July is always a great month for our church. Our high school choir, Forever His, has travelled the week of the Fourth of July on mission tour for many years now. This year, they will be travelling to Miami for their annual tour, July 1-8. On Sunday night, July 8,at 6 p.m. in the New Life Building, we will get to experience the last concert of their tour. Mark your calendars for this very special night of musical praise and worship.
We really appreciate our paid and volunteer kitchen and children’s workers who faithfully serve year-round on Wednesday nights. On Wednesday nights in the month of July starting July 4, we will be giving these workers time off, as we did last year. This is a very good thing that we need to do to help our folks recharge for a new church and school year. Services will not meet on Wednesday night July 4. Bible study and prayer time will continue in the New Life Building at 6 p.m. on the Wednesday nights of July 11, 18, and 25. Full Wednesday night activities will resume in August.
July is also a great month because it is the month of Vacation Bible School, which will take place in the mornings from Monday, July 9, through Friday, July 13. VBS will culminate with the VBS musical on Friday night. The following week is the week that we call Mission LaGrange. Two years ago, we began partnering with Rosemont Baptist Church and other Troup Baptist churches for a week of local missions. We are challenging every small group and Sunday school class to do some kind of local mission project. Last year, we ministered at the Benjamin Harvey Hill Homes, which has now become a weekly ministry to children called TeamKid. Please pray and discuss with your group what kind of project that you want to do to serve our community in Jesus’ name.
I want to thank you for your patience with us as we have been working through the process of trying out different speakers in our sanctuary from different sound companies. Your staff and deacons have carefully navigated this process of sanctuary sound system renovation ever since the end of last summer. We received bids from three different companies and have been able to test the recommended speakers from two of those companies. Our goal has been to find the right sound system solution that will enable every seat in our sanctuary to have the best sound quality possible.
From the very beginning of the process, one company impressed us the most with their professionalism, extensive design and engineering work, and their overall approach to the sound system renovation in our sanctuary. That company is MediaMerge, located just south of Birmingham, AL. Even though we will not be able to demo their recommended speakers on a Sunday morning, a few weeks ago around twenty musicians, sound technicians, and staff members from our church were able to hear these speakers in the sanctuary for a mid-week demo. Everyone was astonished by the clarity of sound and smooth coverage in our sanctuary. The quality is much greater than the speakers we have had in our sanctuary these past six weeks.
In light of the approach taken regarding the sound system purchased twenty years ago when our sanctuary was rebuilt, all of our research and recent experiences with the speaker demonstrations, and a desire to make a wise long-term investment into our church for the next 20 years, the deacons voted on June 18 to approve a recommendation to the congregation for the sanctuary sound system renovation proposal from MediaMerge, Inc. not to exceed $270,000.
Because of your generous contributions last year, the finance committee months ago was able to move money from our excess receipts over disbursements into an asset replacement fund. This fund will fully pay for the complete sound system renovation. There is also a designated fund for sanctuary sound renovation, so anyone is able to give directly to this effort, reducing what would be spent out of the asset replacement fund. We want to provide you as a church with the opportunity to learn more about the design concept proposed by MediaMerge. Ken McKibben, the president of their company, will be with us on Sunday night, July 15, at 6 p.m. in our sanctuary to do a presentation and answer any of your questions.
Anthony Criswell, Brent Addison, sound volunteers (Robby Cook, Mark Davis, and Tom Smith), Tom Farr, and I all heard the recommended speakers from MediaMerge. We will do our best to answer any of your questions should you be unable to attend the meeting on Sunday night, July 15. On Sunday morning, July 22, in both worship services, we will call the church into business conference for the purpose of voting on this recommendation from the deacons. Please make it a priority to participate in this process by hearing from Ken on July 15 and voting in one of the worship services on July 22.
I ask you to be in prayer about all of the things taking place in the month of July. Thank you for your feedback and encouragement to me through the sermon series on the Holy Spirit and O Church Arise. May the Lord God continue to lead us as we arise to become all that He wants us to be as Jesus Christ’s church who gathers together on the Square.
Trusting Jesus with you,
Pastor Cade