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Pastor's Page

Posted on August 1, 2006 ...

One of my goals for this summer has been to feature some of the people and places impacted by our congregation that may not be known by our members. In my article from last week, I called attention to some of the Wednesday evening guest speakers who are touching our community through our support. Today, I want to highlight one of the ways our church is helping touch the world.
Several years ago, our church took the opportunity to purchase a house on Franklin Avenue that adjoined our northern-most property. After much needed repair and renovation, this house became used primarily by our church as a ?¢‚Ǩ?ìrent free?¢‚Ǩ¬ù residence for missionaries who need a place to live while they are home on furlough or stateside assignment. In recent years, our ?¢‚Ǩ?ìGuesthouse?¢‚Ǩ¬ù has been utilized by missionaries with direct links to our church such as the Frank and Cindy Dawson family and the family of Chris and Lori Heil.
For the greater part of this year, this residence has been home to Forrest and Emily Renner. Forrest and Emily grew up in Cleveland, attended the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and later became affiliated with Campus Crusade for Christ. Near the beginning of this year, they returned to Bradley County from their work in western Asia. They are expecting the birth of their first child soon and plan to return overseas early next year. Because of their local roots, some of you, no doubt, already know Forrest and Emily or some of their family. This Sunday, our whole congregation will have the opportunity to meet and hear from the Renner?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s. We have welcomed them into our guesthouse. Thank you for welcoming them into our worship house.
Speaking of ?¢‚Ǩ?ìwelcome?¢‚Ǩ¬ù?¢‚Ǩ¬¶we welcome to our church staff the contributions of Nathan Brown as Interim Director of Student Ministries. Nathan has strong experience in student ministry and is familiar to many in our church family, especially our young people. My deep appreciation goes out to our Personnel Committee for their extra effort to help secure quality interim leadership during our staff transition. Please be in prayer as recommendations for a Student Minister Search Committee is formulated. I am proud to be a part of our church family. Jay