Good morning.
As the year of 2026 just gets going, I wanted to get this out as a sixth edition of “The Year in Review.”
Leavitt and I have been serving the Lord together with many of you here in Kingston, and this coming February will officially be 5 years for us in our roles. Time flies.
In terms of the Kingston Vineyard as an organization we continue to maintain service levels on Sundays.
From a broad “overview” perspective in 2025:
We saw 12 first time commitments for Jesus in 2026.
Our outreach events in 2025 were:
– Via Dolorosa (Spring).
– Baptism Service (Spring). 4 people were baptized on that day; 2 more were baptized in the Fall.
– VBS (Summer). 14 children attended throughout
the week; 7 made Jesus their forever friend for the first time with 2 rededications.
– Kingston Luminaries (Christmas Town Celebration). We provided the “live” music for the entire event. We provided baked and bought goods. We staffed the Hot Chocolate station for most of the event. A member of our congregation brought in 4H with a separate staff and dog petting station for children.
In 2025, our Careworks Resource Center located at 8 Hilltop Ave., led by John and Karen Hernandez, with a volunteer staff:
– Fed 1600+ families in 2025
– Gave out 9,000 bags of food throughout the year
– Helped stop evictions
– Helped with gas, car repairs and utility bills
– Had an 80% acceptance rate (by those they helped) for prayer.
To all who were involved in serving and reaching out to people in our communities here in 2025 (and you know who you are), thank you!
We have a number of volunteers continuing to serve in key areas such as leading and hosting life groups during the week. Here on Sundays, thank you to the worship leaders (Joe, Doug and Frank) and the teams, the sound and video tech teams, the Sunday School teachers, Hospitality Team, and the prayer teams and groups that meet on Sunday morning and also during the week.
In terms of our good health is the commitment to maintaining the buildings here and the grounds. Many of these projects aren’t very noticeable, such as the landscaping, the extensive tree-trimming (Andrew), and the work on our AC and Heating Units (recently Brian Bicknell), and the work we do annually to achieve our occupancy permit: sprinkler tests, fire and electrical building inspections, pest control, and weekly accounting reports (Anne B. & Robin G.).
Other building efforts are quite visible, for example: the re-paving of the entrance, and the front facing parking area, the complete replacement of one entire AC Unit, the 2 replacement projectors in the sanctuary (Chris C.).
That said, I’m grateful for your faithful giving and for the Board’s commitment to keeping the place up.
While some of the pictures on my phone are of broken heaters and building maintenance issues, many more are of smiling people, whether it’s with the guys in the men’s ministry out at Sonny’s pond (thanks John and Brian), or being invited to sample some goodies at the Women’s luncheons (thanks Barbara B).
Also, some pictures are of the church group that we are faithfully working on in the city of Hull, to see that place reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ. I think of the Scriptures and Jesus’ insight in the parable of the talents which illustrates: “for the ones faithful with little; God is excited to bless them with more.
I’m excited about this next year, and the opportunity to fast and pray next week specifically for 5 days beginning on Sunday evening as an all-church effort. I think it will set the tone for 2026.
Onward, forward and come, Holy Spirit – bless our “little” efforts here, and bless us with a Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation.
Serving alongside all you,
Seth
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