Faith Archive

The sound of children hollering and music blaring filled the Navarre United Methodist Church sanctuary June 25 as the church held its third day of Vacation Bible School.

This year’s VBS featured approximately 260 children, ranging from prekindergarten to fifth grade. The theme of this year’s VBS was “Live it Out,” a mantra designed alongside daily curriculum, to teach children how to live out their faith and be more like Jesus.

St. Paul United Methodist Church has entered its golden years.

In July, the church will celebrate the 70th anniversary of its founding. The church began in 1955 with a single building as its sanctuary. That building still stands but now serves as the church’s fellowship hall.

For most of its history, Momentum Church has been a mobile church, using rented spaces to worship and hold events. Last year, the church, which has several satellite campuses around Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, bought a building of Summit Boulevard in Pensacola to use as a permanent church and a community outreach center. The building also houses church offices. To help purchase and renovate the building, the church held “Heart for the House,” an annual fundraiser organized to help gather funding for large scale projects of the church or to help the community.

Youth can play an important role in the growth of a church, not only in terms of numbers but also spiritually. Pastor Anthony “AJ” Rice of Gathering House, a congregation which meets at West Navarre Primary School, knows this very well.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the world is facing the worst hunger crisis in 70 years. With World Hunger Day May 28, Compassion International is highlighting its commitment to building long-term resilience in communities most affected by food insecurity. Through church-led initiatives and strategic partnerships, Compassion is working to ensure that children and their families not only survive today’s crises but thrive in the future.

People from across Navarre came together Thursday, May 22, to bless Navarre Beach for the upcoming tourist season and beyond.

The annual event, known as Blessing on the Beach, is organized by the Navarre Beach Area Chamber of Commerce and features a pastor from a church in Navarre as the main speaker. This year’s speaker was Pastor Stacy Clearman of East Bay Church.

Each Sunday, just before opening, Crabs on Pensacola Beach welcomes guests not to eat but to worship. The restaurant is home to Central Christian Church’s Pensacola Beach branch, led by pastor Jack Kale.

It isn’t everyday you have a Dove award winning, Christian musician lead your worship service.

Mike Weaver of Contemporary Christian band Big Daddy Weave performed worship music for St. Paul United Methodist Church’s Sunday service May 18, alongside other members of his family.

It wasn’t long ago that Lance Whorton was preaching from a cafeteria stage at West Navarre Primary School on Sundays. Now, he preaches the Good Word out of a small, leased space off East Bay Boulevard.

Standing at 6’7”, it’s hard to miss Akok Chan (pronounced shawn) when you see him on or off the basketball court. Originally from Sudan, he first arrived in the U.S. in 2020 on a student visa and became a scholar-ship athlete at Lighthouse Private Christian Academy, a school in Midway. He was 16 at the time.