An Open Letter to Spotters...

Dear Spotters,   

    It's with an admitted bit of sadness yet with much gratitude and anticipation that I write this letter. After nearly 10 years of monthly worship gatherings in the Moncton area, The Spot is signing off for the last time. It's been a tough decision to make, but after surveying the land over the last year or so, much deliberation, and, most importantly,

what we believe to be God's leading, the time has come for this ministry to step aside. Our final event will be held on May 30, 2010 at Lewisville Baptist Church; the venue where our journey started.

    The Spot began as a response to a perceived need in the young adult community in Moncton who had a desire for a deep, authentic, and a culturally connected worship experience.  We asked ourselves the question: "What would happen if we got together regularly just to offer our worship to God with no other plan or agenda?".  As I look back, I'm humbled to have been part of a group who did just that for a solid decade; Worship. Period.

    However, as I reflect, it's easy to see how things have changed during The Spot's lifespan. There are folks who are now in The Spot's target age bracket who were in elementary school when it began - hard to believe!  The modern worship movement has exploded in recent years. Many churches are finding ways to connect with their young adults differently than they had in the past. Whatever the reasons are, our leadership has observed that the response to The Spot's ministry has dwindled over recent months and even years. Though it's something I will miss terribly, I for one am choosing to view these changes as the positive result of other area ministries meeting those needs.  As Ecclesiastes tells us, there's a season for everything and all of us who are part of The Spot's leadership are excited about what God will do in the space The Spot will vacate.

    I'm grateful and utterly humbled to have been part of this journey.  We started as a gathering of 12-15 at Lewisville Baptist Church. From those humble few we grew to an average of nearly 300 at our peak. We've worshiped regularly at nearly 15 different churches in Moncton.  We met together at the Farmer's Market in the downtown core, Victoria Park in open air, and repeatedly joined together at Atlantic Baptist University (now Crandall). In an effort to marry our pursuit of justice with our songs of worship, we had several successful food drives, knitted and collected hats and mitts for underprivileged kids, collected $1000 for Tsunami relief, and sponsored over 50 children through Compassion Canada. We've met almost 100 times and sung over 1000 songs

together!

    If you've had any connection with The Spot over the last decade, we would love for you to join us for our last event and celebrate with us!  All this being said, that brings me to one final point I need to be clear about.  There will be lots to look back on and many, many people to thank as this ministry draws to a close, but our focus, as we leave, must and will remain the same as when we began:  Our great God who is

greatly to be praised.  Anything of worth that has come out of this ministry has been by Him and for Him. As a flawed leader and man, I know first hand just how little credit any of us deserve and how much belongs to Him. Our goal has always been to remain solely focused on God and His glory and that remains the focus as I write today, and will be the focus as we gather for the last time on May 30. We don't gather to celebrate The Spot but rather the God whom we've always gathered to glorify.

    So, we hope to have as many of you join us as possible on May 30

at Lewisville. As I've said, we are sad to see this chapter in our lives come to a close, but hopeful and excited for what its departure means for other ministries God is waiting to birth in its wake.

   

His,

Jeff Somers & The Spot Crew

Worship.  Period.

www.hitthespot.ca
www.worshipperiod.com