Skip to main content

July Newsletter

A Personal Update

This last month was very full for our family. It began with our youngest son Asher proposing to his girlfriend! We couldn't be more happy for Asher and Angel and their upcoming wedding next summer. This means that a year from now Beth and I will officially be "empty nesters." I'm still not sure how I feel about that and will definitely need some therapy to process it all 😅.

In mid-June we took a trip back to Maryland with our oldest daughter, son in law, and granddaughter. We spent a few days enjoying Baltimore. This included time with Beth's family, an Oriole's game, the best crab cakes on the planet, and a few "snowballs." Then we spent time with my parents and my sister who live in Annapolis. My dad is going through some health challenges and it was a blessing to be with him and bring his great granddaughter around to lift his spirits. 

Shortly after we got back we began planning and putting the final preparations together for our oldest son's wedding. I was blessed to officiate and it was a gorgeous day to celebrate Sam and Sola Steinbach! I think I'm still riding a wave of joy from that day.

As we enter the summer months in the PNW we're grateful for the sunshine and some opportunities to camp. The work of Shalom also continues. Here are a few updates. 

Updates:
  • Answered Prayer: Last month I mentioned how we were looking to raise $7,000 that will be a part of covering my health insurance and annuity for the next year. North Sound Church, who supported us in the past, agreed to give this to Shalom! What's amazing about that is North Sound is a non-denominational church that believes in helping plant Anglican Churches in the Puget Sound region. What an example of kingdom cooperation! 
  • Answered Prayer: Last month I mentioned how we are beginning a book discussion that would act as a catalyst to discuss our next phase of growth as a church plant. Sixteen adults signed up for this group and we began last week!
  • One of our core members has been leading morning prayer at his business with some of his employees for several months. They've been experiencing God's presence and guidance through challenging times. 
  • I shared this last month but figured it was worth sharing again. A few months ago a friend of mine interviewed me on his podcast. He wanted to hear more of my story of moving from pastoring a non-denominational church that was a part of the Acts 29 network to becoming an Anglican Priest. I think the interview turned out well and demonstrated a healthy story of how something like this can happen in the local church. Here is a link to it on Spotify. You can find it on iTunes as well. 
  • I've been able to walk with some folks through some challenging pastoral needs. 
Prayer:
  • We've had some new visitors. One of whom hadn't been to church since they were a small child and they are now in their 40's! Please pray for more connection with those who have come and that the Lord would bring them back!
  • Please pray for some planning and vision work I need to do this summer as we prepare to head into the fall. 
  • Recently I was accepted into a program to train as a spiritual director with Soul Formation (www.soulformation.org). This is a 9 month program with 3 retreats and a variety of work in between. Please pray that I can take all I learn and apply it to my work as a priest and also provide spiritual direction for other pastors and leaders in the future.
As always, we are so thankful for your support and prayers!

Shalom,

Father Rob and Beth  







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

November Newsletter

Young Adults The church we rent was recently painted. We're so grateful to be able to partner with All Saints Academy!  One of the exciting things about church planting is that as we open our doors for Sunday Eucharist and scatter gospel seeds in our community we don't always know which ones will grow up. We don't always know who God will allow us to reach. In many ways this reminds me of my wife's garden. Last spring she planted a bunch of different veggies some took and some didn't. It was a surprise to see as we moved through the growing season. One of the surprises in planting Shalom has been the number of young adults we have seen find a home at Shalom. I wasn't expecting that and it has been a true joy! We've already had two weddings with a third one this summer. We've had three babies born and one more coming in a month. We also have several single young adults in their 20's and 30's who are a part of our church. Please continue to pray fo...
Post a Comment
Read more