News From Pastor Bill LaMorey, CC Hartford, CT
Dear Family & Friends,A lot has happened in the past 4 months since our last update, but let me just give you a quick overview.
God is continuing to grow our young church in size and maturity slowly and steadily. We are beginning to make a small splash in our community that we are praying will turn into a giant ripple as new visitors show up almost weekly. Our average attendance is now in the mid-30s, and about a third of those people attend our small groups.
There are 2 exciting events that I believe are worth highlighting:
First, is our Easter service. Once again, we invited family and friends, took out an ad on the local rock station, handed out postcards, did doorhangs, and prayed, and 76 people showed up! We did a salvation invitation, but do not know the response as our room is not large enough to have people come forward to acknowledge their decision.
Additionally, we just celebrated our 1-year anniversary! We first met as a church on Sunday, June 12th 2005. And so this past Sunday we had a celebratory service (see photos) to mark our anniversary. Our church body was very energized and excited as we did a message looking back at what God has done on our behalf and looking forward to what God will do in year 2. We had 46 people in attendance, and it was probably our best service yet. We then moved to a local park and held our first annual church picnic.
There is actually an important announcement that I made during the anniversary message that I would like to share with you.(You can hear more by listening to the message called “Backwards & Forward” on our website www.calvaryhartford.com). I have been working at ADT for the past 14 months, and trying my best to balance my family, the church and my job. Needless to say, this has been difficult at best. Well, last week, after tossing the idea around in my mind for months, I got the strong sense that God was asking me to take my trust in Him to the next level. It became clear that I needed to resign from my job and put my efforts into the ministry full-time. Those of you know me, know I am not lazy (I actually liked my job w/ ADT and was successful at it), but I really sensed that we could be so much more effective if I could give all my work efforts to the church body and developing outreach to the community.
So I went to work, and told my boss my thoughts and he was very supportive. I was so excited…until the drive home where I contemplated the very real question “Am I crazy?!?” I began to be reassured as Becky was very supportive and that same day, I got an e-mail from a family that attends our church indicating that they believed that God also wanted me to really devote myself to the ministry in a full-time capacity. Attached to the e-mail was a letter they are sending to their personal friends along with a commitment form. I called this person and told him the step of faith I had taken that day, and how awesome and encouraging it was to get his e-mail. We both were blown away sensing that God was orchestrating something behind the scenes. At present, we have raised some support through some churches and a few individuals and we are working on raising the rest (the letter and form Luke and Melissa wrote are attached in case you are interested in helping). We believe if we can raise support for 1 year, the church will be in a good position to sustain my salary after that.
As we move ahead, we completely trust in God’s provision and anticipate that God will do some wonderful things in year two of Calvary Fellowship. Let me again thank all of you for partnering with us in the work God is doing here. The prayer support, the financial support, and the words of encouragement have meant so much to our family and our church. You all play an important part in impacting the New England mission field for Christ. Thank you!
Godspeed,
Bill, Rebecca, Emily and Lily LaMorey
www.calvaryhartford.com
posted by Calvary Kendall Missions @ 9:37 AM
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