by John Hile, Lead Pastor
Kelly and I moved to St. Louis in the summer of 2006. We had been married for one year, and we didn’t know a single person in the city when we moved.
It took some time, but eventually we connected with a small group at a local church. Early on, a few of these new friends invited us to a pick-up game of ultimate frisbee at a nearby park. Not only did it give us something fun to do, provide free exercise, and get us outdoors, it introduced us to a whole group of people who were fun to be around.
Fast forward to 2022, and Kelly and I had just moved to Sterling Heights and joined God’s mission at Epic. We really wanted to build relationships and get to know people, but that can take a lot of work and time, especially with three kids at home. Despite our best intentions, we were only managing to share a meal with about one family each month.
We began talking about how we could connect with more people over the summer, and how we could help other people in the church build relationships. Coming on the heels of a global pandemic, we knew a lot of people were missing out on the joy of community.
We reached a solution: We would extend an open invitation to the whole church to join us on Wednesday evenings in the summer for frisbee.
The group started small, with a few committed people who shared the vision. Over time, more people showed up and experienced a fun evening. This summer, our second summer of frisbee, we’ve had a strong turnout each week. We’ve even had a number of people see us at the park and ask if they can join in. Of course, the answer is yes! It gives us a great opportunity to meet new people and talk about Epic Church.
There are still three Wednesdays to join us this summer. We meet from 7:00pm to 8:00pm at Delia Park in Sterling Heights, off 18 Mile Rd. Enter the park and turn right into the parking lot by the baseball fields. At the far end of the parking lot, there’s a playground with an open field behind it. We’ll be there every Wednesday for the rest of August (as long as there aren’t thunderstorms). You can join the frisbee group to get reminders and updates.
“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”
