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EW ALBANY, Indiana—The New Life Fellowship (WCG) congregation partnered with the New Albany Advent Christian Church to conduct The Amazing Amazon Vacation Bible School. Children from both congregations were involved as well as a number of guests from the neighborhood.The two congregations, which share the Advent Christian Church building, worked for several weeks planning and decorating the church for VBS. Both congregations shared in the teaching and worked together on the daily skits and the music. Attendance ranged from 25 to 35 children each day. Parents were invited the final day to see skits and to listen to the children sing and share what they had learned.
Rex Hutto, pastor of Advent Christian Church, opened the final event with a few comments about the two denominations working together and then shared how much they enjoyed working with the children. Pastor Rick Shallenberger closed the evening by sharing the gospel and encouraging the parents to talk with the children about what they had learned.
The event was a good launch for future co-denominational events. The two congregations are working toward developing a youth program that will bring the two youth ministries together on a regular basis. We have developed a letterhead that has the New Life Fellowship logo on the left side of the paper and the Advent Christian logo on the right side. In between the two logos are the words, "Two Denominations … One Lord!"
Rick Shallenberger.
Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 2002