What was your initial connection with Bara?

Avery was eleven years old when she first came to Bara with her parents and three siblings in 2014. Though initially stubborn about not wanting to change churches, even going so far as to accuse her mother of committing "church espionage", she found herself in a loving community that quickly became her new church family and home. Several years later, in 2022, Jacob, freshly in a relationship with Avery, started attending church with the Nagengast family and found a new church home.

How did you decide to get connected here?

Though initially shy, Avery's first step into the Bara community as a preteen was in the Bara Student Ministries meeting. On her first Sunday evening in the Bradley family's living room, she found herself in a community that was loving, accepting, and willing to meet people where they were in life. People like Pastor Ryan and Kate poured into children like her, made them feel loved and included, and encouraged her to take further steps into the community, even when it wasn't entirely comfortable.

While dating Avery and working with Kim Quile at the Roanoke Pharmacy, Jacob befriended several members of Bara and found himself quick friends with the community. A few months into his attendance at Bara, he was included in a small team to Alaska, finding ways to serve the community at the Iditarod race, and formed meaningful friendships with this service, and further encouraged him to serve the community at Bara on the Hospitality team.

Why should someone else get connected with Bara?

Although it can be difficult to join a new church and get to know people in the community, the essence of Bara is to know Christ and make him known. This mission of ministering to others and introducing them to Christ isn't accomplished by being solitary, and that is something that is emphasized here at Bara.

The community at Bara is welcoming, warm, and kind, and has allowed us to move forward in our relationship with God, and to understand the service of others as Jesus exemplified for us. Being connected with the community here has allowed us to find ways to serve the church and the people around us, even in the smallest of ways, and has allowed us to minister to people in our everyday lives.