Dear Friends,

This is the last Friday email before Thanksgiving so let us take a moment and thanks God for the many blessings of this year.

 

• Our first blessing is always new life! We celebrated the birth of four babies this year:

• Katharine Grace Murphree, daughter of Price & Addy Murphree

• Leah Anne Smith, daughter of Kathryn & Dalton Smith

• William Graham Sellers, son of Savannah & George Sellers

• Joe Martin Rogers IV “Beau”, son of Jake & Sydnie Rogers  

In addition, we had six new members become a part of our church family.

 

• Our second blessing is the growth of our discipleship groups. In addition to the Al Rose Class, the Wesley Class and the Open Door Class, we have added a Younger Adult Class, a Youth Class, a Video Class, a Children’s Class, and new Women’s Group (Friends of a Mission), and an Early Christian Awareness Class.

 

• Our third blessing is our volunteers who have coordinated Vacation Bible School, Sunday School Class, Easter Egg Hunts, Fall Festivals, Lunch & Learns, Bereavement meals, Food Pantry, Thornton Lecture, and Sue’s Table. We especially appreciate the many people who have opened their homes to our Sunday night youth!

 

• Our fourth blessing is our ministries that continue to thrive. Our Food Pantry has more than doubled the number of families it serves and consequently, its budget has grown from $30,000 to $60,000 and we have been able to keep up with its needs. In February, we became one of the early users of a new computer system for the Arkansas Food Bank. Our volunteers have input data in a very time consuming effort that is now paying off with a time savings. This month, we experimented with a system that allows our neighbors to pick the food items they need like they were taking a trip to the grocery store.

 

• Our fifth blessing is Sue’s Table. While our volume is much less than it was during drive-thru, we are engaged with our neighbors in building relationships. Many of our Sue’s Table friends now stay for Monday Night Bible study and several have helped with volunteer roles in many ministry areas of our church.

 

• Our sixth blessing is our Music Ministry that not only brings us great music for worship but also prepares for special occasions such as Advent, Christmas, and our Cantata. We especially appreciate how Cynthia provides music for funerals that adds so much to the service.

 

• Our seventh blessing is our wonderful Preschool. Seven years old the church was having to subsidize the Preschool in a way that was unsustainable but we put together a plan and now it is paying its own bills and salaries. It continues to be one of the best early education programs in town.

 

• Our eighth blessing has been our various committees that oversee our building, our finances, and our staff. They have worked diligently to oversee building improvements, investments, and staff to continue to make certain we doing the work God has asked us to do.

 

• Our ninth blessing is our staff who are so dedicated to the mission of showing God’s loving to as many people as we can.

 

• Our tenth blessing is YOU!

 

• Finally, we are blessed to be a downtown church in this wonderful community of Camden that we call home.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving and let us continue to count our blessings.

 

Grace and peace,

Beth