Annual Report

21 days of
PRAYER AND FASTING

2021 is a year worth celebrating! It was a year where we were able to gather together in-person again. We started the year in lockdown in lockdown, soon moved to Watch Parties with restrictions and then in September we were able to fully open our doors and fill the room.

Throughout 2021, we have had the privilege of welcoming new visitors into our buildings, discipling new believers, and reaching out to the community in practical ways through new initiatives. Our church is growing and we are celebrating that growth!

What you are about to see is a collection of stats and numbers. Each number represents a person whose life has been impacted by God, a person who is actively serving in church, or a person who has had an encounter with Jesus. Take a look at our Annual Report for 2021 and join us in reflecting on the highlights.

Online

Our online services became a lifeline for many, when lockdown forced us to gather online. From January to April, we saw an average of 259 screens watching along each Sunday. Once Watch Parties launched, many people were able to gather in our buildings, yet we are still seeing around 85 screens watching every week! Of course, you never know how many people are represented by a screen - in many cases, one screen represented a whole family!

Social Media is how we meet people where they're at. In 2021, our posts were collectively seen over 300,000 times. If you follow us on social media you will know that our posts aren't just about event promotion. We make a point of sharing content that inspires, encourages and uplifts our followers. So the message of hope is spreading, one post at a time!

Towards the end of 2021, we had the privilege of compiling a weekly show called, The Sound of Equippers, which was broadcast on TBN. Scroll down to take a look at the final episode of The Sound of Equippers.

Sunday Services

We began the year in lockdown, gathering together on Sundays via our online service. In April, we launched our Watch Parties, meeting in buildings again but at reduced capacity. It's hard to believe that it was only in September that we could fully open our doors and fill the room.

Despite lockdown and restrictions, we saw an average of 319 (Surrey), 67 (Richmond) and 33 (New Malden) people attending on a Sunday.

We absolutely love saying hello to first time visitors and in 2021 we were able to welcome 637 new visitors!

When somebody says yes to Jesus, all of Heaven celebrates, and so do we! In 2021 we are celebrating 169 salvations and 31 baptisms!

Adam and Leanne (pictured below) were new to Equippers Church in 2021. Leanne had been feeling desperate, with a lot of pressure in her life, so she decided to find a church. She emailed a whole lot of different churches, and out of all the churches she contacted, the only one to respond was Equippers. So Leanne dragged Adam along to church with her.

Adam came along, knowing it would be good for him. At the time, Adam had some issues with addiction, but they came to church and had an encounter with Jesus!

Adam and Leanne have both since been baptised, Adam is free from addiction, they are both doing Alpha, they're in a Connect Group, Adam serves on the Venue Team, and their lives have completely and radically changed!

People

Church is all about the people! We have a growing Kids and Youth ministry, with 324 (Surrey), 31 (Richmond) and 5 (New Malden) Kids and 93 (Surrey) and 8 (Richmond) Youth on our database. We were able to host our annual youth camp, The Brave Age, after not being able to do so in 2020. We had 74 youth registered and 9 of them said yes to Jesus! Our exciting Advance Programme is where people come and give God a year, while being equipped and empowered to extend the Kingdom in their world. In 2021 we had 7 Year 1 Advancers, and 6 Year 2 Advancers, representing 6 countries.

Connect Groups are at the heart of what we do as a church. These midweek gatherings give us an opportunity to provide pastoral support, practical care, discipleship and connection. We have 58 Connect Groups across our locations. Out of everybody on our adult database, 50% (Surrey), 62% (Richmond) and 30% (New Malden) of them are in a Connect Group!

Our amazing Volunteers help to make our Sunday and midweek gatherings happen. There are 291 people serving regularly and we are so thankful for them!

I love being able to be part of something bigger than myself, coming together to build God’s house each week and serve in His name is a privilege and honour! I am also grateful for the new friendships I’ve made with the wonderful people we serve alongside, and for the growth that serving has brought in my life.

– Anjana Karir (Hosting and Connect Groups)

Reaching Out

We started 2021 by launching Alpha Online! We had 454 people take part in Alpha. 124 of them were guests, many of whom were not Christian. We continued reaching out to the community in practical ways, with our Love Week initiative. Our Connect Groups rallied together and took part in 14 projects, such as supporting a food bank, doing gardening for a neighbour, creating hampers for a women’s refuge, and more! Throughout the year, we were able to assemble and donate 827 hampers, food baskets and parcels to schools, hospitals, universities, people’s homes, ambulance workers and others who we are connected with in the local community.

Giving

Thank you to every person who gives to Equippers Church. We want you to know that we value every single gift. We believe in good financial stewardship and our leadership team strives to use each gift wisely and for the greatest impact. Everything we do is possible through our collective giving and we want you to know that together we are making a massive difference!