As we wind down the school year and officially head into summer, I am thankful for our church and the ways that God is moving through the hearts and lives of so many. My wife and I have reflected many times about the journey God has taken Browncroft on over the past handful of years: from The Reach Initiative, through Covid, and into today – I’m thankful for God’s growth and provision of our church. No more clearly is this life-change in Jesus evident than through the over 600 of you who have completed Rooted, our relationship discipleship curriculum, and even more, the 34 baptisms we celebrated this spring.

But beyond that, so many of you have participated in our quarterly prayer evenings, as well as newer opportunities aimed at increasing the spiritual growth and community of our church– like our new regular gatherings of Marrieds, Men, Women, and Midlifers, where, on top of regular small group community, hundreds gather each month. This spring we also hosted two one-day conferences to challenge ourselves into further spiritual growth as a congregation.

Earlier this year you rose up and completed a 90-day giving campaign entitled Reach 2024 that saw over 1 million dollars go toward decreasing our Reach debt principal, and over one hundred thousand dollars go toward establishing and advancing our key mission partnerships. Praise God for His and your generosity. These mission partnerships, and the close to 100 Browncrofters participating in over 10 short-term trips, are together increasing our congregational engagement in the greater work of the gospel throughout the world. This upcoming Sunday, July 7^th, we have the opportunity to commission one of our own, Laurie Stewart, as she heeds God’s call on her life into long-term missions with Mercy Ships. 

As we enter this summer, our staff and congregational leadership are developing future vision plans for our church. Thank you to the 100+ Browncrofters who participated in vision focus groups as we seek the advancement of God’s greater vision for our church and for the lives of each one of us. We are so excited for the greater unity revealed throughout this visioning process, and we look forward to sharing much of this new and continued work in the fall. I believe this refined vision will bring even greater clarity and excitement for how God desires to work in and through us, as we together are called to reach our neighborhoods, our city, and our world so they might experience a life-changing relationship with Jesus.