Pastoral note, from Garrett
Sunday after worship, we had our annual State of the Church meeting to report on ministry in 2024. I described 2024 as a design year. It was, in many ways, a year of planning. We worked on the design for our sanctuary renovation. We started a task force to help redesign our children’s and youth ministries. The design continues into 2025, but this will also be a year of implementation where dreams become a reality.
This Sunday, we will make our February to May calendar available. We have some fantastic events this Spring, including the pancake supper, Ash Wednesday Service, and another round of Serendipity.
It’s time to sign your teenagers up for DNow. Disciple Now will be February 15-16. This is an excellent chance for our youth to form relationships that last a lifetime and form their faith.
Check out the information below on the SOUPER BOWL OF CARING food drive. We are collecting food for the food pantry at Baptist Temple. Our sister church Baptist Temple has an incredibly well-organized food pantry and ministry on the southside of town in the middle of a food desert. This is how we can help feed the hungry.
Every year after the State of the Church meeting, I remember things I forgot to cover in the report. I forgot to mention we now have an Alcoholics Anonymous group meeting each week at church. I forgot to mention Lee Weems led multiple sessions of Life After Loss classes last year. I forgot to mention that we regularly host groups like Fellowship Southwest and Christian Latina Leadership Institute on our campus— they were both at Woodland today. I forgot to mention the hours of work that the bereavement ministry team puts into caring for grieving families. I forgot to mention our volunteer receptionists, who greet guests and answer phones in the office during the week.
You are an active church that does not hesitate to pour yourself out for the sake of the community. You do so in faith that you will be renewed by the Spirit, who generously gives us more than we could ever hope for or imagine.
Grace and peace,
Garrett Vickrey