Quest, Inc., through quality and innovation, builds communities where people with disabilities achieve their goals. Quest supports individuals in Orlando and Tampa, by offering choices and opportunities to live, learn, work and play.
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When I say the word homelessness, what do you think of? Do you imagine my expression to be a mixture of pity and disdain? Do you think of someone hunched in a doorway in downtown Orlando, muttering to themselves and calling out as you pass by? Or maybe it evokes images of panhandlers and unkempt men and women.
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This summer, I found myself in an impromptu meeting with a woman named Ayneabeba. (Don’t worry, we call her Ayni for short. Think “I-knee.”) She is the director of the ministry site Summit partners with through Children’s HopeChest. This ministry site, or CarePoint, is located in the urban capital of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, home to 3.4 million people.
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With a long history of hope and healing, The Grove Counseling Center has flourished into a Central Florida nonprofit built from the community’s need for services. A focus on those living with a mental illness or suffering from substance abuse allows The Grove to enhance the ability of many individuals and families to succeed in life.
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I’m continually in awe when individuals at the Waterford campus move in obedience toward something God is calling them to! This happens a lot and one of the ones that sticks out happened a few months ago during the How Love Works series.
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In September of this year, while we were celebrating our 13th birthday as a church, one of our longest standing ministry partners was celebrating 20 years of ministry in Africa and the Caribbean. We have been partnering with Children of the Nations (COTN) for nine years, working in Malawi and Sierra Leone. During this time, there have been...
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Moving into a new neighborhood is an interesting thing. Step one: unload the truck. Step two: find the place where the boxes you may never unload go. Step three: cut the grass so the neighbors don’t think we don’t care about the place. Step four: meet the neighbors.
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Standing in the Lobby at the Herndon campus the past couple of weeks has been such an awesome experience. I am super excited about how God continues to use this place in big ways. There are first time visitors at Summit every week and in my...
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I was introduced to Summit for the first time in 2008. To this day, I can vividly recall walking into that Sanctuary with such an unbearable weight upon my soul. No one knew, of course. I had been putting on my “church face” my whole life; it was second nature at that point...
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For the last five years, I have had the amazing privilege of making the videos shown at Summit. My favorite part of this process is having the chance to talk with people from all of the different Summit sites who I may have never had the chance to meet, and getting to know a bit about them and their story...
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As we gear up for Partnership Class here at Summit, I had the opportunity to sit down with the three men who faithfully lead the congregations at the Herndon, Lake Mary, and Waterford campuses–Garry Abbott, O.J. Aldrich, and Sam Arocho. We spent some time talking about what it means to be a partner, what going all in can look like, and gently teasing each other’s phraseology...
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Lake Mary Children's Ministry Coordinator, Brooke Shoopman, had just finished explaining to the group of elementary school children the process of Summit Church's Beach Baptism. When she had finished, the kids were given the opportunity to write down any questions or fears they might have about their upcoming baptism...
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Me too. Each week as I sit in a room among dozens of stories in bodily form, I come to realize that this is the deepest message reGROUP seeks to convey each week. Whether it’s through Sixty Minute Seminars during the summer, the regular reGROUP big group curriculum throughout the year, or in our Connect groups, this is the resounding message of reGROUP. Me too...
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A new season of reGROUP is upon us as we officially launch on Monday, September 21st at 7 p.m. Let’s be honest – launching stuff is exciting. The very word “launch” carries the essence of an upward trajectory and a feeling of newness; a rebirth...
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Summit 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...
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Life 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...
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This weekend Summit Church will be celebrating 13 years since we first opened our doors as a church, and we should celebrate! If Brandy, my wonderful wife, were in charge of commemorating such an event, it would involve lots of decorations and thematically connected games...
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It was my first time in the 33rd Street jail. I had no idea what to expect and I was slightly nervous, thanks in part to Hollywood portrayals of life “behind bars.” It was a Sunday afternoon and I was there early because—let’s be honest—I didn’t want to break the rules.
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One of my favorite stories about being one church in multiple locations happened in Lake Mary just a few weeks ago. It was one of our final Sundays at Lake Mary High School and I was hanging out in the lobby talking and enjoying the morning. I was getting ready to walk in to the auditorium for the first worship song and I saw a young woman with her baby girl...
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After graduating from college and getting married in 2002, I accepted a job as a Child Protection Investigator with the Department of Children and Families. I absolutely loved my job, including the long nights that sometimes included sleeping at the office with children because there were no foster homes able to take them.
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