We’re Hiring!

We’re currently searching to fill a few positions in our Children’s Ministry!

If you would like to use your God-given gifts and abilities to serve our church family, we encourage you to apply. We are currently looking for:

• Children's Ministry Coordinator

• Children's Ministry Service Supervisor

• Children's Ministry Service Greeter

• Children’s Ministry Nursery Caregiver

For more info, check out our Jobs page. Please spread the word!

Commissioning Lauren to Southeast Asia

This Sunday, we are excited to commission Lauren to serve in Southeast Asia. She has been a member of Redeemer for six years. After working happily as an elementary school teacher for 17 years, a conversation with a friend planted a seed to learn more about God's heart for the nations. In the spring of 2018, Lauren participated in one of Redeemer's Mission Cohorts, and the Lord opened her eyes to new ways she could steward her life for his glory.

Throughout the following years, Lauren began sorting through what it would look like to move overseas and share the gospel and her life with unreached people. Through hardships and trials, she has waited upon the Lord for his guidance and given up many of her life dreams to follow Christ.

Lauren is planning to join her team in Southeast Asia in June. She will be learning the local language full-time for her first two years, followed by working with the local church to mobilize local believers to reach the unreached portions of Southeast Asia and beyond.

If you’d like to hear more about Lauren’s story, we encourage you to listen to her interview on the Redeemed Women podcast.

Lastly, if you feel led to support Lauren, please get in touch with Hannah for more information.

Announcing Our Transition Back to Avondale

Redeemer Church Family,

Recently, we announced that our staff had begun planning our return to our Avondale building for Sunday worship services. One of the benchmarks we laid out was vaccine distribution to the general public. As of April 5th, the Alabama Department of Public Health has extended vaccine availability to anyone aged 16 years or older in Alabama. With this update and the continued decline of COVID fatalities and hospitalizations, we are ready to announce the first part of our transition back to Avondale.

Beginning Sunday, April 11th, we will hold three services each Sunday, including two indoor worship services at our building in Avondale. One indoor service will be mask-required, the other mask-optional. We will continue to offer a worship service at the parking deck and a livestream. Our goal is to provide options that best suit our church family's diverse needs and desires during our transition back to Avondale.

Service Options Beginning April 11th

• 8 AM in Avondale - Indoor, mask-optional, distancing not required, without childcare or kids classes

• 9:30 AM in Avondale & Streaming Online - Indoor, mask-required, distancing not required, with reservation-based childcare for children aged 1 year to Kindergarten (expanding these offerings to older children as soon as possible so check our Gather page for more info)

• 11 AM at the Parking Deck - Outdoor, mask-on-the-move, with reservation-based childcare for children aged 1 year to Kindergarten

While we are still figuring out specifics on how elements like classes, the band, and communion will happen, we hope to bring back all Sunday activities soon.

Even with these changes, we recognize that the COVID pandemic is not over. We believe the caution we have exercised over the past year has been wise and necessary. Moving forward, we will continue to use caution when we feel it is appropriate. As we said a few months ago, coming out of this pandemic will be as unique and challenging as it was at the start over a year ago.

As we transition back to indoor services, three things will be critical.

We must continue to use wisdom in how we look out for one another's health and safety. We must continue to show Christlike humility toward brothers and sisters with differing views, opinions, and convictions regarding the pandemic. Lastly, we must look for opportunities to serve one another in the various needs we face every week, such as parking, greeting, children's ministry, and more.

The Elders continue to look forward and trust in the Lord's provision and guidance as we plan to return to our church's home in Avondale. We ask that you join us in praying for the Lord's direction, and we ask for your continued patience as we plan and prepare for the coming transition..

Blessings,

The Senior Pastor Team

Joel Brooks
Lead Pastor

Josh Hausen
Executive Pastor

Jeff Heine
Shepherding Pastor

Romans Reading & Study Guide

This Sunday, we begin a new sermon series on the book of Romans! A few of our team members put together a reading and study plan with some helpful tools designed to equip you to glean more from your study of God’s Word. It is our earnest hope that the Lord uses this study to deepen your understanding of God’s Word and your heart’s affections for Christ in the months ahead.

You can download it here.

An Update on COVID Safety Measures at the Parking Deck

Redeemer Church Family,

In light of positive developments regarding community transmission of COVID-19 and related hospitalizations, we will be relaxing the requirement to wear a mask at our outdoor worship gatherings.

The state-wide mask mandate, which began in June 2020 and was just extended until April 9th, requires face coverings for all indoor activities. Additionally, the regulations require masks outdoors where individuals cannot maintain six feet for social distancing. Out of an abundance of caution and at the advice of medical professionals within our community, we have gone beyond the state expectations and required continuous mask-wearing at our outdoor worship gatherings.

Beginning this Sunday, we will implement a "mask on the move" strategy, which has become a common practice in many facilities in recent months. We ask that you continue to wear a mask anytime you are not in your selected spot for the service. Once you have chosen a socially distanced seating area, you are welcome to remove your mask.

We believe this is a reasonable step for our outdoor services. Further, this move is also within recent suggestions and mandates established by state and local officials. 

Dr. Sarah Nafziger, UAB's VP of Clinic Support Services, recently stated that "Alabama isn't out of the woods yet" with COVID-19. At the same time, we recognize the growing spiritual, emotional, and mental health needs within our congregation.

As we have talked about numerous times in our study of Philippians, in Christ, we are given the ability to put others' needs ahead of our own. Right now, the needs of others in our community are diverse. For some, strict COVID protocols are helpful. For others, they are harmful. That is why changes like this must be carried out with both urgency and temperance.

We know the change to "masks on the move" won't suit everyone. We have diverse opinions in our church, including within our leadership. At times, it is hard to know what kindness should look like. But we do know this - the love of Jesus compels us to look out for one another and surrender our preferences to His Lordship. May we keep in mind His Lordship in view of the many and varied ways people are hurting right now. 

We are grateful for the way you are bearing with us as we seek to be faithful and follow the Spirit's leadership. Let's keep praying for one another and looking for ways to stir one another up to love and good works for the glory of Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Blessings,

The Senior Pastor Team

Joel Brooks
Lead Pastor

Josh Hausen
Executive Pastor

Jeff Heine
Shepherding Pastor

The Gospel on Parenting & Sexuality

Recently, Connor Coskery, our Youth Minister, sat down with Eric Venable from Daymark Pastoral Counseling to discuss how the conversation surrounding sex and sexuality has changed. They also talked about strategies for parents to start talking about these critical topics in our homes.

While this discussion was directed at parents, it's worth a listen for anyone! You can find it now on our YouTube channel.

An Update on Our COVID Planning

Redeemer Church Family,

As Jeff shared in an announcement before a recent Sunday service, it's been 51 weeks since we last gathered as a church family to worship at our church home. Recently, the Governing Elders met to discuss developments regarding COVID-19 and how best to start planning our return to Avondale.

Shepherding our church family during this pandemic has required a unique emphasis on physical health and safety. While we believe our caution has been wise, we are also experiencing the cost of severe disruption and isolation on us all - both relationally and spiritually.

Given a choice, we know you would likely prefer to be back in Avondale for Sunday worship. The staff and pastors feel the same way. But our response to the pandemic still requires patience and wisdom from everyone.

We must refrain from idolizing our facility or idealizing the effects of being back inside it. However, we should see the benefit of getting back to our roots in Avondale and the good of returning to the regular rhythms of corporate worship together.

We know that several other churches have already resumed indoor services. As you know, our seating limitations have long been an issue at Redeemer. Due to the scale of our sanctuary and capacity constraints, we were already offering four Sunday services before the pandemic. To resume indoor services with full health protocols in place, it would require 10-12 services to accommodate all members and regular attendees. That is why we have been waiting for the guidelines to relax, within reason.

As many of you know, the Alabama Department of Public Health has developed a multi-phase plan for rolling out vaccines, and our elders are diligently watching the distribution of vaccines across our state. As the Governing Elders monitor the distribution phases, we will be planning and preparing to return to Avondale in tandem with distribution benchmarks, particularly the move to "Phase 2" distribution.

Crucial variables like safety protocols, crowd size, childcare, etc., are all being carefully considered. We know we don't have all of the answers right now, but we also recognize that we won't get those answers unless we do the work now to prepare for the future. As we formalize our plans, we will communicate them to our church family as soon as possible.

Coming out of this pandemic will be as unique and challenging as it was at the start one year ago. Still, the Redeemer elders are looking forward and trusting in the Lord's provision and guidance as we plan to return to our home in Avondale.

We ask that you join us in praying for the Lord's direction, and we ask for your continued patience as we plan and prepare for the coming months.

Blessings,

The Senior Pastor Team

Joel Brooks
Lead Pastor

Josh Hausen
Executive Pastor

Jeff Heine
Shepherding Pastor

Lent Sound & Season Podcast

This Lent, our Sound & Season podcast will lead us once again through the Gospel of Mark. New episodes will be available daily on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

We will have more details to share soon about future Lent services, such as Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter.

Spring Studies & Classes

With spring just around the corner, we wanted to make sure you know about some exciting opportunities to connect and learn. 

• Growing in Grace: Enjoying Jesus Through the Spiritual Disciplines (6-week, in-person study in Avondale)

• Women's Study: "Steadfast: A Devotional Bible Study on the Book of James" (8-week, in-person study)

• Missions Study: God’s Heart for the City (1-day, in-person study in Avondale)

• The Book of Ruth (5-week, virtual study)

These studies have a limited attendance so please sign up soon! You can find more information on our Learn page.

The Last Few Months Series

We just finished off The Last Few Months series with interviews of Meliah, Courtney, and Richard! If you missed the previous interviews, you can find them on our YouTube channel.

If you prefer podcasts, we now have audio-only versions on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

About The Last Few Months
The Last Few Months is a series of interviews with members of Redeemer's church family, capturing their stories, struggles, and successes since the beginning of the year. In a time of profound upheaval and change, let us celebrate where others have found hope and mourn where our family has experienced sorrow.