We had no idea what to expect, but we knew we weren’t committing to this alone. As our friends and family found out about the opportunity, they rallied around us and offered to help welcome Martin in any way they could. A member of our Connect group put it this way: “Your ‘yes’ is not just a ‘yes’ for you—it’s a ‘yes’ for our community.”
Read MoreLast year I spoke at For Her and it was the most surreal night of my 2017 and I met the Backstreet Boys in 2017, so there was some fierce competition. Female friendships have always been a challenge for me. I worry a lot that I’m too much and yet simultaneously not nearly enough.
Read MoreErich Schurga couldn’t believe it the first time one of his fellow Starting Point group members asked the exact question he’d been thinking, but was hesitant to ask. Growing up in a rule-based, Catholic home, Erich thought his questions showed a lack of faith. But in Summit’s Starting Point group he and his wife, Jackie, were encouraged to explore their faith in a conversational environment where no questions were off limits.
Read MoreIn late 2013, Becky had just moved to Orlando and realized really quickly that finding new friends in early adulthood can be tricky. A freshly-graduated Jordan knew she needed an environment to keep up with her faith. And after a previous Connect group had died a “natural, painless death,” Susanna was ready to start her own. And that’s how they got here—varied stories in their rearview mirrors, with different perspectives driving them, and solid friendships up on the horizon.
Read MoreLast June, I walked into Cathy Drake’s Thornton Park home—full of strangers—for a Connect group meeting. I didn’t go because I wanted to make new friends or because I wanted to get plugged into Summit. I went because I thought I should go. I was wrestling with whether or not Jesus is who he said he is and the implications it would have for my life if I chose to believe it.
Read MoreMovies have always been really important to me. In moments of boredom, a movie is a quick and easy cure. In uncomfortable social settings, when my confidence is nothing more than a dog with its tail between its legs cowering in some dark corner of my mind, hearing someone quote a line from a movie I love is an instant bonding experience, one that gives me some ground to stand on.
Read MoreWhen I showed up last summer for the first night of For Her, I expected it to be a good opportunity to hear from some of the prominent female voices in our congregation and to hangout with my girlfriends. But I did not expect to feel so deeply understood and seen in a room full of women.
Read MoreStarting (or joining) a Connect group can be awkward at first. You are thrown into a room with people you may not know, people who may be very different from you. But if you commit to sticking with it, I believe God will bless you in ways you can’t even imagine.
Read MoreThis past year, my family struggled to be committed to our Connect group. We were trying to sell our house, with a new baby, a 3-year-old, and a kindergartener who often took our entire family out with sickness. We had unexpected work meetings, out of town guests, and an 8U softball schedule that plagued our presence on any given week..
Read MoreAs the Herndon Summit Connect Director, I spend a lot of time dreaming about how Summit Connect can make a huge impact in someone’s life. I have a vision of equipped and supported Connect leaders pouring their time into mentoring the future ministry leaders of our church...
Read MoreSingleness is not a bad thing. But in the Christian world, it can often be interpreted as the phase before life actually begins. Sometimes even being identified as “single” can feel like a form of punishment to a person in a time when family portrait sessions and engagement ring photos make up approximately 93% of Facebook News Feeds.
Read MoreLast month, I put on my cowboy boots and headed west. Okay, so I don’t actually own a pair of cowboy boots. But I did head west. My wife Diana and I were invited to join a Summit Connect service event for groups in the Windermere/Dr. Philips area. And let me tell you, it was a blast.
Read MoreSummit is a special place for me because God has continually used this place and the people in it to challenge me to take my next right step. From Beach Baptism to reGroup, I thank God for the strength and boldness He has given...
Read MoreLife is better together. I heard those words the first time I walked through the doors of Summit seven years ago. And the moment I heard them I knew, and could feel, that they were true. My family had just...
Read More
