There is a lot to report this week,
(Including a groundbreaking date!)
so please read to the end….
THIS SUNDAY MORNING
In all that we do as a church, we are inviting all people into God’s story of GRACE in Jesus Christ. This weekend, we are getting out in our Bethlehem community to do that. We are taking worship to Musikfest. We will be at the Festplatz Tent on Sunday at 10 AM. PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THE TIME. This is a great opportunity for you to invite your friends. And it’s a great chance for us to show those who walk by the warm and welcoming and exciting community that we are. We will have a special edition Musikfest GRACE T-shirt for the first 250 people who are there and some other surprises. I can’t wait to be back preaching under the “polka tent”!
We will also have our 9:45 am service at BECA. Due to being in 2 venues and the demands on volunteers, be aware of two changes. This week only, we will not have any other programming – GRACE Kids are invited to come to one of the services. Coffee Fellowship between the services will be back next week. And there will be no live streaming this week.
It’s another not to be missed week at GRACE.
NEW WORSHIP LEADER
I am very excited to share with you that Kelby Dixon is joining our GRACE team as our next worship leader. He brings years of experience as a worship leader in different size churches. Along with leading worship, he also plays guitar, piano, drums, and bass and brings experience in engineering live sound, songwriting, and teaching.
More than all of that, Kelby loves Jesus and the church and brings a rich theology of worship to GRACE. After spending a weekend with us and doing several follow up meetings with staff and members of the worship team, we all believe that God has led Kelby to us.
Kelby and Coleen (a Marriage and Family Therapist) and their two kids, Beckett and Ace will be with us this weekend to cheer on our worship team at Musikfest. They wanted to see Musikfest in action. Kelby will officially begin his new role on September 20. I know you will join me in welcoming the Dixons to Bethlehem and to GRACE.
GROUNDBREAKING at HECKTOWN ROAD
Mark your calendars for the Groundbreaking at Hecktown Road, Sunday, August 22, at 5 pm.
This is an exciting milestone and represents a lot of efforts from many of our talented members, the generous giving of our congregation to the SHINE Vision, the work of world-class professionals, and most importantly, the faithfulness of our amazing God! We will share more details with you next week.
Of course, the groundbreaking is just the beginning. I know we have been waiting for a long time to get to this point. Hold on to your hat… because things are moving. Of course, we know there is much work ahead of us. In just days, the earth work will begin for the new campus. Later this month, we hope to have the “Guaranteed Maximum Pricing” for the building part of the project. Soon, our interim midweek campus, Locust Street, will be put on the market. What a gift of God, both BECA and Locust Street have been in our tabernacle season, but it will be strategic and financially wise to focus our ministry and our resources on our one Hecktown campus for now, and it will be helpful to put any proceeds from the sale toward our new campus. Our staff, session, and trustees will be working together to ensure that these transitions will be as smooth as possible. Also, you will soon hear from our trustees more information about our Memorial Garden on the new campus.
God is at work powerfully in you! What a joy to be your pastor and see you SHINE the love of Jesus to the Lehigh Valley and the World.
Dr. Marnie Crumpler
Senior Pastor