As a continuously expanding Church, we have many people that help us achieve our goals and unite us together as a family. Here are some of their incredible stories and involvement at St. Paul Lutheran Church, written by

Communications Coordinator, Aimee Wilson.

Ahead of Thursdays ice storm, St. Paul’s December Coat Drive had a happy ending.

Combined between the generous donations of St Paul and Summit members, 167 coats were donated to the Salvation Army on January 8. Along with the coats, 13 sets of gloves, 4 hats, and 2 scarves were donated, as well. This tremendous collection of donations set a new record for St. Paul, exceeding last year’s number by fifty coats.  

Concetta Ledgig pulled a few St Paul Lutheran School students to help aid in collecting the coats up and taking them to the center. Some students actually handed out a coat and beanie to a woman already at the donation center who nearly “cried with appreciation.”

An employee at the Salvation Army said the coats would be distributed that night ahead of the storm, and said they were “so appreciative” and that “this generous gift couldn’t have come at a better time.”

Thank you all once again for such generous donations, of both used and brand-new coats, to help keep our community warm during Texas’s harsh winter season. Your donations are impacting the lives of many this season. God bless and keep warm!

In February, a Call Committee was formed to identify and select a candidate to serve as Principal of St. Paul Lutheran School. In April, Andy Montgomery accepted the Call to serve as Principal of St. Paul Lutheran School.

“𝐷𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑡. 𝑃𝑎𝑢𝑙. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜. 𝐿𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑡. 𝑃𝑎𝑢𝑙 𝐶ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑆𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑝𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑙.”

Andy, his wife, Jenny, and their three sons flew down in March, spent the weekend worshiping and meeting with the members of St. Paul Lutheran Church, and toured St. Paul Lutheran School on Monday.

“𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑦, 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑓𝑓, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠. 𝐼 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑎 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒.”

Andy has twelve years of experience in education, most recently serving as Principal at Trinity Lutheran School in a suburb of Chicago. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Education from Concordia University and a Masters in Educational Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University.

With such a heavy decision to make, Andy turned to prayer for guidance about his and his family’s future, and everything seemed to fall right into place.

“𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑢𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠. ‘𝐺𝑜𝑑, 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒.’ 𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑦, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎 𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑤 𝐺𝑜𝑑’𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠.” 

The Montgomerys accepted an offer on their home in Chicago within three days of it being placed on the market. A few days later, their offer on a house in Texas was accepted. In June, they moved to the Fort Worth area.

“𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑎 𝑑𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑒.” 

Right now, the Montgomery family is settling into their new home and adjusting to the new responsibilities here. They are exploring all that Fort Worth has to offer, like the Fort Worth Zoo and Buc-ee’s, and learning about Texas culture. Andy’s three sons are enrolled at St. Paul Lutheran School and are excited about new friendships and learning experiences. Andy is enthusiastic about serving as Principal at St. Paul Lutheran School.

“𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝐿𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑛 𝑆𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟. 𝐶ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑎 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑜𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑎 𝑑𝑎𝑦. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝐽𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑚𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑗𝑜𝑦.” 

Andy also appreciates the great relationship that St. Paul Lutheran Church has with the school, and how often the two come together for events, fellowship, and Worship.

“𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑡. 𝑃𝑎𝑢𝑙 𝐿𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑛 𝐶ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑝𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙, 𝑡𝑜𝑜, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡.” 

The Montgomery’s plan to attend both Summit and St. Paul throughout the school year.

“𝐴𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑙, 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦.” 

Andy is eager to help support each student in their growth and knowledge of the Gospel.

“𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛.”

Judith Droguett has been an active member at St. Paul since she was a girl, growing up around both St. Paul Lutheran Church and School. She has volunteered in many areas around St. Paul, extending now to help grow Women’s Ministry opportunities with a dedicated team.

“𝑊𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛’𝑠 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 [𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒] 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡 𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘. 𝑊𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛’𝑠 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘.”

Women’s Ministries has often held luncheons, bible studies, and the annual Christmas by Candlelight in the past, but Judith, together with a leadership team, has bigger plans for the group. Judith is passionate about facilitating opportunities for women to find one another to help them through life’s hardships together.

“𝑊𝑒 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑜𝑘𝑎𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢, '𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒.”

Judith and her family have always volunteered around St. Paul in various ways and have been encouraged by one another to see it as their place of community.

“𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟, 𝑚𝑦 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑆𝑡. 𝑃𝑎𝑢𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑤𝑛𝑠; 𝑚𝑦 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑚𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑡𝑦𝑎𝑟𝑑. 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑘𝑖𝑑𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑜 𝑡𝑜 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑜 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡’𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜.’

‘𝑊𝑒 [𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛] 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑜𝑢𝑡. 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜. 𝐵𝑦 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑒𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒.”

Judith hopes Women’s Ministries is another place women can go to volunteer and connect with others at St. Paul. If you have any ideas or interests regarding Women’s Ministries, Judith has volunteered to be the central point of contact for ongoing Women’s Ministry activities. All are welcome to help build a future for women at St. Paul!

Easter Sunday is a busy day, requiring the dedication of numerous employees, volunteers, and caring hearts to help orchestrate a beautiful day of celebration. This Easter, Katherine Lutz was encouraged by some extra special young volunteers who saw a need and jumped in to fill it. 

“As I was preparing and taking hospitality items back and forth between the two welcome areas, many St. Paul youth from ages 5-17 jumped in and offered to help. At one point, I had as many as 9 helpers preparing tables of treats & drinks!”

Katherine is excited that there is a community of young people who have willing, servant hearts. She is thankful to be a part of the Grow Team’s ongoing efforts to nurture and encourage the faith of children, youth and young adults at St. Paul.

“While it may take a little extra time to bring along friends, it is a joy to serve alongside the next generation sharing in stories and laughs along the way.”

St. Paul is full of many hard workers that tirelessly put in endless, and selfless effort to make our weeks function smoothly and prepare for Sunday. One of these people is Caye Young, who works during the week at our Welcome Desk, greeting people into our Church with a warm grace.

“I love working here. I love the people. I love the place. I love everything about it. But my favorite part is the kids and seeing them every day.”

Caye had been retired for ten years when she made an interest in picking up a new job a few years ago.

“I mentioned to a friend that I wanted to go back to work because I was bored, and she said, ‘I think I might have something you would be interested in coming up,’ and it turned out they hired me on.”

Our Welcome Desk Greeter is the one who is in charge of being the first face most see when they enter into our space, and sometimes that can come with difficulties.

“It can be challenging if you have a lot of parents in at once and if you have a lot of things that need to be done at one time. Because you’re answering the phone, you’re letting parents and mailmen in, you’re talking to people. So yeah, you have to juggle it a little bit, but I actually like those times.”

Caye is one of two Welcome Desk Greeters that work throughout the week, faithfully presenting the church as the warm and inviting place we all know it to be.

“It is comforting to me to be working here. This is a wonderful place to be. You- or at least I do- just feel connected to the people here. Ever since the first day I said this is where I want to be.” 

St. Paul recently sent a small team to serve in a children’s home in Belize, led by SEND Director and deaconess Rachel Fruge. The team returned on the 19^th, full of stories from their time there, touched by all the opportunities they were given to serve. No one knows that better than St. Paul’s Care Pastor, Troy Miklos who was part of the mission crew.

“My favorite part of the trip was watching how all the ladies interacted with the kids. Because so many of these children came into this home wounded [by men], we stayed back. The ladies chased the kids around on bicycles, taught them line-dancing on the basketball court, and even led VBS during the kid’s evening devotion time. These kids were so excited to have adults pay attention to them and we were so happy to help them.”

The team did a lot of manual work while they were there, including tearing down an old water tank, rebuilding a rotted fence, painting the interior of the girl’s house, and plumbing.

“The plumbing was horrible in the boy’s home. Some drainpipes sloped uphill instead of down, with small pipes that just didn’t work. Whenever anyone showered, water would back up. We basically had to reconnect all the grey water and pipes underneath the boy’s home so it wouldn’t flood the bathrooms. We almost didn’t get it done.”

Troy remembers the time when they were one part away from finishing their plumbing project just one day before they were scheduled to leave.

“We were short one pipe on our last day, and stores there don’t have reliable supplies, so we needed to see what we could find at the home to use. We were looking everywhere with no luck. I was just asking, ‘c’mon God, throw me a bone here!’ I ended up in an old barn where they used to raise pigs. I was walking sty to sty looking for this part. In the fourth sty, the only thing in there was a PVC pipe with the elbow we needed. A perfect find! So [with that], we were able to make it work and finish the job!”

The most influential part of the entire trip was the lasting impressions the team left with the children.

“For most of these kids, being placed in this home is the first time they will truly meet Jesus. Us coming here was a real opportunity to do some deeper good for a place that could really benefit from it.” 

Before October 31st comes, and our families head out for trick-or-treating, we would like to highlight a special member of our staff. Sarah Davis, who works with Kid’s Ministry, is leading the Light the Night project boxes intended to pass out on Halloween amongst neighbors.

“A big shift I want to make in Kid’s Ministry is less internally focused events and more sending out. Rachel Fruge and I had the idea of making these physical boxes to send out as a way to show love to your neighborhood. I think most people think it's more complicated than it really is to connect with a neighbor. You can just gather through natural events, like Halloween, to meet with people and utilize that foundation for sharing Jesus. And that’s where our idea for the boxes comes in.”

“The boxes are an idea box and have some super basic, fun ideas you can do with your family to engage with your neighbors. There are things like a hot chocolate stand that you can make with your family that you then could extend and share to your neighbors. There is a photobooth too and if you’re feeling generous, there are full size chocolate bars you can hand out to trick-or-treaters. These boxes are a way to show generosity and engagement with those around you that you typically don’t interact with much. There are just so many ways and opportunities in these boxes that you can show love to your neighbors.”

While the boxes do work alongside the Children’s Ministry, the boxes aren’t just for families with kids, but extend to anyone looking to engage with a neighbor on Halloween.

“Most people have trick or treaters coming by their home and neighbors to engage with. So, the boxes could also be for empty nesters trying to get to know their neighbors, or even those with older children. While it feels like a natural family thing to do because a lot of families live in a neighborhood with a lot of other young families, the boxes aren’t only for them to use.“

Sarah has big goals for these boxes, and ideas for ways to move forward with this type of project.

“I want to explore different holidays and natural gathering times in the future. I just want to explore different ways for people in your neighborhood or community to come together that aren’t stressful but can be fun and inviting. Teaching people how to use everyday moments and things their already busy with in life to make missional is my hope and goal moving forward.”

We encourage all to find a way to connect with a neighbor on Halloween night!