Acts 29 Report
As we seek to be a vital congregation, transforming lives by the power, grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ and to be a church that is alive with the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, we have embarked on a year of Jubilee. In this our 200th year of ministry among the people called "Methodists" this hasn't just been a time of looking back. It has been a time to celebrate in the present, get stronger bonds between us, and prepare ourselves for what God has in store for us.
We have organized and executed many plans and events in which we would gather together as the body of Christ and in ways that would be easy to invite a friend, a neighbor, a co-worker. And invite, some have done. We have been blessed recently by persons who were directed to us by people who noted the life and vitality and creativity of the people in our church.
This has been an amazing year of renewal and outreach as we offer ourselves to the Lord, to one another, and confirm the historic tradition of our church into the community. So successful have our efforts been that is has been decided to extend our Jubilee "year" into September 2008.
We have also continued to offer ministry to our shut-ins. And though we'd like to see more teams developing, we are seeing new persons step up and offer themselves in this ministry. We have experienced significant number of deaths in our shut-in community this calendar year, but most have been blessed with long life and all a transforming faith in Jesus.
To take steps in reaching the youth of our church and community we hired a new Youth Director and Praise Leader in July. Even in these early days we can see the seeds of this effort growing and sprouting. All these reaching and stretching efforts produce need ... a need for more hands to assist, a need for more space at times, and a need for patience with each other as we work together to make more and more things possible through Christ's church.
The might acts of God did not ceas at the end of Acts 28 and the completion of the book. We see them all around us in church after church, and it is powerfully evident in First United Methodist Church of Mercersburg. Glory Be To God!