Brothers and sisters,
By the time y’all read this, 2024 will be a thing of the past! I know this is cliché to say, but, depending on when you ask me, Thanksgiving feels like it was either just yesterday or six months ago! In a similar way, as I sit here writing this on Tuesday, there is a part of me that thinks, “Wait—2024 is already over?!” and there is a part of me that thinks, “Oh, thank goodness! 2024 has lasted forever!” Regardless, we’ve done a lot over the last year, so I want to take this space in the Illuminator to recap some of the stuff we’ve done together.
Throughout this year, we have taken on a bunch of different missions projects, doing our best to live out the call God has placed on us as a church—to be the hands and feet of Jesus. This year, we’ve participated in Operation Inasmuch—cleaning yards, making goodie bags for teachers, and supply bags for our homeless neighbors. We’ve collected new and gently used clothing items for the clothes closet over at Parkwood Elementary. We’ve partnered with Scarlette Jasper and Olive Branch Ministries to help provide Christmas to poor children in rural Appalachia. And we’ve collected money, winter clothes, and other basic supplies for folks out west devastated by Hurricane Helene, including putting together 16 Disaster Relief Cleanup Buckets.
We’ve also reached out to our local community this year to remind them that we see them, we love them, and God loves them too. We put on our annual Easter Egg Hunt and Crafting Fair, inviting local families to come and learn more about the resurrection of Jesus and the depths of God’s love for them. We had another summer of Super Saturday Adventures, teaching local kids about the parables of Jesus, showing them how church comes together as a community, and helping them participate in missions projects to help people here in Durham. We had our annual Fall Festival with Trunk-or-Treat, another reminder to our community that we love them, but also a reminder that our God is a joyful God—that means we ought to celebrate whenever we can!
We’ve also had wonderful times of fellowship this year. February saw our Souper Bowl of Caring, when we all brought pots of chili and/or fixings and/or desserts to raise money for the Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC. We had our Summer Send-Off Ice Cream Social this year around Labor Day. And, more recently, we had our Advent/Christmas Craft Workshop where folks were able to come and make crafts for themselves and others in our community.
Finally, we had special services throughout the year. Leena Levanya came and spoke to our church about her ministry in India. World Relief Durham came and told us more about the work they do with refugees here in the Triangle. We had our Hanging of the Greens and “The Candles of Christmas” during Advent, in addition to our Christmas Eve service. Best of all, we celebrated three baptisms this year—Gary and Victoria Finch, and Ron Parker.
Believe it or not, that is not all we did—I just ran out of space! 2024 has been a busy year, but a very good year too. May we enter 2025 with as much passion for God’s call on our church. May we seek God faithfully as a church family.
Happy New Year,
Pastor Ben