We were saddened to learn of the death on August 12 of Betty Shamus, wife of GCI-San Jose, CA, elder Larry Shamus. Here is information about Betty from an obituary distributed at her memorial service.
Larry and Betty Shamus
Beatrice Rachel Cimorelli was born on June 4, 1933 in Philadelphia, the third child of Hercules and Nora Cimorelli. She was born with dark ringlet curls all over her head, so the nurses nicknamed her “Betty Boop.” From then on, she thought her name was “Betty.” When she went to kindergarten and the teacher called her “Beatrice,” she had never heard it before and assumed that you were given a new name when you started school.
When Betty was 12, her family moved to Pennsburg, PA. After quitting school following the 8th grade, she worked in a sewing factory, an upholstery shop, and later at a hoagie shop. At age 20, Betty married the love of her life—Larry Shamus. Larry was in the Navy, so they lived in several states early in their marriage. Betty and Larry welcomed another new baby each time they moved, so after Larry, Carol, Mike, Marilyn and Jeff were born, they decided to stop moving and put down permanent roots in San Jose, California.
A model wife and mother, Betty filled her home with laughter and love, selflessly devoting her time to caring for her growing family. Neighbors, church friends and extended family were drawn to her boundless enthusiasm, creativity, and fun. Betty’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren delighted her beyond measure. Her legacy of love will live on in the smiles, laughter, and memories of those precious children and all who were lucky enough to share her incredible life.
Betty was a devoted Christian, serving God, her family, and her church. She lived by the words of her favorite scripture, Proverbs 3:4-5: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.”
Cards may be sent to:
Larry Shamus 1332 Crestwood Dr. San Jose, CA 95118
Life Club International, a public speaking club sponsored by GCI-Britain, truly is international, as shown in these pictures of Life Club meetings provided by international coordinator Geoff Sole.
Zimbabwe. Here is the first Life Club meeting in this African nation. The seed is planted!
England. Here ist he group that meets in Birmingham.
Papua New Guinea. Here is the first Life Club meeting in this southwestern Pacific Ocean nation.
You are invited to EngageGCI, a worship event coming this fall to Wisconsin Dells, WI. Christian conference and family retreat rolled into one, EngageGCI focuses on faith, family, friendship and fellowship, with activities for all ages. Workshops and plenary sessions will explore the biblical concept of neighbor: What does it mean to be a neighbor? How can we connect with and care for our neighbors in meaningful ways? For additional information and to register, go to https://www.engagegci.org/.
In July, the staff of SEP Silver Meadows in Western Canada welcomed 51 campers to a week of sporting, camping and interactive activities, while exploring the theme, The Journey – A Lifelong Adventure with Jesus. Each day after breakfast, the camp band led worship followed by a chapel message from a different speaker each day. The theme song for the camp (played whenever it was time to gather in the main hall) was, “Never Been a Moment,” by Micah Tyler. As the campers explored the journey with Jesus, the refrain from the song came to life: “There’s never been a moment… that I was not loved by you…!” Here’s a video from the camp:
Camp activities included water skiing, wakeboarding, wall climbing, paintball, archery and a beach day. Campers also enjoyed Scottish Highland games where teams challenged each other in cabre tossing, hammer throwing, kilt racing and haggis eating. They also enjoyed an evening dance with the theme “Origins: Where You Originated,” which aligned with “The Journey” camp theme. The last day of camp began with brunch, followed by a volleyball tournament and the final chapel. An offering was received, which raised over $3,000 to assist other SEP camps in South Africa and Canada. Saturday afternoon was spent on the beach with canoeing, skiing/wakeboarding/tubing, swimming, snacking and just hanging out. The highlight of the afternoon (and camp) was the baptism of two young men who have been long-time camp attendees. That evening there was a graduation ceremony and a closing Praise & Worship session with lots of flag and t-shirt signing.
Please pray for retired GCI pastor and district superintendent Don Lawson and his wife Sue.
Don and Sue
Sue, who is in a nursing home, continues to battle Alzheimer’s disease and Don continues his battle with a blood disorder.
On August 19, Don’s adult children noticed that their father was acting confused. They called an ambulance and it was determined that Don had suffered a minor stroke. After a few days in the hospital, Don was released with doctors saying his prognosis for recovery is good. Though feeling weak, Don has fully recovered his speech.
Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Rockport, Texas, on August 25, devastating many coastal communities. Now a tropical storm, Harvey continues dumping huge amounts of rain (over 50 inches in some areas), with much of Houston under water and other parts of southeastern Texas along with southwestern Louisiana still in harm’s way (click here for an update).
I was deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and property in Texas. Thankfully, as reported by GCI Regional Pastor Mike Rasmussen, all our members survived, though some sustained property damage as noted in the reports below from two of our pastors in the affected areas.
Some pastors have asked how their congregations can help. As a denomination, we stand ready to assist our affected members through the GCI Disaster Relief Fund. At the end of this letter is an explanation of how congregations can help replenish the fund. There are, of course, thousands of people in the affected communities who are in dire need. I encourage you to help in any way you can. In the days ahead, I’m sure our members in those areas will be looking at ways to help, and we’ll let you know if others can join with them. In the meantime, I know we’ll join together in praying for all who are overwhelmed and especially for those who remain in harm’s way, including emergency workers and volunteers.
—Joseph Tkach
From Pastor Rodney Schuler
Rodney Schuler
Rodney, who pastors GCI’s congregation in San Antonio, TX, reports that Mary Bell, a 90 year-old GCI member who lives in Rockport, TX, is safe. Though Rockport is where Harvey made landfall, Mary is thanking God that her home suffered only minor damage (some shingles and siding torn off). Mentioning the damage to other homes in her neighborhood, Mary said, “I would never think of complaining!” Though still without power and water, her friends and family are taking care of her.
Rodney also reports that the city of Victoria, TX, was also in Harvey’s path. One GCI member there, Aaron Migl, was awakened around 4 am with a sound “like the roof being taken off with a jack hammer.” The roar lasted almost all day, with branches and shingles flying everywhere. Victoria was badly damaged and is without water, electricity and sewer. Thankfully, our members there are safe and already starting to repair the damage to their homes.
Hurricane damage in Rockport
From Pastor Mark Mounts
Mark Mounts
Mark, who pastors GCI’s congregation in Houston, TX, reports that, so far as he has been able to learn, only one GCI member family in Houston had to evacuate their home due to the terrible flooding. He also reports that one of our elders is in an area hotel, unable to return home for several days. Thankfully she has food and shelter. Such stories are numerous with thousands of people stranded due to the flooding.
According to Mark, during the worst of the storm, it rained in Houston at the rate of 5-9 inches an hour. He commented that in his 20 years living close to the Gulf coast, he has never experienced anything like that. He is thanking God that his own home remains dry, though a levee 15 miles from his home has been breached. According to Mark, though thousands of people in the Houston area are still waiting to be rescued from the flood waters, neighbors are helping neighbors and people all over the country are praying for the people of Houston. As Mark says, “we worship a powerful and loving God, and he is ultimately in charge, no matter what.” Mark thanks everyone for their prayers and says he will keep us updated.
Floodwaters in Houston
GCI Disaster Relief Fund
The GCI Disaster Relief Fund was established to help provide members in disaster areas with emergency needs such as food, water, medicine, clothing, temporary housing, home and/or church hall repairs, temporary local pastoral salary expenses and other emergency needs. Monies received into the Fund that are not immediately needed will remain in the Fund to be allocated in future disasters. In previous years, money from the Fund was used to help members recover from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, storms and flooding in Bangladesh, an earthquake and tsunami in the Solomon Islands, typhoons in the Philippines and an earthquake in Haiti.
If your congregation would like to donate to the Fund, your treasurer can set up a one-time or monthly donation through the GCI-Online system (http://online.gci.org) by logging in and clicking on Donate under the Manage tab.
If your congregation prefers to send a check, make it out to Grace Communion International, indicating on the memo line that the donation is for the GCI Disaster Relief Fund. The donation should be sent to:
GCI Disaster Relief Fund Grace Communion International P.O Box 5005 Glendora, California 91740
When it comes to “keeping score,” churches in North America have typically focused on three metrics: buildings, budgets and butts. While there is nothing inherently wrong with counting these things, we do need to ask if keeping score of how big our buildings are, how much money people give, and how many people show up when we meet is the best indicator of how a church is doing. The fact is, these three metrics give us little real sense of the influence a church is having on its community. There is absolutely no correlation between the number of people who show up for an event and the difference those people are having where they live. The same is true with how much money people give to the church and how large a church’s buildings are. The reason we “count” those three things is because they are easy to count.
Counting (quantitative) and measuring (qualitative)
While we often use the language of “counting” and “measuring” interchangeably, there is actually a difference between the two. It is important to make the distinction because the church has largely been in the counting business, which has negatively influenced the way we think about the nature of the church and limited our impact in the world. We need to move to measuring more and counting less. Let’s make the distinction this way:
Counting is giving attention to numbers. When counting, the question to be answered is: “How many?” It is quantitative. Conversations about “How many?” are most frequently conversations about resources but can also be about activities. Conversations about resources, in a time of limited resources, are commonly conversations about sufficiency, “Do we have enough?” or, “How can we get more?” Examples could include finances or people. We ask questions like, “Do we have enough money for that mission?” or “Do we have enough volunteers for that ministry?” A quantitative question about activities might be, “How many Bible studies were conducted?”
Measuring is giving attention to change. When measuring, the question is not about “How many?” but rather about “How far?” Conversations about “How far?” are frequently about the change that can be measured over a particular time, as in, “How far have we come over the past year?” Measuring is about qualitative change. Has the quality of something changed over time? In other words, has something gotten better, or worse, since the last time we measured?
I hesitate to be too prescriptive in giving suggestions for what your church could count and measure because contexts are different. But here are a few suggestions that will hopefully crack open your imagination for metrics that fit your community more specifically.
Counting
In light of the fact that the church is a missionary entity—we are the sent, missionary people of God—one of the things we should count are missionary behaviors. For example:
How many neighbors have I gotten to know by name in the past month? How many coworkers have I gotten to know on a deeper level? How many significant conversations have I had in my favorite Third Place? How many people have I had in my home this past month? How many meals have I shared with people outside my church family this week? How many times this week have I intentionally been a blessing to someone?
Not only does counting the right things give us a better indication of a church’s engagement in the community, and ultimately its impact, but it also illustrates to the congregation what is important. The reality is what gets measured gets done and what gets measured gets repeated. When we count the things suggested in the above list, people know what is valued; they, therefore, know the target for which they need to be aiming.
Measuring
While all of the suggestions listed above can certainly help a church begin to move in the right direction, these questions are still activities. They are more about “inputs” rather than “outcomes.” Unfortunately, most often in the non-profit church world, we stop with inputs.
What do we mean by a “measurable” that is outcome-based? First, they are primarily about change. If we can describe the change that we desire to see or make, then we can also have conversations about whether we are moving toward that change over time. Measuring relates not so much to what is, but rather what could be. It is more about possibilities.
Second, the best questions associated with measuring ask both about change and about time. For example, we might ask, “How have the test scores changed over the past six months in the elementary school where the church provides tutors?”
In the context of the church, measuring is about determining transformational change (discipleship) in both people and in the neighborhoods where we live. Ask yourself, “What changes would you like to see in the lives of the people, but also in the life of your community?” That is an outcome. But then ask the follow-up question, “What will it take to get to that place?” Then begin to ask measurement questions toward that change. “How will we know if we are making progress in the right direction?” “What will we measure to determine transformational change?”
Measuring is definitely more difficult than counting, but in almost every case, it is essential if we are serious about making a difference.
We were saddened to learn of the recent death of retired GCI pastor Jim Reyer. After spending the evening with several family members, he passed away in his sleep in his favorite chair.
Here is his obituary:
Jim Reyer
James (Jim) Reyer, of Shepherd, MT, age 85, passed away on August 3, 2017, from complications of a stroke. He was born September 27, 1931 in Fort Wayne, IN, and lived there until 1972. He spent the last 27 years of his life in Montana.
After serving four years in the Navy on a minesweeper during the Korean War, Jim returned to Indiana and became a journeyman electrician, working for the family business, Hambrock Electric. It was in Indiana that he met his first wife, the former Alice Easley, and is where their three children were born. He became a minister in 1965 and pastored WCG churches in California, Ohio, Iowa, Colorado, Montana and Wyoming. Because of these moves, he had numerous friends and impacted people’s lives all across the United States.
Jim had a John Wayne-type persona and enjoyed the life of the west. He and his wife Sondra owned and enjoyed horses, as well as other animals on their small “ranchette.” He was a man of his word, tough yet generous and hospitable, had a great sense of humor and could carry on a conversation with anyone he met. He was a very practical man and could do most of his own home maintenance and remodeling. As a younger man he coached and played sports such as basketball and softball and was a very good athlete. A lover of the outdoors, Jim took advantage of opportunities to camp, hunt and fish. He had a lifelong dream of going to Alaska, which was fulfilled by a fishing trip with his wife, son and daughter-in-law in the mid-1990s. He also loved music and family gatherings where music played a part. He lived life to the full.
Jim was preceded in death by his first wife of 30 years, Alice, a daughter, Rhonda, and brother, William (Bill) Hambrock of Indiana. He is survived by his wife of 29 years, Sondra, daughter Lori (Denny) Sexton, son Dan (Ardys) Reyer, daughter Martie Panarelli, daughter Kellie (Nigel) Bearman, son Rob (Karen) Barrett, son-in-law Gary (Rhonda) Castle, 15 grandchildren, 6 great grandchildren, and sister Judy Furge of Indiana. He also leaves behind nieces, nephews and numerous friends. He will be greatly missed.
Cards may be sent to:
Mr. Daniel L. Reyer PO Box 309 Shepherd, MT 59079-0309
On July 22, Grace Communion Seminary (GCS) instructor and retired GCI pastor Neil Earle (pictured at right) gave a lecture at the Duarte Public Library in Southern California on the 70th anniversary of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947. “The Dead Sea Scrolls evoke mystery and legend,” Neil told the audience. “It’s a fun subject when you start with this young Bedouin goat-herder named Muhammed the Wolf throwing a rock and hearing a clunk and discovering these stone jars that contained copies of the Hebrew Bible transcribed about 150 years before Christ.”
According to Neil, the challenging part was helping the audience see that the Dead Sea Scrolls should be evaluated by the official Jewish Masoretic Text that forms the Old Testament in many of our English Bibles. “It’s almost a case of ‘I’ve told you this story to tell you another one,'” Neil said. The significance of the scrolls is that scholars could now have an earlier Hebrew text than the Masoretic manuscript that makes up the Law, Prophets and Writings that Jesus bore witness to in Luke 24:44.
“It’s in describing the skill of the authorized Jewish scribes that the audience comes alive,” Neil added. “Those Masoretes counted the middle letter of the Torah, of the Hebrew Bible, and of each book and numerous other references as well. William Foxwell Albright, the great scholar of the early 20th century stated that there is no other ancient text that has been so well handed down.” Neil also gave thanks to GCS professor Tim Finlay (who also teaches at Azusa Pacific University) for his help in preparing the lecture. “With a subject this fascinating, you want to make sure you get the finer points right,” said Neil.
