01 Jul Anchor Co-Sponsors Walk Thru the Bible

Anchor Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.) co-sponsored a Walk Thru the Bible (Old Testament) seminar on June 28, along with five other churches in their zip code: Presbyterian, United Methodist, Mennonite, Evangelical Lutheran, and Church of Christ. The churches held a joint Vacation Bible School the past two years, but this year decided to try a Walk Thru the Bible seminar instead.

About 120 adults attended the event, most of them from the six sponsoring churches. They included 19 people from Anchor, some of whom are in the photo on the right. Folks from probably a dozen other churches scattered around the city also attended, most having learned about the seminar through a newspaper article.

The six churches are all fairly small, with around 100-150 people attending. They all have a heart for reaching neighborhood people for Christ and for growing as Christians.

Earlier this year, Anchor joined three Presbyterian churches in building a Habitat for Humanity home for a nine-person family from Somalia, who had previously spent 13 years in refugee camps. After about a year of fundraising, construction began in May; a number of Anchor people helped with construction. The home was dedicated on June 21.

30 Jun The Crossroads Up Close

A few days ago, Jeff Bleijerveld talked about “crossroad cities,” a concept that fascinates me. He says he’s got a lot more to unpack on that subject.

Fort Wayne, like so many American cities, has some crossroads qualities. We’ve got the largest population of Burmese outside of Myanmar, plus a lot of immigrants from Bosnia and Darfur. And yet, they remain somewhat invisible to me. I don’t know where to find them.

Last Saturday, I attended the dedication of a Habitat for Humanity home that my church, Anchor, along with three local Presbyterian churches, funded and built. The keys were handed over to a Muslim family (seven kids!) from Somalia. That’s them in the photo, along with some other folks from Somalia. This family spent 13 years in refugee camps before making it to the States four years ago. The husband and wife, and I assume the kids as well, now speak English very well.

During the ceremony, two young men, immigrants from Ethiopia, expressed their appreciation to us for helping their “brothers and sisters” from Africa. Very cool.

So we got a touch of the crossroads thing. In building this home, they saw the best of Christianity, and maybe some seeds were planted.

25 Jun Entrust to Young Men…

Bethany House of the Lord is a four-year-old United Brethren church planting project in Cumberland, Maryland. The congregation emphasizes a simple household approach to ministry and worship. Using an age-integrated curriculum for daily devotions based on the Sunday sermon, parents are encouraged to take responsibility for the discipleship of their own children.

On Fathers Day 2008, Pastor Michael Mudge took vacation and left the responsibilities for leading worship and preaching to the congregation for the fourth consecutive year. This year, the preaching was done by three young men of the congregation…ages 15, 13, and 39!

23 Jun Cooperating to Start a Church

L-r: Thurm Payton, Howard Matthews, Mike Caley, Mark Ralph, Scott Hergert, Darrel Bosworth, Gordon Kettel.

J. Michael Caley, Banner Church, Byron Center, Mich.
Banner Church is part of a LEAD team, the first one in Michigan. The initials stand for learn, encourage, achieve, dream. It’s a group of pastors getting together for the specific purpose of thinking and praying together about the most strategic places God might have us plant a new church.

The commitment of that team and church, by the pastor participating, is:

• Identify a potential church planter.
• Pool resources.
• Set goals for how often to start a new church.
• Do everything possible to support and encourage the planter.

Gordon and Lori Kettel

Our LEAD team gathers every 6-8 weeks to support the work of Gordon Kettel, who is planting a church in Grand Ledge, Mich. Our experience has been good. Gordon is so fun and entertaining; we have a great time together. In addition to me and Gordon, there are:

• Howard Matthews (HomeFront UB, Grandville)
• Scott Hergert (First UB, Lansing).
• Thurm Payton (Lighthouse UB, Williamston)
• Darrel Bosworth (Kilpatrick UB, Ashley).

We have committed for a period of 2-3 years to start a church and see it through. We serve as a sounding board for Gordon. He shares struggles and asks questions, and we agree to always laugh at his jokes.

In the 1980s, I became a church planter. I felt entirely alone, even though I received a regular paycheck from the conference treasurer and was told the conference backed us. God used that experience to teach us, as a family, some amazing things, and we learned how to share Christ without any real support. But the LEAD team concept excites me, because I feel it’ll lead to some real success stories.

19 Jun Jerusalem Chapel, After the Fire

This Sunday, June 22, Bishop Ramsey will speak at Jerusalem Chapel (Churchville, Va.), and help them dedicate their new facility. It’s been just over two years ago that a fire destroyed a large part of their facility.

18 Jun Consultations Ending and Starting

The consultation process is the primary method we use to transition churches to health. It starts with an intensive weekend at the church, but continues with a year-long process of coaching on my part, with monthly visits. When the year ends, I usually speak on a Sunday morning and encourage them to keep moving ahead.

Among the initial churches were four congregations in Michigan. That enabled me to be more efficient in my traveling, hitting several churches on the same trip.

At this point, we have completed our year-long work with two churches in Michigan:

16 Jun The Isolated Church: a Picture of Perseverance

“How many churches do we have in Massachusetts?” Rubenia Bomatay asked me. She pastors a primarily Honduran congregation near Boston, Massachusetts.

Pam and I visited yesterday to connect with Rubenia and her congregation at Iglesia Reformada Emanuel.  “Uno,” was my response.  “You are the only one.”

No wonder they feel isolated. A six-hour train ride from the nearest cluster and few other Spanish-speaking congregations within our tribe make it tough to sustain a sense of belonging. But they are Hermanos Unitos en Christo (United Brethren in Christ.)

It was a joy to share a meal with Rubenia, her husband Gerardo, and son Moses prior to the Wednesday night service on June 11. Moses was our translator, as his folks speak limited English and I speak very limited Spanish. Pam and I were blessed by their heart for the Lord and for ministry.

Gerardo, Moses, and another man from their church recently completed a three-year Bible Institute provided by a local Assemblies of God congregation. They work closely with the local police to make a true difference in a gang-oriented neighborhood. I had the privilege of speaking to a very warm and engaged congregation. Our conversation on the way back to the hotel was focused on how we can be a greater support and encouragement to them.< Pam and I look forward to returning to Boston soon. We have brothers and sisters who share our heart to reach the lost. I pray you have the privilege of meeting them sometime soon as well.

11 Jun New Life Church: A Great Place of Faith

The UB church in Chanute, Kansas, recently changed their name from Highland Avenue to New Life. This church, under the leadership of Michael Longfellow (below), is about to take a major step. They bought an elementary school for $25,000, though it’s valued at several million dollars. They’re trying to sell their present church, but already have the money needed to buy the school, which is less than two miles away.

The school is in the process of moving out, but will leave behind a sound system and a lot of other equipment. It’s a good deal for them. They’ll need to do some refurbishing, but hope to begin holding services there by September.

The New Life Church has grown to two services reaching over 135 people. Their current sanctuary is small and parking is very limited. Their new facility will help them more effectively reach their community. Their goal is to see over 40 people come to Christ this year.

During a recent trip I made to Chanute, Michael and some of the lay people ministered to a young lady who was struggling with drugs and walked into the building seeking help. They led her to the Lord in the kitchen while I was preaching in the sanctuary. It is a great place of faith.

09 Jun A Service Where God Definitely Showed Up

It’s always thrilling to hear encouraging reports from our churches. I recently received this email from Chris Little (right, below), senior pastor of Mount Pleasant UB church in Chambersburg, Pa. That is one of the churches we’ve been working with in the year-long consultation process, which we’ll wrap up with a service on June 22. Here is what Chris wrote:

“Just wanted to pass on a God moment from Sunday. The scripture was the stoning of Stephen. I used it as a time of forgiving and being forgiven. Ron Cook, months ago, gave me the idea of using a paper shredder with the congregation and it seemed appropriate, so out on a limb I went.

“When the sermon ran to its conclusion I told everyone they had a choice to make. Either hold on to your rocks and be in bondage to bitterness, or throw away your rocks and find the freedom of forgiveness. I placed an insert in the bulletin and had them write either names of individuals they needed to forgive, their own name if they were struggling with forgiving themselves, or even particular sins of which they are guilty. I invited people to come forward and find forgiveness by shredding the “stones” and throwing them away.

“Then I went to find a seat and pray, wondering if anyone was getting it.  I was overwhelmed by the response. During our traditional service we shredded stones for the entire duration of “Amazing Grace,” plus.  When I finally got up the courage to take a peak at what was happening, there was a line down the center of the church waiting for a chance to get to the shredder.

“During the second service (our smallest), it did not take nearly as long but the participation was wonderful. One woman was completely broken before God, sobbing at the altar in that middle service.

“Third service was abundantly beautiful. Young and old participated. Who knew the kids were even listening? Lines down both sides of the church as well as the center isle. Jesus was so clearly dealing with men and women, boys and girls, helping them not only to experience forgiveness but freedom.

“Jesus was so clearly working in the lives of the people in church this Sunday. When I stood up to address the congregation with words of assurance of Christ’s forgiveness, I saw the brokenness of the people.  The tears in people’s eyes nearly took me to tears. I am once again reminded that God is ever faithful. He is engaged in our lives in ways that we can see and sense, and ways that are beyond our normal realm of thinking. What a blessing to see the Spirit of God make such a tremendous difference in people’s lives.”