News

“Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:7, NIV).

To be honest, when I was first asked to write a devotional, I desperately wanted to decline. I felt my heart beat a little faster and my breath become shorter—symptoms associated with anxiety. The fear of not being good enough was so overwhelming, and I was just about to say no until I remembered 1 Peter 5:7. I’ve heard this verse multiple times, and right at that moment, it stuck with me.

Editorial by Charles A. Tapp

For nearly a year-and-a-half, our world, and, yes, our church, has been on a journey that even the wildest of imaginations could not have imagined. The onslaught of this global pandemic has wreaked such havoc in our lives that it has almost removed the word “normal” from our vocabularies. But despite the great sense of unimaginable loss that the COVID-19 virus has brought upon us, in many ways it has allowed the church to recapture its mission of becoming “salt and light” to a world that is in desperate need of both.

Story by Angela Wimberly

Earlier this year, the Health Ministries Department of the Ephesus church in Columbus, Ohio, began “Sabbath Walks in the Park.” Members meet every other week in the city’s parks to get some exercise, explore nature and bond with each other in a safe environment.

“Columbus has multiple great parks,” says Health Ministries director Paul Monk (pictured with members Evelyn Fordham-Goodman and Kaelyn Goodman). “I thought this would be a good activity in light of COVID-19 with the need to be safe and compliant with local guidelines, but also for fellowship.”

Story by Anthony Baff

New Jersey Conference (NJC) officials recently inaugurated the first NJC center of influence on the premises of the Luso-Brazilian church in Newark, N.J. (pictured).

Pablo Cisneros, pastor of Luso-Brazilian, along with local church members, attended the event. Also present were New Jersey Conference administrators Jorge Aguero, president; Mario Thorp, executive secretary; and Karen Senecal, treasurer, as well as Ligia de Freitas, the city’s deputy mayor, and other community authorities.