I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. – Philippians 1:3-6

My big job this week has been putting together some PowerPoint slides to go with Rebekah’s “pastor’s report” at WFPC‘s annual business meeting.

If you’ve never put together a really good slide presentation, then this will be hard to believe… but if you have, then you won’t be surprised to know that I have invested 12-15 hours to produce an eight-minute presentation.

I selected 105 slides, with an automatic advance set every four seconds. The math says a total of seven minutes, but there are always processing delays so it’ll likely be eight. I’ve included descriptive words and sentences on 100 of the slides, and multiple pictures on around 30. There are even a couple of jokes (if four seconds leaves enough time to “get it”).

What I put together is a snapshot of 2016. There’s no way to offer a complete report in less than a couple of thousand photographs – so instead I’ve gone for high impact images designed to offer a glimpse of what an amazing year we enjoyed as a body of believers.

It’s always difficult to tell a rich, full story in just a few words – or pictures; so what tends to work best is to sketch an outline when it comes to detail, but without compromising on feelings. Great stories rely more on emotion than description, so a photograph of a young family gathered around the font as Rebekah baptizes a child communicates far more than a collection of numbers enumerating baptisms, confirmations, new members, or other statistics.

Simply put, 2016 at WFPC was a great story. It’s a story better lived than told. It’s a story that’s still being experienced, and written, and enjoyed, and struggled with. It’s a story born in love, saturated with grace, and defined by promise.

If you want to see the slides, check this link: [office src=”https://onedrive.live.com/embed?cid=305510FA8D0858A5&resid=305510FA8D0858A5%211501&authkey=APBaDrSD7EePLjA&em=2&wdAr=1.3333333333333333″%5D

The only feature that may not work is the timing, and you’ll probably have to advance them using the arrows.

Enjoy – and then pour all that you are into the ongoing story that is your own church – DEREK