What a great day of worship we had on Sunday as we celebrated Janet Black’s 21 years of ministry with us, welcomed Katie Newton back in worship with us for the weekend, and Josh preached his first sermon since officially joining our pastoral team on July 16! I love all of you and am especially proud of two things: the way that you poured out love for Janet during and after the service, and the way that people showed up in force on Monday morning to help the Bunce family move to their new house! We began loading around 8 am and had nearly everything unloaded at the new house around 10 am!

I’m also proud of the way that you pray as a church and support one another. We know many of you are praying for Thad Roher and his family, and you can find an update in the announcements below regarding further information on how to pray. Additionally, several of you have asked how the Brownings are doing with their foster-to-adopt child, June. There is another hearing on Thursday to decide if they will remain her potential adoptive parents or if she goes back to live with an aunt, and Kelly and Nathan Browning would appreciate your prayers to God for clarity and truth in that hearing. Please remember both of these families and others who need your prayers!

I’m thankful for those who have used our online attendance registration to inform us of prayer needs; we see them and are praying for you, too. If you would like information to be shared with others in the church beyond just the pastoral staff, please contact the church office and let them know you’d like it posted to the prayer section of our website. That prayer section is password protected (the password is “friends”) for our church people to have access; it gives us some semblance of privacy to just our church family. You are encouraged to look there for additional items that need your prayers.

Thank you! May God bless you and keep you this week!

Love,

Bobby Kirkpatrick

Thad Roher Update:

As many of you know, Thad had surgery yesterday, and he is now in recovery. Thad and Tina greatly appreciate your concerns and prayers. They have requested that for updates, please reach out to the church office where new information on his status will be shared. They feel your prayers and are blessed by them.

Church Staff News and Updates:

We welcome Tena Roher today as she begins serving as our children’s minister. Tena has served our community as an elementary teacher for many years and serves the Lord faithfully, so we know she will bring praise and attention to God through the lens of child-like love. Be praying for her as she begins moving to this role and fills the needs God presents to her. We are excited to welcome her!

Today is also the day that Jennifer Barmore is transitioning to a full-time position in the church office.  Jennifer has been working part-time during June and July and has already been a huge asset to the church.  We are very excited to have her here full-time now; her many skills and her cheerful presence are a blessing to the rest of the staff and to the congregation. 

As we move into August, be watching for information on our regular weekly rhythms; here are a few upcoming events:

Promotion Sunday is on August 13th. This is the official kickoff to new Sunday School classes. Our children and students will level up with their age groups, and it is a great opportunity to jump into our Adult Sunday School class. Children and students will meet in the Friends Center and our Adult Class will meet in the Brides Room near the Coffee Café. Sunday School meets at 9 am before the Worship service.

The Back-to-School Junior High and High School Pool Party is on August 13th hosted by the Baumer Family. JH students’ swim time is 5:00-6:30 pm and HS students plan to swim 7:00-8:30 pm.

Junior High and High School Parents, there are two informational meetings. The first is immediately following the August 13th service in the coffee café. The second will take place between the swimming parties at 6:30-7:00 pm. Plan to attend one of the meetings and learn about the many ways your students can participate and engage with Christ this year. Reach out to Katelyn with any questions about the meetings or swim parties.

Opportunities to Serve:

Green Friends is our recycling ministry, and we are looking for a few more environmentally conscious members that would be willing to volunteer. Members of the group take turns picking up bundled church recyclables and adding them to their home recycling bins. If you would like to participate in this ministry, contact the church office.

Family Promise host week begins August 13. We will need volunteers after the service on the 13th to help with setup. That week we will also need volunteers to stay the night and host dinners with our guests. Reach out to Desiree Trevino or Beth Skeeter if you can serve as an overnight host or provide a dinner.

This is the last week we will be asking for volunteers for the FISD Community Faith Partners Mentor Program. This program provides an adult mentor to students at Westwood Elementary and Bales Intermediate Schools. Training through FISD will be provided and scheduled soon. If you are available to meet with a student for thirty minutes to an hour once a week or serve as a substitute, please reach out to Bobby and let him know you are interested.

This is the confidence that we have in our relationship with God: If we ask for anything in agreement with his will, he listens to us. If we know that he listens to whatever we ask, we know that we have received what we asked from him. 1 John 5:14-15 CEB