IMAGO DEI: ALL PEOPLE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD ART EXHIBITION

IMAGO DEI: ART EXHIBITION HOSTED BY FAYETTEVILLE AREA OPERATION INASMUCH

We believe all people are created in the image of God with equal worth and value. God created us as beautiful multi-faceted people of different ages, genders, ethnicities, classes, etc. Often the homeless, some of the most hurting and vulnerable, are the least seen and respected within society. Out of that sentiment, the Holy Spirit has brought about a project in collaboration between a few Veritas Covenant Partners and the staff of Operation Inasmuch. The desire for this art exhibition is to create awareness and show the humanity of those struggling with homelessness. This project will be told from the perspective of those experiencing homelessness.

Ray Im, professional artist, and Christian Prince, Assistant Lodge Director, have been teaching art to participants within The Lodge. The Lodge is transitional housing through Operation Inasmuch, a homeless ministry within Fayetteville NC.

Ray Im has begun teaching them the craft and mechanics of photography. Christian Prince is teaching them drawing, painting and other mixed media. Along with being a wonderful form of self-expression, we are hoping this will become an opportunity for income for not only these men but also for The Living Hope Program in the Lodge.

These original art pieces will be for sale at art exhibition events, and they will also be digitized to be sold on a website. Kori Frazier, professional photographer, has been helping with photography as well as design for artwork, clothing, and other merchandise on the website. The website is under construction, but here is the url!

Dates and locations of the Art Exhibition are:

  • Sweet Palette - Saturday, August 12

  • Woodpeckers Game - Friday, August 18

  • Fourth Friday Downtown - Friday, August 25

  • The Lodge Show - Saturday, September 16

Fellowship During Community Group Break

Veritas is currently taking a break from Community Groups (CGs) formally meeting this summer (June and July). CGs will pick back up in August, but we wanted to offer a few opportunities to fellowship in the meantime! Also, we want to have a heart for our city, so we are taking our fellowship into the community!

These are just a few relaxed, low-effort times for Veritas to come together and have fun in our city! If you have any questions or need anything, feel free to reach out to Emily Ruth Perry at 412.414.9227 or emilyruth@veritasfayetteville.com

Hang at a Park - 1921 Wilson St. Downtown

Thursday, July 6, 4-6p

Weather permitting, join us at the small park on Wilson St. downtown. If you have kiddos, bring them and let them play on the playground while we fellowship and watch over them. Remember to pack snacks and drinks for yourself and any littles, maybe even bring a picnic dinner!

Fayetteville Woodpeckers (semi-professional) Baseball 

Saturday, July 15, 5:05p

Feel free to buy General Admission tickets and sit on the BERM, which is a grassy area near the outfield and is across from a great play area for kids!

Hang at Honeycutt Park (with Splash Pad/Playground) - 352 Devers St.

Sunday, July 23, 2-4p

Weather permitting, enjoy the shaded areas of Honeycutt Park! If you’ve got littles, they have a wonderful splash pad and playground! Remember to pack snacks and drinks for yourself and any littles!

June 1, 2023 Local Partner Update

You may or may not know this, but Veritas has a few Local Partners throughout the city of Fayetteville. These partnerships are tangible ways that we can be For the City; God calls us to love and serve people as an outpouring of His love and Spirit. I’ve had the true pleasure to work closely with these organizations, and I get super jazzed to see and share the ways that the Lord is working through them!

 

FAYETTEVILLE AREA OPERATION INASMUCH

Fayetteville Area Operation InAsMuch (FAOIAM) exists to be the hands and feet of Jesus among the broken, hurting, and homeless by offering relief, recovery, and restoration of hope. Veritas has consistently been a part of their breakfast ministry for about 3 years now, and our opportunities to serve the homeless of Fayetteville are growing as the organization grows!

Opportunities to Serve, Support, and Donate

  • Next Breakfast Ministry Date for Veritas; Tuesday, June 13, 7-8:30a

  • Seeking Bible Study teachers for men in The Living Hope Program within The Lodge (Mondays or Wednesdays, 8:30-9:25a) - call or text Emily Ruth Perry at 412.414.9227 if you’re interested

  • If you have any old/left-over computer parts, please reach out to Garrett Langhauser at 407.234.8585 to donate them, as he is leading a Computer Course with the men in The Living Hope Program within The Lodge. (They don’t need to be in working order, as they’ll be taking them apart!)

HAND OF HOPE PREGNANCY SUPPORT CENTER

Hand of Hope is a Pregnancy Support Center with locations in Fuquay-Varina, Raleigh, and Fayetteville. They offer free services and support for pregnant women. Veritas partners with Hand of Hope by giving donations, organizing baby showers for new mothers, and volunteering as life-coaches and sidewalk volunteers.

Opportunities to Serve, Support and Donate

  • Seeking women to be ‘on-call’ for driving women to and from the triangle area for necessary appointments (great way to get time in the car to get to know mothers in need) - email Jenna Micol at jenna@handofhope.net

  • Sunday, July 30, we will do a drive for baby items and prenatal vitamins and for The Baby Boutique, which offers items to mothers in need to offset the financial burden of having a baby. Items can be purchased or gently used, and brought to church that day.

FAYETTEVILLE AREA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

Fayetteville Area Habitat for Humanity offers home repairs, disaster relief, veterans builds, and neighborhood revitalization throughout Fayetteville and the surrounding counties.

Opportunities to Serve, Support and Donate

  • Maggie Kettler, a Veritas Church Covenant Partner, will benefit from Habitat home repair starting in the next 2-4 weeks! We as the church body will have the opportunity to support and volunteer for the repair project, stay tuned for more details!

  • The Habitat Restore takes donated house items and resells them to support the work of Habitat. Habitat Restore Day will be Wednesday, June 14!

A Brief Building Update

Renovations are beginning soon! But before they can officially begin, we need permits from the City of Fayetteville to come through. I’m sure you won’t be surprised to hear that my learning curve during this building purchase has been STEEP. Luckily we have an experienced builder to walk us through permitting (and many other things). If you are curious about the process, read on!

We have to change the way that the building is zoned in order to begin worshipping at 584 S Reilly Rd. Re-zoning requires renovating to fit the needs of our church. For help with renos, we contacted Wes Davis with Commercial Building NC who has connected us with an architect. After many adjustments to the floor plan, Wes consulted with a plumbing/mechanical/electrical (PME) engineer who sent drawings to our architect. There was a bit of a waiting period before our architect could finish permit-reading drawings and have those submitted to the city for approval.

You’ll see Wes in one of the photos below - we were trying to figure out what to do with the nitrogen tank attached to the exterior of the building. Anybody have ideas? If we can’t find something to do with the tank, I guess we could carbonate communion juice. (Kidding, kidding) Also pictured below is a mock up that we had to send to our surveyor explaining our parking lot plans.

We have already received word that a portion of our permits have been approved (yay!) and a portion of our permits need more work.

Here are some ways that you can pray:

  • That permitting would happen quickly

  • For renovations to begin soon

  • For no surprises during our remaining demos

  • For renovations to progress quickly

  • For Jesus to make much of himself through Veritas Church once we are moved into our new home

Additionally, we need a team of people to help us maintain the lawn and landscaping. If you are willing to volunteer your time and the use of your equipment, would you please click here to email me?

Thanks for reading, and thanks for letting me serve our church in this way,

Samantha Metheny
Director of Operations
samantha@veritasfayetteville.com