NewSpring Church Blog Archives

The following is a guest post by Tammy Johnson, a Web Campus chat host, and her reflections on how she came to know attender, Shannon LaFrance, who has since also joined the Web Campus team as a chat host.

“Volunteering at NewSpring Webcampus has given me so many opportunites to meet new people. People I would not have the chance to met at my campus church due to geography. One person in particular is a sweet lady named givelovecoffee.

Her screenname stuck in my mind. After seeing it in several services, and exchanging tweeter names in the chat room, we added each other to twitter. Seeing givelovecoffee’s tweets through the week were a joy and inspiration. The next week we connected through the service & became Facebook friends. She even asked for my address and I was surprised with a package in the mail one day that had a CD, a stuffed Peep, a memo pad, a sample of Moon Monkey coffee among several other gifts in that little box.

Now the kicker is this, this was the SECOND goodie box she sent to me. The first one got lost in the mail! The thought that a total stranger thought enough of ME to do that ... well, let’s just say, she knows how to make a girl cry.

Every week, she is sharing her faith and encouraging others, strangers that she didn’t even know but I could see God’s love that she has for people and for NewSpring even though she lives in Illinois and has no connections at all to South Carolina. I’m so glad because, needless to say, givelovecoffee is now an official NewSpring Web Campus Chat Host!!! Woot-Woot!!!!

Usually it’s the church that blesses the visitors. But in this case, this visitor among many others have blessed US!!”

If you see someone in the chatroom you would like to get to know, share your contact details with them. You never know how God might use that friendship.

Have you created a friendship in the chat room? Let us know in the comments.

So you’ve waited for the last minute, and it’s arrived. Gauntlet registration closes this Sunday so act now if you still want your student to be a part of the hottest event of the summer. Head over to THE GAUNTLET info page to download the sign-up forms. No, really, go there now. Download the forms. Print them out. Fill them out and have the proper ones notarized. Once registration ends, you’ll have to wait until next year. Sorry, there is no late registration. Discounts are available for families sending more than one student.

More than 130 people were baptized Saturday at the Greenville campus as families and friends came out to tailgate. Burgers and hot dogs, chips and dip – all were part of the celebration. The youth even served snow cones to help everyone cool off. Tents were set up and the tailgates were down as we celebrated those who now profess Jesus as their lord and savior. Three family members, Annette Anderson’s sister, mom and dad, who accepted Jesus last month, were among those who were dunked. The family was tailgating in the parking lot and went all out with a tent decorated in a Hawaiian theme. Church wide, 570 people were baptized!

We know that when we lift up Jesus—no matter when it’s inside an auditorium or on a computer screen—lives are transformed.

The way NewSpring celebrates baptism is unique and incredible. But our tailgate baptism May 16 was all the more special because we saw two of our NewSpring web campus attenders get dunked.

Aaron Cavin flew in from Yukon, Okla., to Greenville and Tammy Grabowski drove in from Buford Ga. to Anderson join with 544 others at all three of our physical campuses to publicly declare death to their old self and birth in the new life of the spirit through Baptism by immersion. Talk about passion for making the name of Jesus famous!

Tammy gave her life to Jesus after watching one of NewSpring’s vodcast two years ago, and she adopted the Web Campus as her home church as soon as it launched. Aaron gave his life to Christ as a teenager but had never been baptized. He just recently reconnected with Jesus through Perry’s preaching on the web campus. (That’s him in the picture above, with a friend who introduced him to NewSpring.)

We captured video of both of their remarkable stories, and we’ll be sharing them soon.

Just in case you are still wondering, the Web Campus works. Just ask Tammy and Aaron. If you join us on Sundays at 11:15 or 6 p.m. EST or 11 Pacific, you can ask them yourself. I bet they’d love to share.

NewSpring volunteers were busy on May 2 volunteering for Hands On Greenville Day.  Jennifer Foster, a home group leader, along with 20 others went to Alexander Elementary School. They were busy painting, planting a butterfly garden and mulching the playgrounds. They received several donations from local stores to help fund the projects and get materials. NewSpring volunteers rock!

Many of you generously gave up your seat at 9:15 or 11:15 to make room for us to grow. You’ve been a faithful 4:15 attender for a few months now and you’re really getting used to the whole late afternoon church thing. Well, we would like to offer you your old service back. We have a few open seats @ 9:15, more seats @ 6:00pm (along with a couple more songs), and we will no longer offer a 4:15 service. We know you’ll enjoy meeting new friends at 9:15am, 11:15am or 6:00pm so we’ll see you there.

It seems like just yesterday that I was calling people to pray for the launch of our web campus, NewSpring Church services on the web.

In the 12 weeks since our formal launch Feb. 1, God has just boggled my mind by the number of people we’ve been able to reach with the Good News, and the lives we’ve seen reborn in eternity in heaven.

I’ve been recording the salvations of those who’ve trusted in Jesus as Lord and Savior on the Web Campus on a note card, and it tells me that there have been 38 people who have gone from death to life. And our attendance has averaged more than 500 people in our three services each week.

When I first ran the numbers, I literally did a double take.

Some people are skeptical about online worship environments. But it’s probably not good to bet against the power of the Holy Spirit to move anywhere in any way it wants.

Our hope is to see 100 salvations and 1,000 in weekly attendance by 2010.

Join us in prayer that God will continue to show off his glory as we make him famous one life at a time.

And get behind what God is doing by inviting your friends to join us for one of our three Sunday services at 11:15 a.m. and 6 p.m. EST and 11 a.m. Pacific.

It’s not too late to send a card or purchase a meaningful gift for your favorite mom, and it’s just the right time to choose which service you and your family will attend this Sunday. With a total of 12 different service times in 4 different locations, there’s bound to be one that meets your needs.