Summit Stories

14Oct

Amid the Pandemic, the Care of Community Prevails

Kelly and Aaron Griffin know the importance of a small group community—they’ve seen it firsthand in their three years as members of The Summit Church. But they’ve never been more grateful for it than after having a child during the COVID-19 pandemic. When they began attending the Summit in 2017, Kelly was seven months pregnant with their first son, Brayden. Right away, Kelly expressed interest in serving in Summit Kids and was connected to Julie, a staff member who invested in her and trained her to be a leader when she was able to start serving after maternity leave. But...

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07Oct

Summit Members See God Working Through Home Gatherings

The following stories are from the Summit’s Alamance County campus’ home gatherings. To find a home gathering nearest you, visit summitchurch.com/gather. Jeff and Laura Jeff and Laura host a home gathering in Gibsonville. They started by sending an invitation to their entire neighborhood, where they had already begun to develop friendships, to gather with them on Sunday mornings. Recognizing the beauty and value of hospitality, Jeff and Laura extended the invitation to include a meal after the service. For their first weekend, two couples from their neighborhood joined to worship alongside several Alamance County friends, and one of the couples stayed afterward...

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30Sep

Disciple-making Disciples: Jonathan’s Stewardship Story

When Jonathan Marrero and his wife, Marilyn, attended Financial Peace University years ago, God began calling him to trust and surrender his personal finances—and teaching him to use what he was learning to serve others.Now he and Marilyn both serve with the stewardship ministry at the Summit, coaching others on personal financial principles that honor God. As Jonathan counseled people at the church, he also felt he could offer something to his coworkers, who often talked about their financial struggles.“I would hear people talking about their lights getting cut off or worrying about a paycheck being late,” he said. “And...

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21Sep

We Send Every Member | The Ashby’s Story

Emily and Reid never thought a global pandemic would be their ticket to serving with a church plant overseas. But when the world turned upside down this spring, and Emily began working remotely, God was bringing something beautiful out of something tragic. In March, Emily, an accountant in Research Triangle Park, was allowed to work remotely as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic, something that didn’t seem possible before social distancing procedures became necessary. A few months later, Emily and Reid started praying about a risky possibility. Rather than working remotely from their home in the Triangle, they wanted...

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24Jul

Durham Neighborhood Sees Impact of Summit Member’s Faithfulness

Lou Brogden has worked with children all her life. She loves their bright smiles and big hugs. As a music minister and a teacher for many years, she has always had the same aim: for children to know how much they are loved by God. A native of Durham, Lou has attended the Summit for 15 years and has always been involved in serving and local outreach. She serves with pre-K classes in Summit Kids at the North Durham campus. And about 14 years ago, she started Kids Club at Oxford Manor, an under-resourced housing community in Durham.Every Saturday, Lou packs...

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24Jun

Refugee women experience the gospel, learn job skills through Hope Threads

As Katherine Jackson listened to a podcast in April 2018, she learned about a program that helps refugee women learn job skills and earn an income within a community. This sparked an idea.Being an English as a second language (ESL) teacher, Katherine saw the need in her own community for refugee women to improve their English skills, earn income, and become more independent. She shared her ideas with her friend Amy Rauch and her Summit small group. Pretty soon, she and Amy had an outline for Hope Threads, an educational workforce program for refugee women.But Hope Threads wouldn't only meet...

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30May

In the Midst of Suffering, Family Heeds God’s Call to Become Missionaries

James and Stacey* have always had a heart for international students and people. Going overseas as missionaries had been on their minds, but over the last year and a half, God has made it incredibly clear when and where he wants them to go. It started when Stacey was volunteering at the First Time Guest tent at the Alamance County campus. She saw an international student walking into the service late and introduced herself to him. He was participating in a program that allows families to host international students over the weekend, so he was attending the Summit with his host family....

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05Mar

UNC Junior Sees God’s Faithfulness through Leadership on Campus

Last spring, we heard how God radically changed Asuka’s life through others’ faithfulness to share the gospel with her. Now, Asuka is back at UNC and is continuing to see God change her own life through ministry at home and on campus.When Asuka Nakamura came to faith in the spring of her junior year at UNC Chapel Hill, she knew she wanted to learn more about Jesus and take time to intentionally grow in discipleship. She decided to pursue God in these ways by applying to City Project, the Summit’s eight-week summer discipleship program for college students.Asuka believes that “when...

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04Oct

Generosity...One Step at a Time

The journey to generosity is paved with one faithful step at a time. Andrew and Ruth, Summit members who recently answered God’s call and were sent with the church plant to Charlottesville, Va., had always given the “baseline” tithe. Andrew, a Summit member for eight years, was part of the North Raleigh campus. He served as a small group leader and with the production team. His path of generosity and giving began with the Gospel. “Hearing about giving in response to God’s grace to us, that started challenging us,” Andrew said. “We weren’t giving with a grudge, and we were trusting God. But...

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25May

Disciple-making in the Margin: How One Summit Couple’s Intentionality Led to Baptism

“Relationships happen in the margins.” Or at least that’s what the book Next Door as It Is in Heaven says. Living in suburbia can make margins skewed. It can make white space almost obsolete. There’s school and soccer practice and problems at work. Sometimes the garage door begins to close before the gear goes into park. We’re all desperate for a little quiet. We’re out of energy, out of time, and out of relationships. Brandon and Adrienne were both there. They were both busy with work and raising their daughter Vivienne. Good jobs. Amazing family. Brandon had grown up in the church....

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