Pastor Jeff Nehrbass
It is with great joy that I sit to write my annual report. There have been so many positive changes and developments this year that it is hard to know where to begin.....
Perhaps the best place to begin is speak to the over 80 new members who have joined in the past two years. 41 this year alone! We baptize by assembly line these days, with anywhere between ten and twenty adult and child baptisms on a Sunday. When the council decided that we would commit ourselves to grow as a community, we set as a goal twenty new members! Let me be the first to congratulate the council on overachieving and more than quadrupling that goal...
And let me be one of the chorus of folks that says "welcome" to our newest members. We are so grateful that you have chosen to walk with us as a community, bringing your unique gifts and interests. We welcome you into the Lord's house as fellow stewards of the riches of God's love for this neighborhood. It has been so much fun to get to know you, work along side of you and share the ways God has blessed us here at Gethsemane with our neighbors on the blocks of God's parish. I pray that we will all spend the time committing to building new relationships with one another that will grow over time into deep and abiding friendships in the service of Jesus Christ.
This has been a remarkable year for our ministries in the twice-monthly food shelf and almost daily food lines. You will all remember that miraculous day a few years back when the post office mailed us 18,000 pounds of food to start our food shelf. Now, just two years later, I am stunned at the depth of God's benevolence yet again. 2012 is the year we will remember that God gave out almost 50,000 pounds of food to feed God's people. I have never been more mindful of how God multiplies gifts as I have this year. From "how can one little church feed so many hungry people" to "what are we going to do with all of this food?" in two years.
When Gethsemane decided to open its lunch bag and hand over the fish and bread to Jesus, Jesus fed the Camden community. And we still have
12 baskets of food leftover. . . . . . . . . . . . . . What will God do in 2013?
