Blog

Written By Shari Kelly

Hi Fellowship! Gus asked me to let you blog readers know what’s been happening in our life groups this fall. As you know, life groups are a big part of our strategy! By “doing life together,” as we like to say, we are able to grow in our walk with God and our relationships with others in a way that just isn’t possible if we only attend a Sunday service once a week.

Life groups are a place for us to get to know each other, care for each other, pray and study together, and share each other’s lives. The group I attend especially enjoys bonding over pizza and playing “the M&Ms game.” And we like a good road rally every now and then!

This coming year, as we kick off new studies there’s more opportunity than ever to participate in life groups – we have three brand new groups. They are: Band of Brothers, a men’s group on Monday mornings at 7am; Foundations, a married couple’s group on Thursdays at 7pm; and a new ministry called “Grief Share” on Wednesdays at 7:30pm for anyone who has experienced the death of a loved one. These groups bring our total number of groups to 18 … since most of our groups meet twice a month, that means you have 42 chances every month to attend a life group!

And in the month of September alone, 174 of you did! Another 24 attended more than one group (for example, a couple attended a group together and the husband/wife also attended a men’s/women’s group as well). That means Fellowship served 198 people in groups last month. Our average Sunday adult attendance was 236. That means our participation rate in life groups was nearly 75% for September (not counting any duplicates). That’s incredible! It means that we, as a community, had the opportunity to personally and meaningfully impact the lives of 75% of our community during the week … the chance to encourage each other, pray for each other, share our lives with each other more than just a quick “hi” to our friends on Sunday morning. It means we have the opportunity to really get to know each other and let others get to know us … to share their life and share ours. To really “do” life together as a family. And that’s what relationships are all about. Being a church that’s about relationships, not religion, means we care for others and let others care for us. Life groups is the perfect chance for us to put that into practice!

If you’re not part of the 75% participating in life groups, you’re missing out! To see all our groups at a glance, click here to visit our life groups webpage and see a list of when groups meet.  By clicking on a leader’s name, you can send them an email to get more info about their group. Or, stop by Guest Services on Sunday morning and pick up a list! See you there!

This past Sunday Fellowship had the honor of having 5 families involved in our parent/baby dedication. Dedications are a chance for parents to publicly make a promise to the Lord to do everything in their power to raise the child in a godly way (Proverbs 22:6), prayerfully until he or she can make a decision on his or her own to follow God. In KidVenture we believe that what happens at home is more important than what happens at church. The parents have ten times more opportunities to impact a child’s life than the church will ever have.

My two year old daughter Avalee is at that age where she is beginning to repeat everything she hears. The other day she woke up and began singing Christmas carols. I was amazed at how she picked it up. I didn’t intentionally teach them to her but she heard them somewhere and she remembered the song. It is a great reminder for Dan and I to ask, what are we teaching her? Does she see us loving God and following Jesus?

Teaching our children how to love God isn’t done by just telling them how but by doing it ourselves (Titus 2:7). That’s why at Fellowship Church we’ve decided to intentionally partner with parents in changing kids lives. We’ve created programs like Kid Kollage, where the parents can come the first Friday of every month and learn with their children what they learn in KidVenture on Sunday mornings. We hope to make it a catalyst for a family conversation all month long. Take-outs are available every week for families to work on together at home to keep the virtues and main points in front of the kids all week long.

It was an exciting day on Sunday to see 5 families make this commitment in working together with the church in doing everything they can to lead their kids into becoming followers of Jesus Christ. 

We enter the holiday season this week with a day set aside to give thanks.  How thankful are you this year?  Perhaps this has been a great year, and you’ve got many things to point at as thankful memories.  Maybe it hasn’t been a great year.  Perhaps things like a job loss, financial stress, personal struggles, or relationship challenges have you feeling a bit disconnected.

There’s a verse in Scripture that says, “We thank you, O God! We give thanks because you are near.”  Psalm 75:1.

There’s an incredible thought tucked into those words.  God is near.  When we’re disappointed, God is near.  When we’re deeply hurt, God is near.  When we experience loss, God is near.  When we’re happy, God is near.  And because God is near…we can give thanks.

I’m thankful for Fellowship Church.  I believe that an incredible year awaits.  It is a year in which we will discover that God is near! Happy Thanksgiving!  Enjoy your family.  Take a moment to act on behalf of someone who is suffering and then express thanks to God.  He is near.

Eric F. Koehler

This past Sunday as we confirmed Eric Koehler as our new Lead Pastor at Fellowship Church, I had an opportunity to share some of our history and our identity.

The history here at FC goes back to 1971 when a group of families felt the call of God to start a church in this small community of Glen Mills, Pa. That group included Bob and Marion Krause with their daughter Debbie Berry and son Dennis Krause; Bob and Lois Stimeare and their daughter Joyce Winters, all of which still attend Fellowship Church.
 

That first group of people appointed Frank McQuade as their first Lead Pastor. Pastor McQuade and his wife Dolores were with our church for 23 godly years. Frank retired and continues to lead Bible studies in southern California where he lives close to his children.

The church through its leadership then appointed John Conover to be its next Lead pastor. Pastor Conover and his wife Janet led us for five years from 1994-1999 before God called him to a different location.

In October of 2000 God sent us John Cremeans to be our Lead Pastor. John, his wife Michelle and five children were with us for the last 9 years until his need to resign due to mental health issues.
 
Fellowship Church has always been a church that encouraged and emphasized relationships rather than just being religious. Our vision of: Redefining Church in the Delaware Valley Through Relationships not Religion was a statement that was coined by John Cremeans as he helped lead us as a church to be precise in our calling and purpose. Rick Warren in his book The Purpose Driven Church says, “..that growing healthy churches have a clear cut identity. They understand their reason for being; they are precise in their purpose. They know exactly what God has called them to do. They know what their business is, and they know what is none of their business.”
 
God has brought us to this place in history and strategically prepared us to carry out this vision of redefining church for those around us who have become disillusioned by what church is and can be for them and their families. Redefining it through relationships, a relationship with God through his Son Jesus Christ and our relationships with each other by embracing and empowering people, engaging culture and building bridges, applying truth and living authentically.

You and I are the church and for FC to carry out this vision into the next chapter in our history, it is crucial for us as individuals to grow in these relationships and understand our identity. It’s no different for churches as it is for people - healthy people have a clear cut identity. They understand their reason for being, they are precise in their purpose.
 
I ask you, who are you? Who am I? Join us this Sunday as one of our Elders, Lee White unpacks the truth of this identity crisis that many of us struggle with to reveal our true identity.