Ministry Reports
Pastor’s Report
Pastor Alan Beauchamp
As we gather for this year’s Annual Vision Meeting, I want to start by looking back at all that God accomplished through our church in 2024. Together, we took hold of our mission to Bring Heaven Down and saw His kingdom break through in so many powerful ways. From opening the Northeast Community Park to hearing the moving stories during our testimonies service, God’s presence was evident in our community.
2024 was also a big milestone for Elizabeth and me as we celebrated ten years as pastors of Praise. This decade has been full of God’s faithfulness, countless memories, and plenty of moments to grow. Personally, it was a challenging year as I worked toward my doctorate and taught a preaching class at Evangel University. But through it all, we’ve been blessed by the love and support of this church family.
One of the highlights of 2024 was completing Phase 2 of the park. It’s now a place where families can connect, kids can play, and our community can thrive. Praise has become a bright spot in our neighborhood, a tangible way of showing God’s love to those around us.
For Elizabeth and me, another gift of 2024 was the sabbatical we were able to take. It was a much-needed time to reflect, rest, and hear from God. We came back renewed and filled with fresh vision for the future. Thank you for your prayers and support during that season—it meant the world to us.
Looking ahead to 2025, we’re building on everything God has done with boldness and faith. Our mission remains the same: to see God’s kingdom come and His will be done here as it is in heaven. This year, we’ll:
Focus on the next generation with our “Year of Kids” events and leadership development in student and children’s ministries.
Host monthly community events at the park, making it a place for connection and joy.
Offer new opportunities for families to grow in discipleship and faith.
Expand our missions efforts, including a trip to Croatia to serve missionary families.
Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” What if we lived that prayer every day? What if every act of service, every kind word, every step of faith brought heaven closer to earth? Together, we’re living out that vision, and I’m so grateful to be on this journey with you.
Let’s keep dreaming big, praying boldly, and trusting God to lead us forward. He is at work in and through Praise, and I know the best is yet to come.
With gratitude and expectation,
Pastor Alan Beauchamp
NextMoves Report
Pastor Dylan Hartsog
As I reflect on the past year at Praise, I’m so thankful for the ways God has continued to shape and guide our community in bringing heaven down to earth. We have much to be grateful for: the strength and connection of our small groups, the launch of Praise Classroom, the development of new ministry initiatives, and the steady progress in our communications and connections efforts. All of these steps are helping us live more fully into our identity as followers of Jesus.
Small Groups
Our small groups have continued to serve as communities where people practice the way of Jesus together. Over the last year, our focus on prayer and the Psalms helped us discover deeper intimacy with God, allowing Scripture to shape our prayers and guide our lives. We have witnessed group members practicing The Way together, caring for one another, and cultivating the gifts of the Spirit in each other. Through honest conversations, and supporting each other through challenging seasons, these communities truly embody our mission, bringing heaven down into our neighborhoods.
As we look forward to the coming year, our small groups will be journeying through the epic story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. By tracing the grand narrative of Scripture, we hope to understand our identity in God’s story and our calling within His redemptive plan. Through this study, we trust the Holy Spirit to further equip us, so we can more effectively share Jesus’ love and light with the world around us.
Praise Classroom
This fall, we launched Praise Classroom, a new ministry initiative designed to equip individuals more fully for the way of Jesus. We have been humbled by the testimonies of spiritual growth, renewed faith, and transformed lives that have emerged from these courses. Through them, individuals have gained valuable tools and insights to strengthen their walk with Christ, improve their understanding of Scripture, and embolden them to share their faith more confidently.
In the coming year, we have an exciting lineup of courses, including “How to Study the Bible,” “Reaching Jehovah’s Witnesses,” and others that meet the diverse needs of our congregation. Praise Classroom will remain a hub of ongoing discipleship, fostering theological depth and practical application, helping every believer become a more effective representative of Jesus in daily life.
Northeast Community Park Grand Opening
A significant highlight of the year was the kickoff of Northeast Community Park. Officially opening the park provides a welcoming, vibrant space for neighbors to gather. We are already seeing relationships formed, conversations sparked, and new opportunities to serve and support the well-being of those around us. We are actively bringing heaven down in our community—one conversation, one activity, one friendship at a time.
Staffing & Communications Developments
Another major milestone was the consolidation of several part-time positions into a full-time Communications and Connections Director role. We are thrilled to have welcomed Bill Shackelford into this position. Under Bill’s leadership, we have taken significant steps forward in our digital communication efforts. We revamped our online presence, replacing our old praise.church site and integrating praise.fyi content into a new, more dynamic and user-friendly platform. We are also leaning into short-form video to connect with people on social media, sharing powerful stories and encouraging messages in a format that is easy to access and share.
The team’s work with contractors and volunteers has helped us lay the groundwork for clear next steps to get connected and involved at Praise. We are creating connect and team cohorts—21-day experiences that provide a fast track for new guests to become fully engaged at Praise. These cohorts are designed to empower people with practical insights, tools, strong relationships, and clear pathways for service. Through all of this, we hope to lay a strong foundation of culture ready to bring heaven down—in our circles, our community, and on every continent.
Looking Forward
As we set our eyes on the coming year, we are excited for what the LORD is doing. We have seen the faithfulness of God in growing our small groups, launching Praise Classroom, improving our communications, and investing in our community spaces. Now, we will continue building on this foundation, seeking fresh ways to cultivate spiritual growth, foster meaningful relationships, and serve our neighbors. Let’s BRING HEAVEN DOWN!
Worship Report
Pastor Nichole Hartsog
Looking back on 2024, I’m filled with gratitude and awe for all God has done through the Worship Department. This has been a year of growth, creativity, and faithful service, made possible by the dedication and passion of our incredible volunteers.
The heart of our ministry is the people who selflessly give their time and talents to serve. This year, we celebrate the invaluable contributions of:
Welcome Teams, who create a warm and inviting atmosphere for everyone who walks through our doors.
Prayer and Altar Team, who faithfully intercede for our church family and those seeking God’s presence.
Music and Production Teams, who work tirelessly behind the scenes and on stage to bring worship to life.
Online Greeters Team, who ensure that those joining us from afar feel just as connected and valued as those in the room.
To every volunteer, your service is not just seen—it is felt. You embody what it means to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
“Bring Heaven Down” - A New Song of Worship
This year also marked a significant milestone for our ministry with the release of the original song, Bring Heaven Down. Written and performed by members of our worship team, this song has become an anthem for our church.
Looking Ahead
As we step into the new year, we do so with hearts full of expectation for what God will continue to do through this ministry. We are committed to creating spaces where people can encounter the presence of God, and we are excited to see how He will use us all—volunteers, staff, and church family alike in 2025.
To every volunteer, supporter, and member of our church family: thank you for making 2024 unforgettable. Together, let us continue to lift up His name and bring heaven down.
Blessings,
Pastor Nichole
Kids & Early Childhood Report
Pastor Heather Marble, Ashlee Shipley & Hillary Callahan
2024 has been an amazing year in Praise Kids and we are so thankful for each person who has said “YES!” to serving our kids.
Early Childhood:
We had two incredible leaders join our Early Childhood Team this year. Ashlee Shipley is our Nursery Coordinator and Hillary Callahan is now our Preschool Coordinator. They both have been leading well in developing the teams in our Nursery and Preschool Ministry. We are also blessed in our Early Childhood with some amazing coaches (Amber Hall, AJ Fish, Katie Graefser, Hailey Smith, Heather Hembree, and Karissa Jefferson).
Our Nursery and Early Childhood Ministries at Praise are AMAZING and that is because of the coaches and the incredible team of volunteers each week who come in and teach our little ones in fun and creative ways. The team truly makes the Bible come alive in their lives. It is so amazing to see our kids worshipping, memorizing scriptures, and growing in the faith.
We were able to host our first Early Childhood family fun day this summer and our hope is in 2025 to add more connection moments in our ministries for kids and their parents.
Praise Kids:
What a year we have had in Kids Church! This year we changed our service structure to add in a longer small group element and that has been going well. We are so thankful for each one of our small group leaders. We also had the kids participate in an Ephesians challenge. There were 20+ kids and leaders who read the entire book of Ephesians this year. Our Kids are learning and growing in their walk with God and having fun!
Sunday Night Groups:
Our kids are loving our Sunday PM Groups! We are so thankful for our Rainbows Team, Royal Rangers, Girls Ministries, Timothy Team and Fun Arts Teams! The kids have been so excited to come on out on Sunday Evenings and they are having a blast. Rangers launched rockets, the boys learned cooking skills, Timothy Teams learned light writing and created crafts. Girls Ministries helped create and develop a lemonade stand to raise money for missions. Thank you to all the leaders who make the evening groups special!
Junior Bible Quiz:
Junior Bible Quiz is growing and expanding!! Our kids have been doing such a great job memorizing scriptures and learning about the Bible. We currently had 1 Peewee Team, 1 Basic Team and an A level team!
Laura Goodrich, Heather Saleske, Stephanie Peters, Kitina and Bryan Braithwaite are leading this year’s teams, and we are so thankful for them and their leadership. For not just teaching the kids to memorize facts, but to make the scriptures they are memorizing apply to their lives.
Sunday School:
During our Sunday School time we offer Nursery, Preschool, and 3 options for Elementary Age Students. For Elementary age students, we have a Grade K – Grade 1 class, Grade 2 – Grade 5 class, and Junior Bible Quiz.
For our students in Elementary, we are having the Sunday school lessons introduce what the kids will be learning about in Kids Church and help the kids go deeper into the lessons. Our goal is to have Sunday School and Kids Church work together to help reinforce the message each week. (Repetition is the Key to Learning!)
Thank you to our Sunday School team for investing each week in the kids’ lives.
Kids Camp:
Kids Camp was so much fun! We had over 60 kids and leaders in attendance. Liz Hoffman was our camp speaker at camp and one of our favorite moments was seeing the kid’s worship. Liz did an amazing job teaching the kids about what it means to worship. Thank you to everyone at Praise who continues to support sending kids to camp. Thank you to every leader who gave a week to invest in our kids and help them have this amazing opportunity.
Outreaches:
We had such a fun year with the Princess Brunch, Family Lego Derby, Date Night, 5th Grade Hang Outs, and so many more fun opportunities to connect with our kid and families at Praise and in the Community.
Thank you again to everyone who has said “yes” to investing in kids at Praise. We truly could not do what we do every weekend without you. We cherish your prayers, your willingness to volunteer, to speak into kids’ lives, the support you give, and the encouragement you bring to our kids.
2025 is going to be an exciting year as we head into A Year of Kids! Our heart and hope is to reach out more in the community through the park and help build more connections with our neighbors. We also be launching Summer to the Max and other fun events for our church family to be part of and invite their circles.
God is going to do some BIG things in 2025 in and through our Kids Ministry and we are excited to be part!
Psalm 78:4
We will not hide these truths from our children;
we will tell the next generation
about the glorious deeds of the Lord,
about his power and his mighty wonders.
Youth Report
Pastor Daniela Ballew
2024 has been a transformative year at Praise Youth, filled with growth, new opportunities, and powerful encounters with God. A key quote that has guided our year is: “Comfortable people don’t change the world, uncomfortable people do.” This theme has resonated throughout our ministry as we’ve stepped out in faith, embracing change and growth even in discomfort, and witnessing God’s favor and transformative power.
A Year of New Beginnings: This year, we embraced “new” in many areas, and it’s been a year of significant change and divine purpose. Here are the highlights:
1. New Service Times & Location:
We moved our youth services to Wednesday nights and shifted to the North Hall. This change has created a welcoming space for deeper worship, spiritual encounters, and growth, allowing students to invite friends and build lasting connections.
2. New Small Group Structure:
By launching small groups based on age and gender, we’ve seen students develop deeper relationships and grow in their faith. These groups provide a space for vulnerability and mutual support.
3. New Opportunities for Impact:
Events like Hangouts with PD, Praise Youth Raw & Unfiltered, and Turkey Bowl have been opportunities for students to invite friends and share the love of Jesus. It’s been incredible to witness new faces and the impact on both guests and students.
4. New Youth Leaders & Parental Involvement:
Our team of volunteers continues to be amazing, and the addition of a Parents Committee has been a game-changer, helping with event support and increasing parental engagement in youth ministry.
5. New Community Engagement:
This year, we connected with local schools, blessing Hillcrest’s soccer and wrestling teams with meals and events. God has opened doors to reach students beyond our church walls.
6. New Discipleship Class – Special Forces:
The Special Forces discipleship program has been instrumental in fostering spiritual growth. Six students completed this class, developing a deeper relationship with God and stepping into leadership roles within the ministry.
7. New Fine Arts Vision:
Twelve students participated in Fine Arts this year, showcasing their God-given talents. We raised $5,000 to send qualifying students to Nationals, seeing tremendous growth in their skills and confidence.
A Year of Divine Purpose:
Looking back, it’s clear that this year has been orchestrated by God. The changes we’ve embraced, both big and small, have all been part of His plan. Our students are hungry to encounter God, and their faith is growing. We are now a ministry marked by a desire to see Jesus awaken our generation.
Looking Ahead:
As we move forward, I encourage everyone to continue embracing discomfort and growth, trusting that God will use these challenges to change lives. Comfortable people don’t change the world—uncomfortable people do. Together, we will keep pushing forward, impacting the Kingdom of God. The best is yet to come!
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,
declares the Lord,
plans for welfare and not for evil,
to give you a future and a hope.
Thank you for being a part of this journey. Let’s continue to grow, serve, and make a lasting impact for God’s glory.
International Ministries Report
Pastor Minhee Lee
The year 2024 has been a very meaningful year for the International Ministry because this ministry began with God’s calling. The grace that God poured out during the year was tremendous. People from more than 20 countries participated in the church. Many non-believers visited and became a part of the community. There were salvations, healings and strong relationships that were built.
International Ministries (IM) Service:
We started out with sermons in both Korean and English. We sang in English, Korean, and Japanese when we praised. However, God gave us a bigger vision and added Spanish to our worship. We are seeing an increase in the number of Spanish speakers. We plan to add Spanish and other languages to our sermons in 2025 so that more people can participate. Also, the number of visitors who speak Spanish but do not speak English well has increased. Our goal is to evangelize more people by using various language translation apps. IM is working hard on team building, and the leaders in each section are working very hard. Whitney Lee is leading the Greeting team, Anjuni Mingus is involved in the sound and overall worship preparation, and Rocio Romo is part of the mentorship and preaches monthly and leads communion. The worship team has two main leaders, Destiny and Phillip, and many volunteer musicians. We have a staff meeting every 4th Saturday to discuss each section.
Post-Service Discussion Time:
After the sermon, we always had a small group discussion with three questions based on the content of the message. It was a good opportunity to listen to the sermon, apply it, share our experiences, and build fellowship in the Lord. We appointed discussion leaders every week to lead the discussion, and through this time, we were able to have deeper fellowship.
Tutoring (English, Korean, Japanese, Spanish):
Before the 6 o’clock service, we have tutoring. We teach English, Korean, Japanese, and Spanish. English is taught by Barbara Kennedy, Korean by Minhee Lee and Deborah Perez, Japanese by Minhee Lee and Philip Prokopenko, and Spanish by Rocio Romo. Many students are interested in learning other languages, especially those who do not believe in Jesus or are interested in missions. And for those who do not know English well, teaching English is also a very important part.
Potluck
We have a potluck every 4th Sunday. This is a great way to evangelize and many people come together to help with the potluck. Dianne, Kari and Jiwon set up the food and clean up after the potluck, and Anjuni oversees and helps with the overall situation.
Testimony Service
IM holds a testimony service the week of the potluck. It is a 30-40 minute testimony time after the praise. The testimony time is a time when anyone can participate. Usually 3-4 people give their testimony, which is very powerful, and I can tell the Holy Spirit works through this time.
Events: Movie Night, Branson Field Trip, Game Night, Fellowship & Hangout
We have held many events for international students and various people to evangelize. We have movie night to promote fellowship, and we also went on a Branson field trip for international students who do not have cars. We are also planning to go to Kansas City together. We are planning Game Night this Saturday. Although it is not regular, we have a Bible study where we eat dinner together and study the Bible, and through that, two Japanese people recently accepted Jesus. We go to the nature center or go hiking together, and we are working hard to promote fellowship and evangelize through many different events. In the summer, through International Worship Night, people who did not know Jesus came to the Lord and there were healing testimonies.
Outreaches (MSU Chi Alpha, Evangel, OTC, etc.)
I regularly attend MSU Chi Alpha International Life Group every Friday. And Evangel University has Praise International Ministry as a recommended church for Anthropology and various other subjects.
And we regularly visit MSU, Evangel University, OTC to promote or network with them. They provide us with various opportunities for evangelism when they have events. For example, we were able to promote International Ministry through a break time event at OTC, and we also had the opportunity to meet and network with international students who serve at international festivals in middle and high schools.
And most international students help us with rides when they need them, and we also provide rides for students who want to attend worship.
Strong Bond
The greatest strength of IM is that everyone actively participates in ministry leadership, and people of various nationalities and languages serve each other without prejudice. We always voluntarily do outreach, such as inviting international students who may be excluded to our homes or having meals together at the end of the year or various events. The atmosphere of International Ministry is very family-like, and I think that this is a global mission field. There are various races, cultures, and languages coexisting.