Our Visit With the Church in Salt Lake

By Jay Kelly

Carol and I had an inspiring time with the Salt Lake Christian Church this past weekend. The church is being lead again by David and Jennifer Cunningham, dear friends of ours. Carol studied with Jen (Green) back in 1989 and I baptized her as a college student in the Denver Church of Christ. She went on the Salt Lake mission team and married David Cunningham. David had been converted as a successful college football player and single dad soon after the church was planted by Tom and Denise Snyder. They later came to Seattle as ministry interns in the City Ministry and then, five years ago, decided to step out of the ministry to help raise David’s eight-year-old daughter, Mari (now 13) who had been living with her mother in Utah.

This Fall Jay and Angie Hernandez moved away after two years of leading the Salt Lake Church. David and Jen Cunningham stepped back into the role of church leaders with the encouragement and support of their core leadership group. Please keep the Salt Lake Church in your prayers. They have persevered through many periods of transition and are full of faith and zeal as they look ahead in 2008. They’ve already had two baptisms this year and are very focused on loving the lost and growing their church.

Check out what they’re up to at www.saltlakechristianchurch.org

Video of Daniel Yun's Baptism on 1/13/08

It was amazing to see Daniel making the decision to make Jesus the Lord of his life. Many in the Seattle Church have known him since he was a baby. Here's a video clip for those of you who missed it... -Jay

A Great Time in Ashland, by Jay Kelly

Our family ended the Christmas Holiday with an unforgettable road trip. We drove down to beautiful Ashland, Oregon, to visit the Skinner family and the Rogue Valley Church. Rob and Pam have been inviting us to visit for a long time. Our girls are friends with David, James and Anne thanks to Seattle’s Teen Camp.

The generous hospitality of the Skinners was so encouraging. We pulled up late on Friday night. There was food and fellowship waiting for us; their campus group was up to welcome us. On Saturday we had a morning church-growth workshop, afternoon ice skating near the town square and an evening of fellowship.

Sunday was a special worship service in the Rogue Valley Church’s new building. The preacher blew it out. I’d call it a home run, really. Lunch was waiting for us and then we got on the road for our 9-hour drive home.

Rob and Pam are on the cutting edge of church planting. They moved to Ashland to build a church “The Old Fashioned Way” with friends and family and they are succeeding. Carol and I cherish our years of friendship with Rob and Pam and loved spending time with their growing church in Ashland.