Ministry Update: April - Aug 2023

Hi Everyone! With the new ministry year kicking off and Fall just around the corner, we realized that this ministry update is long overdue!

The end of Spring into Summer has brought with it a lot of change and growth. Junia took her first few steps on Easter Sunday and now, at nearly 18 months old, she appears to be a full blown toddler! With Junia becoming much more interactive and requiring a lot more attention and engagement, Chrissy's transition to part-time couldn't have come at a better time. While we are still sorting out new schedules, rhythms, and responsibilities, this new season has already been so full of joy and Chrissy is grateful for the opportunity to slow down and embrace this time in Junia's life.

Missional Serving Communities:

Throughout April and May, we concluded our first "year" of MSCs with a unit on Creation Care. After a long winter, we were excited to see the weather warming up just in time for groups to begin meeting outdoors - surrounded by God's creation! In early May we partnered with the City of Roseville and Dry Creek Conservancy to help clean up a local park and keep trash out of the creek. Despite an unexpected downpour the weekend of the cleanup, Chrissy was blown away that over 30 people (kids included!) still showed up to serve in the rain!

In June Chrissy was able to reflect on the first year of MSCs and was struck with awe and gratitude for all that God had done in and through these small groups. In the span of about 5 months, (Jan-May), these groups explored the topics of homelessness, justice and refugees, and caring for creation. As part of this journey, we had the opportunity to partner with, learn from, and serve with various organizations in Sacramento, Roseville, and Rocklin including Loaves and Fishes, Compassion Planet, World Relief, and Dry Creek Conservancy. From gardening, landscaping and pulling weeds, to serving food to unhoused guest, to welcoming refugees at the airport, to building furniture and sorting through items in a warehouse, to picking up trash at a local park - these groups answered the call to participate in what God is doing in the community around us and stepped up to serve our community in a variety of ways.

Chrissy is so grateful for this church community and everyone who thoughtfully engaged and participated in these groups. Please pray as we begin the new ministry year as we not only hope to have new people join the Missional Serving Community journey, but also explore next steps for deepening our learning and engagement in the topics of homelessness and refugees in particular.

Youth Ministry:

In May, Jeff closed out his second full school year of youth ministry at Community Covenant Church. Not only that, but Jeff finished his 15th school year of youth ministry too.

Summer brought with it a much needed change of pace in youth ministry. The summer programming was dedicated to building up the relationships with students and leaders. Every single Sunday, the students and adult leaders would participate in "Fast Food Fellowship," where they would all go out to a different fast food restaurant after church. At the end of the summer, the youth group had visited ten different fast food places throughout Rocklin/Roseville.

One of the highlights of the summer for Jeff was recruiting and training student leaders for both Middle and High School groups. The student leaders, alongside the adult volunteers, helped pray, plan and cast vision for the school year. It was a deeply meaningful experience for Jeff because it allowed him to see the creativity and passion the leaders have for students. These meetings throughout the summer led to the launch of a new(ish) style of youth ministry.

The focus of youth group this semester is discipleship. Accordingly, the leaders (both student and adult) created a template for Wednesday night youth group to help ensure discipleship is not only talked about, but practiced. From games, to talks, to small groups and worship, the entire time is built with discipleship in mind.

It may be a new way of doing youth ministry at Community Covenant, but Jeff is extremely excited to see what the Holy Spirit does in and through the student and adult leaders.

Other Highlights:

• We both preached during our Summer series focusing on different characters in the Bible. Jeff kicked off the series by preaching on Barabbas and later preached on Jairus as well. Chrissy preached on Naomi. Recordings of all the services can be found here: https://www.rocklincov.org/sermon-archive/2023/character-summer

• At the end of June, the wedding of dear friend gave us the perfect excuse to go on our first weekend away without Junia. While we missed her like crazy, Junia got to experience some extra bonding with her Po-po and Gung-gung (Chrissy's parents).