February 2025 Newsletter

Friends of Shalom,

Is ordinary okay?

Looking back on the month of January I'd say it was an ordinary month of ministry. We continued to gather each week for Word and Sacrament. Relationships continue to grow deeper. Individuals are growing and wrestling with God. Folks are serving. In other words, the ministry goes on.

I don't have anything earth shattering to report. Or do I? Perhaps what I just wrote is earth shattering because simply by being the church in our day as an outpost of the Kingdom is not ordinary!

Updates:

I was able to have a lot of rich one on one's this month. One thing I've learned is that people really appreciate having a pastor and being pastored. I haven't always been able to pastor in past ministry rolls the way I'm embracing as an Anglican priest and I'm really grateful for the change.
We've been experiencing some slow and steady growth with a few new folks joining with us.
We have a young couple who have been opening their home for dinner and compline to others in our church community.
We've had a few new folks begin giving.
This Sunday is World Missions Sunday and we'll be having our second baptism!

Prayer Requests:

Please pray for a season of repentance and devotion to take root in our church as we enter into this lenten season. We'll be having our first Ash Wednesday service on 3/5 at 7pm.
Pray for wisdom around the next phase of development for our church plant.
Pray we could continue to reach our friends, neighbors, and families with the good news of Jesus.

Thanks again for your support and prayers!

For the Shalom of Kitsap,

Father Rob Steinbach

Comments

August Newsletter

Grieving but grateful... Robert Michael Steinbach Sr. 9/7/1946 - 7/28/2025 This is has been my response to people as they've asked me how I'm doing. On July 28th my Dad's spirit left his failing body into the presence of the Trinity. My heart is heavy because of the finality of death. I can no longer see him or talk to him. Now I wait to go to him. But I'm also grateful for his life. He had an amazing testimony which I shared about briefly at his memorial service . He was a gift to all who knew him. He was my Dad and I loved him dearly. Needless to say July was a blur. I made two trips back to Maryland. The first was to see him and support my mom in his final days. The second was a week long trip after he passed for his memorial and committal service. I'm settling back into work and processing my grief as well as looking forward to the end of summer and some fall planning. Updates: While I was gone our church stepped up and handled the Sunday service. I'm g...

December Newsletter - Year End Report and Year End Giving

Friends of Shalom, As we come to the end of 2025, I am truly amazed and so grateful for all that our Lord has done and continues to do in our church. The best way to describe this year for me would be “holistic growth.” We’ve seen this in terms of new folks checking out Shalom (many new to faith), we’ve grown deeper in Christ as a church, and we’ve grown as a community in our relationships with one another. Merry Christmas! Here are some highlights from 2025. Three adult baptisms. We regularly have people new to Christianity or who haven't been to church in years join us on Sunday. Two catechism classes with a total of twelve adults. Inside giving growth by almost $2,000 a month. Our average Sunday Attendance has grown from 30 to 45. We collectively gave $1,500 for our lenten offering to Scarlet Road (a local non-profit that works with survivors of sexual exploitation). And we volunteered to help with several projects as well. Two weddings and Two engagements! W...

October Newsletter

Our First Confirmation! On September 28th we celebrated our first confirmation at Shalom Anglican! We had seventeen folks confirmed by our Bishop, Jake Worley, and celebrated afterwards with a potluck. It was a beautiful liturgy and I think we all sensed the presence of the Spirit and left deeply encouraged! Confirmation is an ancient liturgical rite where those who have been baptized and catechized publicly affirm their faith through confessing before the church their baptismal vows. Then a bishop of the church confirms and commissions each person through the laying on of hands to be strengthened by the Spirit for ministry in and out of the church. As you can imagine it took a little while to confirm seventeen folks in one service but it was sweet to watch as the church prayed for each confirmand during the Bishop's prayers. This is a HUGE step for us as a new church. When I see this picture I think of how Paul speaks of the church like a body in 1 Corinthians 12. Each...

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