Ministry Spotlight - CM

In September, we launched a new year-long series in Children’s Ministry: EPIC Teachings of the Bible. Over the coming months we’ll be exploring big truths like the Fruit of the Spirit, the Lord’s Prayer, God’s Commandments, Spiritual Gifts, the Armor of God, Psalm 23, Psalm 119, and the Sermon on the Mount. We love walking through these lessons with the kids each week and helping them discover more of God’s love for each of us.

If your child comes every Sunday, that adds up to about 26 hours of learning in a year. That’s a great start! But we know the biggest influence on a child’s faith comes from home. Parents, grandparents, and guardians have the unique opportunity to weave faith into everyday life—whether it’s through small conversations, shared prayers, or pointing back to God in daily moments.

That’s why each week we provide the At Home handout (available online or at classroom checkout). They’re designed to make it simple for you to keep the conversation going—reviewing the lesson, practicing the memory verse, and doing a quick activity together. It doesn’t have to be complicated; it can happen around the dinner table, in the car, or at bedtime.

Our prayer is that these tools will encourage and equip you to keep nurturing your child’s faith throughout the week. Together, we can help the next generation grow in their love for Jesus.

Community Ministry Spotlight

Living Into Community

Over the past several weeks, we’ve been walking through The Community Practice sermon series, and it has been such a joy to see how our church has engaged. From the teaching on the table, to sharing joys and sorrows, to engaging at the ministry fair, the energy and excitement around community has been contagious.

But we don’t want community to just be a topic for a sermon series. Our prayer is that as we practice community that we would experience God at work forming and shaping us into people of love. As we love others and allow ourselves to be loved.. warts and all.. the Holy Spirit does in us what we could never do for ourselves. If you’re looking for ways to take a next step into deeper community, there are several opportunities coming up:

Women’s Bible Study – This week, a new study is launching called Find Your People by Jennie Allen. It’s a great opportunity to grow together in the Word of God while building authentic friendships.

Women’s Retreat – A space designed for deeper connection and friendship, the retreat is a meaningful time to step away and invest in relationships.

Community Groups – We have new groups opening soon, and we’d love to help you find one. Or, you may feel called to gather a few people in your circle to intentionally form a group. The Community Building Team would love to walk with you in that.

Man Coffee – For the guys, there’s an open invitation to join Man Coffee on Tuesday mornings at 6:30 in the café. Come for the coffee (or whatever your morning drink of choice is) and stay for the honest, life-giving conversation.

Finally, we’d like to extend a special invitation to our Community Summit on October 5th, after service. This gathering is for everyone, but especially for those who are leading any kind of “community space” at Hood River Alliance. Together, we’ll share a meal, engage in conversation, and dream about how we can become a community of love and depth in a culture of individualism and superficiality.

We’re excited about what God is doing among us! Let’s not just talk about community—let’s practice it together.

Operations Corner

Church Center Training

This Sunday at the Fall Ministry Fair, Key Leaders from both our church and the community will have tables set up for you to connect with them and answer questions about how you could get involved their ministry. As the Operations Pastor, I will be setup in the middle of the Gym promoting our Church Center App.

Church Center is an App that helps to connect and equip our community throughout ALL the ministries you might be involved in. From scheduling you to play with the Worship Team, using Check-Ins for your child with Children’s Ministry, or looking at the Events Page to find out the next time your bible study meets, Church Center helps to bring all of these and more seperate tasks to a single space.

Check-ins Training (Children’s Ministry)

If your kiddos attend Sunday Morning Children’s Ministry, you may have noticed that Church Center is what we use for our new super spiffy electronic Check-in system. Did you know that you can skip the line and check your child in during your drive to church? (Please, only attempt this if another adult is driving :-P )

To find out more about how how to do this, and all the ways we are using for Check-ins in our Children’s Ministry, be sure to drop by their table on Sunday and talk to Paige.

Online Directory

&

Profesional Photographs

Church Center also works as an ONLINE DIRECTORY!!! Now before you start to get creeped out about just anyone being able to view your information, know that users can only gain access to our community directory if they have been INVITED by one of our Pastoral Staff.

As we look to grow as a community, stretching beyond our comfortable circles and reaching out to the new people we are meeting through donut socials, bible studies, and potlucks, you might not remember everyones name the first time you meet them. A directory can be a GREAT help with this, however only if profiles have a PICTURE connected to them.

This Sunday, we will have our very own profesional photographer Jesse Larvick taking photos of you and your family. These photos will afterwards be both available to you, and added to our Directory.

Hope to see you there!

Anders Sorestad

Operations Pastor