Message From the Pastor

You are welcome to the special fellowship of people known as Stutsmanville Chapel; we invite you to participate with us in person and on-line. We believe that every person who comes into the circle of our church family is loved by God, and important to us! We are eager to know you, and we're excited to share with you the exciting journey we are on and the dreams and goals we have as we seek God's guidance and strength.

We don't always succeed in our desires and goals, but growing together, we worship, serve, laugh, cry, forgive, care, learn and reach out into our world with God's truth that transforms lives. We invite you to consider joining us for this most important journey of life - the journey of seeking God's will and guidance!

You will find that we take the Christian faith seriously and we center all that we seek to do and to be on the Bible as the revealed Word of God. On the other hand, we try not to take ourselves too seriously, knowing we are an imperfect people, seeking to grow in humility and absolute dependence upon God to make us into the people He wants us to be.

You will also discover that we seek to fully accept each other, each with our strengths and gifts, struggles and weaknesses and together to encourage each other to grow as we journey with Christ. In other words, we seek to be authentic in our faith, and genuine in our relationships.

I feel very privileged to have served as the Senior Pastor of Stutsmanville Chapel for over 30 years! It has been a wonderful journey together as the church has grown and accomplished many things. We have had incredible times of joy and excitement, as well as, times of struggle and heartache. However, God has been with us, strengthening, blessing and guiding us. He has enabled our victories and picked us up when we were down and struggling.

I well remember the move to our new building, which we built ourselves and completely paid for by completion. It was a challenge we didn't think we could meet when we started, but in response to our faith, God was faithful to bring the project to completion.

Now we stand at a new threshold. Our Vision Statement, adapted in 2006, is as follows: "Together We Love . . . Together We Serve." Now we are seeking to carry out this vision, asking in what ways we can fulfill God's purpose as a community of loving servants. What has He especially given us a heart and passion to do, what has He gifted us to be able to accomplish, and what are the real needs of people all around us that God is directing us to meet? These are exciting times as we seek to move faithfully and in complete dependence upon the leading of God's Spirit. We want to move into the future with a clear vision that can capture the hearts of the people so that we all are engaged in fulfilling what He is leading us to do and to be.

This congregation is filled with wonderful people who love God and each other. There have been so many expressions of genuine caring and help over the years, and you have been very gracious and supportive of me as your Pastor. I am indeed blessed to serve as your Pastor and I look forward with eager expectation and hope to the coming years as we minister for Christ side by side.

-Ed Warner, Senior Pastor, 1974-Present