01 Sep Josh McKeown’s Book, “The Gift of Cancer”

A post on August 23 told about Josh McKeown’s struggle with leukemia since being diagnosed with a rare form, called Ph+CML, in November 2010. The article mentioned the book he wrote, called “The Gift of Cancer.” You can order a copy of the book at his website, TheGiftofCancerOnline.com.

Josh writes of his leukemia diagnosis: “On that day my life changed and I could have retreated and given up but that’s not the type of life that God wants for us. I decided then and there that I wasn’t going to let cancer beat me. I was going to look at cancer as a gift from God that I can use for His glory. I don’t think God gave me cancer, but I do know that He is the God that heals. But right now He is choosing not to. The time that I have with this disease I am going to use to further His kingdom and minister through it with a positive attitude. I am trying to travel around and speak at churches and share my testimony.”

01 Sep Chambersburg, Pa.: Pastor of Outreach and Connecting

Mount Pleasant Church (United Brethren in Christ) in Chambersburg, Pa., a growing and healthy church of 500 in weekly attendance, is seeking a fulltime Pastor of Outreach and Connecting. This fulltime salaried position is directly accountable to the senior pastor and secondarily to the Governing Board.

Spiritual gifts in evangelism, leadership, administration, teaching and preaching are important. Passion for helping people become committed followers of Jesus–disciples who make a difference–is a must. The chosen candidate must have at least significant progress towards a graduate degree in Christian Ministry such as a Master of Arts in Religion or a Master of Divinity, and at least five years of relevant work experience.

The new pastor will provide leadership to the Outreach Ministry Team consisting of both local and global goals and objectives. Locally, the pastoral candidate will survey the community to understand its perceived needs. Then he or she will develop ministry systems to meet those needs while introducing Christ and the Mt. Pleasant Church. Local outreach events will need to be planned and coordinated. A local outreach team will need to be built to facilitate the newly developed goals and objectives in our local community.

Globally, the candidate will track the work and needs of the missionaries supported by the Mt. Pleasant Church, make sure the promised obligations made by the church are upheld in a timely manner, and recommend extra gifting if possible at the end of the year. Short-term mission trips and projects will be coordinated.

This new pastor will develop, implement, and administer a connecting plan that will move new believers and first-time visitors as well as loosely-connected attendees into fully engaged participants in the life of the Mt. Pleasant Church. The development of electives or classes to help people in their process of maturing as a Christian and a Church member will be a significant responsibility.

The new pastor will provide leadership to the existing ministries as well as to those developed within the bounds of the Connecting Ministry. He or she will also lead the Small Group Ministry, recognizing that one of the key ways that people connect to church life is by connecting to a small group of people with similar interests. The new pastor will work closely with the leader of the Discipleship Ministry Team, understanding that a significant opportunity for people to make their connections with Mt. Pleasant can take place in the Sunday school classes.

The associated budgets in these two areas of responsibility will be prepared and managed each year.

This position is now open and waiting to be staffed. To forward your resume, please get in touch with Senior Pastor Chris Little.