Posts by Meredith Keseley
Eggstravaganza
Eggstravaganza

Sunday, April 16 from 10:05-10:50 a.m.

In the church, Easter isn’t just one day. Easter is an entire 50-day season. Next Sunday, our Easter celebration continues with Eggstravaganza!

Babies & Toddlers Egg Hunt

We will have a fenced off egg hunt set aside for infant/toddler families. Come connect with other parents/grown ups, infants and toddlers.

Preschool & Elementary Families

Grown ups and kids will travel around to different stations to celebrate and learn about Easter. We will have games, “Easter Candyland,” a service project station, face paint, and more.

Youth (7th-12th Grade)

Youth will join Pastor Kelsey on the back patio for breakfast, an egg challenge and learning about the season of Easter.

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Meredith Keseley
45th Anniversary Celebration
45th Anniversary Celebration

Sunday, May 21
Worship Service at 9:00 a.m.
Celebration at 10:15 a.m.

From its earliest days, Abiding Presence has been a community of faith that is about the work of feeding people. Rather than throwing a party for ourselves for our 45th anniversary celebration, we’re partnering with Rise Against Hunger to pack 11,445 meals that will go to feed global partners, many of which are school feeding programs. The cost of the meals will be $4,500. When we think about who we’ve been and who we want to be as a church, this seemed like a fitting way to celebrate. Now, we need you to join us! Mark your calendar for a festive worship service (one service only) at 9:00 a.m. followed by a breakfast reception that goes right into our meal packing event.

Sign up to participate in the meal packing event or help offset the cost of the meals at: events.riseagainsthunger.org/AbidingPresenceLutheran2023

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Meredith KeseleyWorship
Summer Day Camp Registration Now Open
Summer Day Camp Registration Now Open

8 Camps, 6 Weeks, Endless Fun & Faith

Summer sun is on the horizon and we are thrilled to be launching six weeks of summer day camps at Abiding Presence. This summer we will hold eight different camps covering a wide variety of themes and welcoming different age groups.

At Abiding Presence, our summer camps allow students to engage in age-appropriate experiences that are hands on, tons of fun and form faith through activities kids want to do. From Bible stories to art projects, science experiments to group games, your kids will have tons of fun all while growing their faith.

Registration is LIVE! Check out our camps at abidingpresence.net/camp.

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Meredith Keseley
Welcoming & Resettling an Afghan Family
Welcoming & Resettling an Afghan Family

Abiding Presence owns a house in West Springfield that we have invited an Afghan family to make their home as they resettle. At the end of March, we welcomed a family of seven into the house. There are lots of ways to get involved in welcoming our new neighbors. Check out this page that we are updating regularly with our biggest needs.

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Meredith Keseley
Mardi Gras Concert & Pancake Dinner
Mardi Gras Concert & Pancake Dinner

Sunday, February 19
Concert at 4:30 p.m.
Pancake Dinner at 5:30 p.m.

Celebrate Mardi Gras with the fabulous musicians of Abiding Presence! The FREE concert starts at 4:30 p.m. and is about 60 minutes long. Pancake supper starts at 5:30 p.m., prepared and served by our youth. Optional donations benefit ELCA World Hunger.

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Meredith Keseley
Godspell Jr. The Musical
Godspell Jr. The Musical

Sunday, January 8 at 10:05 a.m.

Jesus' messages of kindness, tolerance and love come vibrantly to life in this dynamic production of Godspell Jr. based on the Broadway musical. Abiding Presence is thrilled to showcase the hard work and talents of our youth from 4th through 12th grade. We hope you’ll join us fo our free performance. Questions? Reach out to our Music & Stage Director, Dave Chavez, or our Co-Director and Producer, Michaela Silvis.

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Meredith Keseley
Adult Small Groups
Adult Small Groups

Adult Small Groups are launching now! There is something for everyone. Adult small groups meet at various times and places throughout the week, including some over Zoom. Join a small group today.

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Meredith Keseley
Fall Kick Off
Fall Kick Off

New Sunday Schedule beginning Sunday, September 11!
9:00 a.m. Contemporary Worship Service (in-person & online)
10:05 a.m. Sunday School for All Ages (in-person)
11:00 a.m. Traditional Worship Service (in-person & online)

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Meredith Keseley
Fresh Produce Market
Fresh Produce Market

Our food ministry is expanding! The need of our neighbors is great. We continue to look for ways that we build a community where all our fed. Therefore, we are adding a Fresh Produce Market on the following Thursdays from 6:30-8:30 p.m.: June 23, July 7 & 21, August 11 & 25. This will be in addition to our Food Pantry on the 2nd & 4th Saturdays from 8:30-11:30 a.m.

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Meredith Keseley
Easter Food Bags
Easter Food Bags

The past few weeks, the narthex area has been a colorful confusion of reusable grocery bags. First, over 200 empty bags and later, rack after rack of bags returned full of food. Donations are still coming in (yay and thank you!). If you have not yet brought your bag back, there is still time to do so.

So far, we have nearly 1,000 items to distribute to families in our neighborhood experiencing food insecurity. David and Louise led our Wednesday Youth Group in an activity about food insecurity and then the unpacking of all the bags. Many thanks to David and Louise for dreaming up the idea, leading the project and working with our youth.

The Easter Food Bags has been a wonderful example of the whole congregation coming together to help build God's kingdom right here and right now. We are the church for the sake of the world, feeding our neighbors in need. The work of our food ministry is the work of all of us - Abiding Together. Watch for more empty bags to appear again soon in the narthex with cards on them. In the meantime, donations of non-perishable food items are always welcome in our donation shed. Thank you!

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Meredith Keseley
It's a Good Time to be the Church
It's a Good Time to be the Church

It is a good time to be the church. In these past 12 years, I’ve said that in every season of our ministry together - and meant it! This season, however, words cannot capture my excitement over what we get to do as the church right now.

Our college-age internship is off and running. By the end of the summer, we expect to have about 17 college-age students working with us in paid positions. On June 13, our high school Abiding Fellows internship program will launch with around 12 students with us at various times during the summer in paid positions.

Each morning this past week, Pastor Kelsey and/or I sat with our interns to share in morning prayer and scripture reading. We are not only modeling discipleship, we are intentionally teaching it. Then, our interns took part in the behind the scenes life of the church. They learned “life skills” like how to load the bypass tray of a copy machine and how to remove wall anchors before painting. They worked in the food pantry, brainstormed summer camp themes, painted, organized, helped with OWLs and much more.

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CoverMeredith KeseleyPastor Keseley
Yeti Mugs
Yeti Mugs

It’s not about the mug, it’s about Abiding Together in ways that are tangible, relevant and create invitations to share our faith with others. Click here to order a mug for yourself or one of our summer interns.

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Meredith Keseley