Serving as the Summer Staff Minister at the Cannon Beach Christian Conference Center with ACMNP gave me incredible opportunities to meet one on one with staff members who were processing and desiring growth in their relationship with Jesus Christ. What was incredibly beautiful about providing Sunday worship was that we were able to serve those who became our family and friends over the summer.

We were able to build relationships throughout the week, living and working in community, sharing in meals and fellowship.

By having an afternoon Sunday service, we could go straight from eating lunch together to worshipping together, and then go on to more fellowship afterwards. It was so cohesive and very much felt like what the heart song of the church should be.

Many of them even remarked they would not otherwise go to church, with Cannon Beach’s location on the coast making it more of an undertaking to be a part of church communities that were farther away. Though every Sunday would look different, we developed a “core congregation” that committed to us as their church, which made for even more solidarity in our relational ministry throughout the week.

Leah W., Ecola State Park, 2017