Hello, friends of Alive in Christ! Thank you so much for praying for the recent CCCC Annual Gathering. Alive in Christ is a direct successor to a ministry founded in 1984 at Park Street Church in downtown Boston, and Park Street is part of the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference (CCCC). We wanted to connect with more CCCC churches, so we sent letters this past spring to these churches throughout New England. Attending the Annual Gathering, which was in Warwick, Rhode Island this year, seemed like a natural next step! Then, one of our board members, who is an elder at a CCCC church, asked if I (Brenna Kate Simonds) could apply to share a seminar. I was invited to apply, and my application to share “Equipping Youth to Think Biblically about LGBTQ+ Issues” was accepted.
As soon as I set up my table at the conference Tuesday afternoon, the amazing connections with pastors and church leaders began! Dr. Gordon Hugenberger, Senior Minister Emeritus of Park Street Church, has always been one of Alive in Christ’s biggest cheerleaders. He was the first person I bumped into (pictured above). It was wonderful to catch up with him! Many other people came up to our table to share that they had received our letter and follow-up phone calls, and they are very interested in having more conversations. Some pastors I had previously had lengthy phone calls with I got to meet face to face. Several people signed up to come to our fall trainings (see below), including one pastor who will be traveling from another state to attend.
Our “Equipping Youth” seminar was very well-attended. I printed 50-60 handouts, and we had more people than we had handouts! Given the 300 conference attendees had 10 different workshops to choose from in that time slot, it shows how hungry Christian leadership are for conversations about these important topics.
During the conference, I spoke with a woman whose granddaughter lives with her and identifies as transgender. I asked if we could pray for her granddaughter, Alice*. After we prayed, she said with emotion, “No one ever prays for Alice!” There were many such opportunities to pause in the midst of the busy conference activities and pray for some challenging situations: a pastor whose sibling transitioned 20 years ago, a pastor whose son is married to a man, several conservative pastors who are ministering in liberal denominations (in terms of beliefs on sexuality as well as the gospel in general). Please continue to keep these situations in prayer with us!
We are so grateful for your support in prayer and giving that enabled us to attend the CCCC Annual Gathering and other events like it. We are the only ministry in New England whose sole focus is on same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria and is physically located here. If your church or denomination has a regional conference where we could speak or exhibit, please let us know!
I visited the location for our fall retreat prior to the CCCC AG, since the retreat center is only about 25 minutes from Warwick (pictured below). It was nicer than I expected, as I had only seen a few pictures. Canonicus has over 300 acres of woodlands and trails. The main building is pictured on the right. The retreat will include times of teaching and song, small group interactions, a campfire, and a good amount of free time to connect with others impacted by same-sex attraction. We need to raise $2,000 in scholarship funds for this retreat to assist those in the ministry for whom cost is an issue. We also are covering the cost of attending for our volunteer leadership who give so much of their time and themselves to this work. Could you help us with this need? If you give online through Subsplash, you can select “Retreat Scholarship Fund” from the drop-down menu. If you give through check, you can write “Retreat Scholarship Fund” in the memo line.
We have 2 upcoming trainings: September 28th in Boxford, MA and November 6th in Pittsfield, MA. You can find out more information on our website. The Boxford training does require preregistration, so please visit our website or text us to find out more information.
“Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together” (Psalm 34:3). We are extremely grateful for your prayers for our support groups, upcoming trainings, the fall retreat, speaking at churches, and other prayer needs. So please keep praying! Also, if there are any topics or questions you would like to see covered in our newsletter, please let us know. We are here to serve!
*Alice’s name was changed for confidentiality.
To Our Financial Supporters: If you would like to give a gift to the ministry, you can either send a check to us at the address below, or you can give under the “Support Us” section of our website. All gifts are tax-deductible.
Alive in Christ, 1 Park Street, Boston, MA 02108, (617) 880-9099, http://www.alive-in-christ.net