Weekly Email 7.29.21
Dear Gathering Place Family...
It was wonderful to have so many of you join us for service on the lawn. I wish we could do that even more often as it feels genuine and authentic. It also allows families a bit of space to stretch out and for kids to move more. Thanks also to all the incredible volunteers that helped make the service happen. From the worship team making adjustments, to those who set-up chairs and sun canopies and especially those that stayed to clean up after the event was finished.
Please be praying for our high school campers this week. Time away offers opportunity for God to influence and connect in deeper ways than people realize. I want to be proactive in inviting you to serve at camp next year. Oftentimes people tell me that if they had known sooner they would have loved to serve. Consider this your one-year advanced invitation that we need your help to make camp happen. Many years we have been struggling to find cabin leaders for kids of all ages as well as people willing to help serve in food prep, bathroom clean-up, general grounds maintenance and many other roles that offer places to serve. Would you consider being a part of our kids and youth camping program in 2022?
Our August series is on Evangelism and the importance of being somebody that invites and includes. Only 11% of pastors say they have invited anybody to church in the past year (stat current as of 2015) and yet we claim that our faith is of high value to our lives. With this in mind, this series is designed to challenge you in your faith to step up and step out. We will talk about identifying those in our lives we should be inviting and what it looks like to evangelize in modern day America. It is my hope you will join us and be both inspired and challenged to evaluate your faith.
August 27th we are having a family BINGO night. We will be playing at Gathering Place. This is a free event and you are all invited. We will have snacks, prizes, and a lot of fun! Plan to come out to this great time together and bring a friend. Bingo night will go from 6:30-8 PM. It’s a great chance to help newer people connect and long-time friends come back in as we get ready to head into another school year.
You are valued and loved.
Blessings ~
Jeff Espeseth
Lead Pastor, Gathering Place