Considering foster care or adoption? Join us for a six-week Bible Study, “Ready or Not” by Pam Parish. For more info or to register, contact Erin, erinkim76@gmail.com
LCC Kids Camp Volunteers Needed
Help us provide summer camp to our Lighthouse Community Center kids! We’re going to Young Life Oakbridge Camp and need the following volunteers to make it happen: cabin counselors, nurses, photographers, worship leaders, and lifeguards. Contact Gloria to find out more and how you can get involved, gmartinez@marinerschurch.org
Fri-Sun, Aug 7-9, Young Life Oakbridge Camp, Ramona, CA
Foster Youth Group: The Walk
Join us for an afternoon as we pour into the lives of foster children through games, sports, music, relationship, community, food and an inspiring message. You must be 21+ to volunteer. Contact Chris Meadows, cmeadows@mac.com
Sunday, July 12, 2-6p, Student Center
Mariners Recovery Ministry
MRM is a community of people sharing their experience, strength, and hope to walk a path of healing and help others along the way. Open to individuals striving for health from unwanted behaviors and a stronger relationship with God. For a full list of groups, visit marinerschurch.org/recovery
Mondays, 6-7p program, Chapel; 7-8p breakout groups
Story Team: Photographer Info Meeting
If you have a love for photography and are excited about what God is doing in and through Mariners Church, the Story Team could be a great fit for you! From event shooters to photo-journalists, hobbyists to professionals – we are looking to grow this team of volunteers. Please RSVP to stories@marinerschurch.org
Thursday, July 16, 6:30-8p, Life Development Building r200A
Sweet Life Summer Fun Nights
VBS is a week long summer camp for kids entering kindergarten through 5th grade this fall. This year the campus will be transformed as kids come and experience the SWEET LIFE! It’ll be an exciting week of games, drama, crafts, Bible stories, fun surprises and live music. Register online.
July 13-17, 5:30-8:30p, $60, Ocean Hills Campus
Zany Mania Kids Night
VBS: Sweet Life
VBS is a week long summer camp for kids entering kindergarten through 5th grade this fall. This year the campus will be transformed as kids come and experience the SWEET LIFE! It’ll be an exciting week of games, drama, crafts, Bible stories, fun surprises and live music. Register online.
July 13-17, 5:30-8:30p, $60, Ocean Hills Campus
A Note From Kyle Zimmerman
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27
LISTEN… can you hear the voice of God above all the other noise in this world? Can you hear the truth of who He is – that He loves you unconditionally and that He created you to play a profound role in this world for His kingdom? I love this new series we’re walking through together and how we’re learning to LISTEN for God’s voice, believing that He will speak truth into every corner of our lives – our marriages, relationships with kids, friends, classmates, co-workers, finances, health – the list goes on and on. In a year of Jubilee, God wants to continue bringing freedom, healing and new life into our stories. Let’s continue to pursue Him together as we listen for Him each day.
This weekend, we’re celebrating our country’s independence and kicking off summer with one another! This is the perfect weekend to invite our friends and family to join us as we pursue Him and become who He’s called us to be.
Peace,
Kyle
A Note From Jeff Maguire
It’s hot… Well, hotter than it has been. Right now, someone is scanning Pinterest for a home sunburn remedy likely involving “essential oils.” Sand has become the unwelcome stowaway in car backseats after this Sunday’s recent all church trip to the seaside. Working parents of elementary school aged kids are grappling with the every-morning jealousy of the their children. Because, despite what they know about the proverbial real world, they can’t help the feeling that they’ve been robbed of an entitled three month vacation.
No matter how we approach it, summer is upon us. I have to wonder, looking out at the next few weeks of my time with family (more camping), traveling (Today, I’m renewing my favorite love-hate relationship with Texas. It’s the place where every meal is like state fair faire. It’s remarkable how much can be served fried. People are friendly. Everything deemed truly astounding by someone necessitates that he or she says, “Man, thass aw-sum!” Any gathered group addressed in the second person is ALWAYS referred to as “y’all” — sometimes as “all y’all” for added emphasis. But, never is any group of people “you guys.” Everyday, is a miserable, stifling heat that Texans seem to wear as a sweaty badge of honor. Something, I’ll never fully understand.), visiting churches, and hearing from God about the future of Mariners MV.
A critical part of that future, is a Mariners Church without a central dividing wall in our worship center. On Monday, crews began their prep work. The picture below was taken from the stage, looking out, up the aisles. Clearly, some of you have now lost your favorite seats.
This “retrofit” as it’s technically called, signals the beginning of a new era for us as a church. I guess, in a lot of ways, it’s more of a recollection of who we have always intended to be. Mariners MV is a place for people longing for the power and connection of real relationships in the midst of a life often filled with struggle. It’s a place for people wrestling with the big questions of their purpose and significance. And, foremost, it’s a place where people can discover what a life with Jesus looks like — perhaps for the first time.
It is often in participating in our collective worship (sometimes merely observing it) where apprehensive outsiders and open-minded, curious skeptics discover something that couldn’t otherwise be expressed in words. The writer, Anne Lamont says it this way about her first experience in church:
“…And this time I stayed for the sermon, which I thought was ridiculous, like someone trying to convince me of the existence of extraterrestrials, but the last song was so raw and deep and pure that I could not escape. It was as if the people were singing between the notes, weeping and joyful at the same time, and I felt like their voices or something was rocking me in its bosom, holding me like a scared kid, and I opened up to that feeling — and it washed over me.”
Our divided worship center is something we can grow somewhat accustomed to. Remember what it was like when you first came into the room? Remember how you thought it was crazy? Then, slowly and almost imperceptibly, you discovered ways of making it fine — another idiosyncrasy that when repeatedly overlooked through the passage time, becomes mostly invisible. But, it undeniably interferes with the ability of people looking for an authentic experience in worship. And, it unknowingly divides us — those on the inside — from each other.
I’m grateful for a church so committed to seeing this project through to the end. While there is much work to be done, I can’t thank you enough for your generosity in this endeavor. If you’d like to join in this project and have not yet done so, visit our website, select “MV Impossible Project Campaign” from the drop down menu. Or, if you have more questions about the project, please contact Wendi Kato (wkato@marinerschurch.org) to receive a packet with more details. I’m overjoyed at all that God is doing in our midst. I’m grateful to be your pastor.
I’ll be seein’ all y’all real shortly,
Jeff