Dear Servants,
I hope your summer has been filled with experiences that take you out of your routine, giving you perspective, and especially moments where God has spoken into your life with His plan for you this fall. For me, the rhythm of my annual hiking on the Appalachian Trail, Independence Day reunion with family, and of course Camp Araminta give me opportunity to reflect on the academic year past and the one about to begin.
Despite the slowdown of summer, Servants has been continuing to meet weekly for congregational worship and to minister to the community around us. In June, Kim Harris and a team of adult and youth volunteers held Kids’ Creation Station (a new VBS-type program for children) on Thursday mornings. As many as 21 children participated over the four weeks for this fun and formative time.
Also this summer, our Come and See service (an Evening Prayer service geared towards those spiritually seeking but not ready for Sunday morning) moved out to Grace Marketplace. For several years, Servants has provided food for 150-200 residents of Grace and Dignity Village. Now we can offer spiritual food to the residents who wish to attend after dinner. Mike and Jeannie Bey and Emily Wilson worked with me to create this service and now we feel confident Grace is the right place to offer it.
Lastly, just two weeks ago many of us attended the 14th annual Camp Araminta, our diocesan summer camp. This year 163 campers attended, along with 51 high school leaders in training, 27 college-aged counselors, and 26 adults. Servants of Christ was significantly involved: twelve of the adults leaders came from our church. This was one of our smoothest camps ever and I’m excited to report eleven campers made first time decisions to follow Christ as Lord! Additionally, four of our counselors are exploring a call to ministry. Please pray for all the Araminta family but especially new believers and counselors-in-discernment.
As camp was ending, I received the word from our junior warden, Bill McCrea, “Today is great day for SOC Anglican Church! With the completion of this drain pipe for our roof drainage system I believe we can say our so called ‘critical’ building infrastructure needs are finally done. As of today our building is secure. All HVAC units are functioning properly, our roof and drain system is as well. No new leaks anywhere today at all! So our roof is functioning as it should and our new flooring will be done by end of the day. Hallelujah!”
I am certain you join Bill in saying hallelujah! This has been a long process, grinding on since last summer. Great thanks to our facility team, especially Daryl Johnston, Ken Langeland, and Bill McCrea for their tireless efforts to keep us moving forward, as well as a host of other folks who have participated in the process.
All of this sets us up for exciting ministry this fall. Already we are starting to see new faces in the service as new people move into Gainesville seeking a church home. Our Community Groups (medium-sized, multi-generational groups that meet monthly around the city) are a great way to meet new people at Servants. If you’re already involved in a Community Group, invite someone new; if you’ve never attended a Community Group, visit our page to learn more and find a group.
Enjoy the remainder of your summer, but please begin to pray for all that God wants to accomplish through our congregation this fall.
Onward and Upward,
