Exodus Church seeks to be a redeemed people who worship and serve God in the world. We make this statement each time we gather on Sunday mornings – and we believe that you will see our ministries fulfilling this ambition as you read the reports that we have gathered here to describe what the Lord has accomplished through the people of Exodus during Summer 2023.

Specifically, we also hope you see us working toward the goals that we shared in our “Next Chapter” document in preparation for this year:

• Get as simple as possible.
• Get solid where it matters.
• Stay soft toward God and one another.

May Jesus get all the glory!

Exodus helped pack lunches for Today’s Daily Bread Ministry on three different days this summer. Each time, a different group of volunteers met and packed lunches and prayed over the children and the ministry. Candace, the director of Today’s Daily Bread, was able to serve lunch to over 100 kids each day while sharing the Gospel and building relationships. We are grateful for the way we can partner with her and this ministry.

In August, Exodus held a donation drive for school supplies. On two consecutive Sundays, Exodus attendees brought in supplies to send to North Belmont Elementary School. The donations ranged from pens and pencils to cleaning supplies. The school is grateful for the donations as they allow the faculty to have the needed supplies in order to start the school year.

On October 21, Exodus will host another Foster Families Support Night when we offer free childcare to foster families along with a dinner gift card. This event is an amazing opportunity to thank those within our community for taking on the hard work of being foster parents. While not everyone can be a foster parent, we can all show our support and gratitude to those who are. 

In November, we will set up our Angel Tree. Exodus attendees are able to take a tag for a child and shop for gifts from their provided Christmas wishlist. In December, we have a wrapping party when we wrap all the gifts and pray over the children and families that will receive them. On December 9, families will come to Exodus to pick up their gifts. Look for sign ups starting in November for both the wrapping party and pick up day.

Summer is always an exciting time for Exodus Kids. In July, we had Exodus Kids Extreme which was a fun filled four days of learning that Jesus is our greatest gift! We were able to share the Gospel with over 200 kids this summer and gather with their families at the end of the week for Family Night.

We recently began a new six month rotation in Exodus Kids, and many of our kids moved up to their next class. Starting a new rotation is always exciting as we get to see God’s mighty work as he calls new people to volunteer and share Christ’s love with our kids. We can’t wait to see what God has in store for Exodus Kids this fall!

Summer Camp

Exodus Students had an exciting summer. In June, our students attended their annual Exodus Student’s Summer Camp at Camp Awanita. They spent the week learning about God’s story of redemption from beginning to end discussing God’s Word in small groups, playing games, and building relationships with God and one another. They had a blast growing in Christ and growing closer to one another!

Mission Trips

Our students were part of three separate mission trips at the end of the summer. Twenty-four students and additional adult volunteers traveled to Reconcile Church (Greenville, SC), Epiphany Church of Gloucester City (Gloucester City, NJ), and Strong Tower Church at Washington Park (Montgomery, AL). Our students dedicated part of their summer to further the witness of the Gospel in each of these cities. Each team was honored to serve these churches and look forward to continuing partnerships.

We kicked off another great year of student ministry. We began our new teaching series through the book of John called, “Sent Savior, Sent People.” We are excited to experience Jesus in new ways through this series.

We are excited about our upcoming Fall Retreat November 10-11.

On July 20, Laura Griffin graciously invited the women of Exodus to come enjoy a night of swimming and games in her beautiful backyard. The women enjoyed a potluck dinner together with everything from pulled pork to chocolate cake. After dinner, the women split into teams and played several games. Their favorite games were the synchronized swimming competition and musical floats. This event was a wonderful way for the women of Exodus to connect with each other during a very busy summer season.

On September 11, we will begin our fall Bible study, “Renown: Experiencing God through His Powerful Names”. This study will take place on Monday evenings and Thursday mornings. Women’s Bible study is a great way to get involved, study the Bible, and cultivate deep friendships.

In November we will have our fall Exodus Women’s Pie night! This is always a favorite event each spring and fall. We are excited to announce a new event to Exodus Women that will also take place in November. More details about that will be shared soon!

Exodus Men had a great summer! Throughout the summer, their T214 group continued to meet and dedicate themselves to the daily reading of God’s Word and prayer. They saw their reading plans continue to reach more people domestically as well as internationally.

Exodus Men is looking forward to the rest of 2023 as T214 groups will continue to meet and finish their second full year of reading God’s Word together. They will also gather for their Annual Vision Night in November to celebrate what God has done in 2023 and to take a look at what is in store for 2024.

We were able to use The Mill and all the space it provides for Exodus Kids Extreme again this summer – even providing some surprise snow shows in the middle of the July heat! During a Mill Work Day in July, we were able to make a lot of headway in cleaning up the basement to make it a functional space – and making some upgrades to the Flex Space.

We are looking forward to the next Mill Work Day on Saturday Oct 7 to continue work in the basement, tackle some outside work, and begin decor preparations for Christmas at The Mill. We will also continue our work on finalizing The Mill master plan design.

During the summer we had two summer interns to serve with Exodus Kids and Exodus Students. Lauren McIntyre was our kids summer intern, and Bailey Dewald was our student summer intern. Both of our interns did a great job this summer serving our kids and students. They both went to summer camp and they both were involved in planning and executing Exodus Kids Extreme. Lauren was able to serve on the Greenville mission trip to Reconcile Community Church.

In June our staff, lay elders, and interns had a great time at their luau themed party planned by the staff care team. Their summer party is always a wonderful time for the staff, lay elders, and their families to get together for food, fun, and some friendly competition!

Our staff celebrated several staff anniversaries over the summer: Kelsie Mery and Lauren Harris – 1 year, Tyler Boyette, Josh Grotke and Lyndsi Valenti – 2 years. We are blessed to have a gifted staff of servants who love Jesus and His church.

This coming fall and winter we will celebrate these staff members: Brian Lowe – 15 years, Alison Smart and Matthew Lunsford – 7 years, Tyler Griffin – 6 years, Amber Diffley and Scott Harris – 3 years, David Gladney and Kenneth Gray – 1 year

During the summer, our two Orchard Initiative residents Kenneth Gray and David Gladney completed their summer ministry rotations. Kenneth was the point person for Exodus Students, while Tyler Griffin was on Sabbatical. David was the point person for our summer intern program. Both Kenneth and David preached as part of our Messiah Songs summer sermon series. They both greatly enjoyed leading summer mission trips as part of our Exodus Summer Missions Tour.

Kenneth and David will begin another round of ministry rotations this fall. Kenneth will be working closely with Amber Diffley and our Local Missions team. David will be working with our Exodus Kids team. Please pray for both of these men as they continue to grow in different aspects of church ministry and leadership.

We are celebrating God’s faithfulness to provide through the dedication and generosity of His people at Exodus Church.

We realize that there are many ways that you could use your time, talent, and treasure to serve Jesus. We are thankful that you would trust Exodus Church with these resources. We seek to be faithful stewards, operating with purpose and transparency to maximize our Kingdom impact.

In June, we had a training for future potential Community Group leaders. We are excited to train and equip more Community Group leaders as our church continues to grow.

Over the summer, many of our Community Groups slowed down and connected more often through informal social gatherings. As the summer comes to an end, groups are getting back into a rhythm of gathering for fellowship, discipleship, worship, and mission together.

In September, we will host another training for potential Community Group leaders. As Exodus continues to grow, we need more and more qualified, equipped, and passionate Community Group leaders. If leading a group is something you have considered, talk to your current Community Group leader about the possibility of attending this training or email Tyler Boyette.

We have 18 Community Groups that meet throughout the week all around Gaston County. If you are still looking for your place to belong here at Exodus, we would love to help you find a group. For more information click here or email Brittany Kahler.

• Summer Camp
  • June 10-13, 2024
• Exodus Kids Extreme
  • July 15-18, 2024
• Mission Trip Week
  • Projected five trips at the end of July 2024