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Note from Mark The conclusion of 2023 was filled with many events and activities as you will read below. In all the busyness, my hope and prayer was that you would draw closer to Jesus. I was reminded as I saw all the Christmas decorations on people’s homes (snowmen, deer, Santas, inflatables, snowflakes and more) what was often missing was a simple nativity reminding us of the reason for the season, Jesus. My hope is you saw past the festivities, into the heart of God as he sent his Son to a broken world in desperate need of a savior . I also hope as you turn the page of the calendar from 2022 to 2023 that you laid the past year down, both good and bad, in front of God and invited God into this new year to fulfill his purposes in and through your life. May you experience God’s blessing, provision, and protection in this new year. MINISTRIESNeighborhood Kids Leader: Karin Sauder, [email protected] A safe place for children to meet Jesus, know Jesus & learn to share Jesus. The theme for this month was Jesus—celebrating God’s greatest gift, and we did have a festive month in Neighborhood Kids! Our verse for the month was Luke 2:11, and we spent December in the Gospels looking at the Christmas story. We had a super fun Christmas Eve service, with our fabulous Neighborhood Kids and Youth presenting a Christmas Pageant and joining the worship team in singing Joy to the World. And although we weren’t together in person on Christmas Day, Miss Karin did present a small kids’ program in our Home for Christmas Video. It has truly been a wonderful year in Neighborhood Kids, with new faces and loads of fun learning who God is. We are looking forward to 2023! Happy New Year! Neighborhood Youth Leader: Tim Allen, [email protected] A place for teens to meet Jesus, know Jesus & be encouraged to share Jesus. Neighborhood Youth ended the year with a series on hearing from God. It was a good and challenging topic which produced great conversations. The youth also took two weeks off for the holiday season. Worship & Production Team Leader: Mel Neely, [email protected] We are a diverse community of followers of Jesus Christ, empowered by His Spirit with one heart and one mind to invite and lead in declaring His worth. The Neighborhood Church Worship & Production team continues to lift high the name of Jesus through our in person and online services. This month Mel Neely and Adoara Nwokoye led worship along with our dedicated team of instrumentalists and vocalists. On Thursday evenings the team engaged with devotionals reinforcing our Advent Series shared by Jeff Geraci, Tom Wissink, Adaora and Mel. We also shared praises and prayer requests. We led Christmas carols like “Hark The Harold Angels Sing” as well as modern Christmas songs like “Peace Has Come”;. Adaora and the team led worship on Christmas Eve and Mel and team led worship on Christmas morning during our prerecorded at home service. The Tuesday before Christmas, eight members of The Worship & Production team went on a lovely outing to see The Messiah Sing-Along in Frederick. Thank you to Holly Mullen for sharing this special tradition you and Jim shared with us. As we enter 2023, we will continue to declare His faithfulness! Our Worship & Production team continues to thrive under the leadership of Jeff Geraci. We are thankful to have a truly multigenerational team with middle school, high school and adult volunteers working together to make our Sunday services in person and online possible. Joel Sauder transferred back to the area and will begin to serve on a regular basis again. Thank you, Joel! Thank you, Jeff, for organizing our stage storage room in late December! BECAUSE of God’s faithfulness, our Worship Team is living on mission as a multi-ethnic, multigenerational team being transformed by Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit and inviting the Neighborhood Church family to be launched on mission with them! Neighborhood Groups Leader: Mark Trinkl, [email protected] Our primary venue for making friends, inviting God's transformation through Scripture and prayer, and living on mission together. For our winter semester, we have a total of five groups meeting: Group 1: Sundays, 12pm-1:30pm Co-ed group led by Pam & Evan Homan at Neighborhood Church, including lunch. Children welcome. "Jesus’ Farewell Message" by Francis Chan: Do you know Jesus? It’s one thing to know facts about him, but to experience his love, wisdom, and guidance in your life is what it means to follow him. On the night before he was crucified, Jesus invited his disciples into a deep relationship with the triune God—and his invitation stands for us too. In this 6-part series, Francis Chan dives into John 13–17, a passage rich in promises, commands, and eternal truths. He’ll remind us we aren’t called to a part-time faith—we were made to know, walk with, and commune with God. Group 2: Sundays, 2:30pm (Jan 22 - March 12) Co-ed group led by Matt Sale, Mark Neely and Andrew Spencer. Members will also have the opportunity to lead a lesson from the study guide. This group will be studying "The Jesus Paul Knew" based on the study guide by James Reapsome. This study focuses on Paul's encounters and experiences with Jesus. At the end of each study we like to enjoy time together around some snacks (which members will take turns to provide). Group 3: Sundays, 5pm-7pm Co-ed group led by Mark Trinkl, Nami Trinkl & Isaac Raplee at Neighborhood Church, including dinner. Children welcome. "Oneness Embraced" by Tony Evans: In this six-session series, Dr. Tony Evans promotes a biblical understanding of unity in the church, casting a vision for a holy community of different cultures, races, and backgrounds. This updated version of Oneness Embraced will educate and equip you to embrace God’s design for his people. God didn’t design us for sameness; he designed us for oneness. Group 4: Sundays, 7:30pm-8:30pm Women’s group led by Qing Doris Wang on ZOOM. "Reason For God": An unscripted conversation between Timothy Keller and six panelists discussing their objections to Christianity. Sessions include: Isn’t the Bible a Myth?; How Can You Say There Is Only One Way to God?; What Gives You the Right to Tell Me How to Live My Life?; Why Does God Allow Suffering?; Why Is the Church Responsible for So Much Injustice?; How Can God Be Full of Love and Wrath at the Same Time? Group 5: Thursdays, 7pm-8:15pm Co-ed group led by Steve Beardsley and Matt Walton on ZOOM. Book of Titus: In this Book of the Bible series, Chip Ingram unpacks the book of Titus. He challenges us to display the gospel in our lives through doing good. We do good works not to earn God’s favor, but as a result of God’s favor. When the gospel has truly taken root in our lives, it produces the fruit of godliness. As we pass these things on to future generations, the Church stands in bright contrast to the darkness of the world. Missions Team Leader: Mark Trinkl, [email protected] We are launched on His mission from our neighborhoods to the nations. (Acts 1:8) We continued with our monthly packing of breakfasts for Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless on December 18. We have also committed to a sixth season of the Derwood Farmers Market and are praying for God to provide all the necessary resources to use it in a powerful way to show and share Jesus to our community. Our Spring Global Encounters week is coming up on March 25-28. Mark your calendars for a Feast of Nations on March 26th, 5-7pm. We will have Tony Roos, our missional partner, with us from Envision France! The missions team oversees our local and global missions engagement, which is everything from our local partnerships with organizations such as MCCH, to our ongoing support of missionaries in South America, Africa, and Europe, to our twice a year "Global Encounters" missions emphasis weeks. For more information about how you can get involved, see Mark Trinkl. LEADERSHIPStaff Mark Trinkl, Tim Allen, Linnea Allen, Melanie Neely, Karin Sauder & Dana Zetterberg Leader: Mark Trinkl, [email protected] The staff manages Neighborhood Church ministry teams. The Staff has been laying out their goals for 2023 in conjunction with the Board.
We are also in the process of working with our values to make them more memorable. Linnea will be on maternity leave beginning in February for three months. We will be having Erica Johns (who interned for one summer with Neighborhood Church in 2021) working with us virtually to manage much of Linnea’s job while she is away. Please continue to pray for us as we adjust to new dynamics of staff configurations. Elders Mark Trinkl, Evan Homan, Steve Beardsley, Mark Neely, & Keith Luse Leader: Mark Trinkl, [email protected] The Elders shepherd and give spiritual oversight to Neighborhood Church. We are excited for the men who are letting their name stand for re-election (Evan Homan, Steve Beardsley, Mark Neely) and the three men who are allowing their names to stand for election (Jeff Geraci, Solomon Jack, and Erick Peacock). Board of Governance Mark Trinkl (Chair), Evan Homan (Vice Chair), Matt Sale (Treasurer), Sarah Luse (Secretary), Angela Drumm, & Steve Beardsley The Board of Governance (BOG) sets boundaries for the Pastor. The Board met on December 12th to focus on connecting with Christ, our biblical mission and values. We also discussed the church’s finances and at the beginning of January, approved the 2023 budget. We are so grateful for how God has taken care of Neighborhood Church this year. We are also grateful for all of the Board Members allowing their names to stand for another year and are looking forward to adding Eric Peacock to the Board. The next Board meeting is March 13th. PEAK Assessment The leadership of the church met on December 10th and January 14th to process the “Story” of Neighborhood Church and what God is speaking to us. In January, we looked at our Critical Gospel Impact (CGI), Plan for Mission, Leadership, and Discipleship, and began to discern how God was aligning our resources to the needs in our community. Our last session will be on February 11th. We will then be communicating how God has been speaking to the leadership through this process and what it means for us as a church. UPCOMING EVENTSJanuary 8-February 12: SGPC Baby Bottle Campaign
January 29: Annual Meeting February 19: MCCH Bagged Breakfast March 2-4: Soul Care Conference March 25-28: Global Encounters April 7: Good Friday April 8: Spring Carnival April 9: Easter Sunday April 15: Derwood Farmers Market Launch April 28-30: Weekend to Remember April 28-30: District Youth Retreat |
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