Welcome
2017 was an amazing year! Here’s a quick look back, and a bit about our vision for 2018. You’re invited.
Some fun facts from 2017 at Dayspring:
flood buckets supplied
requests for prayer
donut holes served
cups of coffee served
visitors to Dayspring
average weekly worship attendance
weekly live stream views
new members
volunteer hours
Dayspring Diamond
In 2017, we continued to pursue the Mission and Vision God has given us as a church. Today, we can’t help ourselves: we have to share it with you again as we look forward together to God’s future for Dayspring in 2018. We pray that you are as excited as we are about what this means for our future!
Dayspring has an incredible opportunity to introduce our neighbors to the power of Christian community and decrease the number of spiritually disconnected people in the “Dayspring Diamond”.
In the next 5 years (2023), we will continue our focus on reducing the number of spiritually disconnected people within the “Dayspring Diamond” by 15%, with a special emphasis on introducing young families to a Christ-filled life within Christian community.
Nearly one out of three households within the “Dayspring Diamond” (South Loop 323-Flint-Bullard-Whitehouse) is completely disconnected from a church home, and 3 out of 5 people attend church once a month or less! While many of our neighbors come from “churched” backgrounds, they no longer identify with or invest in a vital faith-life.

WHAT TO EXPECT:
• Partnership Development
• Groups Development
• Leadership Development
• Campus Development
We also see that 70% of the population in the “Dayspring Diamond” is younger than 50 years old, primarily consisting of families with young children (including single/divorced parents) who have never experienced the transforming power of the Body of Christ.
We see a day in which families in the “Dayspring Diamond” are healthier and more stable because of God’s work through us.
Every person deserves the opportunity to be invited and welcomed into the family of God! We believe God uniquely positioned Dayspring to move the needle and make a measurable impact in the lives of spiritually disconnected people that live in our “backyard.”
We’re passionate about equipping every person at Dayspring to identify one person per quarter, pray for them, and then invite them into a Christ-filled life within a Christian community (Dayspring or any other church).
Worship

Sunday morning worship is the heart-beat of our community – it’s where we connect with each other and with God! Our staff works with a team of over 50 volunteers every Sunday morning to create an experiential setting in which every person who walks through our doors will have the opportunity to encounter Christ. For those beyond our walls, we have a team of volunteers dedicated to hosting LIVE Online Worship experiences for those who can’t make it to Dayspring on Sunday mornings. Dayspringumc.tv is a window into the work of God at Dayspring for those that have never been, providing an opportunity for God’s word to meet them where they are, while giving them a window to see into the community worship experience at Dayspring. Whether someone joins us for Online Worship or at Dayspring, Sunday morning is the “front door” for people coming to church for the first time (or the first time in a long time)! We can’t wait to see what God has in store for 2018!
Groups

In 2017, Dayspring groups continued their progress toward becoming a place where our people Connect, Grow and Love. With the addition of 8 new Groups and 12 new Group leaders, we were able to provide the experience that is Dayspring Groups to over 250 people looking for a place to belong. As we head deeper into 2018, we are very excited about the prospect of living out God’s call to serve others, by encouraging each Group to find ways that they can serve within the church and our extended community. If you have not yet found your Group – your place to belong, contact Pete Aubin
Kids

Dayspring Kids exists to teach kids about Christ in a way that is fun, engaging and age appropriate. We believe that God loves every child, and that He wants to have a relationship with each one. That’s why on any given Sunday, you can see our nursery busy with toddlers and babies, and our preschool class singing, dancing, and jumping as they learn that God loves them. Also, our elementary kids spend time with adult mentors in small group settings, while our preteen class discusses the more difficult questions about God and their faith. Dayspring Kids is a safe place where we average 100 children in worship each week. This is all made possible by an incredible crew of volunteers who are willing to give their time, energy and resources to invest in the kids.
In 2017, Dayspring Kids connected to God during Sunday morning worship, grew in their faith through special events and loved our community by participating in mission opportunities. Last summer, we hosted two different Vacation Bible Schools; one was for preschool kids, and a second was for elementary aged kids, so that they could each grow closer to Jesus in age-appropriate ways. Our kids also participated in fun mission events such as the Great Blanket Fort Adventure, which taught about the issue of homelessness and gave them an opportunity to directly serve our homeless brothers and sisters in Tyler!
We believe that God has great things in store for 2018! Our Sunday morning Kids services will continue to adapt to the various challenges our children face, while being creative within our space, as attendance continues to rise. Our partnership with Jack Elementary School also continues to grow! We currently have 28 adults mentoring love-starved students at the school, in accordance with our Mission. Our work at Shiloh Pines Mobile Home Park will also expand as we will be leading Vacation Bible School there for the first time. Our Homepoint center in the lobby is ever-growing with excellent resources for families, and we dream of a church culture where parents feel equipped and confident to help their children develop a life-long love for Jesus. Several upcoming mission opportunities will help our families to serve in our community together. In all this, we would love your help. To participate in the work God is doing in Dayspring Kids, click the button below!
Students

2017 was an incredible year in the life of our DSM students! 22 seventh graders completed our Cornerstone (confirmation) class and were confirmed into the life of the church, a new middle school girl’s small group (#godsgirls) was established with 8-10 girls participating in fellowship and service activities throughout the summer and 2017-18 school year, and much more! Our weekly attendance continued to grow in 2017, with an average of 55-60 students on Sunday nights, and 13 regular small group adult volunteers!
DSM is committed to creating opportunities for our students to experience servant-leadership. Last Summer we held two week-long local mission camps, during which 13 high school students and 5 adults from Dayspring partnered with 3 churches to build wheelchair ramps, repair porches, paint homes and clean yards at more than 20 homes in Baytown Texas. Our middle school students stayed local by serving primarily within the Dayspring Diamond area (the diamond shaped area between S. Tyler, Flint, Bullard and Whitehouse). 45 mid-high students and 16 adults prepared meals at the East Texas Food Bank and Lanes Chapel UMC food pantry, and also built 3 wheel chair ramps, provided porch and step repairs to 4 homes, painted porches, decks, and shutters at 4 homes, and completed yard work on 5 additional homes!
In 2018, Dayspring Student Ministries (DSM) continues to meet on Sunday nights from 5:30-8pm to share a meal, play games, connect with each other and grow in our faith. Join us!
Finance
We ended 2017 with a bang! Earlier in the fall of 2017, ministry needs were outpacing giving, so Dayspring’s Finance Committee and staff worked hard to be good stewards of the resources we had, and to begin a process of better communicating our financial needs with the church. Your response was overwhelming! Today, we’re well positioned to continue pursuing ministry opportunities as God leads, and have created a new budget that will position us for greater financial and ministry success in 2018. This year, we will continue to trust in God’s provision for Dayspring, while regularly communicating the financial needs and ministry successes of the church!