once a week.” One of Mitchell’s goals as he settles in to both the Gordon County community and the church is beginning his time at Calhoun Church of Christ with a new foundation. “The church and the town doesn’t know me, so if I’m going to have any sort of impact, I need to build a foundation,” said Mitchell.. “I’m the sort of preacher that only wants to preach the Bible; nothing more, nothing less. I want the overwhelming majority of each lesson to come from the Bible.

“My goal is to cover the basics and ( concentrate on) uplifting messages for the first year or two,” said Mitchell of his ministry goal. “( I want to) build that foundation. Any preacher that is worth his salt will cover some more controversial subjects and the ‘ stepping on my toes’ type subjects. I want to build the foundation to where people can know me enough to know that I love them, and know that I have their best interests ( in mind) when I preach.”

Mitchell was impressed with the church’s ministries upon arrival and plans to build on them. “One of the things that the ( church) elders emphasized with me was that the church is heavily involved in a wonderful program called Lads to Leaders” said Mitchell. “It is really focused on raising children, and we are continuing with that.”

According to the Church of Christ website, Lads to Leaders is the oldest and largest leadership training program used by the churches of Christ. It is a tool churches of Christ use to help prepare their youth and adults for service and help develop their overall leadership potential.

“We want to continue that by doing a lot more evangelistic community outreach,” said Mitchell.

The first community outreach opportunity the church participated in under Mitchell’s leadership was the Northwest Georgia Regional Fair in September. “We were there every night,” said Mitchell. “We handed out bottled water with literature about the church and about what the Bible says about what to do to be saved.”

Mitchell is continuing to find different community outreach opportunities. “We are going to do something similar for the Christmas parade,” said Mitchell. “Whenever there’s a big community event, I want the church to be involved.

“In the spring, before it gets too hot, I would like to have an old fashioned, community tent revival,” said Mitchell. “Just some of that old time gospel preaching.”

In addition to community events, Mitchell is also happy with the current charitable activity the church participates in. “One of the things I really like about Calhoun Church of Christ is they are already involved in a lot of really good work, focused with kids and charitable work,” said Mitchell. “We do a lot to help those are in need, like domestic violence outreach, and that is wonderful. We have a program called Backpack Buddies, where the church donates snacks and candy to needy children in local schools. We want to continue doing those type of things.”

In addition to community outreach, Mitchell is also pleased with the addition of classes the church offers. “We are working on a ladies class during the day,” said Mitchell. “A Bible study focused on things that women would be interested in. Right now I’m doing a series of sermons titled ‘ So you are studying with someone?’ Basically it’s focused on, if you’re a Christian and you are having a Bible study with someone who is maybe a new Christian or who doesn’t regularly go to church, and they have a question, this is where you can find the answer in the Bible. That’s been pretty popular.”

The church has a Facebook page where Mitchell will re-preach what he preached the previous Sunday in a more casual atmosphere. “I’ll re- preach it and put it on Facebook Live and on our Facebook page, so if you were not able to make the service, you can still view the sermon,” said Mitchell.

Beginning in December, every first Sunday evening service will be a ‘ Bible Q & A’. “In the lobby, there is a box labeled ‘ Bible Questions for Jon,” said Mitchell. “If you have a question, put it in the box; the deadline for questions is the last Wednesday of the month. Then on the first Sunday of the month, during the evening worship service, I will answer the questions that were submitted.”

Calhoun Church of Christ has Bible classes for all ages on Sunday morning beginning at 10 a. m. There are two Worship Services on Sunday at 11 a. m. and 6 p. m.

On Wednesday night, there are Bible classes for all ages at 7 p. m.

For more information ont he church, visit their website at www. calhounchurchofchrist. com.