The Loop / April 30, 2024
Catch Up with the Current series:
This Week’s Announcements:
BELONG // FAMILY RETREAT REGISTRATION
It’s almost here! In just 3 weeks, we will be holding our annual Family Retreat on May 17-19 at Camp Harmison in Berkeley Springs, WV. This retreat is open to everyone who considers Revolution their church home, and it involves a “camping lite” experience: a covered shelter, fireplace, full indoor kitchen, and bathrooms/showers are available… but if you would like to stay on-site, you will need a tent or RV for sleeping. If the tent life isn’t for you, some folks also elect to get hotel rooms in Berkeley Springs for the night and visit with the rest of the crew at Camp Harmison during the daytime hours… so that’s also an option! If you will be staying in a hotel, please email/text Kenny to let him know so you can get in on the group emails… there is no need for you to pay/register!
This weekend is one of our very favorites each year: it’s a great chance to make new friends, play games, share stories around the fire, and find some much-needed space for relaxing. You can sign up today by clicking HERE!
BECOME // URGENT NEED: KIDS MINISTRY VOLUNTEERS!
This past week, we were in a tough spot in RevKids: the schedule was light, and a few volunteers ended up needing to go out of town… for a moment, it seemed like we might need to add some chairs for kids in the service! Fortunately, some folks stepped in at the last minute to help make sure our children’s environment was safe and exciting. But this experience highlighted one way you can really make a difference in the Revolution community: if you are willing to serve once/month in RevKids, please reach out to Jane Wenger, Ivy Connelly, Melanie Charlton, or Kenny and let us know. It’s not as hard as it might seem! Lessons and supplies are prepared ahead of time, so what we really need are adults who can help kids feel safe, seen, and important in our church. If you’re a parent, we strongly encourage you to serve once each month so other parents can have a chance to participate in a worship service. And if you’re not a parent, there’s room for you, too!
RevKids is an essential part of Revolution. We want every child to grow up knowing that God loves them just as they are, and Jesus wants to be their friend and helper. We hope every young person at Revolution experiences a vision of church community that is supportive, loving, generous, and inclusive. We all have roles to play in making this happen!
So, if you’ve been waiting on a “nudge” or a “need” to step up, this is it! Help us make sure RevKids continues to be something every child (and every parent!) looks forward to each week. We can do this together!
BECOME // ENCOURAGING TEACHERS AT MILLS-PAROLE ELEMENTARY
From our Community Engagement Lay Leader, Cathy Miller:
“Next week is National Teachers Week, and we want to bless the teachers at Mills Parole by providing them with bagels, donuts and coffee on Wednesday, May 8. We would appreciate donations to help make this happen! If you are interested in supporting this effort, a donation box will be set out on the coffee table this Sunday.”
Let’s make sure the Mills-Parole community continues to see our partnership with them as a real blessing!
BELONG // BUILDING COMMUNITY FOR WOMEN AT REVOLUTION!
Thanks to all the women who either came to the gathering last Sunday or otherwise gave their input to the discussion about regular women’s gatherings! We are pleased to announce we’ll have a monthly fellowship option to get together, and we will plan the events seasonally at a time (e.g., starting with May-August, followed by Fall, etc.). Communications will be here in the Loop as well as in a new GroupMe channel (both apple and android phones can easily download and use the app, your number won’t be seen, and you can control your notification settings). Please let Maggie know you want to be added to the group chat!
The first event will be a spring clothing (and accessories) “swap” on May 25th after the service at noon at Emily Heller’s home (again at the Severn Condos, ehhel3986@gmail.com or youngmaggie14@gmail.com for exact address and parking details). Please give your items to Emily to organize ahead of time, or bring them at the time of the event. Clean out your closet, see what treasures you may find, and any left over items will be donated to charity.
Future events to look forward to are a lunch and hike June 23rd, and tentative ideas for July and August forthcoming!
BELONG // ONLINE BIBLE STUDY GROUP
The Online Bible Study is a great place to get involved in community and expand your understanding of Scripture… all from the comfort of home! The group is currently in a 10-session study on Christian Community covering what it means to be a part of a local church. This will be followed in June by a study called Faith: Depending on God: this 9-session study will hopefully lead to discussion on how faith works, what happens when we face uncertainty in our dealings with God, and all sorts of other questions. After that (sometime in August), the group will break for a few weeks and then dive into Letters to the Church. You are always invited to jump in with these studies any time! The group meets on Monday nights over Zoom, and for more information about how to get involved, just get in touch with our Discipleship Lay Leader, Dante Griffin, at dangriff67@gmail.com!
BELIEVE // COFFEE, ANYONE?
Do you have questions? Doubts? Would you just like to talk through things with someone? Kenny is also always up for that, too! Just send him an email (kenny@revolutionannapolis.com) or text (803.727.8500).
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. 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.
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, Cathy Miller (cathygrowinghealthy@gmail.com).
BELONG // STAY IN THE LOOP ALL WEEK LONG!
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