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.

Chaplain Bill Wright has been a pastor at Bible Way Baptist Church for over 32 years.

It’s a funny story, he says. On a Sunday morning in 1993, Bible Way Baptist Church was down a pastor. Their visiting pastor who was going to be preaching that morning had broken down in Mobile, and they needed someone to fill the pulpit.

It’s that time of the year again: summer is in full swing in the south! During the summer, many churches hold their vacation bible schools, and several in Milton and Pace are doing so. Some include:

The idea of multiplication can be found throughout biblical scripture, whether it pertains to spiritual growth, familial growth, blessings, tithing or miracles such as the feeding of the 5,000 by Jesus.

After more than 50 years serving the Lord as a pastor and 25 years as a professor at the Baptist University of Florida, Mark Rathel is retiring to enjoy the beach life and spend time with his family.