We’re back to our regular worship schedule this weekend. Join us for worship on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. or Sunday at 8:45 or 11:00 a.m. Sunday School is back in session for all ages as well as the Abiding Table. If you haven’t yet given Sunday School and/or the Abiding Table a try, now is a great time to jump in.

There are two ways to offer dedications each weekend in worship. You can sign up for a date on the bulletin board outside of the office or email Sharon in the church office. Designations may be made:
In Memory of
In Honor of
To the Glory of God

An office volunteer will call you a few days prior to your scheduled date, both as a reminder and to get your information for the weekend announcements.

Altar Flowers

You take care of ordering flowers. If you wish to have them delivered, please contact Flowers ‘n’ Ferns as they have a key to the building. You may also design something yourself and bring it prior to the Saturday service.

Abiding Presence Fund for Leaders in Mission Scholarship

You offer $100 donation to Abiding Presence with a note that says “Fund for Leaders.” Abiding Presence has a named Fund for Leaders in Mission Scholarship for Seminarians. The ELCA Fund for Leaders scholarship program supports students attending ELCA seminaries. Your dedication will allow us to invest in the church of today and of the future. Learn more about the Fund for Leaders here.

Sunday, August 25 at 11:15 a.m.

Join us in saying, “Thank You,” to Kathi Schultz, our longtime Office Manager who is retiring at the end of August. RSVP to attend the retirement luncheon in her honor.

Jon Galdames-Henry, Youth & Family Minister

Hello, Abiding Presence I am your new Youth and Family Minister! My name is Jon Galdames-Henry. I just moved back to the Northern Virginia area after living in Philadelphia for school. I am so excited to get to know you all. I am especially excited to begin creating and growing a youth ministry dedicated to the faith formation of our middle school and high school students! I look forward to learning more about this amazing community and come alongside you all. Please feel free to reach out to me at jon@abidingpresence.net with any questions, comments, or concerns. I look forward to talking with you.     

Michelle Galdames-Henry, Children & Family Minister

Hello, Abiding Presence! My name is Michelle Galdames-Henry and I am excited and honored that I get to come on board as the new Children and Family Minister. I have already had an amazing welcome from many of you and had so much fun experiencing VBS with all of the children and volunteers! My husband, Jon and I just moved to this area from Philadelphia, and what a joy that we have been given the opportunity to serve this congregation together. I cannot wait to get to know our new church family better. You can reach me at michelle@abidingpresence.net- I look forward to talking with you soon!  

It is with great joy that we share with the news that we have hired Michelle Galdames-Henry as our Children and Family Minister and Jon Galdames-Henry as our Youth and Family Minister.

As you have hopefully heard, Sara Dyson, our current Children and Family Minister, has decided to step down from her 30 hours a week position in order to focus her time and energy on being a mom. We will celebrate her ministry with us on Sunday, July 21 and look forward to continuing to have her and her family as part of the Abiding Presence faith family. After much discernment, research and prayer, the church council decided to move forward with two full time positions – a Children & Family Minister and a Youth & Family Minister.

We launched a national search for these positions and had the opportunity to interview several qualified candidates. What stood out to the interview teams about Michelle and Jon was their ability to articulate their faith and what it means to be followers of Christ in the world today. Jon talked about coming to faith in middle school when he started attending youth group for the first time and the profound impact youth ministry had on his life. Michelle talked about growing up in the church and realizing in high school that working in a church was a career possibility. Both of them have a passion for engaging children, youth and families in hands-on service to help us live out our core value of being “God’s hands and feet in the world.” They have experience, both independently of each other and together, in organizing ministry, leadership and working with volunteers.

Michelle and Jon graduated from Eastern University with degrees in Youth Ministry. They are recently married and moved to Springfield within the past month. Jon grew up in Centerville, Virginia, so he knows the area well.

We extended formal employment offers to Michelle and Jon this past Sunday afternoon and they started first thing Monday morning so they could experience Vacation Bible School (VBS). Following VBS, Michelle will then have the opportunity to overlap for two weeks with Sara Dyson, our current Children and Family Minister, in order to facilitate a smooth transition. Jon will be able to chaperone our confirmation youth at confirmation camp later this month. We’re grateful for their willingness to quickly jump into ministry with us.

Please join us in welcoming Michelle and Jon to the congregation and to these positions.

We still need 6 more adults - 3 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon - to volunteer in order to make our Vacation Bible School a success. Please consider whether or not you can step up to fill one of these roles! VBS is the week of July 8-12 from 9:00 - 12:00 noon (morning session) and 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. (afternoon session). We also still need as many teen helpers as we can get! Teens, bring your friends! If you can help, please reach out to Sara Dyson, Children and Family Minister, or Kimberly, our volunteer VBS Coordinator.