SUMMIT Magazine | Issue 26 | All Roads Lead to Community

RELATIONSHIPS matter. TRUTH matters. WHAT YOU DO WITH YOUR LIFE matters. YOU MATTER.

All Roads Lead to Community

Issue 26

OUR VISION

To form biblically functioning communities that reach lost people, connect in Christ-centered relationships, teach truth, serve others, and worship God.

A LETTER FROM JOHN

It may not come as a surprise for you to learn that I am an introvert. While I have tried to defy that label in seasons of my life, I have never been able to shake that reality. Now I embrace it.

Being a person who doesn’t need the same level of human interaction to thrive as an extrovert does, I have engaged deeply the meaning of the call to Christ-centered community that is core to Summit’s vision.

Were I a naturally extroverted person, I imagine I could consider the invitation to community as a win merely in that it gets me around others. However, I have found myself more engaged and motivated toward community in understanding why community is core to the identity of the church and why it is essential to my well-being.

Christ-centered community is part of the identity of the church because it is the medium in which the gospel is displayed and grace is lived out. The church, in all its shapes and sizes around the world, has a few things in common. One of those few commonalities is the gathering together in Christ-centered community. Did you know that there are places in the world today where people risk their physical safety and freedom to be with other believers and gather as the church? Why would they do that (asks the introvert)? They don’t do this because it is convenient, but because they know it is necessary. They need to be together, maybe especially in seasons of peril, because there is something about their togetherness that is a better and more beautiful expression of what Jesus intended in his church than is seen in isolation.

Jesus, when he promised to continue his work after he was gone, did not give that mission to a strategic plan, to a political

movement, to an army, or to an individual. He gave his mission, on which the hope of the world is set, to a community of people. He promised to spread the good news of what he had done through people. Community is core to the identity of the church, because it is the means by which Jesus has chosen to bring light into our world.

While that reality may be motive enough, even for the least extroverted, to step into community, there is yet another reason.

I don’t need to be in community only for the sake of the world. I need to be in community for my own sake as well. I need the hope, encouragement, connection, and even correction of a loving Christ-centered community. I need people in my life to draw my attention to Jesus in seasons of fear or fatigue. I need people to stand with me when I lack strength to stand on my own. I need to give and receive grace from those around me so I can remember the source of grace in Jesus. I need community in order to be fully who I was made to be.

In the pages of this magazine, you will see Christ-centered community on display. My hope is that as you read, you will have the courage to step further into the community of Summit. It may be that this will be a first step for you, one that feels like a plunge.

For others it may be familiar waters. For all of us, it is right.

So have the courage and take the plunge.

Hide behind a cup of coffee, wear a disguise, or sport an accent if you have to, but take that step. You need it, and as importantly, the church needs it. Summit isn’t the church that God has called us to be if we sit on the sidelines of the life-transforming community that he is building through us.

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THE PARKERS John, Brandy, Mulunesh, Sinkenesh, Archike, Samuel, Abush, and Aschalew

John Parker Lead Pastor

WHO WE ARE Summit Church is one church in multiple locations living out our vision so that people can know that they matter to God. All of our campuses share the same vision to form biblically functioning communities that reach lost people, connect in Christ-centered relationships, teach truth, serve others, and worship God. Whether you find yourself unsure about who Jesus is and why that matters, find yourself ready to jump right into community life, or find yourself somewhere in between, you are welcome here.

Locations Summit Herndon 735 Herndon Avenue, Orlando, FL 32803 Service Times: Thursdays, 7 p.m., Sundays, 9 a.m.*, 11 a.m., & 6 p.m. (*ASL interpreters available)

Summit Waterford 11602 Lake Underhill Road, Orlando, FL 32825 Services Times: Sundays, 9 a.m. & 11 a.m.

Summit Lake Mary 100 Technology Park, Suite 110, Lake Mary, FL 32746 Services Times: Sundays, 9 a.m. & 11 a.m.

Summit at 33rd Street Jail Women’s Service Times: Sundays, 1:30 p.m. | Men’s Service Times: Sundays, 2 p.m.

(These services are for the Horizon Wing & Female Detention Center inmates at the Orange County Jail.)

Connect With Us On the web: summitconnect.org On Twitter and Instagram: @summitchurch On Facebook: Summit Church On our blog: blog.summitconnect.org

Contact Us Office Hours (Herndon Campus Location): Monday-Thursday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Phone: (407) 897-8130 Email: summit@summitconnect.org

CONTENTS

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A New Home The women in Samaritan Village find healing alongside each other as they transition out of trafficking.

The Church Is A two-year plan is shaping the way teaching happens at Summit.

Connect

All Roads Lead To Community This collection of stories shows that community can be a long, winding road that usually starts with one simple, obedient step.

Rethink

For the Sake of Others Teaching Minister Zach Van Dyke uses two Old Testament friends to show the value in constancy, transparency, and sacrifice in our friendships.

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56 On the cover: A Connect group gathered in the Summit Waterford Lobby (Photo: Kimberly Chin)

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Borrowed Hands reGROUP Director Kailey Newkirk shares her own story of (reluctantly) accepting the help of those around her.

Family

Growing Together These Waterford students are showing up early and staying late to learn, serve, and worship together.

Our Broader Family Through their involvement at the Lake Mary campus, The Foleys have found a community to support and be supported by.

Etc.

Artist Feature Liz Hogan uses her God-given talent to display the complexities of the world as she sees them.

SUMMIT VALUE

Being transformed into the image of Christ for the sake of others.

Church Staff

STRATEGY TEAM Our senior staff members are responsible for leading the church and its ministries according to the pattern in the Scriptures.

Lead Pastor John Parker // jparker@summitconnect.org Worship Pastor Andy Simonds // asimonds@summitconnect.org Organizational Development Pastor Jeff Kern // jkern@summitconnect.org Herndon Campus Pastor Garry Abbott // gabbott@summitconnect.org Assistant to John Parker Lauren Gaines // lgaines@summitconnect.org TEACHING TEAM A concept modeled by the early church in Acts, this team gives us the opportunity to hear the same sound, biblical truth from more than one voice.

Teaching Minister Jim Keller // jkeller@summitconnect.org Teaching Minister Zach Van Dyke // zvandyke@summitconnect.org

DIRECTORS These folks oversee the departments and staff at Summit, helping to make sure everyone who comes through our doors feels welcomed, informed, and enabled to step into community here.

Summit Connect Director Dan Sherfield // dsherfield@summitconnect.org Herndon Children’s Ministry Director Deanna McLellan // dmclellan@summitconnect.org Creative Director Greg Perkins // gperkins@summitconnect.org Herndon First Impressions Director Jessica Meyer // jmeyer@summitconnect.org reGROUP Director Kailey Newkirk // knewkirk@summitconnect.org Waterford Children’s Ministry Director Keely Hardaway // khardaway@summitconnect.org Family Ministry Director Tracy Beeson // tbeeson@summitconnect.org Worship Director Trey Colson // tcolson@summitconnect.org For a full staff-list, please visit summitconnect.org/staff.

CAMPUS MINISTERS This team works hard to meet people where they are and help them prayerfully take their next right step at each of our Summit campuses.

Herndon Campus Pastor Garry Abbott // gabbott@summitconnect.org Lake Mary Campus Minister O.J. Aldrich // ojaldrich@summitconnect.org Waterford Campus Minister Sam Arocho // sarocho@summitconnect.org 33rd St. Campus Minister Tim Burkholder // ktburkholder@summitconnect.org

Magazine Staff

Editorial/Art Director Greg Perkins Managing Editor Katie Schmidt Guest Art Director Jeremy Kennedy Photography Manager Kimberly Chin Editors: Nathan Boyett, Will Dickinson, Kari Freeman, Lauren Gaines, Shannon Harmon, Abby Holmes, Allison Hurtado, Jessica Meyer, Ann Miller, Virginia Schultz, Ashley Simonds Contributing Writers: Garry Abbott, O.J. Aldrich, Sam Arocho, Samantha Boesch, Nathan Boyett, Trey Colson, Laura Cook, Jenna Dail, Melissa Forbes, Kari Freeman,

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Kaleb Harrell, Laura Hunt, Sarah Land, Jeremy Lukens, Kailey Newkirk, Michael Murray, Reagan Perkins, Katie Schmidt, Del Schwalls, Dan Sherfield, Melanie Snavely, Melissa Stillman, Zach Van Dyke Contributing Photographers: Ashley Blahnik, Kate Bosse, Kimberly Chin, Patrick Chin, Mindy Dunlap, Seth Dunlap, Kari Freeman, Brian Hogan, Amanda Kossina, Deborah Kline, Greg Perkins, Lori Puhr Contributing Designers: Jeremy Kennedy, Greg Perkins, Beau Wingfield

CONTRIBUTORS

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CONTRIBUTORS

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Nathan Boyett | Writer/Editor

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Patrick Chin | Photographer

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Mindy Dunlap | Photographer

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Patrick has been taking photos casually for about 11 years or so. He had been interested in photography for as long as he can remember, but never tried taking photos until a friend gifted him an old 35mm camera back in 2005. He hasn’t stopped since. Patrick and his wife, Kimberly, have been involved at Summit since first moving to Orlando back in 2012. Patrick loves to bake as a way to wind down. Patrick and Kimberly have a sweet, little two-year-old daughter, Harper.

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Jeremy Lukens | Writer

When Jeremy was a kid he would sit on a typewriter and make up his own episodes of his favorite cartoons. His interest in writing became much stronger when he went to college at University of Central Florida and took an elective class on Creative Writing. He’s currently working on his first novel and has been a published music critic for the last seven years. He started attending Summit in 2010 and quickly jumped in as a SUMMIT Magazine and Resource Center volunteer. When he’s not working or writing, you’ll often find him playing guitar, practicing photography, or playing at a dog park.

Being surrounded by a creative family, it was probably inevitable that Mindy was inspired to take on photography a year ago. About five years ago, Mindy was at a point in her life that she was looking for a place to serve and some friends suggested she check out Summit. She quickly became a volunteer with Student Ministries and met her husband here. Mindy loves getting to be a part of the Summit community and is excited to serve on the SUMMIT Magazine team for the first time!

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Sarah Land | Writer

Sarah was always the kid who had her journal in hand, but she started falling in love with the power of words as she was getting her degree in literature. She started attending Summit in 2008 when her college roommate invited her. She quickly got involved at the Waterford campus by joining a Connect group and volunteering in almost every area of ministry here (even spending a summer as one of our interns)! Sarah met her now-husband through a road trip with two different Summit Connect groups. They love being outdoors—whether it’s a day at the beach, a kayak on a river, or finding some other excuse to run around outside!

Nathan began attending Summit in the fall of 2009 and quickly fell in love with Summit’s teaching and vision.

His involvement with writing at Summit began in 2013 when he started writing sermon study guides as well as editing for the SUMMIT Magazine. Nathan is also a member of Summit’s staff, serving as the Global Partnerships Coordinator. He performs a myriad of tasks on staff, including the coordination of Summit’s mission teams, missionary support, budget planning, and helping to maintain communication with our partners around the world.

Ashley Simonds | Editor

Ashley’s appreciation for editing started when she was a child—she wrote a letter to Scholastic informing them of a spelling error in the book “Wayside School is Falling Down.” That same summer, she also wrote letters to all seven of the US Olympic gymnasts. She was on quite a roll with her correspondence! Ashley loves cooking, going to the beach, and spending time with her husband, Andy, and their children. Whenever they get the chance, Ashley and Andy love to explore new restaurants around town.

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CONNECT GROUP (noun) \ka-’nekt ‘grüp\: a group of 8-12

people, who meet together for 12-18 months, to learn, serve, and worship together.

There is something about doing life together with people who love you and love Jesus—who are committed to learning more of who Jesus is and letting that inform more of who they are. There is something good about that for everyone involved. That is why when someone asks me something to the effect of, “What is a good first step at Summit?” or “What is a good next step at Summit?”

I suggest getting into a Summit Connect group—a group of 8-12 people, who meet together for 12-18 months, to learn, serve, and worship together. Which leads to a reasonable question: Are those numbers sacred? No, they aren’t. The guidelines are good, but they are not sacred. Connecting in Christ-centered relationships is. It is something we deeply need and is the type of connection we long for. God can do incredible things in and through groups of 7, or groups of 13, or people that meet for 4 months or 24 months.

Because when groups of people are willing to carve out time, and be open enough to put Jesus and what he invites us to be at the center of their relationships, change can happen in their families, communities, and lives. And that matters.

Garry Abbott // Herndon Campus Pastor gabbott@summitconnect.org

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This “8-12 people” thing is a guideline to help create an environment in which you can be known and know others. The beauty for me, as I’ve had the opportunity to see groups form, is how diverse a group of 8-12 can be. There are groups that include their children, groups that span a number of generations, groups in a similar stage of life, and groups that are built up of all types of people.

A question I’m often asked is, “If there are only four of us meeting, are we considered a Summit Connect group?” or said another way, “We only have four people, can we start a Connect group?” The short answer is yes. But I’ll tell you that you have a unique opportunity to invite others into community—into an environment where they too can know others and be known. Maybe it means inviting your neighbor, a co-worker, friend, or that person you volunteer alongside.

Sam Arocho // Waterford Campus Minister sarocho@summitconnect.org

For some, 12-18 months can seem like an eternity when you don’t know where you’ll be two weeks from now. But something happens over a span of time together. Relationships deepen, lives change, we celebrate huge milestones, and share in our grief over a season. Sure, people miss from time to time, but it’s always nice to get a text checking to see if you’re OK when you’re gone. People move, but we pack trucks and throw parties to deal with our mixed feelings of celebration and sadness. There’s something about a season of time together that does work on our heart and soul. It’s not always easy, but I’ve always found it worth it to jump in together for a season of life.

O.J. Aldrich // Lake Mary Campus Minister ojaldrich@summitconnect.org

The diversity in which our groups learn, serve, and worship together is what is so fun for me to see! Learning can be a deep dive into the Bible, a video study

by Beth Moore, or one of our Summit study guides. Connect groups cultivate a heart of worship by doing life with each other in Christ-centered relationship. It is a condition of the heart, not simply an act. Therefore, praying, playing, working, grocery shopping, and throwing a front-yard BBQ are all potential acts of worship.

Sure, some groups come to service together and sing with all they’ve got to cultivate this condition of their heart, but remember everything you do can and should be an act of worship! Serving could be anything from attending niceSERVE together, volunteering with a local nonprofit or on a Summit team, or simply cooking meals for each other when someone is sick. It is an opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Dan Sherfield // Herndon Summit Connect Director dsherfield@summitconnect.org

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A New Home The women of Samaritan Village encounter community

SARAH LAND

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BRIAN HOGAN

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SHE KICKS OFF HER SHOES and sits with her legs tucked beneath her on the brightly patterned chair. When she speaks, her voice is confident, kind, and clear. She doesn’t say much, but when she does, her words elicit a shared response from the other women in the room.

“Out there,” she explains, “it was ‘What can you do for me?’ And in here, it’s ‘What can I do for you?’” The other women say “What can I do for you?” at the same time, almost as if it had been rehearsed. The “out there” they are referring to is their past experiences as women who have been trafficked, a life these women know full well.

The “in here” is the life they’re living in community right now through Samaritan Village, a Christ-centered program for women transitioning from sexual exploitation to healing, wholeness, and productivity. They do this through a number of ways, including Ruth’s House, which is the safe house where the women live and take part in a holistic, traumainformed care model that provides an opportunity for healing. A home where they are able to develop a family-like environment with fellow residents and staff.

Samaritan Village also has many local partners, including Summit, where the women say they have felt overwhelming support. Summit gave its 2015 Christmas Eve offering to Samaritan Village, but the thing these women seem to love the most is serving in Base Camp—their eyes light up when they start to talk about it. For these women, serving families at Summit is what communicated to them that they really were a part of the Summit family. One woman explains that she has felt acceptance “being trusted with someone’s kids, something so important.” They love knowing they’re a necessary part of the community when they can help make Summit a better place for children and families to learn and grow.

The five women currently in the program have been part of it anywhere between a couple months to two years. The journey they are taking toward healing, wholeness, and productivity looks different for each of them, and it is one they each have to travel for themselves, but never alone. These five women know more than most about what it means to live in community with others, but from a first glance you’d never know what they’ve gone through to get to this point.

Today they sit in chairs and on couches, sharing stories of how Christ-centered community has changed—and continues to change—their lives. For several of the women (their names cannot be shared to help protect their identity), the most challenging part of being in community was the initial moments of bravery it took to get

“This is not only our community, but our family.” to know one another.

“I thought ‘I’ve gone too far. I’m nobody.

My life doesn’t matter,’” explains one woman.

“And then when I came to Summit and Samaritan Village, it was nothing like that.”

Another woman jumps in to explain, “That feeling like you matter? It’s really hard to accept. I don’t feel deserving of a good community like this or people like this or Samaritan Village or Summit. It’s still really hard for me to grasp even though I’ve been here for two years. But it’s still hard to swallow most days. And then sometimes you’re like, ‘What are they really doing this for? Is it to make themselves feel better?’

Even if you know that’s not what it is, it’s part of the damage from the life that I lived.”

When she refers to damage, this is another thing the women seem to just get about

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one another. They share that, in human trafficking, there is such a verbal emphasis on loyalty, but in actuality they learned there really was no loyalty or love to be found there. Many of the women share stories about how it is a daily struggle to live in Christ-centered community because it means they have to choose to believe the truth that they are worth being loved and cared for.

One of the women explains that in human trafficking, “you’re not even you, you’re what they want you to be to benefit them. No matter how much it tears you down, no matter how little you become. No matter how broken, lost, whatever. Here,” she continues, now speaking about being in her current community, “they don’t focus on ‘I need to change you to what I want.’ Here, they try to help you fix what might be broken and still keep you. This,” she looks around to the other women sitting near her, “is our community now. This is not only our community, but our family. So all of that is gone and this is what we have today.”

To experience such deceit in their past, it’s amazing to think that these women have bravely shared with others what they refer to as their deepest and darkest. They’ve taken a chance on one another and seen how much God loves them through it. If you ask them, they’ll let you know that living in community is one of the hardest things, but it’s well worth any fear, insecurity, or risk it may take to get there.

RADAR

Hearts There is a place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where joy abounds. It is a place where you are greeted by the roar of excited chanting from over a hundred little faces. They offer you huge smiles, hugs around your neck, and kisses on your cheek. You will only get about two feet through the entry before you are completely surrounded. This is a place where you will be warmly greeted by the staff and welcomed in as family. This is a place where, when you walk through the gate, you can sense that you are walking on holy ground.

LAURA HUNT BRIAN HOGAN

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“When you create a link between two communities, it is a way of preaching the gospel.”

- Ayni

I Care for the Nation is a CarePoint that Summit partners with through the organization Children’s HopeChest. It was founded by Ayeneabeba Maru, or Ayni for short, out of her desire to help the vulnerable women and children in her community. This past May, a team from Summit traveled to Addis to spend time at I Care. This was my third time taking this trip and each time I am blown away by the growth of the programs. Children are beginning to thrive through sponsorship, and women are finding hope as they find a safe place to process their stories, heal, learn new skills, and possibly be introduced to Jesus for the first time. Real change is happening in and around I Care.

During our time there, we were able to see how much of the joy that is found in this place comes from the community that God has developed here. Ayni and her team know these mothers and their stories. They care for these children as deeply as if they were their own. Their interactions are playful and heartfelt.

“Community is a group of people living around and helping each other—supporting each other in every direction,” explained Ayni. It doesn’t take long to look at the work being done in I Care and see the truth in Laura with Ayni during her May 2016 trip to I Care. this statement. Even the women in the programs display this in the way they interact with one another. When one group graduates, some women will continue the course by becoming the trainers for the next group.

This idea of helping each other was also evident outside the walls of I Care. One afternoon, our team went to the home of Eyob, a sevenyear-old in the program who captured my heart two years ago and whom my husband, Jared, and I have been sponsoring ever since. He lives with his mother in a 6 x 8 foot home built of wood, heavy paper, and tin. Eyob is the perfect example of the joy that is experienced in I Care. He loves to laugh, run, and mimic your facial expressions. In spending time with his mother, it became clear where this joyful attitude came

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from. Eyob’s smile is a spitting image of her own. She was kind and welcoming as we visited with her in her home.

As we talked with her, she mentioned how she was very close to her neighbors—that they all help support one another. Even while we were in her home, her neighbors were making coffee and roasting corn for us just because we were guests of their friend.

As a church, Summit has been partnering with I Care for the Laura’s husband, Jared, and their Nation for about three sponsorsed child, Eyob. years. Through this partnership, our two communities have been tied together. Families right here in our church are being connected with families half a world away through child sponsorship. We are two communities, but we serve one God. “This was my wish to see,” Ayni told me. “Communityto-community support means a big deal for me. When you create a link between two communities, it is a way of preaching the gospel. It shows how people can be loved by other people. Even when their color is not the same, their language is not the same, the culture is not the same, it is their hearts that are connecting each other.”

Our time in Addis served as a deepening of the relationships that have formed between Summit and I Care. Together we served the women and children in the programs. Together we felt the heaviness of grief in their stories. Together we experienced the joy that comes from the hope found in Jesus. One afternoon, someone from our team mentioned to Ayni that she always seems so joyful.

She smiled and asked us if we knew what the word bedesta means in Amharic. “With happy heart,” she revealed.

With a happy heart she is building a community centered on Christ. With a happy heart she is caring for the people placed in front of her. With a happy heart she is living out God’s calling on her life and with happy hearts we get to join her.

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KALEB HARRELL

People Devoted to God. In Community.

On Mission.

For God’s Glory.

When I heard it the first time, it sounded like a mission statement for a company—one that leadership comes up with, mounts onto a plaque, and displays proudly. Typically no one looks at it for several years until it’s time to rework the mission—an exercise that consists of removing old buzzwords and adding newer, trendier ones…

But, this was different.

continued next page

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“As a church, we never want Summit to lose sight of why we do what we do. It’s all for the glory of God.” -John

I would soon learn that the “identity statement” was actually a twoyear teaching plan that Summit’s leadership collaborated to create. It became evident very quickly that it isn’t just a statement on a white board. This is a living, breathing mantra that has permeated through the team and is being used as a litmus test for decision-making.

The process began in summer of 2015, when Lead Pastor John Parker was part of a team that went to Africa. “One of the questions I carried into Africa was the transition period of Summit,” John says.

“I wanted to clarify our identity in context of the vision and really ask ‘Is there an overarching strategy to our teaching at Summit?’”

SPRING 2016

“People devoted to God…”

John and the Strategy Team wanted to be sure that the statement—like our lives—begins and ends with God and our devotion to his purposes.

They wanted nothing to overshadow this truth and decided to bookend the remainder of the statement with this principle.

John came back with a framework to facilitate discussion around this topic, and from there the Strategy Team (Garry Abbott, Jeff Kern, John Parker, and Andy Simonds) began talking through what this could tangibly look like. After weeks of organic processing, healthy discussion, and of course plenty of prayer, they unanimously came to an agreement on the teaching plan statement: FALL 2016

“…in community…”

The Strategy Team agreed that God works through community at Summit. “There’s something God wants us to know about himself that can only be seen in the context of community,” says John. “Summit has always valued community as a part of being a follower of Christ, and the two-year teaching plan is reengaging what it means to be Summit Church, so community has to be at its core.”

Teaching Minister Zach Van Dyke

SPRING 2017

“…on mission…”

In Mark 16, Jesus gives his church the mission to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” Summit’s leadership team was intentional about keeping this calling the central theme at the core of the teaching plan.

FALL 2017

“…for God’s glory.”

Why show up on Sunday? Why build a church?

Why help others and lead them to Christ? “As a church, we never want Summit to lose sight of why we do what we do,” explains John. “It’s all for the glory of God.” SU M MIT

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Teaching Minister Jim Keller preaching at the Herndon campus

“After a few weeks of building teaching in the process, it became clear how helpful it is to have guide rails toward a direction.”

–Jim

Until the teaching plan rolled out in 2015, the process for series selection was very organic, requiring the Teaching Team (Zach Van Dyke and Jim Keller) to start from scratch with each new series. “Having this overarching theme helps put context into topics we think should be discussed,” explains Zach. “It has allowed for focus on the sermons instead of starting each week or series with a blank slate.” As a part of the Teaching Team, Zach helped lead in the process of identifying the most compelling ways to communicate the subtopics within the teaching plan.

Jim Keller acknowledges, “At first it took some getting used to—the idea of having long-term structure around the teaching series—simply because it wasn’t what we had done before. After a few weeks of building teaching in the process, it became clear how helpful it is to have guide rails toward a direction.”

In a model of pluralistic leadership, like that of Summit, it’s particularly important for the leaders to be on the same page working toward the same vision. “Having more leaders connected to an idea gives more audiences a connection point and a more enriched picture of the vision,” explains John. Jim adds, “We are called as a body of believers to exercise our gifts to create together what we could not create as individuals. Anything less (than that) marginalizes the gifts God gave us.”

Proverbs 16:3 reads, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” It rung so true as I heard the story behind the teaching plan and felt the palpable energy throughout the team’s discussions of the new direction. Each team member agreed separately and collectively that teaching through the identity of the church will allow us to lean into our strengths as a community while continuing to become the church that God is making us to be.

“Who the church is, our identity, gives power to what the church does, our vision,” John responds when asked of his hope for the teaching plan. “We live in a world that is desperate for hope, and the church is the means by which Jesus will call people to himself—the only true hope. The stakes for the church could not be any higher. It is for that reason that we owe it to ourselves and to the world to be very clear on who we are as people devoted to God, in community, on mission, for God’s glory.”

Within the “People Devoted to God” season, we have had a handful of series that have helped us to examine where our devotion lies and recalibrate toward God. You can always revisit and listen to past sermon series at summitconnect.org/sermons.

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Orlando Stro For the Long Haul

When a tragedy happens to your friend or your neighbor, there’s this innate urge to want to jump in, to help, to say comforting words, to do something. But there’s a risk—a risk of it being awkward or uncomfortable. And there are lies we tell ourselves to discourage us from taking action: “I won’t know what to say,” we think. “She probably already has plenty of food/water/flowers/hugs,” and “He probably just wants to be alone,” or “Someone else has probably already filled that need.”

LAURA COOK

Lies. Because for the people who have gone through tragedies, do you know what got them through? What helped them mourn and feel loved despite sadness?

KARI FREEMAN

People. People like you and me. Sure, their family and their friends, but also their acquaintances, their neighbors that they’d met only once, and a stranger who heard about the news and wanted to stop by. People helped them. People who chose to love like Jesus loves.

This instinct to show up, to jump in, to do something—to love—began surfacing on the morning of Sunday, June 12th, as news started to spread about the mass shooting at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub a few hours earlier. It’s like the Central Florida community sprung into action and decided that there was no time for the lies and the “What ifs.” People were in desperate need and desperate pain and we needed to show up immediately. It didn’t matter if we knew the victims and their families, if we were part of the LGBTQ community or even agreed with it, if we had plans that day or were scared of being out of our comfort zone—the largest mass shooting in America had just happened in our backyard and we couldn’t stand by and hope that everything would just work out.

So the community of Orlando showed up. That meant individuals arriving at The GLBT Center of Central Florida (which became a hub for response) with cases of water and food, ready to volunteer. “I was very amazed at how so many people appeared from so many directions and how many allies there were in our community,” says Ken Terrell, Volunteer Program Director at The Center. “[The community] just pulled together. Everyone wanted to put a helping hand in. It just felt like the community was one.” People stood in line for hours so SU M MIT

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Memorials placed outside of Orlando Health in the wake of the Pulse shooting

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can show up, someone who owns a funeral company can reduce their expenses, an artist can paint a mural, a marketing company put together the Orlando dancing video.” People were responding in the best way they knew how, like the Summit Connect groups that responded to a last minute resource-drive to make 100 care bags for the injured victim’s families—and instead created 700! People wanted to respond. And they did. Orlando did. We did.

But the question we’re left with now, months after this tragedy snapped Central Florida into action, is how can we continue to love like Jesus loves? As individuals, as a church, as a community—what will it take for us to continue to live with a heightened awareness of the needs of all others around us?

I think it goes back to that instinct that God placed in each of us to begin with, that instinct to show up (to help, to cook, to hug, to sit) in crisis. But God doesn’t just call us to love in response to tragedy. He displays for us a love that is steady, without bounds, and for the long haul. How we love others should be a reflection of that. We should choose to love despite the awkwardness we may feel and despite the lies that fill our heads telling us that people don’t need people.

they could give blood, raised funds for the victims and their families, offered counseling services, and something else: were present for one another. Central Florida resident Michelle Solano and her partner Leah Hiss sat near the Sodo shopping area not far from Pulse praying and talking with others on that Sunday afternoon. “There were a lot of people that probably had the same intention as us,” says Michelle. “Wanting to just be there… and just trying to be available.”

“[The community] just pulled together. Everyone wanted to put a helping hand in. It just felt like the community was one.”-Ken Terell

In all this response, there was also the church, organizing prayer nights at different congregations (including Summit), writing letters of hope and encouragement from pastors, and creating a bridge of love between Christian leaders and the LGBTQ community leaders. But the church also showed up through individual believers. “I felt a huge encouragement from the church and people in the church,” Michelle says. “All standards were thrown out the window.

It’s like love was truly the first response in my experience and in so many other stories.”

People took their abilities and resources and figured out their part in the relief effort. “I think so many people wanted to know ‘what can I do to help?’” says Matt Broffman, Innovation Official at the City of Orlando, who was part of the team that coordinated the city’s response. “What people did is what they do best. The mall could put on a fundraiser, someone who owns a therapy dog company ISSUE 26

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We do.

RADAR

Choosing Community

A conversation about how community is being created within the walls of the 33rd Street Jail

KATIE SCHMIDT

A

s I started thinking through what distinct pictures of community God creates at Summit, I wondered what it looks like to choose community in a place where it feels like you have no choice, no freedom—our campus inside of 33rd Street Jail. I had the opportunity to sit down with our 33rd Street Minister, Tim Burkholder, and our 33rd Street Ministry Coordinator, Lindsey Coates, to talk about what community looks like inside of the jail, the differences between the men’s side and the women’s side, and how this community is very much a part of the Summit community as a whole. Full disclosure, the first five minutes of our time together was spent debating how to pronounce the plural form of the word asterisk. After that, we kind of just jumped right in.

Tim: What gets lost in the shuffle sometimes is that we actually have two campuses at 33rd, which are as different as Waterford and Lake Mary are. They’re similar in some regards, but the chance to form community looks different.

Lindsey: And how they live. It’s like night and day.

Katie: How so?

Lindsey: Just the environment as a whole.

Where they live, how they live, where and how they sleep is completely different.

On the women’s side, we can only have 25 bodies in a room at a time. And church happens in a room that’s like a— Tim: It’s like a confined classroom space.

Lindsey: It is. And they all sleep in one large room, with metal bunk beds pushed against the wall. And you can see everything and everyone at all times.

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There’s a partition that covers some stuff, but pretty much everything happens in the open.

Tim: The men’s side is—I like to think of it a bit like a high school cafeteria. People come out of their dorms that face into the great room and that’s where we do our services.

Often we’ll have about 70 guys in our dorm and everybody is invited to service. So each time we go we’ll have 20-65 guys depending on who’s in there and how the day has been and how the officers have been and stuff like that.

Lindsey: You’re basically talking about 60 or so people who have never met before, and even if they have met, they did not meet in good circumstances. They have no desire to be where they are, they have no desire to be with who they’re with, and they’re having to do everything together. It’s just set up to be very anti-community.

Katie: But it happens, right? What does that look like when it does?

Tim: The best glimpses I have into what community can look like is Tuesday nights at reGROUP. We pass around a feelings wheel and I ask every single guy in jail if they’re willing to share about how they’re feeling.

What starts to happen is when people are honest about where they are in life, it opens the door for other people to engage honestly themselves and that starts to create connection. They start breaking out of the isolation that can happen in jail and that can be really healing and cathartic for a lot of the guys. One guy recently had been in jail for 56 days and he hadn’t talked to anybody. And so when he stepped out for the first time and shared just real honestly about why he was in jail, how he was feeling about why he was in jail, how he’s afraid of what will happen when he gets out—it was relatable for most of the guys there. And I found myself even being able to relate too, because I think emotions are a language we all share.

in the details of the story, but in the damage—there’s an inability to trust, a fear of vulnerability. But what can happen, especially between bunkmates, is they start to go ‘well alright, I’ve got to sleep under this person for however long and what they do really irritates me.’ But then in reGROUP, when we start talking about our stories, the lights come on and they realize ‘Oh—she has a story, too? And there’s a reason she is the way she is?’ and they start asking questions and sharing. So you may have two women who don’t talk to anybody else, but they’ll share their journals and pictures with each other. And pictures are a big deal—like who gets to see your pictures—it’s letting someone see your family, see your world and that’s huge. Because their worlds are elsewhere and they understand that for each other.

Tim: I think that’s one of the first things people get when they engage with community is that sense of ‘I’m not alone in this anymore, there’s someone that can shoulder this weight with me.’

Lindsey: Right. It’s acknowledging that isolation is hurtful and then identifying people you could possibly trust and then taking that leap. But that can feel so foreign and difficult and such a push. But when I see people share for the first time or the third time or the fifth time—I mean it’s like

“They know it costs someone

forgives even the vilest of sinners, it is not uncommon to see guys with bloodshot eyes and tears streaming down their faces. To think about the immense goodness of God­— to sing about God being a good, good father.

There are some guys who will really connect to the idea of grace, and their being worthy despite their unworthiness. The concept of grace is, for some people, like a lifeline.

Katie: How does the 33rd community fit into the Summit community?

Lindsey: The short answer is more than people realize.

Tim: Oh good, ‘cause my short answer was I don’t know.

Lindsey: Great, I’ll take this one. They know they are continually being prayed for by Summit and they are continually praying for the Summit community. They know who the pastors are, they watch the niceSERVE videos, and are just obsessed with Beach Baptism. They’re like ‘Hey! That’s our church family!’ even if it’s just in that period of time, Summit is their church family while they’re in jail and they identify with Summit. They have adopted it.

Tim: There’s a lot of similarities for the men, too. A lot of buy-in and ownership of what we’re about as a church. From our vision and values to the ways we do ministry and serve our community.

People get really excited on the inside about being a part of Summit on the outside.

something for Summit to have a

Lindsey: How I see it on the women’s side—and I see this highlighted in my own friendships too, because some of my brokenness is similar to theirs, not

church family in jail.”

- Lindsey they have literally taken something off their backs and either let somebody else hold it with them or even set it down for a moment.

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Lindsey: For the most part they even recognize that it takes the community—like they know we’ve got volunteers from Waterford, Herndon, and Lake Mary. And they know what that means. They are very aware that it takes people from those three communities to come into 33rd so that they can have church.

They know it costs someone something for Summit to have a church family in jail.

All Roads Lead to CONNECT

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Community is a process. Sometimes it’s organic and as simple as showing up for a free lunch at church, and sometimes it’s three Connect groups, 27 ice-breaker games, and a whole lot of defeated feelings before it works. All of us have different routes we’ve walked, been dragged along, or are considering trekking down in our quest to find valuable, meaningful, and rewarding Christ-centered community. And while it’s likely that we’ll see the beauty of that snapshot of community once we’ve found it, it can be trickier to catch a glimpse of what God is up to in the midst of it all. But there is always something incredible and worth noticing when God draws people toward himself and others.

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Woven Throughout Hillary’s journey toward deep community SAM BOESCH

LORI PHUR

I first met Hillary Smit over a year ago while I was working at a local coffee shop, Credo. We engaged in some small talk as I made her coffee, and for anyone who knows Hillary already, you know that conversation with her is always effortless. Before long, she was done with her coffee and we were still talking. I learned that she had just recently moved here from Georgia for a new job opportunity. We talked about her move and her excitements and hopes for Orlando, also discussing the very real fears that come with moving to a new city and finding new community. After a while, she asked if I happened to be a part of a church in town. That was something that I noticed early on about Hillary. She had a desire to be in community, and even though she was nervous, she was ready to walk toward finding it—even if that meant asking a total stranger at a coffee shop if she went to a church.

I mentioned to Hillary that I had been going to Summit for a few years. What surprised me, and yet also reminded me that God writes intricate stories for each one of us, is that Hillary had already heard of Summit from some friends who used to live in Orlando. It was obvious to me then that God was already at work in Hillary’s journey to encounter community in our city.

Hillary joined me for a service at Summit the following week. That Sunday was not only one of our church-wide Beach Baptisms, but it happened to be the Sunday that our baptism service got rained out, and we had “beachless baptisms” in the Herndon Sanctuary.

“My first Sunday night was Beach Baptism,” Hillary now explains. “I remember walking into the building and being greeted by loving and welcoming people. I also remember feeling thankful that I was able to see the heart of the church through that night and through the baptisms. I looked around and saw a church family having fun together and loving each other.”

Hillary definitely enjoyed Summit and continued to attend services, but she was missing her church back home. She had been a part of such a close community in Georgia, and was missing that here in Orlando.

When Hillary was talking with a friend still in Georgia, she told him about Summit and how much she loved it, and that she had been going for a few months and was trying to figure SU M MIT

out how to enter into deeper relationships with some of the people she had been meeting. “When I talked with my friend about wanting to take steps toward community at Summit, he suggested serving,” Hillary mentions.

After thinking through it, Hillary decided that she was ready to take that step. She attended the 6 p.m. service at Herndon and was interested in volunteering with the First Impressions team, so she signed up and met the team the following Sunday.

Within the first week of serving, Hillary met Abby Holmes, one of the 6 p.m. First Impressions team captains. “Abby and I talked for a while and she was really intentional about getting my number and asking me to hang out,” Hillary explains. “We got together and she invited me to a women’s Connect group that she had been a part of already.” Hillary continued to spend time with Abby and the girls from the group. She loved hanging out with them, and she especially loved that these girls were her age and in similar stages of life as she was. They made her feel truly connected. Before long she found herself in a genuine, Christ-centered community that she was praying for since her move to Orlando.

It is truly encouraging to sit down and reflect on Hillary’s story.

Woven throughout her journey in Orlando are examples of brave steps that were taken toward finding deeper relationships and deeper community. Hillary met Abby and found community by taking a faithful step toward what God was calling her to. “It was taking that initial step of serving that made me feel connected and a part of something,” Hillary explains. And Abby, someone who was already part of a community and serving regularly at Summit, was faithful in her invitation to Hillary.

This story helps me see more clearly the ways that God invites all of us to enter courageously into the process of finding and cultivating community with one another. It requires the refusal to be stagnant in where we are by taking the next step toward where we are called. For Hillary, it looked like serving with the First Impressions team. And for a lot of other people in situations similar to hers, the next step could possibly look like this too.

Hillary encourages each of us to “Take the step. If it is to serve, start serving. If it is to invite, start inviting. Whatever it is for you, take the step.”

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“It was taking that initial step of serving that made me feel connected and a part of something.”

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Never Without It Again One small step leads the Kaufholz family to community KIMBERLY CHIN

KARI FREEMAN

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“I think we are all searching for community, but when it comes time to actually putting in the work to do that, it’s intimidating.” —Amy “My expectations were very limiting to God,” Jimmy Kaufholz explains. “I expected a two but God provided a ten.”

Jimmy’s wife, Amy, had always known she wanted to find community within the church; she had grown up in church communities and knew she wanted to pursue that for her family.

Jimmy, however, had not grown up in community of any kind, and honestly didn’t know what to expect or if he even really needed it.

The couple learned of Summit through family members and started attending shortly after relocating to the Orlando area. Just a month into their time at Summit, Jimmy, Amy, and their young daughter went north to join the new Lake Mary campus. Soon after, the time for niceSERVE, our church-wide service day, rolled around. They didn’t know much about it, but Jimmy felt God telling him to help serve with what was now his church. So they picked a project at random, hoping to meet people that they could sit next to in service on Sundays.

Lasting community wasn’t really on their minds after just a few weeks at their new campus.

The morning arrived and they met up with their niceSERVE team, a group of three other young couples. After a rough start getting their project going, including a trip back to childcare to pick up their inconsolable daughter, they joined the team at their project site. Amy, with her daughter now strapped to her back, mopped alongside the other women, while Jimmy and the other men creatively worked on chiseling out a completely frozen-over freezer.

By the end of the day, Jimmy and Amy had learned that the other three couples were in a Connect group and they were invited to come and try the group out. From that first meeting, the Kaufholzes knew they had found something invaluable in that group.

“They were some of the first genuinely true and healthy friendships that I’ve had,” Amy says, describing what a blessing that group became to her and her family. She describes the difference she felt in this group as “buy-in.” Though they are no longer a traditional Connect group, this group remains in genuine community because they were willing to open up about what was really going on in their lives.

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while always inviting more people into it. They believe that no matter how hard it may be to find, real community is something everyone needs.

“I think we are all searching for community,” Amy explains, “but when it comes time to actually put in the work to do that, it’s intimidating. However, I believe that’s what we’re all seeking... even just the tiniest bit of buy-in on a deeper level is such a gift, not only to yourself but to others.”

Jimmy agrees, admitting, “I had gone almost my whole life without community of any kind. I didn’t realize how thirsty I was for the real thing until I got a taste of it from our first group. And I’ll never go without it again.” Jimmy and Amy didn’t expect to find a group that niceSERVE day, much less a community, but they’re so glad that God used their one small step into service to guide them into his perfect community for them.

Jimmy & Amy’s Connect group meets during one of their monthly meals together

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Like a Tether Rayna steps up to create community JENNA DAIL

MINDY DUNLAP

ayna Alexander is a Summit regular attendee, wife, mother, realtor, and friend who found herself longing for a community built on trust and filled with truth. A community that could one day turn into multiple friendships that embodied the same characteristics as the one that brought her to Summit in the first place—a friendship where truth could be spoken, hearts could open up, and the two could lean on each other through any trial in their particular season.

A friendship that brought Rayna to salvation. A friendship built on faithfulness.

Soon after Rayna’s best friend, who embodied all of the above, moved to Texas in the summer of 2015, Rayna missed having

a female companion from whom she could seek advice and encouragement. She began to search for a Connect group in hopes of plugging herself into community, but was let down upon finding mostly college-aged groups, men’s groups, or groups that were held outside her local area. Being the gogetter that she is, Rayna decided that she was not going to stop there and decided to reach out to Sam Arocho, the Waterford Campus Minister. “We started talking and I thought, ‘Why don’t I just start one?’ You know because if there isn’t one, why don’t I just start it?” says Rayna.

Jumping in full-force, Rayna quickly learned that starting a new Connect group was not a process that could happen overnight, but rather a long one that required her to solely rely

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“We’re still trying to build the airplane in the air. We are trying to build it while we are trying to fly it.”

—Rayna

on God. She needed time to allow the group to assemble and strength to be patient and faithful to his calling.

With a goal of hosting at least 10 core female members (ages ranging from 30 to over 50), Rayna is persistent in showing up week after week, even if that means sitting with one other person until the next community-seeker shows up as well. She knows deep within her heart that someone is out there longing for the connection as much as she was when she decided to start the group.

“We’re still trying to build the airplane in the air. We are trying to build it while we are trying to fly it,” says Rayna. Even through the struggles, God has remained present in this Connect group. He has given them the opportunity to develop by bringing ISSUE 26

together a foundation of women who are committed to making it work. He’s also teaching Rayna patience and perseverance through the process.

Rayna knows that patience is important and that community is so worth it. “It is like a tether,” she explains. “If you’re out in the woods and you don’t want to get lost, you tie one end of a rope to your waist and one end to a tree and no matter where you go, you can always pull yourself back. And I always feel that when I’m unable to go to church because I may have something going on, I feel like I’m more untethered, and I can wander away from God. I feel like having a Connect group is a way to connect with others who are also devoted to God, and the group becomes another tether to stay focused and not wander.”

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Building More

Two years ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Malawi with Michael Weaver on one of Summit’s Africa teams partnering with Children of the Nations (COTN). Our team was tasked with constructing new roofs on homes in the village of Mgwayi. With Michael’s background in structural engineering, he was a natural fit for this kind of work. But what started out as a very taskoriented trip, quickly turned out to be something so much more.

When Michael first discovered that the need this team would meet was so in line with his vocation, he felt this could be a place where he could make a real impact, he felt confident his team could accomplish this task despite the limited time they would have there.

But things soon changed in-country. Michael says, “During the beginning of our time there, I was feeling a bit uncertain because I thought we were going to be more project-focused, but I was surprised that half or even more than half our time was focused on the people there and experiencing their lives.

At first I was frustrated, because I’m a task-oriented person, and our task was to construct roofs.”

But Michael quickly changed gears. “At the time it was challenging, yes,” Michael begins. “But looking back, it was actually the relational time spent with the Malawians we were working alongside that touched me a lot more than I thought it would.”

From constructing roofs to building Michael’s full heart NATHAN BOYETT SETH DUNLAP

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< Michael during his 2014 trip to Malawi

group absolutely felt like people he could express it to. “I had heard them share their own stories, and it made things a lot more comfortable for me,” Michael explains. “Once you’re outside your comfort zone, it’s easier to step a little bit further outside. It’s like running a marathon. Once you’ve already run 20 miles, you feel good about running the rest.” And he found himself in a setting where the people surrounding him were encouraging him to run those extra miles and to take those extra steps.

Michael had experienced one of the surprising truths about vulnerability. It’s contagious.

Often all it takes is one person sharing something personal to inspire others to do the same. And while it may have been sparked in another country, God has leveraged this experience to further his Kingdom not only in Malawi, but also in Michael’s relationships with family, friends, and coworkers back home. It has given him greater confidence to share boldly with others the work God is doing around the world and even in his own heart.

When Michael stepped outside his comfort zone, God began using his faith within the context of community to push him forward into further acts of obedience. He didn’t need to go to Malawi to find community, but that’s what he encountered there. My hope and prayer for each of us is that we too would faithfully take the next step God nudges us toward.

“I suddenly felt like my relationship with God was more than just knowing about him—it was the moment I truly believed, as if the knowledge had transitioned from my head to my heart.”—Michael Michael quickly began realizing he was there for a greater purpose—that God not only wanted to do work through Michael, he wanted to do work in him as well.

Michael’s most significant moment of the trip happened one morning under the gazebo where we began each day doing devotionals with the COTN staff. During a time of song and prayer, he felt the Holy Spirit come to him in a way like never before. “Before that, I had read, and been taught, and knew about God,” Michael explains. “But when that happened I felt so much peace and joy. I suddenly felt like my relationship with God was more than just knowing about him—it was the moment I truly believed, as if the knowledge had transitioned from my head to my heart.”

That day on the trip, Michael went on to communicate to our team what had happened that morning.

He describes now that, even though he had experienced something so significant in an unfamiliar cultural context and with people he had only known a few months, this

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“I was looking to be known and to know Jesus.

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Time Invested The Saxton’s path from throwing in the towel to committed community MELISSA STILLMAN

ASHLEY BLAHNIK

ike and Bonnie Saxton were ready to give up on church. During their childhood they’d both felt like outsiders, never quite feeling connected or at home in church. As a married couple, they didn’t think they really needed to be in a church community. But about a year ago a set of very stressful circumstances left them feeling like they needed more in their lives. They’d just moved into a new home with their two young boys, and in addition to work demands, the house repairs were piling up. Mike says, “We had told ourselves, ‘We’ve done this ourselves this far, we don’t need a community for this.’

Then little signs began to hit, and we realized that we weren’t doing what we thought we could on our own. It was weighing on us that we should be looking for a church. All these things were happening and we really needed to re-engage with a community, but we weren’t having any luck finding one that was right for us. But then God put us on a new path.”

The Saxton’s friend, Del Schwalls, had often invited them to check out Summit, and they had been to the Herndon campus once or twice, but now they were ready to really give it a chance.

They decided to visit the Waterford location since it was closer to home. Bonnie says, “As soon as we got in the car after attending Summit Waterford, I told Mike, ‘This is the place.’”

Right away Bonnie and Mike decided to get plugged into the church, and began volunteering in Stepping Stones, Summit’s children’s ministry for kids three months through five years.

Serving became a family affair, since working with Stepping Stones meant the Saxton’s sons, Tyler (five) and Evan (three), would need to attend two Base Camp classes back-to-back.

Bonnie says, “Mommy and daddy are volunteering, so they are volunteering too. It was stressful at first, but now they have fun at ‘first church’ and ‘second church.’” Mike says, “We love to come home and hear the kids talk about Jesus. We want that for our kids and want it for other people’s kids, too.”

When Keely Hardaway, the Waterford Children’s Ministry Director, learned Mike and Bonnie weren’t in a Summit Connect group, she asked them to consider joining a group led by her

friends Liz and Chad Cain, who are also Stepping Stones volunteers. Bonnie really liked Keely and Liz, but she was hesitant after years of feeling like she didn’t fit in at church. “I honestly thought, ‘Oh no, not again.’ I had never done a Bible study before.

I told Liz I’d think about it. I already knew what Mike was going to say—he’d been asking to get into a Connect group.”

Once Bonnie was convinced, the two began attending the group at the beginning of 2016. Their Connect group is made up of six couples and meets on Thursday evenings. The guys and girls meet on alternate weeks, each doing their own study—that way families have one parent home to take care of their kids.

Both groups get to enjoy Liz’s weekly homemade desserts, and occasional events bring everyone together, including the ten kids under the age of six. In addition to learning together, the group worships together at Waterford, and serves together at niceSERVE. Mike loves the diversity of personalities and points of view that make up the men’s group. He says, “Our Connect group has a rocker, a banker, a real estate property manager, a worker in the mission field, and another engineer, like me. I was looking to be known and to know Jesus. That’s what we’ve found. I feel safe there.”

Bonnie says of the women’s group, “It’s been such a positive thing for me… As I got to know the group, it’s become my support system. It’s a loving environment where I can explain my struggles and frustrations. I know I’m never alone.”

Initially hesitant about the time commitment joining a Summit Connect group would require, Mike says it’s been worth the investment. “We thought we were too busy for church. But we’ve invested time in church, despite a full schedule with our family, our careers, and myself being in grad school, and we’ve gotten time back. The more connected we are at Summit, God has somehow given us more time for our family. It’s a chance to use our God-given gifts and maximize Christ-centered relationships.” Bonnie agrees, saying, “We feel so welcome here.

I’ve been waiting for a community like this my whole life—for myself and my family.”

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Something Greater Nate and Sarah Falk’s first step

Nate Sarah

JEREMY LUKENS

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AMANDA KOSSINA

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“You’re never going to feel

Nate and Sarah’s Connect group has a wide range of ages, religious backgrounds (including those with Catholic, Presbyterian, Baptist, and Buddhist upbringing), and levels of faith.

One member, who is not a believer, admits that sometimes he feels awkward in the group, but that it has “strengthened my sense of community and belonging.” Brad Beemer explains that the varying levels of faith in the group is a plus and adds to the dynamic, explaining that sometimes the questions challenge everyone to dig deeper into their faith.

After completing the Starter group curriculum, the group is now working on their second book study.

Aside from their regular Thursday night meetings, the group often gets together for service projects and special events, such as the baptism of Adrienne and Greg’s daughter, Avery.

While the group enjoys learning together through the lessons they study, the most important part of their meetings is the friendships that are being built.

They pray together, serve together, and lift each other up during times of struggle, such as a recent illness.

“If you don’t feel as involved at church as you would like to be, I can’t think of a better way to do it than by developing relationships with people outside of Sunday service,” Greg says.

Nate describes himself as quiet and introverted, someone who isn’t always comfortable meeting new people. As someone who understands, he offers advice to anyone on the fence about joining a Connect group. “You’re never going to feel totally ready,” he says. “Just take that first step.”

totally ready, just take that first step.” –Nate

Though they had been attending Summit for years, Nate and Sarah Falk felt isolated. “Because the church was so large, we didn’t feel like we formed any relationships,” Sarah says. Convinced that she needed to start a Connect group, Sarah began talking with the Herndon Summit Connect Director, Dan Sherfield, who suggested they attend Summit’s first Sunday Lunch.

After the service on that Sunday, Nate and Sarah joined dozens of others who were looking for their next right step at Summit. After hearing about Starter groups, which are essentially a temporary Connect group that goes through a five-week curriculum while members determine if they’re in it for the long haul, Nate and Sarah chose a table representing their part of town and sat down for lunch. Adrienne Stepan recognized Nate from high school and introduced her husband, Greg, and two friends, Grant and Jennifer Salisbury.

“We had been here since 2009, but we didn’t really know anybody,” Adrienne says. “Showing up for lunch took a leap of faith, and when I get there it turns out an old high school friend is a group leader!”

A few more couples joined the table for geographical reasons and before long everyone was sharing their story. The table seemed to have a good chemistry, and by the time lunch was over, everyone at the table was confident they had found their new group. “If you’re there and seeing faces and talking to people, I think God will direct you to where you need to be and the people you need to be with,” Sarah says.

Everyone had felt they were missing out on something greater at church, but they found it difficult to commit to a Connect group because they had children at home. By meeting weekly at Summit, however, the group gets to take advantage of childcare during their meetings and no one feels the burden of hosting.

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Nate and Sarah at the Sunday Lunch where they met their Connect group

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Melded Us MELANIE SNAVELY

KIMBERLY CHIN

If you enter into the Stepping Stones area at Herndon on any given Thursday or Sunday night, you will hear life and laughter filling the space around you and that is before kids even arrive for service. It is upon searching for the source of the noise that you find a group of adults giggling like children and talking about their weeks over plates full of food.

There is a community that has grown out of a gift for serving with children and it is one that has happened so organically that it would be hard to tell the exact moment that the group went from strangers who served together, to friends who do life alongside each other.

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Maybe it was over the dinners we get to enjoy together or through the combined love for watching little ones grow and begin to understand that Jesus wants to be their friend forever. But whatever moment it was that sparked the life connections, it was God’s hand that melded us into a community.

Serving on an evening Base Camp team comes with the kind of intimacy that makes it hard not to plug into each other’s stories. Because it’s a small team of volunteers, we are really able to care deeply for one another. We celebrate birthdays, successes, and just have fun. We share prayer requests and support one another through the tougher moments of life. Stories

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“Relationships have been cultivated in ways that only God could have planned.”

—Melanie

and relationships have been cultivated in ways that only God could have planned.

Some of us bond over old movies, getting together to swap heart-thoughts and eat Chinese food while Audrey Hepburn fills a screen in the background.

Others meet up for coffee to chat about their growing children and what they’ve learned. Strangers have become friends, who have turned into roommates.

The list goes on and on. All kinds of connections that grew within the halls of Summit have now branched out beyond the building’s walls. Yet, each week we find ourselves back together again—a church family, fellowshipping with one another through service.

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There is no age bias or division of life stages. We have blown out everything from 1st birthday candles to 50th. We all learn from each other.

Together, we are a group of individuals who love Jesus and bond over the chance to watch little ones grow into people who do the same.

We never expected to walk away with friendships that help us go through life as followers of Christ, but we’ve gotten exactly that and so much more.

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Leaving the Shallows

I am a master at hiding in plain sight. The irony is that as an extreme extrovert, that method of being seen by all but known by none is a soul-draining way of life. Yet, I have perfected it through lifelong practice.

Inadvertently, my childhood and upbringing taught me to hide the junk and duct-tape the crying mouth. You did it on your own, had to be a survivor, and carried or rescued others in order to be valued. This resulted in a man who, although eager for depth, was terrified of anything but shallow water. So when I got to Summit, I met everyone and volunteered for everything. I was searching for quality through quantity. Several years ago when a friend called me the Kevin Bacon of Summit (that whole six degrees of separation thing) he laughingly meant it as a compliment. I couldn’t figure out then why it tore at my heart.

When I came to our recovery ministry, reGROUP, I had already been part of several really fantastic Connect groups. In these, I had experienced love and caring, and really great friendships.

DEL SCHWALLS GREG PERKINS

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“It was an openness and transparency I had never known, laced with love and acceptance I never thought I deserved.”

—Del

As time continued, I found new ground with the community that built who I was—my family. The vulnerability of reGROUP challenged the hiding of the junk and the duct-taping of the mouth. Although rocky at times, this journey grew my relationships, creating real talks with my dad about what it is to be father and son; healing conversations with my brothers over past hurts; and newfound support in my family that quite literally saved my sister’s life. I didn’t realize how damaging the absence of vulnerability in this vital community actually was, or how freeing it would be when it was there. reGROUP taught me that God designed community to be real and transparent, wise and caring. And then I experienced that in other areas of my life, as relationships became real and transparent, wise and caring. When my world fell apart, it was those relationships in my reGROUP community that first heard my cries. And when my walls fully came down, it was because of the vulnerability I learned in those reGROUP faces.

Of course, this isn’t a universal truth and I have learned that real community can be roadblocked on the other side as well.

There are many I walk through life with who, like the old me, still longingly fear the depths. So I continue to play in the shallows with some that I love, but only because they have yet to learn how to swim. As for me though, I am finding that the scary deep is where the soul-feeding intimate community is. That being known is worth the risk of being vulnerable. I can still manage to hide fairly well if I’m not careful. But it’s so much harder to drown in isolation when you don’t swim alone.

However, I managed to still keep people at bay, even though they would probably tell you differently. I did what I had learned and practiced—take care of others, be the leader, shoulder the burdens. It’s an excellent way to create one-way community. But I always kept folks at a safe distance, never letting anyone truly in to care for me and help carry the weight of my isolation. It wasn’t intentional; it was habit. But as I watched a friend walk through reGROUP, my eagerness for depth resurfaced.

At first I treated reGROUP like other communities. It challenged, “Be vulnerable.” I responded with, “How can I help you be that?” I led, I carried, I rescued... I isolated, I survived.

Even so, over time the essence of the community of reGROUP won out and crept into my behavior. As others were real, I found myself opening up more and sharing pieces of my heart that had always been locked away. The reciprocal vulnerability was so new to me. These men became friends and brothers.

They got to know my story and the lines I would say to hide, challenging me and cheering me on. It was an openness and transparency I had never known, laced with love and acceptance I never thought I deserved. And without even realizing it, this changing behavior bled into the rest of my life, into relationships in other circles. I found myself dissatisfied with one-way care and learned how to say, “I feel…” and “I need…” as well as the most unfamiliar word, “no.” Before I knew it, the water had risen and I had left the shallows.

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The Healing Power

of Community MELISSA FORBES

PATRICK CHIN

My Connect group recently studied the letters of John. I was surprised to read John’s words inviting me into community.

In fact, John claims that experiencing community with fellow believers and with God is the whole reason he talks about Jesus.

When I walked into the Madisons’ house, Kent and three big dogs, Riley, Emily, and Blake, greeted me. Laura rested on a nearby sofa, and I called out, “Did you name these beauties for authors?” She chuckled and confessed yes, they did. That’s all it took. I knew right then we were sisters.

And that was before we started swapping cancer stories.

Laura Madison suffers from what her husband calls “the one thousand and one indignities” of chemotherapy.

There are the usual suspects—baldness, extreme fatigue, loss of appetite—as well as the effects we don’t discuss in polite company. Laura and I discussed them at length that day because our cancer stories are so similar.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. First let me tell you about the Madisons.

They came to the Summit Lake Mary campus in May

I was stunned. I thought, surely John would write about Jesus so that we’d have forgiveness and life and love. And he does write about these things in his gospel, but here in the opening verses of 1 John, he’s all about community.

Jesus came to give us community?

Yes, John says, he most certainly did.

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“I’ve known for a long time, theologically and philosophically, what the church is for. In all of its beauty and ugliness, the church body cares for one another in the same way that Christ cares for us.

Right now, I get to see this in a very real way.” —Kent 2013 and knew right away they wanted to get into a small group of believers. Many years before, Laura and Kent met each other in a small group at a church they both attended in Nashville.

They discovered the importance of small groups in their own growth. Kent describes, “I needed sermons for teaching, and I needed to worship with my whole church body, but small groups? That’s where you get into the nitty gritty.”

On their second or third Sunday visiting Summit, the leaders of the legendary Empty Nesters Connect group were waiting for them in the Lobby. Laura says, “We connected with them immediately and started forming relationships with the other members.”

Led by Harold and Connie Davis and Diane Gentry, the Empty Nesters Connect group was fairly new at the time. The group quickly became a community with a “let’s jump in” reputation that shared leadership among its members of Bible study, fellowship, and service.

Laura and Kent jumped into all aspects of the Empty Nesters, but they also found themselves needing extra prayer and support.

The Madison family met several unexpected circumstances, including unanticipated surgeries and severe relationship disappointments, that left them physically and emotionally hurting. Their Connect group saw them through every difficulty with flowers, food, and hospital visits. They even helped them with yard work and setting up their Christmas tree. And, as Laura says, “Above all, prayers; their prayers never stopped.”

During this time, Laura and Kent formed new Connect groups at Summit, one for women looking for fellowship and one for working men, both focused on Jesus and studying the Bible.

But in January of this year came the cancer diagnosis.

Kent says, “Initially, we were told it was stage four. I thought I was going to lose her. When we found out the cancer was not as advanced, I broke down, I think in relief. And then? We got to work fighting this thing.”

Laura laughs. “You know,” she says, “I never thought I’d be so happy to find out I have stage two cancer.”

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three of their groups jumped into spreading the word. “People I don’t even know bake us breakfast casseroles and send us restaurant gift cards,” Laura says. “I can’t eat most of the foods, but knowing Kent and our daughters are fed well is a huge help.” Children from their Lake Mary community draw cards for Laura. A member from one of her Connect groups recently texted her from the Western Wall in Jerusalem where she’d been praying for Laura.

Kent says, “I’ve known for a long time, theologically and philosophically, what the church is for. In all of its beauty and ugliness, the church body cares for one another in the same way that Christ cares for us. Right now, I get to see this in a very real way.”

Laura admits that fear of the next stages and effects of treatment sometimes overwhelm her. She clings to Philippians 4:14 and reminds herself of the times she’s intensely experienced God’s presence. “The prayers of our church and our friends and of people I don’t even know—these mean everything to me.”

I went to the Madisons to interview them about their community and how the people who love them do that well in both sickness and in health. They told me more stories than I could fit into the trunk of my car. Clearly, these are people who love. And are loved. Fully.

But what astonished me the day I met Laura was how immediately we became sisters. Was it the Taxol, the chapped lips, the bare neck, the constant thirst? That we love books and furry beasts and bowing our heads with other women?

Yes. But something much greater, too. We became sisters in an instant because our Father’s idea of community, blessedly, is not bound by geography or church campus or even a low red blood cell count. In giving us himself, he’s given us each other.

My own cancer journey, like Laura’s, is a story of pain and loss, but above all, it’s a story of the people who relentlessly loved me through it. So I wasn’t at all surprised that community is the way God is healing the Madisons, for community was surely the way he healed me.

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The Theatre Connection A shared passion used for God’s glory MICHAEL MURRAY

KIMBERLY CHIN

If these people knew me—I mean, REALLY knew me—

happening backstage in the lives and hearts of our team is equally would I still be loved and accepted by them? as important.

The BCL team is comprised of actors, technicians, creative I think that’s a question we’ve all asked ourselves at one time or another. Taking a step into community can be a scary writers, and (perhaps most important to the kids) popcornproposition. It’s not always easy to clear our throats, raise up makers, and greeters. Some have been involved in the performing a hand, and say, “Hello, World… I exist!” When we do muster arts their whole lives—self-proclaimed “theatre people”—while up the courage to take that step, we want to put our best foot others have no experience at all and just want to explore what forward and present an unblemished, perfect, wart-free version theatre is all about. As crazy as it may sound, putting together of ourselves. Unfortunately, if you’re anything like me, once a theatrical production has many things in common with being one wart gets covered up, another one, usually a bigger one, in a Connect group. You begin on the very first day of rehearsals magically appears. as a group of strangers coming together for a specific purpose Over the past six years I’ve had the privilege of being part (in this case, to put on a play). There is some awkwardness as of the BCL community at Summit. you play a few warm-up games to get BCL (i.e. Base Camp Live!) is a family to know each other. production that is performed on Over the next few weeks, something Sunday mornings throughout the incredible happens. As you memorize school year. In addition to the weekly lines, rehearse scenes, and build sets BCL shows, this team, comprised together, community happens. You primarily of volunteers, also produces get to know each other in a deeper other family-oriented performances, way, warts and all. You find that even disagreements have a way of such as The Road to Zamboria musical seen in the spring of 2016 bringing people closer together. As at the Orlando Fringe Festival. What you work together to create a makehappens on the BCL stage has a believe world, you inevitably become tremendous impact on how families more authentic with each other. And by the end of the final performance, at Summit grow deeper in their faith The BCL team at the Orlando Fringe Festival together. As important as that is (and everyone is crying bittersweet tears as we believe it’s very important), what is they think about the journey they’ve SU M MIT

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“Sharing a passion like theatre with someone, and especially a passion that you use for God’s glory, is automatically going to make you feel more connected.” —Tiffany

The cast and crew of the Road to Zamboria

just been on together. The thing I love about BCL is that we get to experience this unique process within the context of Christ-centered community, and we come out on the other side forever changed.

“Sharing a passion like theatre with someone, and especially a passion that you use for God’s glory, is automatically going to make you feel more connected,” says Tiffany Zingaretti, one of the hosts of BCL at the Herndon campus. Tiffany has also performed in Family Camp sketches and helped create props and costumes for The Road to Zamboria. Being involved in BCL has made her feel more connected at Summit. “I think God uses our bond to grow everyone in the ministry. We pray together, laugh together, and cry together. And get to be the hands and feet of Jesus together.”

Jill Morrison, who plays Mrs. C at the Waterford campus, feels a sense of belonging in the BCL community. It has given her a safe place to become real with others. “I’m not afraid to ask for prayer or to tell anyone what’s going on in our crazy little household, because I’m not being judged,” she says. “Being involved with BCL has helped me to believe that I have good things to offer, and that I’m welcome, and that God loves me.

The community brings God’s word to life, and that’s a pretty exciting, wonderful, and humbling thing to be a part of.”

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knows that community is something you have to be intentional about. He took the initiative in scheduling fun events for the cast and crew to participate in outside of rehearsals and was lovingly referred to as the “Cruise Director” of the musical. “It was important to me to organize outings for the cast and crew so that we would get to know each other outside of the play,” he says. “Fostering the friendships outside of rehearsals brought us closer together in a way that made the next five stressful months a whole lot easier. Without these opportunities, it would have been much harder to help a fellow cast member when they encountered difficulties in the play or their everyday lives.

We could learn to depend on each other because we actually knew each other.”

I am so grateful BCL provides an avenue to build community around a shared passion of theatre. For those of us whose hearts beat a little faster at the very mention of theatre, being invited into the wonderfully messy BCL community has been a game changer. Those first simple steps of auditioning or grabbing coffee with a BCL staff member have opened up doors into transparent, vulnerable, and incredibly fun community.

Warts included.

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The Shady, the Stinky, & the Religious

REAGAN PERKINS

GREG PERKINS

We’ve all been there. We’ve all sat in a room with a handful of strangers we are praying we will know well, or at least better, by the end of our predetermined time together. The purposes for the gatherings might be different—a new college class about to embark on a semester of discovery together, a group of coworkers who are about to spend some hard hours on a specific project, or the first meeting of a church small group. The purpose changes, but because we are human, we are all doing the same thing. We are judging, observing, and making decisions about who we have found ourselves sitting next to.

We take in every detail our eyes can bring us while trying not to stare. We observe what people are wearing or how they are sitting in their chair.

As small talk naturally surfaces in the midst of the awkwardness, our ears begin to pick up on different details. We make our own opinions about other people’s opinions. We begin to decide who we like. We begin to sniff out who we don’t like. We search for commonalities to ourselves: a similar taste in music or politics or food or whatever. We long for community even in this awkward, painful room. Because humans were meant for community. Because, at our core, we are all lonely people desperate for someone to see us and Instagram us and love us. The problem is we are sometimes our own worst enemies in our pursuit of it.

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I’ve always loved that Jesus came to earth with an explicit purpose of experiencing all that it meant to be human. Hebrews 4:15 reminds us that we have a Savior in Jesus who is able to empathize with us in every trial and temptation of being human. He experienced heartache and loneliness and fear and laughing so hard that milk came out of his nose. He also experienced the first-day jitters of the beginnings of community.

In fact, if you will allow me to let my imagination roam freely, I think he instigated it.

Jesus spent his first days of ministry identifying a few key players to spend the next three years with him. The end result would be a group of 12 men who would become known as his 12 disciples. They would become a group of men who would watch the world change and then become the world change. But I wonder if the first time those 12 men sat in a room together if they didn’t experience the exact scenario I described above.

I wonder while they sat there awkwardly taking stock of one another, if they didn’t start to second guess why in the ever loving world Jesus had put them in a room with these other men. We don’t know a whole lot about each of the disciples to know exactly what the dynamic was entirely, but we know enough to imagine that they all didn’t have a whole lot in common. Sure, a few were fishermen and there were a couple of sets of brothers

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in the room, but throw into that mix a few religious zealots (fancy word for nut jobs), a tax collector (nicer word for scum of the earth), and at least one soon-to-be-infamous traitor, and I think you get my drift about how that first room probably felt.

Let’s flash forward about three years. These same 12 men (actually 11 of the same and one new guy who is surely wondering why he decided to pinch hit on this team) are now locked away in a room together completely certain that life as they have known it is over. Now these men can’t imagine life without the other 11. They are thick as thieves, closer than brothers. They would lay down their lives for one another. What exactly happened in those three years to take these men from a roomful of wary strangers to a community of lifelong friends? Life happened. More significantly, Jesus happened.

They lived together in close community for three years. They learned together. They rejoiced together. They mourned together. Lord knows, they fought and squabbled together. They fell in love with Jesus together. They soaked it all in…together.

So that by the time we see them again, huddled in disbelief after Jesus’ death, they are no longer a hodgepodge crew of stinky fishermen, religious diehards, and shady tax collectors. They are a band of brothers who have walked the earth with the divine. In the years to come, these 12 men will

“What exactly happened in those three years to take these men from a roomful of wary strangers to a community of lifelong friends? Life happened.

More significantly, Jesus happened.” radically define the community the first church became known for. They will sadly but necessarily depart from one another and they will go on to spread the truth that they witnessed with their own eyes for those three years. They will quite literally change the world. And they will be able to do so because of the time they spent with Jesus together. That first meeting, where they sized each other up, made snap judgments about who they would like and who they would just try desperately to ignore, was the starting-off point for one of the most influential communities in church history.

As we face the fall season, with all of the freshness and newness that comes with the changing of the seasonal guard from the lazy days of summer to the productive, get ‘er done mentality of September, we will most likely find ourselves in new rooms with new people. The challenge I pose to myself and anyone else desperately searching for community, is to remember that those first few meetings of awkwardness and shy tension might be the beginning of a great adventure. Let’s push through those snap judgments and those often incorrect first impressions. Let’s call off the watchdogs of our hearts and listen to what is really being said. Let’s ask Jesus to open our hearts to stories that don’t look like ours and voices that follow a different cadence. It’s the only way a roomful of lonely strangers stands a chance of becoming family to one another.

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For the Sake of Others I’ve always loved reading about King David in the Old Testament. As a boy he took on a giant that no other soldier would take on. He wrote poetry and songs, led God’s people into battle time and time again, and when he sinned greatly, he didn’t run away, but instead turned to God in repentance. What made David such an amazing man and leader, I think, all started back with a friendship. In 1 Samuel, we see a picture of what God had in mind when he thought up friendship by looking at the relationship between David (who would later become king of Israel) and Jonathan (son of King Saul).

After David killed the giant Goliath, we read in 1 Samuel 18:1-5: After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. 2 From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. 3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.

Whatever mission Saul sent him on, David was so successful that Saul gave him a high rank in the army. This pleased all the troops, and Saul’s officers as well.

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What made Jonathan a best friend to David were three things: constancy, transparency, and sacrifice.

“And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.” There was a constancy that grounded Jonathan’s friendship to David. To make a covenant with someone is to say, no matter what, I’m not going anywhere. That is why it is called a marriage covenant—we are making vows to someone that no matter what, we are going to choose them again and again and again.

Unfortunately, marriage and friendship in our culture have become more like choosing a burger. Stick with me here.

My longest standing relationship is with the burger, but not the same burger. When I was a child, I loved the square burger of Wendy’s. But since I have become a man, there have been numerous burgers that have captured the affections of my heart, Five Guys, BurgerFi, Shake Shack, In N Out... My relationship with the burger (as a category) might be covenantal, but when it comes to a particular burger, I am a consumer. I will find the burger that best meets my needs and pledge my loyalty for the five minutes it takes for me to devour it.

Unlike my relationship with the burger, Jonathan says to David that he will be his friend even if it costs him his life (and eventually it would). Do you have a friend like that? Are you a friend like that?

Some bible translations say that “…the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” To have one’s soul knit to another is to say there is transparency—a bearing of one’s soul to another. But bearing one’s soul to another is one of the riskiest things we can do.

C.S. Lewis writes in his book Four Loves, “Friendship...is born at the moment when one man says to another ‘What! You too? I thought that no one but myself…’”

When people come see me for pastoral counseling because they’re struggling with a particular sin, most of them express a feeling that they are the only ones who struggle as badly as they do. Most feel a tremendous amount of shame and say things like, “I know this is so awful and you’ve probably never

spoken to someone who struggles like this.” And my response is usually not only have I heard other people confess the same struggle, I struggle too.

If we are to have true friendship, we must bear our souls to one another. There must be transparency. Your story told truthfully is good news for others. As we share who we are, as we bear our souls with one another, we are invited into a kind of friendship that reflects our Creator, in whose image we are created.

Lastly, true friendship always involves sacrifice. When Jonathan chose David for friendship, he stripped himself of his robe, armor, sword, bow, and belt—all the things that distinguished him as the King’s son. Essentially, Jonathan gave up his right to the throne. Why did he do that? I believe Jonathan had a picture of what God had in mind when he thought David up. I believe that Jonathan knew that David was a man after God’s own heart and that it was David who God had called to lead his people.

This picture gave Jonathan the courage to love David in a sacrificial way.

My wife, Kelly, sees what God had in mind when he thought me up when she looks at me.

I think she has since we were teenagers, and she has sacrificed in countless ways so that I can live into that vision. There was a time in our marriage when things seemed very dark. I hated life and in unfair ways blamed Kelly for my unhappiness. When I think back on some of the hardest days during that time, I mostly remember Kelly with tears of frustration and hurt forcing me to look her in the eyes so she could say, “You’re being awful to me and this is hurtful, but I know this is not who you are.” When the world was telling my wife she deserved better (and she did...and still does), she sacrificed so that I could become more of what God had in mind when he thought me up.

Because of Jonathan, David was able to become what God had in mind when he thought David up. Do you have vision for your friends? For your spouse? For your children? You might be the very thing God uses to transform them more into the image of Christ for the sake of others.

“As we share who we

are, as we bear our souls with one another, we

are invited into a kind of

friendship that reflects our Creator, in whose image we are created.”

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Borrowed Hands

A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” ­—Mark 2:1-5

H

ave you ever needed to be carried? We know very little about the man on the stretcher whose friends brought him to the feet of Jesus that day in the gospel of Mark, but what we can assume is this: he wasn’t getting there on his own. And he probably knew that. He was probably grateful for the four friends who carried him when he couldn’t carry himself. I’m not nearly as smart as he was.

When our tiny dictator bundle of joy, Ember Mae, was born, the immediate joy of her presence was tainted with the difficulty of a season of postpartum depression.

For the first two months, most of my days consisted of doing the minimum necessary to stay above water with the house, crying, taking care of the baby, crying, and going to bed as early as I possibly could (where I could cry privately).

While life did get easier (and eventually even joy-filled again), those dark days have left a deep impression on me for many reasons. One of the biggest was this: I learned I need help. And not the kind of help I used to need. Before the baby, I had been living in a season of high productivity in my life, never feeling like I needed help. A close examination of the Scriptures could have easily pointed out to me that A.) I always needed help, and B.) I am in control of nothing. But that was a reality I wasn’t forced to reckon with until my little wrecking ball of joy came into the world.

I remember one morning, while my husband was overseas on business, I discovered that I needed KAILEY NEWKIRK

GREG PERKINS

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desperately to go to the post office. It was that morning—after Ember Mae vomited down my shirt and I accidentally spilled six ounces of formula onto to my German shepherd—that the reality of my condition collapsed in on me with a suffocating thud of despair.

I could not do things without help.

At the time, I was coaching two women who were training to become reGROUP leaders. One of these gals, Diana, offered to watch the baby while I went out and I reluctantly agreed to the arrangement. As relieved as I was to have her there, I also tried to hurry as much as possible so I didn’t overburden her. I even asked her to come during one of Ember’s long naps. When I came home, I discovered that instead of watching Netflix (which I had all but ordered her to do), Diana had washed the windows of my house, swept, cleaned the kitchen, and did the dishes.

My immediate response was (thankfully, inward) anger.

I know that sounds ridiculous.

But there it is. I was the reGROUP Director. I was the stable kid in my family. I took care of things and people. I did not need people to take care of me. So here I was, standing in my freshly cleaned house, angry—because I had been exposed. I was on my stretcher, helpless to meet my own needs, but saying, “Aw, thanks, but I’m OK. I don’t want you to go to all this trouble.”

The following night, while I was sitting on the living room floor in a shirt that smelled heavily of baby vomit (again), the other gal I was coaching, Susan, stopped by unannounced. She walked in, took my baby from me, and ordered me to take a long shower and change my clothes. I felt the inclination to get angry again and refuse the offer, but then I thought, “Clearly, nobody’s listening to me anyway.” So I gave her the baby and proceeded to experience the best 30 minutes of my life up to that point. When Susan left, and after the baby was down for the night, I started weeping. But,

this time, not because I felt overwhelmed, but because I felt cared for. Seen. Loved. I’d spent so much time in both my family and my vocation making sure that other people had community available to them when they needed it, I hadn’t noticed the fact that I no longer availed myself of it when I needed it. In truth, I had been on the stretcher a very long time before I realized I wasn’t getting anywhere on my own.

I share this humiliating history with you for two reasons.

The first reason is that we all need stretcher-bearers.

People in our lives who will carry us (or even drag us) to the feet of Jesus when we can’t (or won’t) go there ourselves. The danger in living as I had been before is that we can go so far and so long without accepting help, that the world starts to assume we don’t ever need it. And then, when we do, there’s nobody there to help carry us. I learned this lesson the hard way, and I’ve been a recovering SelfSufficient ever since. I have found and invited stretcherbearers into my life for the moments I need to be carried—and I’ve accepted that those moments will come (probably much more frequently than I’d like to believe). There is much grace in allowing others to lend us their hope when we have none, or lend us their hands when ours are full. Because it helps and it reminds us that we are interdependent on purpose. None of us were meant to walk this journey alone. And when we choose to do so, we actually distort the image of God in us. The image of our maker who, as Father, Son, and Spirit, has always, eternally, intentionally been in community, and created us to do the same.

The second reason is this… if you happened to be the woman in front of me at the Waterford post office sometime in September of 2014 and I smelled heavily of vomit—I just wanted you to know it wasn’t mine.

“Our maker is one who,

as Father, Son, and Spirit, has always, eternally, intentionally been in

community—and created us to do the same.”

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RETHINK

I started coming to Summit in 2005 and got involved with the worship team not long after as a drummer. When I came on staff last July, I took on a lot more responsibility than I did as a volunteer, but Sundays still don’t feel like workdays to me. And I think it has to do with this thing called community. When I think about what community is and what it means and how it works, I can draw a lot of parallels to playing music and being part of the worship team.

Because you don’t have all day, how about we just talk about three things? OK. Here goes:

#1 — It’s not about you.

Let’s Get Together (yeah, yeah, yeah)

TREY COLSON

JEREMY KENNEDY

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Well, not only about you. As a drummer, there are certain things I need to do when playing music, especially worship songs and hymns. I need to do my homework and be familiar with the music, I need to keep the band from playing too fast or slow, and I need to play all my parts right. But most of all I need to listen.

I need to listen to what the bass guitar is doing so that we can work together to build the foundation. I need to listen to what the other instruments might be doing to know how to accentuate the music, what I don’t play is just as important as what I do play. I need to listen to the lyrics and how they’re being sung so I can match the tone of the content as well as the music. I’m trying to helpfully contribute to what the whole band is striving for—worshipping God and giving the congregation the opportunity to do the same, and I can’t do that if I’m not listening. Same with community.

We all have something to bring to the table and we all have to listen. The things you’ve experienced and how you’ve grown and struggled inform how you understand and interact with the world and with God. Your story and my story and her story and his story are super important, and I can miss out if I’m only concerned with what I have to offer. When we listen, we can know how to encourage, how to pray, how to love, how to serve, how to help someone take their next right step, how to take our own next right step. We’re all valuable to the God of the universe, who loves us and calls us into relationship with himself, and we’re therefore valuable to each other.

RETHINK

#3 — It takes time.

When I think about my involvement with the worship team over the years, my favorite part by far has simply been the built-in hangtimes. With rehearsal times and downtimes between and during services, there’s plenty of time to catch up with one another. And we share common ground, we’re all serving and working to help make church happen, even if we come from very different backgrounds and have very different life experiences.

It gives us the opportunity to learn each other, invest in each other, encourage each other.

If we want to build solid relationships and experience solid community, we have to stick with it and we have to take chances. Just because I’m around other people at work or church or Red Lobster doesn’t mean I’m necessarily doing community. It can be real easy to talk about the stupidly hot weather or how the sports are going or what’s new on the television.

But if you spend significant time with somebody, you’ll run out of easy stuff to talk about at some point and you’ll have the chance to dig in, to listen, to be vulnerable, to trust, to care.

We’re all dealing with hard stuff and we think others don’t want to hear about it, but don’t forget we need to know each other’s stories. It can be life changing to admit to someone that you’ve been struggling with something for a long time and hear them say, “Me, too.” It has to be okay for us to make mistakes and receive and offer grace, and that usually doesn’t happen right away. We need time to get familiar and comfortable with people and relationships, and there’s no way to shortcut it. Our strongest and most life-giving relationships will be the ones we work at the hardest and invest in the most over time.

Whether you’re new to Summit or you’ve been around a long time, I want you to know that your involvement in community matters. Your willingness to invite others into relationship and community matters. You have more to offer than you think, and you’re not too messy or imperfect to be a part. And if you disagree with any or all of this, my email is gabbott@summitconnect.org and I’ll buy you lunch next week. Deal?

#2 — It’s not going to be perfect.

Excellence is something we take seriously when it comes to worship services at Summit. We ultimately rely on God to do the real work, but we try to prepare and plan well and minimize distractions so that people can encounter God however he might make himself known.

And so we rehearse on Wednesday night for three hours.

The band works on learning the music, the audio techs work on making it sound just right, the lighting designer programs lights to match each song, and we hope and pray that it all works together and God does something with it on Sunday. But we’re never going to get it exactly right all the time.

Even though we want very badly to hit all the right notes and play the right parts and do it all right, it’s just not going to happen. We’re not perfect musicians and we’re not perfect people. And that’s okay. We don’t need to get it right all the time and we don’t have to have it all together for God to do something with us. The beauty and fun of playing music is that it results in something that’s greater than the sum of its parts, and community is like that.

When we do community right it can be really beautiful, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be messy. We’re messy people, no matter how hard we try to appear otherwise.

We need to be okay with the fact that none of us gets it right all the time and that we’ll always have a lot to learn. We need to be willing to bear with each other and encourage each other and be ready to have difficult conversations when necessary. Even though it’s hard and a lot of work and it won’t be perfect, there’s a lot of potential when we dig in and commit to being for each other.

“The beauty and

fun of playing music is that it results in something that’s greater than the sum of its parts,

and community is like that.”

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A Community

all their own Imagine you walk into a room filled with 8-10 people you’ve never met before.

You’ve been told that this will be your new Connect group. You didn’t pick these people and you know almost nothing about them. And here’s the kicker: you can’t switch groups, this is your Connect group for the next year.

KARI FREEMAN DEBORAH KLINE

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“Everyone opens up to each other and we feel comfortable telling each other about anything.”

—Lina

You may hear this and think, yeah, but that would never happen. It’s true that Summit encourages people to take the time to find a Connect group that fits them well. But imagine if you didn’t have that option; you were assigned a group of people and it was up to each of you to turn that group into a community. Essentially, that’s what many of our children are doing every Sunday in Base Camp and, let me tell you, they are doing it beautifully!

I got the chance to sit down with the 4th and 5th grade girls in their classroom, the Lodge, at the Herndon Campus one Sunday. Few of them had ever met before this class started at the beginning of the school year and it’s rare that they get the chance to see each other outside of Sunday mornings. But that hasn’t stopped them from turning their group into a thriving community.

As these girls slowly got to know each other at the beginning of the last school year, they started to recognize how easy it was to connect with other girls who wanted to learn about God. They didn’t hesitate to answer when I asked how they would suggest others form a community. “They should just study the Bible together,” one of the group members, Audrey, starts. “And then they can get closer when they talk about the stories together,” her friend, Johanna, adds. The girls’ conversation amazed me that day as they initiated and discussed complex connections between how Jesus lived and how they should.

While the girls discussed their favorite things

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about their group, one of them, named Tait, shared an aspect that quickly became one of my favorite things as well. “We’re open-minded with each other and we don’t shut each other down,” she explains. The girls were quick to agree that even when their opinions and thoughts differ, their group has always been a safe place to discuss each different perspective. When I asked Tait why she thought that was, she didn’t hesitate to answer, “because what they say could be crucial for all of us to hear.”

These open conversations surrounding the Bible stories they learn about each week have easily morphed to include how those stories impact each of their lives. Now that they’ve been together for almost a year, another group member named Lina tells me, “Everyone opens up to each other and we feel comfortable telling each other about anything.”

The girls have also become more and more comfortable taking ownership of how their group runs each week. They gave feedback to their adult leaders about wanting more time for small group Bible study, resulting in a change to their Sunday morning schedule to give them more discussion time. They also expressed interest in serving together and have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity they’ve since had to serve by cleaning out the classrooms of the younger Base Camp kids.

Base Camp does wonders in teaching the children of Summit about learning, serving, and worshiping together in community.

However, just like in the traditional, adult world of Summit Connect, it’s up to them to make that community their own. As we continue to strive toward community as a church, I think we would all be sorely mistaken to overlook how our children are taking hold of their opportunity for Christ-centered community and running with it!

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Growing Together MINDY DUNLAP

KATIE SCHMIDT

If you time your Sunday just right at the Waterford campus, you’ll see it.

It happens somewhere in between the First Impressions team praying together before service starts and the children, fresh out of Base Camp, who play tag in the Lobby every week after service. “It” is what looks like a parade of teenagers, in matching t-shirts, heading into the Sanctuary about 20-30 minutes after service has started, with hot chocolates in hand. They’re not running late to church, far from it actually. They’ve been here since 8 a.m. rehearsing, performing, and volunteering in our children’s ministry, Base Camp.

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If we’re going to define Connect groups at Summit as 8-12 people who learn, serve, and worship together, let me tell you now, this crew (or squad, as they’d likely correct me) is hitting it out of the park, despite not being a formal Connect group. Just a group of students, ranging from 11-18 years old, that serve in Base Camp, attend a morning worship service in the Sanctuary, and then come back later in the afternoon for our Student Ministries, Surge and Edge. And they do all of it together.

“I think God meant for us to be with each other and have friends,” Charlie explains.

“When you have to do stuff on your own, when you are trying to live life on your own, it’s not as fun as with your friends.”

“Yeah,” Silas agrees. “And being in middle school is tough. But here, we have a place where we can relax and just have a judgefree zone and make friends for life.”

Most of the group met each other through Summit—whether it was during their years growing up in Base Camp, at Surge or Edge, or through serving. The enthusiasm each of them had when they tried to simultaneously tell me how they met and their first impressions of each other is proof that these students clicked from the start. They are all grateful to find themselves in a group of peers that they genuinely enjoy spending time with as well as serving alongside.

“It’s great because, of course, we get to spend time with our friends and that’s great and all,” Rachel says. “But at the same time, they’re friends that have the same mindset as you. Who love Jesus and want to learn the same things you do and serve the same ways you do.”

“...being in middle school is tough. But here, we have a place where we can relax and just have a judge-free zone and make friends for life.” —Silas

All of them love the opportunity to serve in Base Camp as junior volunteers and essentially raise the future Summit community. They appreciate the chance to be a role model and positive influence for the kids who are growing up at Summit, even mentioning that they’re thankful to provide the parents with the freedom to head to service and not worry about their children.

“I really like that I can help the kids learn,” Lauren mentions. “I remember when I used to be them and learn in Base Camp. I just thought it was spectacular that people would volunteer their time to help me learn about God. That’s why I do it.”

The students also always make time after serving to head into “big people church” for as much as they can get of the worshipset and sermon. As one student puts it, it’s like filling up on gas every week. These teenagers get excited for the opportunity to learn about Jesus, to be with their whole church, and to worship God together. They even recognize that worship happens outside of the walls of Summit and in several different forms.

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explains. “But it’s also showing God you love him through what you do. It’s kind of like—whenever you serve someone, you’re worshiping.

When you do something kind, you’re worshiping God. When all of us are together making each other laugh—I kind of think that’s worship too.”

And laughing together is definitely a part of this group’s DNA. A simple “What are some of your best memories together?” prompted a chorus of “There was this one time in 7th grade when—” “Don’t forget about the ‘Southwind Sway!’” and a story involving an all-nighter, an inflatable shark, and a secret mission. I’m still a little hazy on the details, but they all erupted with laughter at the memory.

At a time in their lives when it makes sense to play your cards close to your chest because maybe you’ll get “roasted on” or be misunderstood, these students have decided to be transparent with each other, to serve others, and to grow closer to God together. Despite coming from different types of families and living incredibly varied stories, they all understand that their expression of community is worth holding onto.

“Community is not always a specific group of people who you’d predict to know each other and get along,” Elena describes.

“That’s the good thing about community— it’s a bunch of different types of people and personalities, but you can all get along for one or more reasons and come together to do whatever it is you do. And for us, what we do is come together to worship God. And, as a group, we’re growing together to be one kind of community. Ours.”

FAMILY

Our Broader Family LAURA COOK

KATE BOSSE

Doug and Naomi Foley have a tendency to jump in and help when they see a need. That’s part of the reason they volunteered—after just a few months at Summit—to join the Go North team that helped start the Lake Mary Campus in 2011. “We liked the idea of being part of something that’s new,” Naomi says.

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“I think sometimes people feel

It turns out that everyone else who helped start that campus— and remains there today—has that volunteer component in common. And that has quickly created a tight-knit community of people who know one another and love one another well.

“Lake Mary is not a big group,” Doug says. “Pretty much everybody is volunteering just to keep things going. I think that builds community because we’re all serving together in different departments and then everybody will just rotate to something new.”

What makes this community even more important for the Foleys is how they and their four young daughters are treated and valued just like everyone else, specifically their oldest daughter, Hannah, who is deaf. “A lot of people don’t know how to handle people with special needs. They don’t know how to conduct themselves,” Doug says. “This group is just very easygoing and casual about it. I think sometimes people feel like they have to overly do stuff or they avoid you because they don’t know what to do. Whereas this group just treats [Hannah] like an everyday kid and I think that’s what she wants. She doesn’t want to be put on the spot and no one wants to be ignored.”

An example of this took place recently when Hannah’s birthday fell on a Sunday. Since both Doug and Naomi volunteer in Base Camp, Doug thought it would be fun to make a video for all the kids to learn how to say Happy Birthday in American Sign Language (ASL). He sent the video to Lake Mary Campus Minister, O.J. Aldrich, and asked him to forward it on to the Children’s Ministry team. But O.J. did something better: he forwarded it on to the whole church. That Sunday, while the Foleys were serving in Base Camp during the first service, O.J. reminded everyone from the stage how to sign Happy Birthday. “I didn’t know what was happening because so many people said Happy Birthday to me,” Hannah says. Her eyes light up as she recalls the day, signing to her dad to translate. “I felt excited and confused and a little bit surprised as well,” she says. “[It made me feel] happy.”

Naomi says the whole morning was very sweet. “It made you realize what a good group of people we are surrounded by,” she says. “We love our people.”

But here’s the kicker: the Lake Mary Campus community didn’t sign Happy Birthday to Hannah because they felt bad for her or because they had never made eye contact with her or because Hannah they thought she must feel left out.

They all signed Happy Birthday to her because that’s what you do when someone in your community—your family—has a birthday.

And that’s what made it special to the Foleys. “When you’re a family, if one of you has a special need, you’re not strangers,” Doug says. “When you’re around a stranger with a special need you don’t know what to say or how to act, but when you’re in a family with a special need, it doesn’t feel so stilted or unnatural.”

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like they have to overly do stuff or they avoid you because they don’t know what to do. Whereas this group just treats [Hannah] like an everyday kid and I think that’s what she wants. She doesn’t want to be put on the spot and no one wants to be ignored.” —Doug

other areas as well. Because so many people at Lake Mary were requesting it, the Foleys taught a nine-week class for ASL beginners; Hannah’s classmates in Base Camp have picked up ASL quickly just by communicating with her; one church partner is collaborating with Doug to develop an app that would benefit those who are deaf like Hannah; and Summit provides Hannah with an interpreter during Base Camp.

For the Foleys, living with a deaf family member is just normal, but since their broader family is the community at Summit Lake Mary, it’s become normal for everyone there, too.

“You feel like people are helping you carry the responsibility,” Doug says. “It’s not just yours alone.”

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Artist Feature

Liz Hogan JEREMY LUKENS

BRIAN HOGAN

ALL OF MY WORK is about the complexity of this world bringing glory to God,” Liz Hogan says. Through her abstract paintings and three-dimensional installations, Liz portrays a world that is infinitely complex in a way that points to the ultimate Creator.

Liz is fascinated with complexity, her work influenced by her studies of panentheism, theistic evolution, and quantum mechanics. To her, God creates this world immanently—he is literally, physically working and creating in the world.

“All the disparate little things in the world come together to create this massive, beautiful picture of what God is doing,” she says.

Liz has been an artist since nearly the beginning. When she was in grade school, Liz would draw pictures of dogs and trade or sell them to her classmates. “I sold my first piece of art in the 4th grade,” she laughs.

Later in life, after praying to God for wisdom, Liz felt called to reach the world through her art. “My voice is important because God made me who I am,” she says. “I see the world as no one else does.”

After originally going to art school to learn illustration—an art form she considered to be more practical—Liz eventually went back to school to study fine art. There she learned to hone her craft. Her thesis project was “Tiny Portion,” a three-dimensional installation with over 15,000 leaf shapes hanging from the ceiling. “Though they look similar and all have this leaf shape, they are all unique. When you put them all together, you make a statement that is so much bigger than any one piece,” Liz says.

Liz’s most personal and meaningful work of art is an abstract painting hanging in her living room titled “Transparencies, Complexities, and Bits of Life.” All of Liz’s work is a way of processing life, and she created that painting in 2015 at a time when she and her husband

Brian were processing the emotions of a miscarriage.

“There’s definitely a sense of loss in the painting,” she says. “That’s part of who I was at the time I was painting it.”

Working on the painting was a way for Liz to process the complex and painful emotions she was feeling. The canvas would sit there, waiting for a moment of inspiration, an outpouring of the emotions filling her.

Through layers and textures, the painting depicts “how there’s so much struggle and pain but also so much beauty in the world.”

God revealed some of that beauty on Easter Sunday in 2016, when Liz gave birth to her son, Timothy. “God’s timing is not my timing,” she says. Liz recognizes that her experiences, the hard and the beautiful, are what have led her where she is today, being obedient to God through her art.

Timothy begins to cry and Liz cradles him in her arms. While soothing her son, she stares out the window and marvels at the beauty of a foxtail palm tree blowing in the wind. “My hope is that my art would cause people to see the wonderful complexity within the sadness—the pain and struggle that we go through—as well as within the beauty and the glorious highs that we can experience in humanity.”

“My voice is important because God made me who I am. I see the world as no one else does.”­ —Liz

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Transparencies, Complexities, and Bits of Life

Tiny Portion (close-up)

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Through the speaker series offered this year, we have seen tons of relationships form out of a common desire to have conversations about things that matter.

Our speaker series cover an array of topics (codependency, dating, unmet longings) and approach each of them from a biblical perspective. These have not only been excellent opportunities to learn together, but to invite others and invest in deeper community.

reGROUP Director, Kailey Newkirk

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If you’ve missed any past speaker series or want to give them another listen, they’re available at summitconnect.org.

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SUMMIT VALUE

Forming relationships around a common purpose.

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Locations Summit Herndon 735 Herndon Avenue Orlando, FL 32803

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Service Times: Thursdays, 7 p.m.

Sundays, 9 a.m.*, 11 a.m., & 6 p.m. (*ASL interpreters available)

Services Times: Sundays, 9 a.m. & 11 a.m.

Services Times: Sundays, 9 a.m. & 11 a.m.

Connect with Us

Summit at 33rd Street Jail (These services are for the Horizon Wing & Female Detention Center inmates at the Orange County Jail.)

Women’s Service Times: Sundays, 1:30 p.m.

Men’s Service Times: Sundays, 2 p.m.

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