October 7, 2026

It's hard to believe it's October. I'll have been serving at Ardmore Baptist for four months tomorrow and what an amazing four months it has been!

What better way to celebrate than with our first ABC Youth Fall Retreat together this weekend! 31 of us will spend the weekend at Eagle Eyrie in Lynchburg, Virginia exploring our annual theme: Remember, Reflect, Renew. A theme we'll see throughout 2027 because it's our church's centennial theme as well!

Lamentations 3:21-24 will be our guiding scripture for the weekend and with it we learn:

• How to look back and remember what God has done: moments of faith, people who have shaped us, times God was present, and the ways God has carried us.
• How to slow down and honestly consider where we are now. What have we learned? Where have we grown? Where have we wandered? What is God showing us about ourselves and about God? How to have compassion on ourselves as do we so as beings created in the Image of God.
• How to look forward. We can always respond to God's invitation to begin again with renewed faith, purpose, relationships, and hope.

I ask you be in prayer for our retreaters this weekend. I cannot wait for them to come back and tell stories about their weekend together! Parents/guardians of fall retreaters, be sure to look back at the email sent last week containing all the details you need to know.

Thanks,

Will

22 of us are registered for our High School Mission Trip to Belize this June! There's still room for a few more. If you missed the registration and deposit deadline last Wednesday and your student is interested in attending, please contact Will ASAP. Registration will be closed for good one week from today on Wednesday, October 14th.

Attendees are:

Andrew Howell

David Howell

Caroline Preslar

Levi Trenchard

Joshua Lowther

Jenson Tuttle

Charlie Young

Everett Horton

Ivy Johnson

Warren Ritchie

Aden Ellerbe

Noah Ellerbe

Garrett Watkins

Miles Griffin

Sophia Griffin

Adults

Will Raybon

Melissa Johnson

Brandon Johnson

Mackenzie Watkins

April Tuttle

Steve Tuttle

Kit Browning

For clarity, the high school students invited to participate in this trip are those who are in high school this 2026-2027 academic year, not rising high school students.

Lock-ins are not it. There. I said it.

That's why at ABC Youth we do BIG GAMES NIGHT!!! Join us for six hours of extreme churchwide fun as we play games we can't normally play with limited time and space like Underground Church, Capture the Flag, Sardines, and more! Don't know what those are? Great! Come find out!

Bring your dinner at 6pm (don't worry, we'll have plenty of snacks and drinks too) and get ready for a night of play until MIDNIGHT!

There will not be Youth SNL this Sunday evening due to our return from Fall Retreat. Hopefully your student gets some rest and recovers for the week ahead!

We still need YOUR help with snack. Please note this is not a full dinner—just a light, teen-friendly snack that helps tide our youth over during evening activities.

We ask that one family sign up for each Sunday to share the load of providing food. Thank you for helping feed our youth in this simple but meaningful way!

*please note allergies in the sign-up below

When's the Game?

ABC Youth T-Shirt