Dear Friends,
I hope you enjoyed a wonderful 4th of July! Summer is a great time at Rock Church. Just last week we launched our summer series “At the Movies. 80’s Edition.” We kicked off the series with a clip from “Field of Dreams” that led us into a powerful and thought-provoking conversation about a question every person asks: What happens when we die? If you missed it, I would encourage you to catch the livestream recording at this link. This week we have another great conversation coming based on a clip from . . . (watch my FB feed for a hint. Friend me while you're there!).
One of the great summer events that Rock Church participates in each year is Soulfest. This is an amazing 3 day Christian music festival held up at Gunstock. If you are interested in attending but have not yet registered, we still have a few tickets. Check out all this info at this link. Regarding Soulfest, I also want to let you know about an opportunity to make a real difference in a young person’s life. We have dozens of young people who go with us to Soulfest. It is literally the highlight of their summer. Every year at Soulfest we have unchurched youth who attend having been invited by a friend. These young people spend a week immersed in great Christian music, worship, small groups and community. And every year we have young people return home having made the decision to place Jesus Christ as the center of their lives.
But every year we have some young people who would like to go, but simply don’t have the means. The full cost for the event for the ticket, the campsites and all meals is $150. To help some of these young people who would like to go but cannot afford the full cost, we try to provide half scholarships. If you would consider providing one or more $75 scholarship, each one would allow another child to attend. You can give right on line at this link or you can drop a check in the offering with Soulfest scholarship in the memo line. If you are intending to help out with a scholarship, please email Sheri Williams to let her know, we will set aside a ticket for that youth before they are all gone.
A couple of other great things coming up this summer that I want to highlight are Day Camp and the Men’s retreat. We will have a week of Day Camp at our Sandown campus and a week at our Plaistow campus. For more information or to register, go to this link. If you would be interested in helping, please email Glenda. Men’s retreat is coming up on August 24-26. This great event is open to men and young men of our church and community. For more info or to register, click on this link.
One final item I would like to talk to you about is summer giving. Because so many folks travel during the summer, it always seems to happen that our church falls behind financially during these months. Something that would be incredibly helpful is if you would consider setting up your tithing on some form of recurring giving. We basically offer 3 ways to do that.
· EFT (electronic fund transfer). This is a paper form you fill out to set up electronic giving from your bank to the church on a schedule you set.
· On line giving through your computer or mobile app. This is similar to eft but done through an online form. Along with your online giving, this page allows you to pay for your registration for Soulfest, men’s retreat, day camp, etc. right on line.
· Text Giving. This form of giving is super easy to set up and use. We’ve put together a 3 step instruction page at this link. Text giving can only be done through a credit or debit card. To do bank transfer, you have to use one of the other two.
I believe in the work that God has called us to as a church. I also believe that tithing is an important spiritual practice that helps us to grow in faith. By setting up automated recurring giving, we have the assurance of knowing that our stewardship and our support of the work of Rock Church is consistent, even when we are away. Be bold in your generosity and see how God honors a generous heart!
Have a great rest of the week! I look forward to us gathering for joyful, uplifting worship this Sunday. You won’t want to miss it!
God Bless,
Pastor Steve