August Newsletter

Friends of Shalom,

"Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain." -Psalm 127:1

In the work of church planting we get to learn this lesson over and over. There are many moments where it's easy to wonder, "Is this going to work? Will people come?" God often brings me to the edge of my faith and wondering. And then... He works! He shows me that He is building Shalom Anglican. Here are some ways I've seen him build his house over the last month.

Shalom Update

A local business owner saw our sign and contacted me. We had a great meeting over coffee and a few weeks later he showed up on Sunday morning. Later I learned that it had been years since he's been to church. He's excited to keep coming!
We were asked by the school we rent from if we were able to clean up the grounds around the building. I put it before our church and not only did we have 10+ volunteers but one even volunteered to lead the project! It's encouraging to see that enthusiasm.
People are connecting outside of official church events. I'm hearing about families getting together for meals and coffee. Community is forming!
A strong Christian couple recently committed to be a part of our church plant. I can see how their presence is blessing our core group.
One young man agreed to help me with our website!
People are inviting people and they're sticking around!

Prayer Requests

Pray for our second round of men's and women's book groups. For the month of August we're reading Mere Christianity by CS Lewis.
Pray for a family that was a part of our church the last 3 months who are moving to California. We will miss them, but really enjoyed journeying together even though it was a short time.
Pray for me as I have to tackle some administrative tasks (not my favorite thing to do)!
Pray for our catechism class beginning this fall. This will be a key step in forming our church and eventually forming a church council to help guide us into the future.

As always, thanks so much for your prayers and support!

For the Shalom of Kitsap,

Rob and Beth

We're official!

Comments

It's Go Time!

It’s Go Time! This last weekend we celebrated Beth’s 46th birthday by spending a few days down in Oregon with all our kids. We had a great time catching up and enjoying two beautiful fall days together. On the way down my wife reminded me that her birthday was the sixth month anniversary of my cycling accident (I broke my L2 vertebrae back in April). It’s hard to believe that was six months ago! Six months ago, I was preparing to transition out of my last pastorate of 10 years and was also getting ready to begin some initial meetings for Shalom Anglican. Needless to say, my accident changed those plans. The thought crossed my mind, “God, are you trying to get my attention to keep me from planting this church?” But during my weeks of recovery it didn’t seem like the Lord was removing this calling; however, he was slowing me down! I shared with several friends that I wanted to embrace everything the Lord had for me in this time of rest and healing. My typical response would be to plow a

Why Anglican?

It’s a fair question. Why would a tattooed, flannel shirt wearing, Acts 29, non-denominational pastor want to wear a collar… a robe… and go “traditional” on us? I mean, isn’t that like going backwards? I thought we left all that stuff behind in the church growth movement of the 80’s that spawned the church planting movement of the late 90’s? What the heck are you doing Rob? Again, these are fair questions I can’t fully address this in one newsletter, but here’s a start. For me the journey begins with the leading of the Holy Spirit. In the fall of 2018 I started noticing that something was off in my soul. Around this time I was invited by Pat and Jenny Tracy to take advantage of a retreat cottage they had set up for pastors from Kitsap County. This began one of the greatest spiritual shifts of my life. The practice of taking 3-5 days away to simply be with Jesus changed me. I began scheduling more retreats and over the years I dove deeper into the contemplative side of our faith.

New Monthly Update

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

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