e-news

06/13

Greetings, my friends, from the Fort McKinley Campus of Ginghamsburg Church! 

My name is Pastor Karl and I am the Lead Pastor of Fort McKinley Church. I would like to give you a few updates about what is going on in the life of Fort McKinley. The first thing that comes to my mind and heart to share with you is that Fort McKinley is the healthiest that I have seen since I joined the team six years ago! We are living out our goal of disciples making disciples who make disciples. It all started when we put our entire church through Adult Discipleship training. Not only did they lean into it, but now as a result our members are not only starting new ministries, but they are also leading their respective ministries. For example, we now have life groups and classes like GriefShare, the Creator’s Group, Mission Fit: Dayton and a brand new task force called Action Community Growth for Fort McKinley. We have new people who have joined the Praise Team, Men’s Ministry, Discord, an expanded Hospitality Team, and every Sunday I see and meet people who are new to Fort McKinley.

I could go on and on. I am so proud to say that these members saw a need and are endeavoring to meet that need through ministry, fellowship, worship and partnerships with one another and the community. Our task force, which I am very excited about, is focused on making improvements inside our building as well as beautifying the outside of the Fort McKinley. One area in particular that they are giving lots of attention to is re-building our Kids Ministry. Volunteers are organizing and coordinating so that we can bring this much-needed programming back to life and already have a number of people who have offered to serve in that area of ministry. We also continue to have a partnership with Belle Haven Elementary School. Most recently we had a presence at their Field Day last month and we bought all their teachers, administrators and staff lunch during Teacher Appreciation Day. 

My absolute favorite time with the people of Fort McKinley happens on Sunday morning. Most of the time, people wait until church starts and then they worship. What I have noticed lately is that people are already worshipping when they get here! And once we are all together, that air of worship spreads from person to person, causing such a wonderful and warm sense of fellowship. It all begins with our Hospitality Team as soon as you walk in the door. They are very inviting, welcoming and friendly, which sets the tone for the whole day. We begin our Sunday mornings with donuts and coffee for the church and for the community. Every week in the Welcome Center, we offer this little treat to anyone who enters the building, which gives us the opportunity to not only feed the hungry, but to make connections and have conversations with people outside of the church who are hurting. This provides us an opportunity to share testimonies and to invite people to a relationship with Christ. From there we take all of that joy, fellowship and love into the Worship Center for corporate worship and by the time our incredible Praise Team hits the stage, we are in full-blown fellowship with each other and excited to worship and hear from the God we love and cherish.

As the Lead Pastor, I have been absolutely inspired by the ministry and people of Fort McKinley and I want to invite you all to come and experience what it feels like to worship at Fort McKinley. So if you are interested, every week we serve the church and the community in the Welcome Center beginning at 9am and we worship at 10:30am. Sunday, July 7, will be an extra special day for us as we’ll be hosting our monthly carry-in meal after worship. Bring your favorite dish to share and plan on spending some time with the wonderful people that make up our Fort McKinley community.

Until then, understand this; I love you, God loves you, Fort McKinley loves and there is nothing you can do about it! 

God Bless! 

Pastor Karl J. Penn

Karl Penn

Lead Pastor Fort McKinley Campus

Celebrate dads with us this Sunday!

We're giving thanks for the dads and dad figures in our lives this weekend at Ginghamsburg. Bring the dad and/or dad figure in your life to worship and enjoy all the fun we have in store, including hot dogs, a photo booth, and special drinks in the coffee shop. We'll see you there!

ginghamsburg.org