1 Corinthians 12:4-7
"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for a common good."
Greetings all, this is Austin Miller, one of your two interns this year from Candler School of Theology. While this year has been undeniably weird and limited my ability to get to know the whole congregation, I am still slowly getting to know many groups that are part of the church. Whether it is the Sunday school class that goes into more depth on theological discussions than some of my classes, the people I have interviewed who did a fantastic job putting into words what the church meant to them, or the children who can now roll down a hill faster than me, I am loving learning how many gifts this congregation has!
In the interest of stewardship and making best use of these gifts, it was decided that we would send out a general questionnaire asking about your skills and the issues that matter to you. The questionnaire is simple and only contains nine questions, all of them are about you, what you do, what you care about, and what your community cares about. It is our hope that this survey will guide our Embry Hills leadership in the process of discerning new mission opportunities that will be beneficial both for us and our community. Please fill out the questionnaire as soon as you are able. After we receive the filled-out questionnaires, the leadership team will meet and discuss who we can connect and empower to work towards their callings. It is our sincere hope that your answers to these surveys make evident our ability to support your missions. Regardless of what else comes out of these questionnaires, there will certainly be another weekly message letting the congregation know the general findings of this survey.
I know that this is a hard time for many of you, but that may be exactly why this is a good time to get involved in the community. When I was feeling down this summer, it really helped me to volunteer at a food pantry by giving me the sense that I was doing "something" (the fellowship from working with others also didn't hurt). Additionally, there is truly need in our communities right now. I understand that it is hard to start something during times of chaos and that the rules are continuously shifting as to what fellowship is even advised, but times of chaos are when the community needs the church to stand up for the community and share our gifts the most. If we can't get projects going until next year, that's fine (no, that's still great), but if there is any way we can safely contribute to our community during this current crisis, I am hopeful that we will all be open to the opportunity.
Thank you for reading this message and please click here to fill out the survey. I am excited by the people I have met so far and their gifts, and I still look forward to getting to know the rest of you in whatever capacity is safe for everyone.
Sincerely hopeful,
Austin Miller, Ministry Intern