The Loop / October 4, 2022
Catch Up with the Last Series:
Weekly Announcements:
BECOME // ONE MORE WEEK TO PICK UP (OR MAKE) A SIGN!
Over the last 4 weeks, we have explored who Revolution is for…and we really want to give you a chance to engage with this topic alongside us! Who in this community do you feel you have been given “eyes to see” and “ears to hear”? What are you passionate about? What real needs do your neighbors have?
For one more Sunday, we are inviting everyone to help us share the answers to these questions by filling in the blanks on our new signs: “Revolution is a church for people who _____________.” Think and pray about your answer, and then stop by Welcome+Info on Sunday to complete a sign. You can take the sign with you to put up at your house or in your neighborhood…or you can leave it with us, and we will put them all out around town in the coming weeks!
BECOME // GROUPS SPOTLIGHT
Let’s not cut to the chase: you can go ahead and sign up HERE! But as you consider your options for this season, we would like to highlight some of the exciting groups we’ll be launching:
WEEKLY PUB TRIVIA - led by Church Life Lay Leader Maggie Young, this group meets on Wednesdays nights to play pub trivia at Ram's Head Roadhouse in Crownsville! This group's purpose is to help folks make friends, eat food, and maybe even win a gift card or two. No need to be an expert–just come hang out...you probably know more than you think!
MOVIES & COFFEE - led by movie aficionado Jon Connelly, this group meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month to catch a movie at the mall ($6 on Tuesdays!) and then head out for coffee to hang out and talk it over. A perfect group for night owls...and anyone who wants to prep for Oscar season!
BESTSELLER BOOK CLUB - led by Meredith Camacho, this group meets monthly for a fun and casual conversation about the "big books" of the year. Selections will be chosen by the group but are likely to be pulled from the bestsellers' list and popular "book clubs" like Oprah's Book Club and Reese's Book Club. All are welcome!
SUNDAY SERMON DISCUSSIONS - led by Kate Lattea, this group meets over Zoom each Sunday evening to dig deeper into the week's message and wrestle together with the 'next steps' for our faith. All people (and all questions!) are welcome.
PUB THEOLOGY - led by Caleb Kaye in partnership w/ Revive Faith, this group meets on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month over Zoom, and once/month in person at 49 West. The format is simple: beer, conversation, and God. Come bring your questions, your curiosity, and pull up a chair. Be ready to engage with people of varying religious traditions, philosophical perspectives, and life experiences. You’ll be able to share your own wrestlings and thoughts while learning something new along the way.
PODCAST DISCUSSION GROUP - led by Kenny Camacho and Clare Bubniak, this group builds weekly in-person discussions around...podcasts! We pick a topic (for this fall, we're listening to a few series from The Bible Project), listen during the week, and gather to talk about sometimes hard, sometimes complicated, and always interesting questions. This is a great place to make new friends, explore faith, and find challenge.
ANNAPOLIS LOCAL GROUP - led by Fred and Cathy Miller, this group works through a variety of books, video series, and occasionally Sunday sermon content in a comfortable setting that's meant to foster deep friendships as well as personal and spiritual growth. Meetings are a mix of Zoom gatherings, in-person gatherings, and shared meals (with great conversation!).
Want to learn more about any of these groups? You can always ask questions at info@revolutionannapolis.com. We can’t wait to see what new friendships, ideas, and growth come from our Groups this fall and winter. Now, are you hoping for that link again? HERE YOU GO!
BECOME // SUPPORTING REVOLUTION CHURCH
At Revolution, we believe that our church needs to be a witness to God’s bottomless love and an example of what it means to wrestle and grow with our faith together. Following Jesus isn’t easy! But even in our doubts, if we take the things we are struggling to believe and put them into practice together, we learn to ask better questions and live in ways that are more beneficial for others.
If you want to join us in this mission, you can be a part in a few different ways:
First, you can commit to presence: it is our sincere hope as a church that you find real purpose and meaning in being a part of our services and groups at Revolution. They exist for you! But have you ever thought about what you have to offer those gatherings in return? Your unique perspective, hopes, experiences, and struggles are part of the bigger story of our church. You have an important part to play here, and that part begins by making faithful presence a priority!
Second, you can commit to generosity: we want to imitate God’s generosity by looking for ways we can share what we have been given with others to bring hope, justice, and safety to our neighbors. One way you can practice that generosity is by supporting our ministry here at Revolution financially: we are a non-profit organization committed to maintaining a Christian ministry in Annapolis, forgiving the debts of our neighbors, and financially supporting both church plants and existing churches in our area. Your gifts help keep this commitment going! But we also want to make sure you know that giving is important no matter where you do it: find a non-profit, charity, or aid organization whose cause you support and make a plan to be faithful and generous towards them! God can do more with our resources than we can… and giving is one of the practical ways we put our trust in what He can do.
Third, you can commit to service: here at Revolution, we are in need of all sorts of volunteers to keep our ministry going. This is particularly true as we continue to “emerge” from the pandemic! If you are available to help out on any of our Sunday morning teams, or with any of our groups or other outreach ministries during the week, we need you! This is a great way to contribute to the church… and to make new friends. But the city of Annapolis needs help, too! If you are able, make time in your week to participate in a routine act of service for our community. There are multiple food pantries we support, all of whom need help, as well as opportunities to work with kids in need of tutoring, care for unhoused residents in our city who need assistance, and serve as an advocate for a variety of justice-seeking non-profits working to make Annapolis a more equitable place to live. For help a place to serve, just talk with Kenny (kenny@revolutionannapolis.com) or our Community Engagement Lay Leader, Liz Wheeler (liziwheeler@gmail.com).
BECOME // NEXT STEPS WITH PRISON MINISTRY
During our last series, Kenny challenged us to build or participate in a regular prison ministry at the detention center on Jennifer Road. There are few challenges in Scripture more explicit than caring for those in prison…and even though we are a small community, we want to step up. Nancy Kline has already started the process of in-person volunteering there, so she is an excellent resource for learning more about the opportunity, and we will keep the church “in the loop” about this as things move forward. If you’d like to join Nancy, send Kenny an email today at kenny@revolutionannapolis.com.
Roy Graham (and Nancy!) have also reached out to the Angel Tree program (through the Prison Fellowship ministry) about buying Christmas presents for the family members of our neighbors who are incarcerated, and we are hoping to make more announcements about this opportunity soon!
Lastly, if you have a heart for prison ministry, we would be eager to help you connect…or to follow your lead! Just let us know by getting in touch with Kenny, Nancy, or any of the other leaders at Revolution!
BECOME // PARTNERING WITH REVIVE
Our new friends Caleb and Melissa Kaye head up the Revive Faith non-profit, an organization committed to meeting the practical needs of our neighbors while also fostering deep conversations about life and faith. They’ve got a lot of events on the horizon, and we want everybody to find a way to connect! Here’s their calendar for the fall:
FOOD PANTRY @ WAYSON WOODS (319 7 Oaks Ln, Lothian, MD): Oct 8th @ 2pm-3:30pm / Nov 5th @ 12pm-2pm / Dec 3rd @ 12pm-2pm
FOOD PANTRY @ MARYLAND MANOR (1500 Berkley Ct, Harwood, MD): Oct 8th @ 12pm-1:30pm / Nov 19th @ 12pm-2pm / Dec 17th @ 12pm-2pm
PUB THEOLOGY ONLINE (over Zoom): Oct 6th / Oct 20th / Nov 3rd / Dec 1st
PUB THEOLOGY IN-PERSON (@49 West): Oct 26th / Nov 16th @ 8pm
CHRISTMAS BEER & HYMNS (@49 West): Dec 14th
We are so excited about this new partnership, and we hope to see you at a few (or even all) of these events!
BECOME // SERVING OUR COMMUNITY
Looking for ways to love our neighbors? There are several things going on right now that you can be a part of!
LIGHTHOUSE SHELTER: The Annapolis Lighthouse is one of the largest relief organizations in our area, and we encourage everyone to check it out if they are looking for somewhere to serve. But signing up, training, and getting on the schedule can take awhile…so don’t delay! There are always opportunities to make meals, support clients, and be a part of preventing homelessness in our community. This is deeply important–and deeply Christian–work…so, if this is the nudge you need to sign up today, take it!
FOOD PANTRY @HERITAGE: Our partners at Heritage Baptist Church operate a weekly food pantry which brings much-needed fresh meals to dozens of families in the Forest Drive corridor. This is a great way to be a regular part of a critical service in our community! They gather at Heritage on Monday evenings, at 4pm, to prepare for the next day’s pantry, and then they work Tuesdays from 9-11:30. If you would like to join them…just drop by! The door is open, and they will find a role for you.
There are few instructions repeated more often in the Bible than to love your neighbors...and these are just a few ways you can do just that! If you know of any more needs, just let Kenny know at kenny@revolutionannapolis.com, and we will keep updating this post in the weeks ahead!
BECOME // SERVING BEYOND OUR COMMUNITY: RELIEF FOR HURRICANE IAN VICTIMS
If you’re able to help those affected by Hurricane Ian, we recommend donating to Convoy of Hope, a faith-based non-profit with a 4-star rating through Charity Navigator. You can also donate to more traditional non-profit relief organizations with a proven track record, such as the Red Cross or Salvation Army. No matter where you give, we always want to challenge each other to live generously: generosity is one of the most important and tangible ways we model the love of God towards us…and show others that God loves and values them, too.
If you have a tangible connection to any other organizations working on hurricane relief, or anyone personally affected by the storm, please let us know! If there is on-the-ground work to do, and we are able to do it, we would love to send or support a team.
BELIEVE // COFFEE, ANYONE?
Do you have questions? Doubts? Would you just like to talk through things with someone? Kenny is always up for a coffee or lunch! Send him an email (kenny@revolutionannapolis.com) or text (803.727.8500) any time.
BECOME // PRAYING FOR ONE ANOTHER
As we continue to reconnect as a church family in a “post-pandemic” world, it is incredibly important that we pray for one another. Prayer is a key part of our ministry: it trains us to listen to one another with compassion, disciplines us to release our stress and anxiety to God, and helps keep us centered on the work of the Holy Spirit in the world. It also works miracles! If you need prayer, please reach out to Kenny at kenny@revolutionannapolis.com or to our prayer team through info@revolutionannapolis.com. And if you would like guidance on how to pray, you can reach out to Kenny, too, and he can help connect you to that team! No matter what, we can all make praying for the people of this church a part of our daily or weekly rhythm: ask God to reveal His character to us, to meet our emotional, physical, and spiritual needs, and to help us to see and treat one another as He sees and treats us. Your prayers make a difference!
BELONG // STAY IN THE LOOP ALL WEEK LONG!
Want to make sure you never miss an announcement? Make sure to follow Revolution on Facebook and Instagram (@revolutionannapolis)!
