Dear OBJ Family,
Last year, Scott wrote in his letter that the "vision of our church is like a postcard capturing the work we hope to see three or four years from now." This vision is consistently prayed over, implemented, and guided by the Holy Spirit here at OBJ, and remains clear.
Our vision is that the authentic faith of the followers of Jesus at OBJC will be so compelling that the people and communities of the Gunnison Valley and beyond experience the transformation that only His gospel can provide.
Many of you have been instrumental in carrying out this vision for decades, and others, like me, have only been here a short time. Whether you are a full-timer here in our beautiful valley or a “some-timer,” thank you for your faithfulness over the past year. Leadership transitions are challenging for any organization, but they can be particularly difficult in a resort community. In Crested Butte, where the transient nature means we often see people come and go, it becomes even more challenging when someone who has pastored, cried, celebrated, and guided us for 13 years departs. During this period, your steadfastness and grace have been truly inspiring.
While farewells are never easy, I am thankful for the smooth transition that highlights the strength and unity of our community. Your unwavering dedication is evident in many ways: from warmly welcoming newcomers to actively participating in both existing and new ministries, we witness God transforming lives. As I look back, I especially want to express my gratitude to the staff. You probably already know this, but the staff here at OBJ is exceptional, and they have shouldered the transition's burden in many unseen ways. When you think of them, thank God for them, write them a note, and offer encouragement. They are a strong and faithful team, and I am blessed to work alongside them.
A particularly joyful highlight has been the significant increase in young adults joining our church. Their energy and fresh perspectives invigorate our worship and outreach, infusing the church with renewed vitality. Together, we have also made great strides toward our Horizon Fund, a vision for future housing that will deepen our impact here.
Looking ahead, I am filled with hope and excitement. Our shared journey continues, rooted in faith and community, as we build upon the strong foundation laid by those who came before us. Let us carry forward this spirit of care, humility, and faith, confident that God is guiding us into His future for our church. Thank you for your trust, prayers, and unwavering dedication. Together, we will continue to be a light in the valley. Or as Paul put it in Ephesians 3:20
Now to him who by the power that is working within us is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
I have continually been encouraged and blessed as I have seen our Heavenly Father call and guide our OBJC family this past year. We have seen the Senior Pastor transition at OBJC through an amazing process including all of OBJC. Although we are sad to see Scott and Claire leave and start a new chapter in their lives, we are confident in God’s leadership of our church and excited about where He is taking us. Now we are well along the way in welcoming Grant and his family into our church family and sitting under his leadership, teaching, and pastoral care.
In my role as Chairman of the Board of Trustees, I continue to be blessed by seeing God faithfully provide the resources needed to sustain the various ministries of OBJC. That is simply to follow Jesus. "He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church." (Colossians 1:17-18). His Kingdom that he has rescued us into, is not of this world and so as the Trustees and Staff prayerfully look towards the next year we ask Him to guide us as good stewards of his gifts through your generosity.
This past year, the people of OBJC generously gave more than $2 million to the work of the Kingdom. Our Horizon Fund campaign generated pledges of over $1.2 million, of which just over $1 million has already been received. These funds help ensure that we can retain excellent staff by providing financial support toward securing housing—an essential component of sustainable ministry in our community.
As of early March 2026, our general offering stands at just over $850,000, which is approximately 42% below our budgeted general offering for 2025. However, when Horizon Fund giving is included, 2025 became the largest overall giving year in our church’s history. Praise God for His kindness to our little mountain church through the generosity of people like you.
As we look ahead, we continue to trust God to provide for a growing church and expanding ministries. For that reason, we are recommending the approval of a budget that is similar to last year’s in total. However, we have given the budget a deep dive and rearrange several items and priorities to seek his eternal ministries. I am excited to see what God will do and look forward to joining with the entire OBJC congregation in praying for and serving our church. God is doing amazing things. Please feel free to reach out to myself or any of the other Trustees with any questions.
-Tyler Harpel, OBJC Trustee Chair
02/ Annual Attendance*
01 / Fiscal Year Giving*
This past winter, the Snow Squad was started up. Their mission is to help anyone in our community that is overly burdened by the yearly snow shoveling our winter brings. Though it was a light snow year, the Snow Squad has been able to connect with and care for those in our valley that are elderly, injured, widowed, or otherwise in need of some snow shoveling assistance. Many of those who have received assistance are not Christians but have experienced the love of Jesus this winter by the many volunteers on the Snow Squad. Each person receiving assistance from the Snow Squad receives help from the same volunteer throughout the winter so that long term relationships can be built and opportunities for gospel conversations can be opened.
In addition to the Snow Squad, this past fall two OBJC members explored the possibility of bringing the love and gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gunnison County Jail and were met with many open doors from the authorities at the jail. Since November, the OBJC jail ministry has been meeting with inmates on a weekly basis. The gospel has been shared and received by inmates and there have been dramatic spiritual transformations, and positive relationships built with the staff at the Gunnison County Jail. Recently, three new members of the ministry team have been added to conduct Bibles studies in Spanish and connect with the women in the jail as well. Praise God for new opportunities to love and serve our community!
OBJC's Mission:Oh Be Joyful Exists to see Gospel Transformation in the Gunnison Valley and Beyond.
So what did this look like? When our children were younger, they attended VBS and our family participated in many summer church cookouts and volunteer opportunities. As they grew, we became involved with the food pantry, the New Adams House, and the Adopt a Family at Christmas. In their teens, our daughter volunteered for VBS and participated in youth group activities. Our son was graciously invited by Tyler Hansen to participate in the praise team during the weeks we were in town. HIs service culminated in a summer internship under Jim Kunes.
Through the years, we have been blessed by the faithful leadership of OBJC and by a church family that has fostered lasting friendships, evidenced by the steadfast prayer support we received with Ed’s cancer diagnosis in late 2020. These prayers and the many calls and messages of encouragement meant so much to us.
We have been privileged to worship under three pastors: Jim Kunes, Scott Winn, and now Grant Hickman, each helping shape the life and mission of the church in meaningful ways. In 2024, we became Covenant Partners, a step that felt natural after so many years of calling OBJC our Colorado church home.
For nearly four decades, OBJC has held a special place in our lives. We are deeply grateful for the role it has played in our family’s story and for the role it continues to play as we begin introducing the next generation of our family to these beautiful mountains and to our Savior who created them!
People often ask why we continue to return to Crested Butte year after year. The beauty and adventure of the mountains are certainly part of the answer. The deeper truth is that OBJC and its people are a large part of what continues to draw us back. In fact, when we plan our annual trip to CB, one of the first questions we ask ourselves is how many Sundays can we be there.
Our connection with OBJC began in the fall of 1988 with a friend's recommendation. What started as a casual church visit soon became an anchor for our family vacations. As both the church and our family grew, OBJC remained a constant, nurturing our faith and fostering lasting friendships.
Our two children share our deep affection for CB and OBJC. We sought to instill in them that regardless of where we were (at home or on vacation), corporate worship in a firmly grounded church is an important and sustaining part of a Christian life. As we began spending more time in CB, we felt a desire to move beyond attending Sunday services and looked for ways to serve the church and the broader community.
Up until about four months ago, I knew Jesus was working in my life, but many days I wasn’t recognizing it—or even wanting it. I was lost and hurting, living day by day just trying to get through. I had settled for something I should never have been in to begin with. I wouldn’t fully turn my life over to Him. I was constantly going back and forth about trusting Him, and the result was that I felt miserable inside.
Then I made a drastic change in my life. That day, I prayed to Jesus and told Him that my life was His. I wanted to live for Him and follow the narrow path He leads us on. I prayed that I could glorify Him in everything I do. Since that day, my life has completely changed.
Jesus first began working in the little things. I started to feel comfortable being on my own again. A happiness I had been missing for a long time slowly returned. I began to enjoy my job again and even looked forward to going to work each day. In the beginning, it was still rough. I had a lot of healing to do from wounds that ran pretty deep. But deep down I knew Jesus was leading me on a new journey, and for the first time in a long time I was okay not knowing the outcome.
I began attending church regularly, and shortly after that I joined a small group. I had no idea how much Jesus would use that small group to change my life. He began working on bigger things. I was challenged to grow new friendships and to share my story without letting shame control me. He started stirring in me a desire to help people again. He also reminded me that we are all broken people living in a broken world. And day by day, I began to feel His presence with me.
As I found myself with extra time in my life again, I started praying that Jesus would help my new friendships flourish and that I would trust Him in them. I began investing more deeply in those relationships, and Jesus just kept filling my cup. Some weeks it felt like I could give and give and still have more to give. A friend once told me it seemed like I was overflowing with the Holy Spirit. Finally, I had words for what I had been feeling. I started saying yes to anything that had Jesus attached to it. I gave my time and listened to anyone who needed it.
If my story could have ended there, that would have been wonderful—but it didn’t. Some uncomfortable feelings began to surface. Each day I tried to turn them over to Him. Jesus showed me that, for the first time in a long time, I felt truly safe around this group of trusted people. I tried to keep those feelings to myself, but eventually I couldn’t. Jesus made me realize that it’s okay to admit when you’re not okay.
I’m incredibly thankful that He brought all of this into the light. He is teaching me how to sit with uncomfortable feelings and begin truly healing from them. Some scars run deep and will take time. But knowing that I can lay them at His feet—and that healing happens in His time, not mine—takes the pressure off.
Jesus has been moving mountains in my life lately, and I know He is just getting started. Now when I pray and ask Him to lead me, I do so with joy, trusting that wherever He leads, I will do my best to follow.
—Molly Cannon
“Let us carry forward this spirit of care, humility, and faith, confident that God is guiding us.”
-Grant Hickman
What a year! In just 12 months we learned Scott would be leaving us, started an audacious capital campaign to secure housing for staff, launched a robust search for a new Senior Pastor, made our way through a busy summer season, said goodbye to the Winns, survived the fall without a Senior Pastor, welcomed the Hickman family, had our biggest Christmas Eve ever, and witnessed August temperatures in March. It’s been a wild ride.
We are, undeniably, in a new season here at OBJC. And in the midst of change and upheaval, it can be really easy to lean into the plans and designs and machinations of man. We can place our hope in systems and programs. But as we’re told in James, we don’t know what tomorrow will bring and no amount of strategizing will ever change that. My experience has shown me the more I tighten my grip on the things I think will serve me, the more they betray me.
Years ago Jim Kunes asked me if I felt like OBJC was fragile and, without hesitation, I responded “yes.” In times of transition and in times of rock-solid consistency, we are fragile. I say that because the Bible says it. After warning us about tomorrow, James goes on to say “we are a mist that appears for a little time then vanishes.” Listen to me though, that’s not something to be afraid of. I believe it’s quite the opposite.
When we can embrace the changes, the fragility, and the mist we can see that we serve a God who is none of those things. He is unchanging, a firm foundation, and a solid rock. So finding ourselves in the discomfort of the world’s whims is exactly where we can be pushed to comfort in God’s steadfastness. In this new season, join me as we loosen our grip on our own ways and fix our hopes on His.