Shalom Anglican

 Friends of Shalom, Happy Easter to you all!  I'm currently writing to you from Salem, Or where Beth and I have been spending the week with our first grandchild! Laura Anne was born on Thursday March 28th to Miriam and Tucker! She's perfect and we're enjoying all the snuggles we can get as well as serving our daughter and son-in-law.  March was a busy month for us. Here are some updates and prayer needs. We've officially moved to Sunday morning! We celebrated our first Sunday on Easter and will continue to meet on Sunday mornings at 10am.  Our core team had their first gathering without me! I was preaching at Holy Trinity in Edmonds one weekend in March and our team led evening prayer, worship, and our community meal. This is a big deal for a new church!  We received a generous financial gift from City Chapel! City Chapel is one of our supporting churches in Bremerton. Pastor Peter Vorhees along with the whole staff there have been a huge support to me and Shalom since

 Friends of Shalom, It's been a busy month. I hope things are well in your life and ministry. Here are some updates on our end. Ordination : I've finished all my ordination exams for the priesthood. Most of you know I was ordained to the diaconate last summer. Deacons are full members of the clergy in the Anglican Tradition with specific roles in the church service and in ministry. All clergy including Priests and Bishops begin as Deacons. But some deacons are "transitional" on their way to the priesthood. That was my path. I hope to be ordained as a Priest in the coming months! New Bishop: The Diocese of Cascadia ordained a new Bishop to lead our churches last week. Bishop Jake Worley is the second Bishop of our missionary diocese up here in the PNW (Washington, Oregon, and Alaska). Please keep him in prayer as he begins his ministry.  New Day and Meeting Time: Starting March 31st Easter Sunday we'll begin meeting on Sunday morning at 10am. Please pray for this

 Friends of Shalom, As you can imagine, there are ups and downs to church planting. So much emotion can be tied to each week's gathering as we wonder if our regular folks will be there or if anyone new will come. This last week I was discouraged heading into our regular Saturday night gathering because I knew over half our core group wasn't going to be there that night.  A few hours before our meeting, a pastor friend of mine texted me and told me he and his family would be coming. That brought some encouragement. But then as we were about to start two new couples wandered in! I quietly thanked the Lord for bringing some new folks and for keeping us going on this new adventure!  A few updates: - I'm getting close to finishing my ordination exams! This has been a big focus of mine over the last month. - In the month of January we saw over $3,000 come in from outside givers!  - Recently the school that owns the small church we meet in (All Saints Academy) invited us to share

 Friends of Shalom, I pray you are well this third week of Epiphany! Our gospel text this week is one of my favorite's. 14   Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,  15   and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:14-15 I always get the feeling like, "It's on now!" All the prophecies from the Old Testament are fulfilled in Christ and now it's time for the gospel of the Kingdom! I'm excited to preach on this passage and our other texts this Saturday night.  As a new Anglican, one of the things I've processed quite a bit is how different the experience of worship is in a liturgical church compared to my background in the non-denominational world. This is also something folks bring up who are new to Shalom. So I decided to do a video about it. I also put together a Weekly Word video on praying the Psalms. May it be an encouragement to you! Please

 Friends of Shalom, As always, thank you for your prayers and support. Last week we had 5 new adult visitors along with 4 kids! We're thankful to God for connecting us with some new folks! This is the second week of Epiphany and for the weekly word I get into the story of Samuel and his initial call into ministry by the Lord.  Check it out. For the Shalom of Kitsap, Rob and Beth

 Friends of Shalom, I hope you had a great Christmas! We enjoyed a rich time with all our kids and were grateful for the break. Unfortunately, I tested positive for COVID for the second half of the break, but I'm on the mend. This Saturday January 6th Epiphany begins. If you'd like to learn more about this season in the church calendar here's a great article to check out. Learn about Epiphany      Shalom will be meeting this Saturday as we begin our third month.  Here are a few prayer requests.  For the Lord to bring 10 new adults over the next few months!  For financial provision! For me as I work on my ordination requirements for the priesthood! Here's the weekly word! Thanks again! -Rob and Beth

 Friends of Shalom, Merry Christmas to you all!  Thanks so much for your prayers and support to us these first two months. I'm sorry I haven't been able to post in awhile. I've been sick and was out of town for 4 days for a personal retreat. Here are some highlights. - We held our first "shalom kids" team meeting with two other couples. We were able to plan and work on our vision for kids at shalom as we head into the new year. - Most of our core team is giving and we received our first official church support. Thanks to Seaside Church in Bremerton! - This Saturday we'll be having communion together for the first time.  - I continue to meet with folks interested in what we're doing.  Here is the weekly word. As we end the new year, please consider giving a one time gift to Shalom Anglican. We're so grateful to you all! You can do so here .  We're taking next week off so the next time you'll hear from me will be on 2024! Merry Christmas! -Rob an