2025 Annual Report

WestSide Lutheran Church

15th Annual Meeting of WestSide Lutheran 

Agenda

  1. Call to Order and Adoption of Agenda

  2. Approval of Minutes

    1. Annual Meeting, January 19, 2025

  3. Annual Reports

    1. Pastor’s Report

    2. President’s Report

  4. Report of the Treasurer

    1. Statement of Financial Position

    2. Endowment Report

    3. 2025 Budget vs Actuals + 2026 Proposed Budget

    4. Peace Care Report

  5. Elections

    1. Nominating Ballot

  6. Other Business

    1. Approval of purchase of new classroom and fellowship hall chairs at a cost not to exceed $12,000.

  7. Adjournment

Our Mission

The Mission of WestSide Lutheran Church is to GATHER as a community of God, To GROW in faith, and to GO out to love and serve.

Our Values

In the joys, challenges, needs, and activities of our neighborhoods, community, and world.

Our life together is our life together, inclusive of multi-ages, abilities, and life stage.

At the center of our community is worship, where God gathers us so that we can hear and experience the grace of Jesus Christ.

The church is made up of sinners in need of forgiveness.  We do not pretend to be otherwise.

Unfussy, down-to-earth.

At a Glance

2025 By the Numbers

2025

Average
Sunday Morning
Worship Attendance
133 onsite
12 online

Easter Sunday
237

Christmas Eve
285

Members
371
(151 households)

Baptisms
4

2024

Average
Sunday Morning
Worship Attendance
130 onsite
12 online

Easter Sunday
247

Christmas Eve
238

Members
360 members
(151 households)

Baptisms
9

2023

Average
Sunday Morning
Worship Attendance
130 onside
13 online

Easter Sunday
225

Christmas Eve
288

Members
358 members
(149 households)

Baptisms
9

Looking Back

A few highlights from 2025

Serving Our Neighbors

With gifts of time and item donations, WestSide served the below organizations and ministries in 2025. Serving others is our call from Christ, and an excellent way to build community and grow in faith.

  • Church on the Street

  • Necessities for Neighbors

  • Food to You

  • Laundry with Love

  • The Banquet

  • Hayward Elementary

  • Shepherd's Table

Benevolences

Alongside gifts of service and item donations, WestSide committed budgeted funds to local ministries. This commitment is important to the ethic of generosity at WestSide, as it participates in and models "first-fruits giving," in which a portion of income is designated outside of the church as a gift of gratitude for God's provisions. In 2025, financial gifts were given to:

  • The South Dakota Synod

  • St. Dysmas Prison Congregation

  • LuMin Lutheran Campus Ministry

  • Church on the Street

Building Expansion

By God's grace and through the deep generosity of WestSiders, construction began on a building addition in 2025. New offices, classrooms, and gathering space are in progress with completion set for February 2026, along with a few cosmetic updates to the current building. Additional funds were also raised for furnishings. Highlights of this project include:

  • More space for students of all ages to learn and grow in faith in six additional classrooms with one flex room

  • Windows added to the sanctuary, looking into the new gathering space, to allow for overflow and comfortable worship viewing

  • Updated paint in the original building and the replacement of lights in the sanctuary

  • Brand new furnishings for the classrooms, including replacing fellowship hall chairs

  • $1.3M+ in gifts and pledges to finish this entire project without a mortgage, loan, or line of credit

Church and Neighborhood Events

In 2025, WestSide's annual Block Party saw over 450 attendees, with kids eating for free from local food trucks thanks to a generous gift. This long-running event has become a neighborhood favorite, with many people connecting to the church because of it and looking forward to it each year. Alternately, in 2025, a brand-new event was launched: a Kids' Clothing Swap. Tested out amongst the congregation, with hopes of expanding to neighborhood involvement in the future, the clothing swap invited people to bring in gently used kids' clothing, and then to take some from others in new styles and sizes. This buy-nothing event was focused on sharing and sustainability. All leftover items were donated to Church on the Street. At WestSide, we enjoy both tried-and-true events and new ideas that spark community and generosity.

PeaceCare at WestSide

We celebrate WestSide's ongoing summer care program, which has been in operation since 2021. Thanks to the amazing ministry and mission of Peace Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls, the program has successfully run for multiple summers with wonderful staff, fun-filled days for school-aged kids from multiple school districts, and financial independence. In 2025, WestSide made the transition to financially "own" the summer care program as a mission and ministry of the church. Registration is currently open for summer 2026!

THANK YOU, WestSiders, for all you give and share for the mission of our church: to gather, grow, and GO in God's world!