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1000 Carl T. Jones Drive | Huntsville, Alabama 35802 (256) 882-3085 | www.southwood.org Christine Betts Assistant Director, Youth/Families Robert Blevins Director, Community Development Daniel Brown Print & Digital Media Specialist Niña Cash Director, Nursery Shannon Clark Administrative Assistant Ron Clegg Associate Pastor, Discipleship Ty Commons Youth & Family Intern Janice Crowson Director, Facilities/Finance Kim Delchamps Administrative Assistant Terri Good Accountant/Bookkeeper Derrick Harris Assistant Pastor, Shepherding & Young Families James Parker Chief Musician Peter Render Assistant Pastor, Youth/Families Wyketa Shipman Executive Assistant Angela Sierk Director, Children's Ministry Will Spink Senior Pastor Contents 3 4 5 6 8 10 10 Pastor's Note The Finer Points 2019 PCA General Assembly Connecting at Southwood Small Groups and Connect Communities Don’t Drown The Small Groups Life Raft The Summer of One Another Lookback Southwood Men Fall Retreat Fall Service Opportunities 11 Southwood Kids Upcoming Events Partner with Us! Contributors Christine Betts Robert Blevins Ron Clegg Derrick Harris Peter Render Angela Sierk Will Spink Photos Daniel Brown Kim Delchamps Will Spink Southwood Members Illustrations Ricki Tri Feedback! We want to hear from you! Please send your suggestions and comments to branches@southwood.org Cover Photo Southwood Kids on a Sunday Morning Upcoming Events Aug. 4–25 Small Group Sign-Up Aug. 4 Southwood Kids Parent Preview Aug. 4 Southwood Kids Volunteer Training Aug. 11 Southwood Kids Family Picnic Aug. 25 High-Life Parent Meeting Sept. 20–21 Southwood Men Fall Retreat Sept. 24 Parent Café Featuring Veggie Tales “Silly Song” writer Randall Goodgame <strong>August</strong> 23 at 6:30PM The Southwood Sanctuary $10 per person · $40 per family 4+ Purchase tickets at southwood.org/slugsandbugs
Keep Summer Going As the first day of school, the kickoff of football season, and other fall events rapidly approach, my family is trying to hang on to some of the joys of summer. The ability for kids to sleep later in the morning has given us leisurely nights together at the pool or on the tennis court, playing games or talking and laughing together before bed. Even though next week we won’t be able to stay up until 10:00 on Tuesday nights anymore, we want to stretch summer into fall, as it were, and figure out how to make margin for these leisurely times together that are so valuable. I’d like to suggest the same for our church family – that we all think together how to stretch summer into fall. What I mean is that we’ve focused this summer on “One Anothering,” on investing in Gospel Community together. We’ve seen over and over how intent God is on answering the loneliness in our lives and in this world with the life-giving relationships in his family. But as life gets busy again this fall, it would be easy to leave those nice thoughts behind and have nothing change, no relationships develop, no Gospel Community actually grow. OR … we could each take a step toward prioritizing what God calls us to prioritize. My first suggestion is one you’ve heard all summer: We want everyone at Southwood in a small group and/or a Connect Community. Trying one out is a great step toward Gospel Community. So is serving one another. Your small group may be with children or youth, where you learn alongside and from them as God works in their lives and yours. There’s a place for you there! Maybe your step to take is actually moving toward that one person you committed to move toward earlier this summer. Imagine how community would multiply if we all actually moved intentionally toward another brother or sister! To be clear, I’m talking to all of us. Particularly on my heart in calling us to invest more deeply are longtime Southwood members who have drifted from deep connection with their church family, new people at Southwood just trying to make this place a home for themselves, and some of you who have been members a few years but have not yet moved beyond that initial commitment. Please let us help you engage in the life-giving community Jesus died to welcome you into! But I’m talking to those of you who feel deeply connected already, too. You need a small group, too, and someone else needs you there. You may feel relationally full, but your brother or sister next to you on Sunday is lonely, so God says you’re not full yet because WE aren’t full yet! (If you need any more motivation, read Christine’s beautiful “Don’t Drown” article in the middle of this issue of <strong>Branches</strong>.) Those are practical steps we can all be taking right now to pursue what God has called us to together and stretch summer into fall. Another way summer will stretch into fall is with our upcoming sermon series. We’re finishing up “One Another” passages and turning our attention to some Minor Prophets. They’re going to hit many of the same themes we’ve seen this summer with perhaps a bit more of an edge that may hurt (for our good). They’re going to be calling God’s people together to repent – that is, to turn our hearts back to the God who made us a family in the first place, whose Word is to be our life, whose glory is to be our passion. In other words, they will keep asking us week after week whether the Gospel is what is defining our community. They will challenge us in many places where it’s not. They will offer to us the beauty of a community that actually is learning to have Jesus at its center. So even more importantly than taking that first practical step to put yourself in a small group or Connect Community, join me in asking Holy Spirit to put Jesus at the center of your heart and life – and then to let you experience with those you’ve locked arms with that disruptive, uncomfortable, glorious life with Him. Will Spink Senior Pastor If you would like to contact Will, use the following: will.spink@southwood.org
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Page 5 and 6: Connecting at Southwood Small Group
Page 7 and 8: that you, yes you, need to be in a
Page 9 and 10: BRANCHES 9 AUG. & SEP. 2019
Page 11 and 12: Southwood Kids Upcoming Events Part

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