UPDATE: Limited On-Campus Operations
Posted in Uncategorized | By Shades Staff | Posted on Tue Mar 17, 2020
We have moved to limited on-campus operations at Shades. A very limited number of staff are working from our campus, and access for visitors is limited. Our ministry and work continues in a highly focused approach, but in large part is not done from church facilities.
Entrance doors to the campus remain locked during limited on-campus operations, and all visitor traffic is pointed to the North Entrance. The on-campus receptionist utilizes the video doorbell to interact with visitors and give entrance as needed. The doorbell is clearly labeled, with instructions. Anticipated visitors include those delivering contributions, seeking benevolence, or wanting ministerial counsel.
Our staff team continues to spearhead our ministry efforts, and stay intentionally connected with our church family and community. The mission before us is the same, as we increase our creativity in pursuing it. Any questions regarding this decision can be emailed to info@shades.org.
4:06 | A Call to Prayer
Posted in From the Pastor | By Shades Staff | Posted on Sat Mar 14, 2020
Leadership within the Southern Baptist family issued a call for unified prayer among the 47,500+ churches of the Southern Baptist Convention. I’m asking that we at Shades respond to this call individually and collectively by committing to pray at 4:06 in the morning or afternoon daily for circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 global pandemic. As we pray, let’s specifically focus on the following areas:
- Ask God, in His mercy, to stop this pandemic and save lives in our communities and around the world, particularly in places that are unequipped medically to deal with the virus. (Isaiah 59:1-2)
- Pray for President Donald Trump and other government leaders -- international, federal, state, and local -- to have the wisdom to direct us in the best courses of action for prevention and care. (Romans 13:1–4)
- Pray that the Lord will give us wisdom in this moment of uncertainty. Pray that those far from God would realize how fragile life is and how real eternity is, and they would see their need to turn to God. (Psalm 90:12)
- Ask God to protect our missionaries, church planters, and their families around the world, using this global crisis to advance the good news of the gospel to all people. (Mark 16:15)
A Message From Pastor Danny
Posted in From the Pastor | By Shades Staff | Posted on Fri Mar 13, 2020
Church family,
Please watch an important update from Pastor Danny about plans for this Sunday and the coming weeks.
School Care Teams
Posted in Community Engagement | By Tommy DeRamus | Posted on Thu Feb 20, 2020
One of the tent-poles of Shades’ Community Engagement ministry is to provide spiritual, emotional, and professional support to our school teachers and administrators. These leaders have tremendous influence over our children during their formative years, and we want to do our best to support and encourage them, and ultimately influence them for Christ.
We have six teams currently working in area schools. In Vestavia Hills, we serve in Dolly Ridge Elementary, Vestavia East Elementary and Vestavia West Elementary. In Hoover, we have teams at Bluff Park, Green Valley, and Shades Mountain Elementary schools. All told, the Lord has given us space to build relationship with and encourage more than 600 local school employees.
Our School Care Teams offer support at their schools in a variety of ways. We provide grab-and-go breakfasts for teachers as they arrive for their classes; we help with school cook-out days; we provide goodie bags with gifts, all in an effort to show our appreciation for the work our teachers and administrators are doing every day. Most importantly, all of these activities are bathed in prayer that our work will open doors for Gospel conversations with the leaders in our schools.
We’ve gotten great feedback from our school partners. Principals tell us the breakfast treats are a welcome start to the day for their teachers. Teachers say that the gifts are thoughtful and give them a nice pick-me-up in the midst of long days of classes. Our team members express genuine happiness as they serve in their schools as the hands and feet of Jesus.
We are always open to new team members and new ideas for ways we can express our appreciation in our schools. God has opened doors for us and we want to be faithful to use these opportunities to build up our teachers and administrators and share the love of Jesus with them. If you would like more information about our School Care Teams or want to get involved at one of our schools, please contact Tommy DeRamus.
Shades Equipping Center
Posted in Adults | By Bradley Patton | Posted on Wed Feb 12, 2020
In January, we launched a new ministry called the Shades Equipping Center. As a church, we want to send transformed people to influence their world for Christ. The Equipping Center helps us answer the question: “How do we become transformed people?”
Romans 12:1-2 says that we are, “transformed by the renewal of our minds that by testing we may discern what is the will of God – what is good, acceptable, and perfect.” But transformation is challenging because we live in a time and place where Biblical illiteracy is rampant, marriages and families are being torn apart, Christian beliefs are challenged in the public square, and the influence of the church seems to be fading.
PowerBreakfast
Posted in Community Engagement | By Tommy DeRamus | Posted on Thu Jan 16, 2020
Earlier this month, we started a new ministry opportunity called PowerBreakfast. PowerBreakfast is a spinoff from PowerLunch, designed to help us reach business people who work in the downtown Birmingham area.
Through PowerLunch, God brings men and women in the business community to our campus who have little or no connection to Shades. But as we've continued to ask ourselves how God is calling us to Live Sent, PowerBreakfast seemed like a natural next step in this ministry. The generosity of the team at the Harbert Center provides space for us to bring gospel-centered leadership to those who work downtown.
A number of companies were well represented at PowerBreakfast, including The Southern Company, Samford University, the Burr-Forman law firm, The Alabama Baptist, Milo’s Tea and BBVA Compass. God has given our faith family a unique sphere of influence through a number of different companies, so we'd encourage you to invite a colleague for breakfast and a talk on leadership.
We also would love for you to serve by checking our guests in or greeting them and showing them to the ballroom in which we meet.
Christmas at Shades 2019
Posted in Worship | By Jordan Cox | Posted on Thu Dec 12, 2019
Christmas at Shades was a memorable one, not solely because it was the first one in our newly remodeled and repurposed Worship Center and Lobby. But because we met with God.
One of our favorite aspects of the night is the multigenerational display you see on stage. Our Worship Arts team creates space for the next generation to lead in our church family in worship.
Pastors' Conference 2019
Posted in From the Pastor | By Shades Staff | Posted on Wed Jun 19, 2019
As I reflect on the Pastors’ Conference, I have never been prouder of our church and especially our staff. I am proud, grateful and humbled to be your pastor and to have the privilege to serve alongside of you. What Shades did was epic!
Three strengths that made this "epic." The worship team was incredible. This was a CBC, GIC, and big Sunday all in one! One pastor commented they had never seen a freedom of worship at a PC like this ever before ... and he is right. Talent, love for Jesus, love to worship -- all of this was evident. At times I was smiling, singing, and crying at the same time both because of the message of the song and the joy on the faces of those leading.
The tech team and creative team. Wow, what can you say? Off the charts! I don’t know if any attendee can even fathom the number of painstaking hours that were involved in the making and editing of the videos and the book that was distributed. It is mind boggling, but all the effort was worth it and was of a quality not just in production value but in messaging that has never been seen before at a PC.
And our volunteer spirit. Over 500 volunteers giving of their time and loving it! EVERY speaker, EVERY program personality, EVERY representative from all the other organizations that we worked with went out of their way to tell me how outstanding our volunteers were. I never had to fish for a compliment because they sought me out and bragged on our staff and our lay volunteers. This is who we are; this is Shades.
Bottom line is that all the work of the Pastors’ Conference was outstanding ... but not unexpected. And that is the greatest compliment of all. What our staff and our volunteers did was a reflection of the quality of work I see every week. I am just glad that the rest of the convention was able to benefit from your immense talents, infectious spirit, and deep love for our Lord Jesus Christ.
Again, thank you church for giving of your time to make the Pastors’ Conference special and meaningful for so many pastors and their wives. I love you and am blessed to be your pastor!
If you want to watch any of the sermons and/or the video trailers, click here!
Antioch Community Church | An Update
Posted in Missions | By Kevin Naylor | Posted on Wed May 22, 2019
“Plant a church at UAB.”
Those were not words I ever expected to hear from God.
Yet here we are four months in to watching God do something amazing. The call came in March 2018 followed by months of prayerful consideration and assessment. In October 2018 we shared publicly with the Shades family the vision and invited you to pray about joining us. And on January 20, 2019 we held our first Core Team Gathering.
What We've Been Up To
Over these past few months God has assembled a Core Team of 41 adults and 10 children. All life stages are represented in this team which was a major answer to prayer. Our desire is to be a multi-generational church focused on reaching the next generation.
Continuing to meet every Sunday afternoon for worship and missional training we moved into our initial outreach phase in March. We launched Antioch Families. These are our vehicle for missional engagement. One of the convictions God has given us is the importance of attractional communities not simply attractional events. Jesus said, “ By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) So, we want to give those far from God the opportunity to see the gospel through the body of Christ in a non-threatening atmosphere.
An Antioch Family is a co-ed group of 10-20 people that meets in a home and includes two things: dinner and conversation. It provides a welcoming atmosphere for those far from God to belong and it provides an easy ask for us with our lost friends: “Want to come to a dinner party?”
As people are invited to belong we invite them to believe through reading the Bible together and hearing the gospel.
Since we launched our first three Antioch Families in March we have seen 20 unchurched or de-churched people visit a Family. Of those 20 people include students from India, Nepal, and Taiwan. By God’s grace we are even beginning to see lost people bring other lost people. And God has led one lost student to begin reading the Bible with one of our students.
God is also beginning to answer our prayer for a cultural diverse church. We recently just had a student from Ghana join our church!
How to Get Involved
- Join our Prayer Team. There are 60+ people praying for Antioch everyday. We know that church planting and making disciples is not suited for human wisdom. We need God’s presence, leadership, and wisdom. Would you consider praying for us on a daily basis?
- Volunteer. Throughout the year there will be opportunities to serve with us through set up and tear down as well as helping with events.
Let us know here if you are interested in supporting us in either of these ways.
How to Pray
- Meeting space. We are on the hunt for God’s place for us to gather for worship this fall. Pray for God to provide the right place.
- Relationships with the lost. Pray for God to continue grow our heart for the lost. Pray for opportunities to build new friendships and deepen current ones. Pray that we’d see many students far from Jesus come to know and love him.
Shades Family, thank you for your prayer, encouragement, and support. I am grateful for you.
Yours,
Kevin
NEXT | The Time is Now: A Construction Update
Posted in Worship | By Jordan Cox | Posted on Wed Mar 13, 2019
We're four weeks into the remodeling of our Worship Center and the repurposing of the Lobby. Take a look at this update video from Pastor Danny.