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Our weekly Chesapeake Currents e-newsletter shares how God is at work throughout our conference.

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New Hope members shared Thanksgiving blessings wit

New Hope members shared Thanksgiving blessings with local families in need during the church’s annual “Festival of Hope.”

The congregation in Fulton, Md., collaborated with several partner community organizations to provide Thanksgiving dinner to area families in need of assistance. During New Hope’s “Festival of Hope,” members donated gift cards, food, and groceries to LARS, Sarah’s House, HopeWorks, Grassroots, and Columbia Community Cares.

“[Festival of Hope] gives our church a connection with our community and the opportunity to remind ourselves that we are more than just a church in a community, but a part of the community,” says Mike Speegle, lead pastor.

New Hope members donated 80 frozen turkeys and 208 $25 gift cards to community organizations to help struggling families celebrate the holiday. The church also provided 45 Thanksgiving meals and gift cards to seniors at Morningside Park Apartments in Jessup, Md.

“The purpose of Church is to be alive in the community,” says Andre Arrais, worship and outreach pastor. “We want to show people that we’re not here to preach at them or take their money, but that we’re here to partner with them to help those in need. I think that helps people have greater respect for who we are.”

Pathfinders canvassed area neighborhoods to invite residents to donate groceries. They collected and sorted more than 190 bags of groceries. The church’s Adventurers club and Angels group collected an additional 34 bags of groceries, as well as more gift cards for a local homeless shelter.

“Our church family has a reputation for going above and beyond the goals we set when the needs are explained,” Speegle says. “The ability to switch what we’ve traditionally supplied (groceries) for gift cards, and to provide all of our partner community organizations with what they were asking for, reminds us again of the impact of gratitude on our own hearts and lives.”

When families from Afghanistan arrived in the Unit

When families from Afghanistan arrived in the United States following their rapid evacuation from the war-torn country, Adventist Community Services (ACS) stood ready to serve.

Chesapeake Conference’s ACS team first responded to the crisis by meeting evacuees at the airport to offer emotional and spiritual support. Three months later, ACS Chesapeake has shifted its focus to providing 340 Afghan families resettling in Chesapeake territory with food and essential supplies as these families attempt to rebuild their lives in the United States.

“We’re not just giving food or a welcome basket; we’re sharing the love of Jesus with them,” says Ignacio Goya, Chesapeake’s ACS director. “That’s what ACS is all about; that’s what the Seventh-day Adventist Church is all about.”

Churches across Chesapeake Conference responded to donation requests for essential items such as cleaning supplies, hygiene products, and basic kitchen equipment. In partnership with ADRA, ACS Columbia Union, and ACS North American Division, team members from ACS Chesapeake organized the donations into welcome baskets and personally distributed them to refugees living in temporary housing in the area.

For those involved in delivering the welcome baskets, interacting with the refugees has been both heartbreaking and inspiring.

“It’s been life-transforming, honestly,” says Kleyton Feitosa, pastor of the Living Word church in Glen Burnie, Md. “You know, we’ve been hearing the stories and seeing pictures on the news, but it gets real when you actually get to meet them and see the families and the needs.”

Feitosa continues: “I found out that [one of the refugee’s] wife and children were left behind, and it really broke my heart...But even with that happening in his life, he’s thankful; he’s grateful; he’s happy. He’s here and thinking already about how to eventually bring the family here...We hear so much about how we, as Christians, need to be content, and we need to recognize and see the blessings around us. This young man taught me a lesson.”

ACS Chesapeake continues to partner with local government agencies to provide ongoing support and logistical assistance to refugee families.

Learn how your Chesapeake Advance Plan offering is

Learn how your Chesapeake Advance Plan offering is making a difference in the lives of young people. #GivingTuesday

To give to the Chesapeake Advance Plan offering, visit ccosda.org/giving

Members of the Frederick (Md.) church welcomed Ala

Members of the Frederick (Md.) church welcomed Alareece Collie as their new associate pastor during the church’s worship service last Sabbath.

Collie comes to Frederick from the Walla Walla University Church in Walla Walla, Wash., where she served as the executive pastor. In her new role at Frederick, Collie will focus on leading the church’s discipleship initiatives.

“What stands out to me about Alareece is her love for Jesus and people, and her desire to connect the two,” says Morgan Kochenower, lead pastor. “I’m excited for her passion for connecting with the community. God has really blessed her with exceptional communication skills, and Jesus will use her in mighty ways in Frederick.”

Collie hails from the Bahamas, where she grew up on the tropical island of Andros. She holds a Master of Divinity degree from Andrews University (Berrien Springs, Mich.).

“I’m excited to join the pastoral team at Frederick Church,” Collie says. “I look forward to getting to know the congregation and journeying with them as we grow and impact our communities.”

Let’s admit it, shall we? Sometimes it’s hard

Let’s admit it, shall we? Sometimes it’s hard to be thankful, especially when we find ourselves amid difficult, faith-stretching circumstances, particularly ones that threaten life and limb. When in dire, physical danger, we naturally, instinctively go into survival mode. It’s the fight-or-flight response, also known as acute stress response—a condition that refers to a physiological reaction that occurs in the presence of something that is terrifying, either mentally or physically.

In those frantic moments, probably the last thing on one’s mind is thankfulness. Gratitude is not part of the natural human response to deeply distressing or disturbing experiences. Instead, we either devote all our attention and energy to literally running for our lives or become so focused on the problem that all our mental, physical and emotional energy is focused on seeking relief or self-preservation at the exclusion of all else.

What, then, does the Apostle Paul mean when he says, “Give thanks in all circumstances”? (1 Thess. 5:18, NIV). Surely he isn’t serious about the “all” part, is he? Oh, but he is, as indicated in the second part of verse 18: “…for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

First, we must recognize that Paul’s statement is not meant so much as a command as it is a call to commit oneself to respond to all circumstances from an attitude of thankfulness. Then, we must understand that unconditional thankfulness is an acquired state of mind that is developed over time by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This is similar to what Paul says about responding to all circumstances in a spirit of contentment, which he says he “learned” (see Philippians 4:11–13). In other words, thankfulness—like contentment in all circumstances—is the result of living day by day in the presence of Jesus, learning it from the Great Teacher Himself, until it becomes instinctual. So, if Paul could learn these important lessons of life from Jesus, then surely we can too. Happy Thanksgiving!

-Jerry Lutz, Chesapeake Conference president

Student-athletes from Highland View Academy travel

Student-athletes from Highland View Academy traveled to Michigan from Nov. 10-14 for the school’s first overnight gymnastics tour since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

The HVA Aerials gymnastics team visited Grand Rapids (Mich.) Adventist Academy and Andrews University (Berrien Springs, Mich.) in a trip organized after the North American Division-wide Acrofest gymnastics gathering moved to a virtual format because of the pandemic.

“We wanted to have something for the team to work towards,” says Matt Price, HVA Aerials coach. “The whole point of our gymnastics program is that it’s Christ-centered gymnastics. Everything we do on the mats is to try to reflect our Christian values, and it’s important that we don’t just keep that to ourselves but are sharing it with others.”

After performing in Grand Rapids on Thursday, the Aerials traveled to Andrews University to train alongside the university gymnastics team, as well as a team from Indiana Academy (Cicero, Ind.). The highlight of the trip was when all three schools performed on Saturday night.

Following the performance, the Aerials gathered together to watch the Acrofest virtual event where teammate, Ana Lopes, was presented with the Heather Boulais Courage Award. Each year, the award is given to one gymnast from an Adventist school who demonstrates extraordinary spiritual and leadership qualities and academic and athletic excellence.

“I’m very honored to have Ana as part of our team,” Price says. “She’s been on the team for four years, and she’s been a team captain for three of those years. She lifts up her teammates, and she’s always willing to help.”

Lopes feels honored to receive the award. “I feel grateful, not because I got recognition, but because of how much God has blessed me,” she says. “I’m grateful because God gave me the ability to do what I do, and He gave me parents who pushed me to use those abilities to glorify His name. I’m also beyond grateful that He gave me coaches [who shared] their love of Adventist gymnastics with me.”

Last weekend, local church leaders convened for tw

Last weekend, local church leaders convened for two church planting training events where they learned more about planting churches and how they can effectively reach unentered areas in Chesapeake Conference territory.

“Seeds Vision” was held Friday and Sabbath at the DoubleTree hotel in Columbia, Md., for Chesapeake’s English-speaking churches and focused on presenting the church planting vision to individuals interested in learning more about the process. “Seeds Core Groups” was held Sabbath afternoon at the Ellicott City (Md.) church for Spanish-speaking groups already in the planting process.

Participants at both events listened to engaging presentations from experienced church planters and evangelists. Following each presentation, attendees participated in roundtable discussions with their teams, where they talked about applying what they’d learned to their local context.

“There’s no better time than now to plant churches in Chesapeake,” says Jerry Lutz, president. “It’s exciting to see how the Lord is moving upon the hearts and minds of men and women around this conference to plant churches in places where the gospel is needed...The Lord has promised that He will give us the tools and necessary resources to do the work that He has commissioned us to do.”

The training provided at the two “Seeds” events is part of Chesapeake’s ongoing commitment to plant 35 new churches by 2025.

“Church planting is important because there are 50 places within the Chesapeake Conference that have a population of 50,000 or more people, and there is absolutely no Adventist church there,” says David Klinedinst, evangelism and church growth director. “We are called as a remnant movement to plant churches in those areas.”

In January 2020, the leadership team at the Bell B

In January 2020, the leadership team at the Bell Branch church in Gambrills, Md., prayed that God would bring five new people into their church. Then COVID-19 hit.

But despite the pandemic, the church has seen unprecedented growth in 2021, adding 21 new members—a growth of more than 20 percent. And they’re not done yet.

“I think it goes back to that meeting in January 2020,” says Geoff Crowley, pastor of Bell Branch. “We wanted a phrase that would sum up our mission and vision and everything we say and do here, and what we settled on at that meeting was this: ‘At Bell Branch, we’re family, and so are you.’”

Crowley continues, “I think that [phrase] is the thing that’s driven everything. We’ve been really intentional about welcoming anybody who comes to our church and asking, ‘How do we make you part of the family?’”

Church elder Serrah Thomas was part of the conversation last year. “When you strip away all the pretenses of being something you’re not, and you just open up and let people be who they are, it creates a space where the image of Christ is shown. It draws people to our fellowship,” she says.

Many of the new faces at Bell Branch agree. “Coming to church here each week has been the highlight during what feels like a tough and dark time in the world right now,” says Aja Schorr, who was baptized this summer along with her husband, Chris. “I don’t feel like anyone here is trying to be somebody they’re not. … A lot of people think we’re crazy to drive an hour each week to be here, but you do it for family.”

Traviss Green was raised in the Seventh-day Adventist Church but admits he had fallen into a bit of a spiritual slump. When his daughter Nyle insisted she wanted to be baptized, the family decided to search for a new church online.

“We came across Bell Branch,” says Green. “We started watching, and every Sabbath morning we’d hear, ‘Welcome to Bell Branch, where we are family, and so are you.’… Every Sabbath morning we’d huddle together, and we would hear those words, and it would just warm up the home.”

Pathfinders raced cars, constructed model airplane

Pathfinders raced cars, constructed model airplanes, and participated in marching drills on Nov. 7 during Chesapeake’s annual Pathfinder Derby Day.

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Seventh-day Adventist TV is a channel available on Roku, sponsored and maintained by the Chesapeake Conference.

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