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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2012 | Vol. 88, No. 78 | www.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.com | 75¢
PublisheD as a suPPlemenT oF The WhiDbey neWs-Times & souTh WhiDbey RecoRD
25 years
SWR code
1
Matt Chambers, pastor of South Whidbey Assembly, celebrates 25 years with the church. Join him at a community party from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6 at South Whidbey Assembly.
pulpit BY REBECCA OLSON Staff reporter
16th Annual FREE EVENT
Presented by the Whidbey Island Arts Council
BY BEN WATANABE Staff reporter
See PASTOR, A6
See schools, A9
Save The Date!
Use the map and studio guide Saturday & Sunday • October 6 & 7, 10:00-5:00 54 artists showing in 45 studios • www.islandsartscouncil.org in today’s paper!
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Parents question drug use prevention efforts in South Whidbey schools
“We feel that same impact. It means there’s less young families in general,” Chambers said. There also was no cable TV or internet when Chambers first came to South Whidbey. Now, everyone is “on” all the time, Chambers said, adding that this impacts stress, marriages, finances and more. People are busier in general, Chambers said. Twenty-five years ago, a regular church attendee went to church 50 Sundays out of the year. Now, that number has dipped to 30, Chambers said. Regardless, Chambers has shaped the church into a community-centered organization. The goal is to create a church that is so meaningful to the community that even if the community doesn’t agree with its beliefs, they would miss the church if it disappeared, Chambers said. “The church is so generous, whether they’re giving to Good Cheer or Helping Hand or orphans,” Chambers said. “The church has been great to our family.” The Chambers have five children, Nathan,
Rebecca Olson / The Record
When Chambers first joined the church, it was located in the small building in Clinton that now houses Cooper Automotive. In 1989, the church was relocated to Maxwelton Road. The Chambers founded Island Christian Academy in 1990, where Barbara has taught for more than 20 years. In 1994, Chambers started the Celebrate America annual public fireworks display at Freeland Park as a service to the community. The South Whidbey community has also seen changes over the years. “When I first came here, the standard church attire was a dress shirt and tie. Now, people wear whatever they want to wear, including me,” Chambers said. Twenty-five years ago, there were about 1,500 youths in the community. That number increased to 2,300 but is now back to about 1,400, Chambers said.
Students are in peril, task force says
LANGLEY — Kids are in peril. Drug and substance abuse, lagging education and too few extracurricular opportunities were mainly blamed at Wednesday’s school board meeting. And parents want the South Whidbey School District to help their children. That was Tom French’s message to the school board and Superintendent Jo Moccia at the board meeting Wednesday. He has been part of a group that met with current students, recent graduates, parents with students in the school district and parents who have taken their students out of South Whidbey schools, all to discuss students’ drug use on the South End. “The content of those conversations was alarming as I began to understand the depth and seriousness of the substance abuse problem among young people in our community,” French read from a written statement. French recalled one of his conversations in which a drug and alcohol counselor said the South Whidbey School District was denying, “the full extent of the problem.” Moccia rebuffed that comment, however, and said school leaders and she recognized youth substance abuse is an issue on the South End.
M
att Chambers, pastor of South Whidbey Assembly, describes his first 25 years of service as abounding with a strong sense of community, yet replete with changes. When he graduated from Northwestern University in 1987 with a degree in missions, the state religious organization asked him to come to South Whidbey to serve. He and his wife Barbara had no idea where Whidbey Island was. When they arrived at the church, the congregation consisted of 12 people. “We came there thinking we’d stay two years,” Chambers said. Two years of service are required to partake in overseas missions, which Chambers was eager to do. “Then two years became five years,” he said. At 10 years, Chambers said he asked God if that was the time to go overseas. He said he felt God had given him the heart to go overseas but was saying, “This is where I want you.” Then 10 years became 25 years of community service and expanding and improving the church. The congregation will celebrate a quarter-century of Chambers’ service from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6 at the church, located at 5373 Maxwelton Road in Langley. The community is invited to attend.
FALL 2012
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