by Edward Viljoen, Senior Minister
I want everyone to feel known and welcomed at the Center. I look forward to meeting you, if I haven’t already, and I want to offer some suggestions for meeting new people.
Classes are a wonderful way to meet new people, and our Education Ministry has tuition scholarship programs available. We have regular, certificated classes lasting from eight to ten weeks and shorter Spiritual Enrichment Courses that last from four to five weeks. If you take five Spiritual Enrichment Courses, the sixth one is free.
There are number of other ways to meet new people that are free.
Stepping Stones Books & Gifts presents monthly events, where well-known authors and artists present extracts from their works. You can follow the bookstore events by checking our Upcoming Events section (left).
Other great social events (more frequent in the warmer months) are our Annual Picnic, Easter Services, Annual Animal Blessing, Spirit Creek Stewardship, and Spirit Expressing, our annual art show. These events are open to the whole family and are a great, easy way of connecting with others.
A new round of Empowerment Groups, small groups that meet in private homes for prayer, support, and discussion, will be starting soon. These are free to join and are very popular.
Another great way to connect with other people is to stop by the Ministry of Service table where volunteer opportunities are listed. One of our most popular service opportunities is being an usher/greeter or serving at the hospitality table because of the friendly connections associated with that service.
There are many additional ways to connect at the Center and the best way is to keep showing up and reading the announcement pages until something there clicks with you. If you want to check the announcement pages online, go to the Quick Links box above and select Sunday Announcement Pages.
Finally, we have our online community that many of us are enjoying as a way of sharing and connecting. It is free to use and registered users may post blog entries, upload photos, message instantly to others who are online, and more. In Our Online Community there is a group dedicated to finding prayer partners, for example, as well as other special interest groups. To register, click on Our Online Community in the Quick Links box on the home page of our web site. If you do sign up, be sure to send me a friend request!
Warm regards,
Edward Viljoen