NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2023
Happy New Year!
CHURCH UPDATES
I don’t know about you, but the end of the year always feels a bit like a shock to me. When I reflect back, I see just how much has happened and changed -- yet at the same time it feels like it came and went so fast. For Liberti Bristol, 2023 was the year that the Liberti Communion officially laid hands on us and commissioned us into the "pre-launch" phase of church planting. This year, Liberti Bristol started with just my wife and I, however by October, Liberti Northeast sent us out with a full team ready to prepare for our launch in Fall of 2024! While we still meet every Wednesday night (you are always welcome); this year as a team, we also served alongside the other churches of Bristol through our work with the local Ministerium. These efforts included helping to organize a Borough-wide food drive, participating in a combined sunrise Easter service, and hosting a tent each Bristol Sunday Stroll with activities for kids to help meet and interact with local families throughout the summer months. In the Fall, we participated in a Bristol Trunk or Treat and funded temporary housing for a local family who had lost their home to a fire. Over the holidays, we helped to hand out meals, participated in a Bristol cross-denominational Thanksgiving service, adopted a family for Christmas, organized a Christmas Caroling evening on the Wharf, and are now preparing for the food drive once more! Overall, 2023 was the year Liberti Bristol moved from a dream into a reality; and I want to thank all of you for your hand in that! But the work is not over yet! There is still so much more to do to grow Liberti Bristol into the church that Bristol needs. Through this winter, our team is taking assesments to help us determine where our individual giftings lie -- so that we can lean into them in 2024. As a leader, I've been holding one-on-one meetings with each member to help determine who desires to fill which "seat on the bus" moving forward. And praise God! So far each meeting has been more encouraging than the last as we discover the diversity of passions and gifts amongst the team. I truly feel God has blessed us with a dream team and I'm excited to see how God will use us in 2024. On the more practical side of things, I soon will have my last meeting with a local consultant, who has been so helpful in organizing my many thoughts, while teaching me how to best communicate the mission and vision for Liberti Bristol. As we've worked together, I have grown in my confidence and ability to share our vision with potential supporters, and as a result, our support base has grown! We plan on kicking off 2024 with a strong push to raise our first year's complete budget -- and by God's grace, we have already hit the 25% mark! So with that, a sincere thank you to all of those who have jumped on board with your financial support thus far. If you are excited about what we are doing for the community of Bristol, but haven't signed on to support us yet, please consider if 2024 is the year to help us get to our100% fundraising goal -- so that we can continue to grow as a church who is able to invest locally like we have throughout this past year. Attached is our (still developing) organizational chart and an info graphic about Liberti Bristol to demonstrate our current progress. Please continue to pray for our church's development, and feel free to share these graphics with anyone who you think may be interested in partnering with us. 
PERSONAL UPDATES
Like I said, 2023 was a year of massive change! From becoming parents, Laura starting a new Job, Kind Contracting growing in scale, to the Church becoming a reality... It still amazes me just how much a year can hold and how far we have come. As of December, Brynn is now 7 months old! With her diet all figured out, she has grown from the 11th to the 70th percentile in size and it is amazing to see such a big personality developing out of such a small package. So, one more time I will thank you all for your prayers and support through her first few months of life -- we definitely felt loved!Now, as we prepare for 2024, we find ourselves just like everyone else -- working through how best to balance life and all its moving pieces! Right now, looking ahead it feels daunting, but we know we will always find a way, just like the year before!I'm not one for New Year's resolutions, but this year feels especially appropriate to start one. My goal is to reconnect with many of you, find unique ways to stay more connected, and thoroughly show my appreciation for being on our side through support and prayer as we take on new adventures. So with all that said, I want to end this with a note of sincere gratitude and warm wishes for a Happy New Year! See you in 2024!
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Partner With Us
Liberti is a church in the heart of Bristol with a heart for Bristol — who seeks to live, speak and serve as the very presence of Jesus to our neighbors there.
PRAYER
Would you commit to including Liberti Bristol in your prayers? Would you pray for softened hearts? Would you pray that God would open doors and opportunities for us to be ambassadors for His kingdom? That we would have eyes to see opportunity and the willingness to pursue it — even when it’s difficult?
THIS MONTH
Be in prayer that our fundraising for 2024 continues with God's favor -- moving us quickly from 25% to100% funded by September 2024. Be in prayer for Laura and I as we grow as new parents, and develop as leaders in our new roles as church planters and Lead Pastor. PRESENCE
We desperately need your prayers, but we also need your presence! Liberti Bristol needs mission-minded people like you; willing to do the work and take the risks to participate with God in the expansion of His kingdom! If you'd like to consider joining our launch team, then I invite you to stop by our house on a Wednesday night. Every Wednesday from 6:30 - 8:30PM, our team comes together as a family — adults and children — for a time of fellowship and prayer. Come meet us and see if this is where you belong!
PROVISION
And finally, provision. Listen, we believe that God will provide for that which He has ordained. Liberti Bristol isn't a project of our own, but rather it's our effort to be obedient to God's call on our lives and to be his ambassadors and priests, declaring the good news of God's Kingdom; inviting others to repentance and to come and see that He is good. And so, we believe that God will provide for us. But we believe He'll do it through people like you! Would you consider being a part of God's provision to us? Be it a monthly, annual or even a one-time donation? We need your help to make Liberti Bristol the church that this neighborhood needs it to be!
