Faith Archive

It’s a busy day at Benny Russell Park, as it should be on a warm, beautiful Sunday afternoon, just a day before children begin the school year. The park is loud, filled not just with the laughter and joy of children but also music as a speaker serenades the crowd with Christian music. There are inflatables set up in the open area past the park’s splash pad. Teenagers are tossing a football back and forth. Children are chowing down on burgers and hot dogs and families are lounging in the shade under large white canopies.

In late May, Members of St. Sylvester Catholic Church traveled to Italy and the Vatican on an eight-day trip of faith and fellowship. Close to 50 people went on the trip.

It’s an organized sort of chaos.

On School Lane in Pace, on the grounds of Covenant Church in front of the playground, there sits a small, white wooden box. It’s stocked with food, water and toiletries, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It’s inconspicuous; there are no signs, no flashing lights, no cameras, no need to show your ID or proof that you live in the area. It’s quiet, peaceful. 

To those who don’t know it, Alyssa’s may seem like an unassuming business –a cream-colored building situated at the corner of Pace Road and Chumuckla Highway in Pace. To those who know the establishment—and its mission—it’s a little different.

With a tropical rainstorm stretching across areas of the south this past week, the days have been dark and dreary. Rain clouds began to spready across the sky Wednesday night, July 16, raining out summer events and bringing a halt to outdoor fun. Avalon Baptist Church, however, didn’t let the weather stop them.

Plans for a new addition to Marcus Pointe Baptist Church were approved by the county in late June, and now the church is ready to begin construction. The project plans include designs for an almost 35,000-square-foot church building and a daycare center over 15,000 square feet.

On June 29, Voyage Church held their “Voyagers Takeover,” where members from the children’s ministry were able to participate in “adult” jobs in the church and during service.

Voyage, a non-denominational, mobile church that holds services at Avalon Middle School, held the event to allow the children to share their own faith with the church on Sundays during the worship services.

Roughly 34 people in the US die every day due to drunk driving, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. On March 6, community member Luca Kukuk was one of those 34, killed after being hit head-on by an alleged drunk driver. During the Market of Pace’s third anniversary the market took time to honor the late Kukuk’s memory the week of his 23rd birthday.

The newly ordained Father William Gibson is a young priest. He knows he’s a young priest: the youngest in his diocese. Just newly out of seminary, a priest for only three weeks, Gibson accepts that. Last week, Gibson opened up about his faith, motivations, and childhood—including his childhood nickname, Woody—and demonstrated what the new generation of priests could be.