It may not be as exotic a mission field as Kenya, but the campus of St. Philip UMC in West Cobb has become both a challenging and a rewarding opportunity to witness the Lord at work. One example of this is the 54-foot mural that’s being painted in the children’s area on the lower level of the main building.
So far, roughly two dozen volunteers, young and old, with varying degrees of artistic skills, have literally made their mark by filling in the background colors of an enormous piece of art that has been designed as an elaborate paint-by-numbers project.
But this mural is more than simply a welcome splash of color. It is a great way for us to reach out to the St. Philip community and say we want you to be involved in what we’re doing here. Our hope is that being part of this mural project will give folks a sense of ownership—that this really is their church.
The project is being coordinated by artist Linda Cole, who last year completed a series of murals throughout the nursery and preschool area at Mt. Bethel. The St. Philip mural is divided into four panels: The Creation; Adam and Eve in the Garden; Noah’s Ark; and the Nativity. This is hardly your typical church mural. It features beautiful bold colors to reflect the diversity of the surrounding neighborhoods. Our mural will have red llamas, blue palm trees, and maybe even pink elephants.
There’s still time for you to get involved. Contact us at St. Philip at 770-435-1497 to find out how.
In Christ,
Stuart Lance
The Mt. Bethel Youth and College Department are joining with St. Philip this summer on Tuesdays for a program called M25. Our first M25 was this week. Fifteen excited students came to St. Philip with footballs, soccer balls, and hula hoops. Most of St. Philip’s children come from an apartment complex that is behind the church, so we headed that direction in search of kids to play with. Before long, we found a good field to play in, and kids started to come out to play. There were a few kids who already attend St. Philip, but most were kids we had never met. It was such a blessing to look across the big field to see everyone playing and smiling despite the heat! At the end, I had the chance to tell the kids about Sunday School and Church at St. Philip and that we will be coming back all summer! The new soccer field at St. Philip can’t come soon enough!
As if the day hadn’t already been wonderful, another huge blessing came. One woman who had been very active at St. Philip had recently stopped coming. I had been told that she had hard feelings toward some people in the church, but we had not been able to contact her to talk with her. I had been praying about a way to get to talk to her, and the opportunity presented itself. Her son came out to play with us, and I sent him home with a note telling his mom that we missed her and to let us know how she is doing. We headed back to St. Philip to get some water and cool down before the Mt. Bethel group got back on the bus. We had a time of prayer, and one of the prayers was for relationships in the church that are strained to be healed. About 5 minutes after the prayer was over, I was in the office alone and heard a knock on the door. The woman I had sent the note to had come to visit. We had a great time talking, and she said she will be back this Sunday. Praise the Lord! God is already answering prayers through M25, and I can’t wait to see what God has in store for the rest of the summer!
Kelly Gutting, SPUMC Program Director
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]]>This includes all worship services, Sunday School classes, Bible studies and youth/children/recreation activities. In addition, services at St. Philip have been canceled as well.
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My family participated in the live Nativity at St Philip. What a wonderful experience! The families really enjoyed the entire day, from the food to the crafts and visit with Santa. But the most wonderful experience was to see their faces as we performed the nativity story. Where there might have been a language barrier, it was erased as the drama of the birth of Christ came to life. Everyone did a awesome job! The love of Christ was so evident, expressed by each volunteer and experienced by each person and family there. It was a blessing to my family and really helped us remember and experience the reason for the season and all the celebration, Jesus!Blessings,
Kim ]]>