This Week in the BRN Family 07.30.26

BRN churches rejoice over children responding to the Gospel through VBS and outreach events; churches serve their communities; and we celebrate new life in Christ through baptism - it's an exciting week in the BRN Family!

July 30, 2026
Macala Mays

This Week in the BRN Family shares quick highlights of BRN churches and ministries throughout Pennsylvania and South Jersey loving their neighbors. Check out the latest happenings, baptisms, and accelerating Kingdom movement stories below:

Mt. Wolf Community Church engages community kids through sports camp opportunities

Last week and this week, July 22-24 and July 28-31, Mt. Wolf Community Church in Mount Wolf, Pa., hosted two sports camp opportunities for kids in their community, with the first camp taking place at Mt. Wolf Community Park and the second camp happening at Manchester Community Park. During the first camp, Mt. Wolf was joined by volunteers from Rock Spring Baptist Church in Louisburg, North Carolina. The church also reported that 42 kids participated in the first camp, with 11 praying to receive Jesus!

Bedrock Church connects with community through fourth annual Summer Splash

Bedrock Church Fishtown in Philadelphia hosted their fourth annual Summer Splash on Saturday, July 25, at Norris Square Park. The Lord provided a beautiful day for the church to connect with their community through water games, water slides, food, and conversation. Bedrock partnered with Bedrock Church Franklin County for the event, and expressed gratitude to all of the volunteers who made Summer Splash possible.

Rolling Hills Church completes and dedicates playground after following call to build

Following a devastating loss in their church family, the members of Rolling Hills Church in Verona, Pa., felt a call from the Lord to build a playground and dedicate it to Jethro David Smith. Jethro was the son of Patrick and Summer Smith, who are active members at Rolling Hills Church with Summer serving as the church’s worship leader and youth group leader and Patrick serving as a deacon. In April 2023, Jethro went home to be with the Lord after developing an unexpected illness. He was five-years-old at the time of his passing.

This past Sunday, the church officially completed the playground and dedicated it to the Lord during their worship service. On Rolling Hills’ Facebook page they shared, “We praise God that we’re able to carry on Jethro’s memory, while providing a place of joy and excitement for our kids to experience for many years to come.”

A plaque with Jethro’s story can be seen at the playground. The playground project was led by Evelyn Lauffer, a youth student at Rolling Hills Church. Please join us in continuing to pray for the Smith family and the Rolling Hills Church family as they remember Jethro and serve the kids in their community. Also pray that the playground would be a place where lives are surrendered to Christ and a place of ministry!

Philadelphia churches participate in Next Level Blueprint training

Baptist Resource Network Ethnic Church Advancement Consultant Noelson Chery recently provided a Next Level Blueprint training to three churches in the Philadelphia area: New Creature Baptist Church (Pastor Ernst Petit-Frere), Ekklesia of North Philadelphia (Pastor Curtis Saxton), and First Haitian Metanoia Baptist Church (Deacons Ondy Previlus and Willy Rene). Chery reported that training participants were very satisfied with the training and plan to incorporate it into their strategic planning.

Is your church ready to move towards the next level? Learn more about the BRN’s Next-Level Blueprint or sign up for a Next-Level training at brnunited.org/journey.

Kids across PA/SJ hear the name of Jesus through Vacation Bible School

BRN churches across Pennsylvania and South Jersey continue to reach the youth in their communities through Vacation Bible School. Check out the latest VBS fun below:

The Church of Good Shepherd | Cherry Hill, NJ

On the fifth and final day of their VBS, The Church of the Good Shepherd witnessed God’s amazing grace as 20 out of 72 children confessed Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior! What a tremendous blessing and a wonderful answer to prayer. Watch a recap video of their VBS here.

Iglesia Bautista Nueva Vida | Lancaster, PA

West Hills Baptist Church | Coraopolis, PA

Harvest Church – Kittanning Campus | Kittanning, PA

Nebo Baptist Church | Nanticoke, PA

Baptisms:

Harvest Community Church begins month of July with baptisms

Harvest Community Church in Corry, Pa., celebrated baptisms at the beginning of the month as they baptized three people on Sunday, July 5. Praise the Lord for these brothers and sister in Christ who publicly declared their faith in Jesus! Please join us in celebrating with them and Harvest Community Church family.

Two are washed by the water at Restored Church in Wilkes-Barre, Pa

On Sunday, July 26, Restored Church in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., heard powerful testimonies of God’s goodness and witnessed two sisters in Christ be baptized. A special moment from these baptisms was when the one woman was baptized by her brother. Praise the Lord for these baptisms and for all He is doing at Restored Church!

Be a part of This Week in the BRN Family

Have exciting things happening in your church!? Let us know so we can celebrate with you and share the good news with our BRN Family. Submit stories of your church accelerating Kingdom movement, loving their neighbors or celebrating baptisms on our News Tips page. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Macala Mays

In 2022, Macala Mays stepped into her current role as Associate Editor of BRN United and Podcast Producer for the Baptist Resource Network of Pennsylvania/South Jersey (BRN). Before taking this position, she worked as a contracted Podcast Producer in 2021 and a freelance writer in 2020 for the BRN. During her time with the BRN, Macala Mays has produced three different podcast series, including 50 Stories of Transformation (2021-2022), The #LovePASJ Podcast (2022), and Celebrating Cooperative Missions (2023). She also has written over 60 articles for the BRN and has been nationally published by The Baptist Paper and Baptist Press. She is also a member of the Baptist Communicators Association (BCA). Prior to working with the BRN, Macala interned at the State Capitol of Tennessee in the Publications Division under the office of Secretary of State. She also remotely wrote news for TalkErie, a radio station in Erie, Pa., and previously worked as a News Director/Producer for WJET-TV in Erie, Pa. Macala Mays holds a master of arts in communications from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania (EUP) as well as a bachelor of arts in journalism/public relations from EUP. During her graduate years, Macala worked as a Graduate Assistant and helped manage the on-campus radio station. She also served as a managing editor for the university’s newspaper, which led to an interest in music journalism. Macala and her husband, Robbie, live in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, where they attend Big Woods Bible Church and Robbie serves as the Associate Pastor of Campus Ministry. Both Robbie and Macala find great joy in discipling and walking alongside college students at Lock Haven University.