At the recent U.S. Regional Conference in Chicago, several individuals were recognized for ministerial achievement.
Congratulations to the honorees!
We are pleased to announce that Eric Wilding, a GCI elder and professor at Grace Communion Seminary was recently awarded the Doctor of Ministry degree from Wycliffe College, Toronto School of Theology and University of Toronto. Eric’s wife, family and some church family attended the graduation ceremony in joyful support.
Eric thanks all who gave him their prayers and other forms of support throughout the five-year process of obtaining his degree.
Eric’s thesis is titled Toward the Trinity: Transforming Theology and Lives of the Ministers in the Worldwide Church of God/Grace Communion International. The research question was “What effects has the 1993 shift in the Worldwide Church of God’s doctrine of the Triune God had on its ministers’ understanding of and relationships with God, self and congregation?” Eric is considering options for publishing the thesis in book form.
GCI’s congregation in Tipp City, OH (CrossRoads Christian Fellowship) had a key role in the recent Tipp City Area United Way Day of Caring. The event centered on the work of volunteers who completed six projects to improve the community, including sprucing up flower beds and picking up trash in city parks and cleaning up around the high school.
Jim Valekis, CrossRoads’ senior pastor and a member of the local United Way board, helped coordinate and promote Day of Caring. Jim noted that its purpose was to “get as many churches, organizations and groups as possible to come together to unleash shared care into the community… Caring breeds caring; people from across the age spectrum and all over the community worked together to bring about good.”
For a video featuring Jim promoting Day of Caring, see http://kittv.pegcentral.com/player.php?video=cf76428a4de2f0abcde28ff27316cf19.
GCI president Dr. Joseph Tkach announced recently that as a member of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) board, he has signed NAE’s updated Evangelical Statement of Principles for Immigration Reform.
Dr. Tkach commented, “It is a good statement that I believe represents the biblical teachings accurately without taking sides with any political agenda.”
Here is a summary of the statement, which will be published soon:
Our national immigration laws have created a moral, economic and political crisis in America. Initiatives to remedy this crisis have led to polarization and name calling in which opponents have misrepresented each other’s positions as open borders and amnesty versus deportations of millions. This false choice has led to an unacceptable political stalemate at the federal level at a tragic human cost.
As evangelical Christian leaders, we call for a bipartisan solution on immigration that:
- Respects the God-given dignity of every person
- Protects the unity of the immediate family
- Respects the rule of law
- Guarantees secure national borders
- Ensures fairness to taxpayers
- Establishes a path toward legal status and/or citizenship for those who qualify and who wish to become permanent residents
We urge our nation’s leaders to work together with the American people to pass immigration reform that embodies these key principles and that will make our nation proud.
This update is from Joseph Franklin, GCI’s national ministry leader in Haiti.
There are new developments to report concerning GCI in L’Asile – an existing Haitian church that chose recently to affiliate with us.
Tijean, Andre Naval and I recently visited the congregation. Though our journey there was long and tiring, we had an inspiring and humbling visit. A group of about 100 welcomed us (part of that group is pictured at right). It was clear that they were anticipating our visit.
I brought a generator to power my laptop and projector so they could view (as I translated) one of Dr. Tkach’s Speaking of Life programs (Pawol Lavii in their native Creole language). They were glad to become acquainted this way with GCI’s president.
After the worship service, the church’s pastor, Jeremy Nicolas and his wife Anotte served us a nice lunch (see picture at left).
Here is an update on retired pastor Leslie Schmedes (click here for the original request).
Les came home from the hospital last week after successful surgery, which removed part of his colon. He is resting and recovering and doing well. He sends his sincere thanks to all who prayed for him, noting that it is both humbling and healing to hear from people who are praying for you.
This update is from Neil Earle, senior pastor of GCI’s congregation in Glendora, CA.
New Covenant Fellowship of Glendora, CA observed its 15th annual Hispanic Heritage celebration on Cinco de Mayo (May 5), with 66 people in attendance. These included guest speaker pastor Heber Ticas, his wife Xochilt and their son Christian from Comunion de Gracia, GCI’s Spanish-speaking congregation in Sun Valley, CA.
Pastor Ticas reminded the attendees of the importance of learning the lesson from days such as these – the need to come out of our own mental and spiritual “villages” as indicated by Jesus’ attitude of tolerance in Luke 9:51-55. He contrasted Jesus’ attitude toward a hostile ethnic group to the vengeful prejudicial attitudes of his own disciples.
A group of suitably attired singers began the festivities. A delicious meal was then served and children enjoyed the candy shower from smashing the piñata. As Mexico gave the world chocolate and chewing gum, this was only fitting.
“Perhaps the best Cinco de Mayo we have yet had,” added Janet Shay of the Glendora church’s advisory council.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
The author of Hebrews tells us about God-fearing men and women who “went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated,” who “wandered in deserts and mountains and in caves and holes in the ground” (Hebrews 11:37, 38). The writer said that the world was not worthy of such people. Most people would not have thought of them as glamorous role models and certainly would not have wanted to look and act like them.
We associate glamour with the rich and famous – how they dress, where they live, what they eat. We are fascinated with their comings and goings, and they, of course, make sure to come and go in ways that keep them in the limelight. Actually the word “glamour” originally meant the opposite. It referred to a magic spell used by witches and wizards to conceal their identity. King Arthur’s legendary sorcerer, Merlin, swathed himself with a glamour spell so he could travel as an old man, or a young woman, or as the sort of unexceptional person none would turn their heads to look at. The word has morphed in our modern times. Sadly, our society is growing ever more preoccupied by the physical trappings of glamour.
Professor Joan Brumberg of Cornell University has made an interesting study comparing the diaries of teenage girls (The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls, Vintage, 1998). In 19th-century diaries, she found teenage girls focused on being good, useful, caring, positive contributors to society. They had a sense of personal responsibility that motivated them to reach beyond themselves. In diaries of our time, she found teenage girls focused on becoming slim, pretty, well-dressed and popular – preoccupied with copying the clothes, hairstyles and lifestyles of celebrities.
Being a celebrity used to involve a measure of specialized training, talent and skill. Now, sadly, it’s often only about the bling. A whole industry has grown up to help you attain your proverbial “15 minutes of fame.” Here are examples of what is offered (and I share these with my tongue buried deep in my cheek):
Dressing up to look like something you are not is not a new idea. In fact, it may have been what Paul had in mind when he encouraged Christians at Rome to “clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14). He was using an expression that his readers would recognize as describing an actor donning a costume to play a part in a play. Of course, Paul did not mean that Christians should seek to draw attention by dressing in “Jesus costumes” (Jesus did not stand out in a crowd because of his clothing!). Paul certainly was not advocating wearing glamorous clothes or riding in stretch limousines (something some religious “celebrities” seem to forget). Rather, Paul was talking about the life transformation that occurs through our union with Christ. John makes a similar point in writing that “whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6).
Paul and John, each in their own way, were referring to the transformation that occurs in the life of a believer. As the Holy Spirit unites us to Christ, Jesus’ life – his regenerated human nature – becomes our own (Colossians 3:10). We become new creations with Jesus’ Spirit filling us (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Spirit gives us the power to really become children of God (John 1:12) and so brothers and sisters to Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Hebrews 2:11). The resulting change is not superficial or artificial, but authentic, deep and lasting.
Sharing in Jesus’ living and loving in the world will get you noticed, although as mentioned earlier, it does not usually lead to glamorous celebrity status. What matters most to God is not the image we create, but rather the image God has created in us. To be all that we can be, we must realize and trust in the source of our life, breath and being. The record of Scripture shows us that God does great work through those whom the rest of the world would not give 15 minutes of fame.
In Christ’s service,
Joseph Tkach
Former GCI pastor Allen Olson has been battling Huntington’s disease for the last few years. Huntington’s is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects muscle coordination and leads to cognitive decline. The disease led to Allen being placed on permanent disability in 1998. The disease continues to advance and just recently Allen was placed in a nursing home.
Allen entered GCI’s full-time, employed pastorate in 1982. Over the years he served in Birmingham, AL; Atlanta, GA; a church circuit in Scott City, Salina and Hays, KS; and a church circuit in Grand Island and Lincoln, NE.
Cards may be sent to:
Allen Olson Heartland of Madeira 5970 Kenwood Rd. Cincinnati, OH 45243
