 

generous God. 

annual giving 

(YEAR-END 

PROJECTION) 

budget expenses 

55% PERSONNEL 

22% ADMINISTRATION & OPERATIONS 

10% LOVE WORKS & BENEVOLENCE 

13 % MINISTRY EXPENSES 

This year we hosted two amazing events 

to help people experience freedom and 

transformation in their finances. Our Budget 

Bootcamp and Money Wise Workshop 

taught people the basic tenants of wise 

stewardship and dove deeper into topics 

like making a budget, saving for the future, 

and getting out of debt. 

FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS, SOUL CITY HAS PASSED A VOLUNTARY 

AUDIT BY CAPINCROUSE. MORE DETAILED RESULTS ARE AVAILABLE 

UPON REQUEST. 

0018 

ONLY GOD REPORT 2017

FOR THE LOVE * 

ask. believe. commit. 

For The Love is about more than bricks and mortar. It’s about people. It’s about what happens 

when people leverage their gifts and generously respond how God leads them. 

$7M GOAL $5M GIVEN $2M REMAINING 

JACQUELINE NYENKE 

"In my For The Love experience the Lord has 

been a constant covering in what feels like a 

long, unsettled season. I was inspired by a passage 

in Genesis where God makes a promise 

to Jacob - to clothe, feed and bring him safely 

home... and God has been faithful! It's so amazing 

to see the building next door believing that 

God can provide a covering for many more 

people!!" 

MIKE GIBSON 

"It’s almost too much to put into words what 

my time at Soul City has meant to me. God is 

moving in this place and changing hearts in a 

very tangible way. So when For The Love was 

introduced, I was ready for anything God asked 

of me. That isn’t to say that it was an easy 

decision to give a significant amount of money. 

It took some serious soul searching. The 

conclusion I came to was simple – someone 

came before me and gave me the opportunity 

to experience God in a life-changing way, and 

now it is my turn to go before someone else 

and give them the same opportunity." 

JULIA DELBECCARO 

"It was so powerful to have the opportunity to 

sign the final construction beam before it was 

placed in our new building because of what it 

represents. Just as the beam is one of many 

unique and necessary parts in our new space, 

it represents the unique and necessary people 

who will fill this building. I am passionate 

about what God is doing through For the Love 

because it gives us the space to invite more 

people to experience the transforming love of 

Jesus." 

SOUL CITY CHURCH 0019

* 

1150 W. ADAMS ST // 

CHICAGO, IL 60607 

soulcitychurch.com

OG REPORT 2017

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