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Connecticut member honored
by bar association
 At
the 2008 annual meeting and dinner of the New Haven County Bar
Association in Hamden, Connecticut, Amina Connelly (member in
Stratford, CT) was a recipient of the Yale Sappern Civility Award. The
award "recognizes a New Haven area lawyer, judge or court staff person
who strives for excellence; is courteous to clients, colleagues, Court
and staff; and helps others by listening and providing guidance."
Amina grew up in New Haven,
graduated summa cum laude from the University of New Haven in 1993 and
earned a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia Law School in 1996. She has
been a member of the Connecticut bar since 1997, and in 1999 was
appointed caseflow coordinator of the civil division of the New Haven
Superior Court Clerk’s office. She chairs the advisory council of the
Stratford church.
Larry Wooldridge
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Air Force veteran speaks in
local school
Bill Hicks, member and
deacon of the Pittsburgh, PA, church, spoke at a local high school
about his experiences as an African-American serviceman during World
War II. Bill is 88 years young, and has been a member for 49 years. He
owned a television and radio repair business for many years, and is a
sound engineer for the Pittsburgh church.
Tom Smith
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| The photo is on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
website.
Click here to read their story. |
Atlanta church launches new
outreach
On Saturday, April 4, Living
Hope Christian Fellowship (the Grace Communion International
congregation in College Park, GA) launched a new community service
called the College Park Job Seekers (CPJS). The goal of this
faith-based ministry is "to assist area job seekers with practical,
emotional, and spiritual support during this difficult economic
downturn." CPJS serves the unemployed, the under-employed, the
"working worried," military spouses, or those considering a career
move. The ministry is open to people of all faiths, male and female,
and meets the first Saturday every month from 9:00-11:30 a.m.
In our first meeting, we
were pleased to welcome a diverse group of 15 guests, representing two
states and three counties. Visitors were greeted with an array of
refreshments including fresh-baked carrot-cake squares, warm quiche,
hot coffee and Russian tea, all compliments of our pastor’s wife,
Deborah Young. The meeting opened with a moving testimony by Suzanne
Smith-Wigfall, who shared her testimony of being downsized via a
public television announcement a few years ago.
Terry White, a manager with
The Home Depot in Atlanta, presented a piece entitled "Trust God"
during the meeting’s segment called "The Spiritual Tool Box." Terry’s
own story spoke to the plight of a lot of men: After a 13-month job
search (in 2001-2002), he found a job at The Home Depot and moved from
Iowa to Atlanta. Terry, a strong Catholic, now proudly shares that,
"My job loss and subsequent job search were God’s tools for leading me
into a relationship with him."
The last speaker was Linda
Wells, former Fayette County Commissioner and President of
MoneyConcepts. She gave a very informative and funny presentation
during our "Job Search Strategies" portion of the meeting. Her
presentation was entitled "If it’s true, it ain’t bragging" — the do’s
and don’t of resume writing. Job seekers learned new resume techniques
applicable for today’s job market. The meeting concluded to allow job
seekers time to network, share cards and place their resume and
contact information into an official data management bank.
It is clear from the
compliments to the chef, appreciative comments from people in
attendance and inquiries posted on electronic chat boards, that Living
Hope Christian Fellowship is centrally located and well positioned to
offer this type of community service. Facilitator Norma Manuel told
several attendees that "we are a small church attempting to do big
things" in his service.
Norma Manuel
 Journey
With the Master retreat
The mountains of western
North Carolina were a beautiful backdrop for the second retreat
(intensive) of Journey with the Master with the young adults who
volunteer as leaders and workers in Mountaintop and Higher Ground,
Generations Ministries (GenMin) camps. Eighteen young people
participated in the event at the Outdoor Mission Camp in Maggie
Valley, NC, on February 13-15.
Journey with the Master is a
three-part GenMin training event designed for young emerging leaders.
GenMin leaders Greg Williams and Anthony Mullins led the group in
assessments and teaching designed to help attendees better understand
their unique "divine design" as it relates to ministry, relationships,
and educational and career choices.
The weekend began with
taking a fresh look at the Parable of the Lost Son followed by a
discussion about the stunning truth of God’s unconditional love for
all. From there, participants were assessed and then discussed
leadership styles, relational styles and life development goals. The
fun continued on Saturday evening as many participated in night skiing
and snowboarding at the Cataloochee Ski Resort.
The retreat concluded by
inviting hosts, Ruffin & Jamie Shackelford, to share the inspiration
behind the Outdoor Mission Camp which they started together. It was
truly inspirational to hear a story of the Spirit’s guidance and their
desire to follow and answer the call in their lives.
Anthony Mullins
National Pastors Conference
in Mexico
On April 10-12, our Mexican
national conference of pastors and leaders was held in Guadalajara,
Mexico. This year’s conference focused on church renewal and church
planting. More than 40 pastors and leaders from Tijuana to Veracruz
attended the training. Hector Barrero, mission developer for Latin
America and pastor of our Bogota church in Colombia, led the
conference along with Alfredo Mercado, Mexican national leader and
pastor of the Guadalajara congregation.
One conference goal was to
share in the vision and resources provided by Church Administration &
Development and Church Multiplication Ministries (CMM). The
instructors participating in the training along with Hector Barrero
were Lorenzo Arroyo, regional pastoral leader and CMM team member, and
Tony Almanza, district pastoral leader and pastor of our Denver
Hispanic congregation. The training keyed on topics and concepts such
as forming multiplication leadership, growing a church through cell
groups, ministry boundaries in a Trinitarian theological framework,
reaching the next generation through culturally relevant worship, and
much more.
The conference was the
fulfillment of a long-awaited plan. Many of the pastors and leaders
expressed gratitude for the teaching and materials. For most of the
pastors, it was their first introduction to church renewal and church
multiplication. Dan Rogers, superintendent of pastors in the USA, and
Randy Bloom, director of CMM, were acknowledged for their roles in
reaching outside the USA to provide vision, instructors and resources
of ministry principles that are contextually applicable almost
anywhere.
Among the highlights at the
conference was the admission to our Mexican conference of a new
congregation in Tlaxcala planted by five-time church planter Jose Luis
Seba. The church in Tlaxcala, near Mexico City, was launched in August
and sponsored by Tony Almanza and the Denver Hispanic church. Pastor
Jose Luis moved back to Mexico a couple of years ago after attending
the Denver Hispanic church. He planted four other churches before
joining the Denver congregation.
Pastor Nicolas, who leads an
independent church, accompanied Pastor Jose Luis to the conference as
a guest. Toward the end of the conference, Pastor Nicolas also
addressed the pastors and conveyed his interest to join, but he first
needs to consult with his congregation in Hidalgo.
We had the privilege of
meeting the Mexican national pastoral team, which is comprised of
three pastors: Alfredo Mercado, Ruben Ramirez and newly appointed
Vicente Dimakis. One of Hector’s key objectives for the conference was
to begin to create a closer bond between the Hispanic pastors in the
USA and our Mexican denominational leaders and pastors. This
conference served as a pivotal starting point in making that bond a
reality. Thanks were given to Joseph Tkach and the Los Angeles area
Hispanic pastors for helping to fund and sponsor this effort.
Lorenzo Arroyo
Easter
celebration in Mesquite, TX
Pathway of Grace church celebrated the
Easter season with worship, fun and fellowship. On Maundy Thursday,
April 9, the congregation met for the traditional footwashing and
Communion service, patterned after what Jesus did on the night before
he was crucified. We commemorated Jesus’ death and that he is the
Bread of Life.
 On
Easter, April 12, the church had numerous visitors for a celebration
that included a hot dog and hamburger luncheon, fellowship, gift bags
for children ages 10 and under, and an Easter egg hunt for the same
age group. The rainy weather required outdoor activities to be moved
indoors, but that did not dampen anyone’s spirits. The church posted a
large, colorful sign in front of the building to announce the service
and festivities, encouraging the public to attend.
Pastor Bob Persky spoke of how we are
alive with Christ. “Jesus is alive!” he said. “His tomb is empty and
he’s risen. Jesus wants to share his resurrection with us.”
Elder Ben Martinez gave the communion
message recalling that just as the disciples on the road to Emmaus at
first did not recognize that the resurrected Jesus was with them, he
is constantly with us even though we sometimes don’t realize it.
 A
humorous drama written by Frank Lewandowski was also part of the
service. “Live From Jerusalem: Eyewitnesses to Jesus’ Resurrection!”
The drama showed a modern-day news reporter (played by Matthew Hard)
reporting from Jerusalem on the astonishing events that had taken
place there, including the crucifixion of Jesus followed by the sudden
disappearance of his body and rumors of his resurrection.
He interviewed sisters Mary and Martha
(Stella Sloan and Frances Quigley) and the apostle Peter (Nathan Hard)
as friends of Jesus who had seen him die on the cross. They were
amazed three days later by the empty tomb, then by the resurrected
Jesus appearing to them.
The reporter also spoke with two Roman
soldiers (Michael Schnee and Leo Burnett) who at first claimed Jesus’
disciples had stolen his body while they slept. But their testimony
disagreed as one of the soldiers confessed they had been paid a large
sum of money to say those things. The reporter tried to coax a
reluctant Pontius Pilate (Wiley Bass) to comment on rumors of a
cover-up of what really happened. Pilate hurried off, claiming he had
already washed his hands of the whole matter.
Rounding out the story was an
interview with the former “Doubting Thomas” (Bruce Hard) who described
how he became Believing Thomas when Jesus appeared and told him to
touch his wounds. The tale depicted the reporter originally being
skeptical of the believers’ claims but starting to become convinced of
the truth by the end of the skit.
Frank
Lewandowski
 Surprise party
for pastor’s 80th birthday
On April 12, we had a
surprise 80th birthday party and Pastor Appreciation Day for Zita
Mickens, Senior Pastor at Grace of God Fellowship, Tucson, AZ. For
once, we actually managed to surprise her! Special guests Curtis and
Jannice May made the festivities more special. Our kitchen crew
decorated and served dishes contributed by members from our
congregation. Many brought cameras to capture the event, and a video
was made by Lucy Gardner.
 There was a huge cake, a
bouquet for Zita’s birthday and a huge arrangement for pastor
appreciation. There was background music playing a CD by Cece Wynans,
one of Zita’s favorites. Many people added their thoughts of
appreciation for Zita. Curtis May, Ted Millhuff and Jim Mullady prayed
over Zita at the conclusion of the event. This was a true tribute for
one of our own who has served God with her whole heart by serving his
people. Sadly, Zita has needed to resign her responsibility as senior
pastor due to ill health. Everyone shared the sentiment: "God bless
Zita as she continues her life’s journey in another capacity."
Lila Millhuff
National conference
for new churches
April 20-23, fifteen
representatives of Grace Communion International attended the
Exponential Conference in Orlando, FL. Exponential is an annual
conference for ministry leaders who start new churches and the people
who train and support them.
The truth of Jesus’ words "I
will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it
(Matthew 16:18)" became evident in the seminars presented during this
three-day event.
The theme of the conference
was Acts 17:27-28: "God did this so that men would seek him and
perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each
one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some
of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’" It was inspiring
to realize that this theme, and the content of many of the plenary and
workshop sessions, coincided with our Trinitarian theology.
I highly recommend that any
district pastoral leader, senior pastor and ministry leader attend
next year’s conference. It will provide insights, encouragement, ideas
and resources for starting new churches. Attending Exponential has
enhanced my vision for church multiplication in GCI. The sense of hope
and expectation provided by Exponential will help bring into reality
our dream to start a church multiplication movement within GCI.
Greg Williams, a GenMin camp
ministry and event leader, said: "The conference was an explosion of
ideas. A big concept for me was the global movement of the church—it
has many faces, spices and flavors. I believe the time is ripe for
GCI. With an inclusive, Christ-centered theology, the next logical
step is church planting and replanting. I anticipate refreshing times
for the newly named GCI. The perfect storm is gathering. I’m committed
to helping GenMin camps plant churches where the Spirit gathers the
right people."
As one speaker stated, we
are not alone in the process of starting new churches. God is
faithful. His directional and relational nature is always moving. Our
part is to courageously surrender to what he wants to do.
Next year CMM hopes to
encourage another group to attend the Exponential Conference. The
dates are April 20-22, 2010. This conference is open to anyone, so
please consider sponsoring your pastor or district pastoral leader to
attend. To learn about this conference go to
www.exponentialconference.org. For information about starting a new
church, contact Randy Bloom at randy.bloom@gci.org.)
Larry Hinkle
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Senior pastor ordained in
northeastern Ohio
On Sunday, June 7, David
Botha was ordained an elder in Grace Communion International and
installed as senior pastor of GCI’s Cleveland and Akron/Canton, OH
congregations. The twin ceremonies were held in the Cleveland church
worship service where members from both congregations were present.
David began employment with
GCI and tenure serving these two congregations about six months ago.
This ceremony confirmed through ordination his calling as an elder,
and through appointment his ministry as a senior pastor in this
setting. In the ordination ceremony, which was conducted by Ted
Johnston (GCI ministry developer and David’s mentor) and John Dobritch
(GCI district pastoral leader and David’s supervisor), David was
joined by his wife Lynne and daughters Margaret and Madeline. In the
installation ceremony, ministry leaders from both congregations joined
Ted and John in praying for David in his continuing service as senior
pastor.
Ted Johnston
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 Teens help raise funds
for famine relief
On April 25-26, nine teens
led the way by participating in the World Vision 30 Hour Famine
fundraising project by going without food for 30 hours. The teens made
signs and marched in downtown Bellevue, WA, bringing awareness that
26,000 children under the age of five die every day due to starvation
and disease caused by malnutrition.
The youth ministry and many
of the members of the Seattle/Bellevue and Everett churches all
supported the youth by participating in the fast and by donating $2400
to the cause. The teens made cookies and helped serve 130 people to
dinner provided by the church at the Seattle Homeless Shelter. They
began eating again at a potluck meal provided by the Everett members
after services on Sunday. Food never tasted so good!
Bill Miller
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