Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
New Website and Email Addresses Coming Soon!
From Mat Morgan:
As we continue to transition our systems to support our new denominational name, Grace Communion International, we are pleased to announce that we have acquired the domain name www.gci.org. This address will provide an easy point of reference for those searching for our website and those sending email communications to most elders and employees. Currently, you can access our web site at either the placeholder site www.gci.org or our current active site www.wcg.org and use the same email addresses as before. However, this will change as the transition progresses. Please see details below for the next steps in this transition.
Now that we can use gci.org, our IT staff has begun moving all @wcg.org email addresses to @gci.org. Until the transition is complete (it probably will take a month or two due to the large number of addresses that need to be moved), you can continue to send emails to all @wcg.org addresses, since they will be redirected to new @gci.org addresses as they are activated. Once the transition is complete, we will let you know to update all your @wcg.org email addresses to @gci.org. Finally, after a couple more months, we will discontinue all @wcg.org email to complete the transition.
At the same time, we are working with a local web design firm to design a new denominational website. When the new site goes live (planned on or before Jan 2010), we will offer a fresh new look, easier navigation to key areas, and an even clearer focus on God’s love for every person and GCI’s participation with the Triune God in sharing that love. For you techies out there, the website will be developed under an open-source content management system called Drupal, which will give us a flexible and affordable means to maintain and enhance the website now and in the future. Please pray for everyone involved in this project.
SEP Rockies
From Mark McCulley:
The 46 staff members of SEP Rockies served 64 campers, ages 11-18, during the week of July 26 to August 1 at Long Scraggy Mountain Ranch outside of Denver. Activities included riflery, wilderness skills, dance, Ultimate Frisbee and an overnight campout at the top of Long Scraggy Peak.
Chapel services used the film The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as a visual aid to present the gospel.
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Church Planting Seminar
From Randy Bloom:
Twenty participants attended Church-Next Training (CNT) August 24-28 in Twin Peaks, California. Church-Next Training provides a comprehensive overview of principles and practices for planting churches. Participants included church pastors, district pastoral leaders and seven members of a GCI church planting team from the Philippines, including GCI Philippines National Director Eugene Guzon. A church planter with the United Methodist Church also attended. For more information on CNT, visit the Church Multiplication Ministries website at cmm.wcg.org. If you would like to plan Church-Next Training for your district network or congregation, contact Randy Bloom at Randy.Bloom@wcg.org.
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Prayer Request
Remember that prayer is the battleground where we fight the good fight of faith. Let’s encourage everyone to join together in prayer, for we belong to Christ, and by the Spirit it is in Christ that we pray. Prayer and other spiritual activities help keep our hearts in tune with God and remind us of who we are in Christ. He is our all in all, and in him we are eternally beloved of the Father and blessed to share his good news with others.
Love from my family to yours,
Joseph Tkach
