Skip to main content

April Newsletter

 He is Risen!

He is Risen Indeed! 

I got to baptize my grandson John!
Happy Eastertide to you as we enter into this high season of celebrating the resurrection of our Lord. Because Jesus rose from the dead everything will ultimately be okay! He rose to never die again and the tomb remains empty. Hallelujah!

We had an incredible Holy Week and Easter Sunday this year. The highlight was celebrating a baptism together for two babies, a teenager, and a young adult at our Saturday evening Easter Vigil! We had over 80 folks at our Vigil and over 70 on Easter Sunday join us in worship. It was truly a glorious weekend!

Updates:

  • Happy Birthday Shalom! On Tuesday April 14 Shalom turned two years old! We gathered for an evening to celebrate, share what it's meant to us to be a part of this church, as well as share some vision for the future. It was a wonderful evening!
  • We had several folks attend all of our Holy Week Services (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil) for the first time and they shared how much it meant to them. 
  • Over Lent we took an offering for Scarlet Road. Scarlet Road works with survivors of Sexual Exploitation here in our community. Collectively we gave $2,750! I was very encouraged to see the generosity of our small church. 

Prayer:

  • Pray for the 18 adults and 5 kids in our current Catechism Class.
  • Pray for our Table Groups that have begun. These are groups that meet monthly for dinner and Compline and are a next step for folks to connect in community outside of Sunday Eucharist.
  • Pray for the establishment of some key ministries at Shalom and leaders to step forward. 
  • Pray for a few folks at Shalom who are discerning ordination. 
Thank you so much for your support and prayers!

For the Shalom of Kitsap,

Father Rob 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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...

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 ...

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...