Weekly Update, January 19th, 2024

Hi church,

Hope you are enjoying the snow and staying safe. During last Sunday’s service, I gave an update about the search for a new Associate Pastor. I wanted to mention it here as part of the Friday Update. As a review of the search process, there are 7 people on the search team, including myself. We started searching in July and posted the opening on about 20 sites—seminaries, Baptist state conventions, our denomination website. So far, we have received 55 resumes.

We interviewed two candidates who did not work out. Another person emerged as the clear top candidate. He is a godly man with great credentials, experience, and references. We conducted 3 interviews and things looked very positive. In the beginning of December, he expressed some concerns about living here (his concerns were not about the church). We dialoged with him for about a month to address his concerns, but he officially pulled out of consideration about 2 weeks ago. The search team was disappointed, but we trust God's hand and want someone who is called here.

Though we focused on this top candidate, we continued the search process as far as receiving resumes and sending questionnaires to potential candidates. We are able to pick up with some promising candidates and we will keep you posted on what happens. It has been encouraging for me to hear from some of the candidates who looked at our church and the job description and commented that this seems like a great opportunity! Please keep praying for the right person and for the team to have wisdom and unity.

Hallmark Celebration of Life

Tomorrow, we will celebrate the life of JoAnn Hallmark. There will be a time of visitation starting at 10am with the service beginning at 11am.

Men’s Retreat

The Weems Creek men and high school boys are invited to join us for the annual Men’s Retreat at Camp Wabanna on March 8-9. Pastor Keith Grant will be presenting a seminar on A Praying Life. We will learn step-by-step how to develop a private life of prayer in fellowship with our heavenly Father. It will address such practical issues as how to stay focused, how to pray longer than 5 minutes, how to talk like a child to your Father in heaven, prayer as relationship, prayer as conversation, and problems in prayer. You can check out the seminar at this link https://seejesus.net/pages/a-praying-life

Registration begins at 5:30pm, Dinner at 6pm, Seminar begins at 6:30pm

Cost is $60 due by Feb. 25. Please sign up at the Connect Center or in the Church Center app.

CentriKid and Fuge

Both camps are an overnight camp from July 8-12 with an emphasis on spiritual growth and lots of fun!

CentriKid is for children who will have completed 2nd – 6th grades and will be held at Skycroft Conference Center in Middletown, MD. The cost is $335. A $75 deposit is required by Feb. 11. Please sign up at the Connect Center or contact Melissa at melissa@weemscreek.com.

Fuge is for children/teens who have completed 6th – 12th grades and will be held at Regent University in VA Beach, VA. The cost of camp is $375. A $75 deposit is required by Feb. 4. Please contact Pastor Alex (alex@weemscreek.com) to sign up.

Both groups are in need of chaperones for our children. Please contact Melissa or Alex if you are able to help.

Date Night

On Friday, Feb. 16, we would like to bless the families of our church, as well as Awana and VBS families (as an outreach), with a parents’ night off to enjoy time together as a couple while the kids enjoy pizza and the Peanuts Movie. Childcare will be provided for infants through 5th grade from 5:30pm-8pm. Please sign up at the Connect Center or in the Church Center app. We also need childcare providers. If you are able to supervise children that evening, please sign up at the Connect Center or contact Melissa Gardner (melissa@weemscreek.com).

Scouts Food Drive

The Scouts will be collecting shelf stable foods through Feb. 4 for the Light House Shelter in Annapolis. Please help by donating items to the basket in the atrium.

Streitmater Baby Shower

Let’s shower baby boy Streitmater with love on Feb. 20 from 10am-12pm in the multipurpose room. The nursery is a winter woodland theme and they are registered at babylist.com. Please RSVP by Feb. 1 at this link RSVP or using the QR code in the worship guide or on the invitation (both available on Sunday).

See you Sunday!

Pastor Bryan