The HGM resources have continued to help Thrive Church over the past several years. Usually, the law of diminishing returns kicks in, and when that happens, the church using those strategies will completely abandon the plan. Sometimes this is needed. However, the resources and strategy HGM offers are principle-based. Some timeless strategies that continue to help our church are the baptism planning strategy after a wave, the focused generosity series with a God’s Guarantee attached at the end, and the volunteer recruitment month. Thrive Church has been practicing these principle-based strategies for several years. The results vary, but there are always results that glorify God and build the Kingdom.
Last year, Thrive Church saw 50 people water baptized. We celebrate God's faithfulness in this. However, this year, we baptized 47 people in one Sunday. The Lord moved so powerfully that Sunday at our Richmond City location, people spontaneously were still getting baptized after the worship service had ended.
We were able to see 104 people total get water baptized in 2024, thanks to the power of the Holy Spirit and our commitment to utilize the HGM Wave Model Plan for baptisms!
Generosity was always a scary subject for me as a pastor. Talking about money was difficult. I would preach a sermon now and then. However, when HGM shared the Generosity Series plan of preaching 3-4 messages followed by a 90-day tithe challenge called “God’s Guarantee,” I wanted to see how the Lord could use this strategy. We have seen at least a 10% increase in total giving every year. In 2024, we saw the Lord use this strategy to help us increase by 22% in giving in the total month. We have had the most generous year ever! God always provides. We had an expense of over $70,000.00 in A/C and a Boiler replacement at one of our locations. This helped us break even for the year!
We all know volunteers are the key to the ministries of the local church. This year, we used the August volunteer recruitment plan. We had a video of people who served in a department, and each week, we showed the video with sign-ups at a service table in the back. We had 30 people sign up to serve, and several stepped up to move into lead roles!
I am so thankful for the Biblical strategies that HGM offers. These help every church of every size and style engage its people. I want to encourage you that if you have never utilized the strategies of HGM or stopped due to diminishing returns, then consider HGM and what the Lord can do with using some simple but powerful strategies for your church.
Kevin Bordeaux
Pastor Kevin gave his life to Christ at 19 in 1999 after battling drug and alcohol addiction. Kevin did not start off in the traditional church ministry setting. From 1999-2003, he played in a Christian band. He wrote songs, played, and managed the band for four years. They recorded four albums and toured for three of the four years. In 2003, he felt the call to enter church ministry as a pastor. It was a church that was dying and was called "Courts of Praise." He met with 22 people, most of which were Senior Citizens, to share the idea of launching a brand-new church. They officially launched in Chesterfield in 2012. They launched another campus in the city of Richmond in 2014. There were around 25 senior citizens who had a church that was dying fast. They became Thrive Church Richmond City Campus. But Pastor Kevin considers his greatest ministry is being a Dad. He has one son. In his free time, he loves coaching his son Dawson's sports teams and promoting healthy living to those around him. Pastor Kevin serves also in church consultation and is a freelance writer for Christian Ministry websites.
