Church Directories

Hillcrest recently rolled out our newest church directory. It of course has updated pictures of families who have been here for awhile, pictures of those who are newer to Hillcrest and not in our last directory, and contact information. One of the more interesting parts (I find) of any directory is the 'candid shots' section in which churches are allowed to submit a few photos to show what their church is like. In the past, Hillcrest would submit the typical photos: youth ministry, children's ministry, women's ministry, and maybe a shot or two of a Sunday morning (baptism, etc). This year, we shook it up a bit and wanted to include photos that better depicted our church's mission. So we included photos from the previous summer's South Africa trip, serving pizza and cleaning tables at Children's Home Society, and wrapping presents at the mall for Children's Inn. We also included a 'typical' children's ministry photo as well as one of Pastor Doug looking like a hippie (you'll have to comment or ask me to get the story on that one!).

But the one that perhaps got the most comments is one with a group of Hillcresters with South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson after his meeting with them about adoption. At first, it seems strange to include this photo in our directory as the Senator doesn't attend Hillcrest, and he might never be back. But the photo tells a story, a story of Hillcrest's work with adoption and a story of a group of people, all at various stages in the adoption process, who got to meet with him as a result of Hillcrest's work. If a directory tells a story about a place, then that includes the 'candid shots', Senators and hippie pastors.