My friend Repko just sent me a bunch of pictures he took as his group went around the horn. I've posted a number of them in a photo gallery aptly named Progressive Dinner on our web site's Photos page. Check them out!
Saturday, September 8, 2007
More pictures of Progressive Dinner
My friend Repko just sent me a bunch of pictures he took as his group went around the horn. I've posted a number of them in a photo gallery aptly named Progressive Dinner on our web site's Photos page. Check them out!
Friday, September 7, 2007
Progressive Dinner!
What a fun night! We had about 61 New Hopers rotate through each of the Shepherds' houses for a 5-course progressive dinner. It was great seeing everybody, and below are some group pictures we took at our house...
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
I'm still not sure how to react to this...
"Whether a woman works outside or strictly in the home, her first priority is her family and home. We just really want to step up and provide some of these skills."- Terri Stovall, dean of women's programs at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, which is offering a new bachelor of arts in humanities degree with a 23-hour concentration in homemaking. Only women may enroll in the program, which offers courses on food and nutrition, design and apparel, the value of a child, and the "biblical model for the home and family."
(This quote is taken from an Associated Press article which you can read here.)
Monday, September 3, 2007
Pictures!
Yesterday I gave a recap of our August at New Hope, and today I've posted tons of pictures from the month on our web site's Photo Gallery pages! There are pictures of Children's Day Camp, lunch at Izzy's, our service in the park and the BBQ potluck. Check them out!
Funny Fellowship Faces
Repko Bruinsma provided pictures of the Young at Heart lunch at Izzy's on August 19, and he seemed to have a knack for capturing funny expressions on people's faces there. I didn't include them on the website, but I figured I'd share some here!
Sunday, September 2, 2007
August 2007 at New Hope Christian Fellowship
Wow, it's already the beginning of September, and we're gearing up for a terrific fall season at New Hope!
As I look with much anticipation to September and a new "year," I am reflecting on what an awesome August we've had.
August is statistically a tough month for churches. Attendance-wise, we had been averaging 160-ish back in May, and when June hit we dropped dramatically to the 110-120 range (with a low Sunday of 86!) and we weren't sure what the summer was going to hold for us as a church! But this last month we averaged around 130-140, which is very solid considering all the vacations and missing college students. Not only that, our giving for the month of August was outstanding--God has been good to us financially, and I know all of us Shepherds praise God for our fellowship's faithfulness.
But church isn't about numbers. It's about connecting with God, serving Him, and connecting with others, and August has been good for those things, too! We've enjoyed good teaching from three of our Shepherds (Dewey, Rich and Ken), and been led in worship by 
two different leaders (me and Dustin) in two different locations (in the Senior Center and in the Park). We also had a chance to eat lunch together last week with a potluck barbecue.
Our softball team had a blast finishing up the season with three wins and one loss (
and, uh, only one major injury). Kevin and Cheryl Gebhart were nice enough to cap off the season with a pizza party at their house. I think we're all disappointed the season is over, and we may get together for an unofficial friendly game with some players from Creekside Community Church sometime soon. I know I got a chance to become better aquainted with some people as a result of playing together!
And of course we had a great week of Children's Day Camp (I've written in detail about them in posts from August 14 & 16), with 5 kids raising their hands on the last day to ask Jesus into their lives. We look forward to our children's ministry continuing strong with Awana starting up in a couple weeks.
I love being a part of this church, and I hope we can continue to serve and glorify God in great ways this fall!
As I look with much anticipation to September and a new "year," I am reflecting on what an awesome August we've had.
August is statistically a tough month for churches. Attendance-wise, we had been averaging 160-ish back in May, and when June hit we dropped dramatically to the 110-120 range (with a low Sunday of 86!) and we weren't sure what the summer was going to hold for us as a church! But this last month we averaged around 130-140, which is very solid considering all the vacations and missing college students. Not only that, our giving for the month of August was outstanding--God has been good to us financially, and I know all of us Shepherds praise God for our fellowship's faithfulness.
But church isn't about numbers. It's about connecting with God, serving Him, and connecting with others, and August has been good for those things, too! We've enjoyed good teaching from three of our Shepherds (Dewey, Rich and Ken), and been led in worship by 
two different leaders (me and Dustin) in two different locations (in the Senior Center and in the Park). We also had a chance to eat lunch together last week with a potluck barbecue.
Our softball team had a blast finishing up the season with three wins and one loss (
and, uh, only one major injury). Kevin and Cheryl Gebhart were nice enough to cap off the season with a pizza party at their house. I think we're all disappointed the season is over, and we may get together for an unofficial friendly game with some players from Creekside Community Church sometime soon. I know I got a chance to become better aquainted with some people as a result of playing together!
And of course we had a great week of Children's Day Camp (I've written in detail about them in posts from August 14 & 16), with 5 kids raising their hands on the last day to ask Jesus into their lives. We look forward to our children's ministry continuing strong with Awana starting up in a couple weeks.I love being a part of this church, and I hope we can continue to serve and glorify God in great ways this fall!
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