For a number of years, members of Southview Grace Brethren Church, Ashland, Ohio (Mark Abel, pastor), have traveled to Washington, D.C. to help with ministry at About My Father’s Business (AMFB), a Grace Brethren church in the inner city (Stephen Joyce, pastor). They have assisted at park programs, outreach events, and been an encouragement to the growing church. “We are reaching out to a sister church,” says Elaine Hess, whose husband, Rich, is the missions elder at Southview.
This weekend, in a unique turn of events, the folks at About My Father’s Business are traveling to Ashland, Ohio, to join the Southview congregation for three-fold communion. It’s part of Missions Week at the church, says Elaine.
The Ashland church is sending a bus to Washington, D.C., on Saturday, October 18, to gather families (a total of 58 people) from About My Father’s Business for the 400-mile trip to Ashland. They will arrive in time for lunch, then have the opportunity to visit an orchard, pumpkin patch, working farm, or other sites not readily available in a major city. The group will return to the Southview church for a fellowship meal and communion in the evening.
Families from the Ashland congregation will host families from Washington overnight in their homes.
On Sunday, the Washington congregation will participate in the morning worship service at the Ashland church, with Pastor Joyce preaching and the AMFB choir singing. The group will return home on Sunday afternoon.
“It is wonderful to be able to come together,” said Elaine. “It’s the biblical to fellowship together.”
