To our Folsom Family,

The Apostle Paul wrote a great letter to the church in Corinth that he pastored and in it he said:

“Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches…. they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. 5 And they exceeded our expectations…” (2 Corinthians 8:1-5).

He is saying: there is power in hearing what God is doing in and through the churches that made up the family of churches he oversaw, and the same is true today. There is so much power in hearing what God is doing among all of the churches that make up this amazing family called Bayside. So we wanted to give you a glimpse of what 2024 looked like, to say thank you and celebrate with you.

Every once in a while, something really special happens –

Every once in a while, God starts with something small –

And 29 years ago, a small group of 26 people gathered to pray in Cindy Uhler’s living room and Bayside church was launched – because …

Every once in a while, God decides to do something breathtaking – That is exactly what has happened at Bayside Church in 2024. The more we have focused on Loving God, Teaching God’s Word, and Unleashing Compassion, we have seen God moving in breathtaking ways.

It has felt like revival as people have made commitments to Christ in record numbers! Adventure Christian School has grown to be the largest Christian School in the greater Sacramento region. Baptism records have been shattered, attendance has flourished, service projects and community outreach have multiplied. Historic numbers of students and adults involved in our Student Ministries and serving in Mexico. The Bible Conference exploded, and in January is multiplying for the first time. Our Thrive Leadership Conference challenged and encouraged almost 4,000 Christian leaders. New campuses were launched, new buildings acquired, and so much more (see below the full and amazing report).

When we look at everything God did across all nine Bayside campuses this year, we can only say, “Thank you God for your provision, blessings and especially for all of the amazing Baysiders you used to do your work.”

And here’s the best part: We are JUST GETTING STARTED!

As we have prayed and listened to God, God has given us an even bigger vision. Why? Because Jesus came for everyone. And because we believe it’s never too late for anyone.

God has given us a vision as a church that is God-sized and so bold, and we’re chomping at the bit to roll it out for you in 2025. No more playing it safe; it’s time to go all in on what God has planned for us and it is huge! We are going to see more lives changed and more ministry launched than ever before. To see this happen can we ask that you help us finish 2024 strong to set us up for an amazing 2025? You can do that in two ways:

• Pray for people to come to faith during our upcoming Christmas services. Across 9 campuses, we will do over 30 services and host more than 30,000 guests. Pray that thousands of hearts surrender to Christ.
• Would you prayerfully consider a strategic year end gift to help us maximize this and start the new year strong?

Finally, we want to say a big THANK YOU for all you’ve done! Your faithfulness, generosity, and commitment to be instruments God uses to change lives is inspiring.

2024 IN REVIEW

Check out these amazing highlights from just this past year. These are just snippets of the bigger story, but we know you’ll join us in praising God for every single one of them.

• We grew by 1400 people over last year as a church!
• 1,628 baptisms church wide – which is a record by far.
• 36 baptisms at … wait for it …. Folsom Prison.
• 36,000 at Christmas Eve services with over 1,400 decisions for Christ!
• Record attendance at The Bible Conference, Unleashed Youth Conference: 1356, and Thrive.
• Our Orange County campus bought an amazing building.
• Our Auburn campus got into an amazing facility they can use 7 days a week, and is now running 3 services.
• 8,000 counseling sessions out of our Bayside counseling department.
• Over 2,000 local ministries served.
• 2,200 kids now have a future because you sponsored them through the #Chosen initiative.
• We planted Bayside Auburn and it is growing.
• The Mexicali youth mission trip: 880 students.
• The largest Breakaway Kids Camps ever (9,332 kids across campuses)
• Launched the Bayside Business Ministry, which among cohorts and small groups, saw every single Business Leaders Roundtable sold out with 500+ in attendance, most of whom do not attend our church (yet!)
• Enchanted Special Needs Prom: 250 Guests and over 450 volunteers, along with 300 parents taking part.
• Thrive College almost doubled in size this past year.
• Launched the Thrive Podcast Network that has reached tens of thousands with 7 amazing shows.
• Released Thrive Worship Album: Praises and Prayers.
• 50 Volunteers sent to Convoy of Hope’s New Distribution Center in Sacramento and made 2,000 homeless bags that were distributed in Los Angeles on Skid Row.
• 35 Volunteers sent to The Placer Food Bank and sorted food that was distributed to 700 families.
• Hygiene kits were given to help support 2,000 homeless.
• We served over 700 staff a BBQ lunch at Folsom Prison.
• Dream Bedroom makeover for a child battling cancer.
• Parking Lot Garage Sale made tens of thousands to help homeless and kids summer camp scholarships.
• We hosted 4 “Carechella” events, offering respite nights for foster parents to drop off their children and enjoy a night out. Over 160 individuals benefited from these events.
• Unleashed Compassion at Christmas, which included:
  • 5,000 Operation Christmas Child Boxes
  • 150 Bikes to kids that are battling Cancer
  • 500 Cancer Bags of Hope for Cancer Patients
  • 500 Military Care Packages
  • 3,000 coats for Homeless Kids in Placer County
• 1,000 gifts for kids in Foster Care

All of that is Bayside Church globally, but in that bigger picture is our own Folsom campus, which God did some amazing things at:

• Saw over 112,000 people come through our doors through weekend services and midweek offerings.
• Launched a weekly FourFive ministry for our 4th and 5th graders this fall, already with 45 regular attendees weekly.
• Celebrated 240 raised hands.
• Hosted 2 worship and prayer nights, launching our church deeper into prayer and worship culture.
• Grew our Celebrate Recovery nights, seeing nearly 300 people weekly coming through the doors to work on their hurts, habits, and hang ups.
• Celebrated 114 baptisms, people publicly declaring their relationship with God!
• Hosted our largest outreach event at the Folsom campus to date, Trunk or Treat, which saw over 3,800 people on our campus during the 2 hour event.
• Loved on over 9,000 volunteers, without whom we could never pull off what we do weekly without!
• had 440 campers come to Breakaway – our largest year yet.

You can see why we stand back in awe of what God has done this year! Thank you for your generosity. Can we ask that you help end this year strong financially so we can see the work of God continue in the lives of so many in our church, our cities, and around the world. Thanks family!

Your giving, serving and heart for the mission of Jesus is so appreciated!

With all the gratitude in our hearts,
Brian, Brannon, and the entire Bayside Folsom Staff