Dear Fam,

• It’s a big weekend at SRPC! We have a booth at the Cooter Festival in Inverness and we’ll be meeting folks in our community and inviting them to join the party at SRPC all day Saturday and Sunday! On Sunday afternoon—we’ll have our own Trunk or Treat. Last year, this event was overrun with up to 2,000 people—so we changed our strategy. We haven’t advertised the event as broadly (no sign on Hwy 44 for instance) and made it more manageable. We want the families in our church and school to come and bring lots of friends and neighbors. The best outreach for us is not just attracting people to our campus, but having people visit church (or the Christmas Concert, Christmas Eve, or Trunk or Treat) who are brought by someone at SRPC who can follow up with them! So—bring your neighbors and friends and come enjoy Trunk or Treat—it’s a blast! (If you forgot to sign up to do a trunk—it’s not too late, call Teri Hill or Frances Spalti at 746-6200.)
• So, what’s up with Halloween? Is it kosher for Christians to participate? Here are excerpts from a wonderfully insightful article that may change your perspective.
• Christians vote—because they are committed to love their neighbors and want to make their communities as beautiful, just and fruitful as they can be. Early voting begins Saturday! While SRPC doesn’t make endorsements (nor can we endorse candidates legally), I would like you to seriously consider voting for one of the amendments. Amendment 8 seeks to end discrimination against churches or religious charities in the distribution of state dollars. If you have a drug addiction rehab program that is Christian and a drug rehab program that isn’t—the Christian program isn’t eligible for state money in Florida—even if it’s far more successful. This quote from an article in the Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald highlights the issue.
• The SRCS school auction is November 30! It’s a fun night and it helps families give their children a Christ-saturated education. (Call the school office for more information 746-5696.)
• Last weekend’s worship was rich. There was masterful preaching from Adam Jones (seriously, listen if you weren’t there or listen again if you were), and six infant baptisms and two adult baptisms. It was a special day for all the parents and grandparents; it a life memory for me as I got to baptize my first two grandsons! 
   
   
• This weekend in worship, we’re studying Romans 7:1-9, 8-25 which includes the passage every Christian can relate to, Romans 7:18,19—“For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.” We’ll also be featuring a Seven Rivers ministry we are excited about — Teen MOPS. Did you know 20-30 unwed teenage moms are welcomed, fed, encouraged and loved toward Jesus every month at SRPC? I love Teen MOPS and look forward to sharing this splendid work with you.

Ray