About 40 Canadian GCI women held a retreat recently in Cornwall, Ontario. Here are pictures of the group and of Brigitte Moore performing a worship dance during one of the gatherings.
Author: GCI Media
Amazing birth story
This update is from GCI pastor George Hart who reports on the recent birth of his granddaughter.
The good news is that we have wonderful and precious new granddaughter, Elle Jolynn Dobson, born to our daughter Erin and her husband Craig Dobson of Nashville, Tennessee. However the blessed event wasn’t without some anguish and distress.
On Friday morning, August 16 at around 9:00am Erin was almost completely dilated, so the expectation was that baby Elle would be born in the early afternoon. However time continued to pass and it wasn’t until after midnight that Erin started pushing. She pushed for a couple of hours, but the baby’s head was turned to the side, and she would not rotate. They tried forceps, which only bruised and cut her head.
After 30 hours of being in the birth canal, baby Elle went into stress and the doctors did an emergency C-section. They would not let Erin see the baby and rushed her out of the operating room. The doctor’s comment to Erin was, “You have a very sick little girl.” Elle’s heart was in distress, she could not breathe on her own and there was cerebral hemorrhaging. At that point the doctors were not certain she would survive, and what damage would have been done if she did.
Elle was immediately placed in NICU, where she received therapeutic hypothermia to reduce the risk of brain injury. Her body temperature was lowered to 92 degrees for 72 hours and she was sedated with morphine to limit stimulation to her brain. My first view of my granddaughter was lying nude on a cooling blanket with electrodes attached to her head, IVs in her navel and arm and a rectal thermometer. They had just removed the oxygen tube in her nose, running to her lungs.
After 72 hours they gradually warmed her to normal body temperature and began to step down the treatment. For the first time, her mother could hold her. She began to display normal responses to touch and stimulation. But at this point they were still concerned about possible brain damage and seizures from the hemorrhaging. Each day you could see improvement in her responses and overall condition.
The last hurdle was an MRI which was performed this past Saturday, day eight of her life. They were looking for any dead brain tissue. The MRI showed a normal healthy brain! There is still blood between her brain and skull but the doctors said that if she hasn’t had seizures at this point she won’t and the blood will dissolve into her body.
On August 25 they kicked Elle out of NICU and sent her home!
It is amazing how God works. The mother of one of Erin’s best friends is the resource nurse for the NICU. She was able to assign the “best” nurses to care for Elle and checked on her frequently. The therapeutic hypothermia procedure used was invented by a doctor at the hospital, so they have a great deal of experience. Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital is one of the best at dealing with infant trauma.
I was so moved this past week with the faith of Erin and her husband Craig. There were times when I would hold Elle and tears would form in my eyes. Erin would comfort me with a pat on the shoulder and say, “Dad everything is going to be fine. She is in God’s hands. Don’t worry about it.”
Though I’m feeling a bit emotionally drained, I also am feeling the pride of a grandparent and the love of a loving and caring Heavenly Father. I apologize to all grandparents I’ve made fun of for their comments about their grandchildren. Now, I understand!
Jason Richards
This update is from Jason’s grandfather, GCI pastor Martin Manuel. Click here for a previous prayer request concerning Jason.
Jason remains in Seattle Children’s Hospital, where he has been for four months. His respiration has not recovered enough to enable him to be free of oxygen support. His doctors attribute the problem to a paralyzed diaphragm (from heart surgery), a damaged left lung (from Legionnaires disease) and smaller-than-normal pulmonary vessels. They suggest no medical treatments but anticipate that in time his lungs will become stronger.
In the meantime, he has begun to show symptoms of type one diabetes requiring insulin treatment and they are concerned about his kidney function. Also, he is on strong medication for various conditions including the recent heart transplant.
This has been a long episode for Jason and his parents, Colin and Janet Richards, who split their time between daily (and nightly) hospital attendance and care for their other two children at home. Jason and his family are strengthened by God’s gracious help through many prayers, which they continue to request. Thanks for your loving support.
Interning a new pastor
In the short video below, GCI pastor Rick Shallenberger reflects on his experience in serving as the pastor-trainer who mentored recently commissioned pastor Jason Frantz in the GCI-USA Pastoral Internship Program. For Jason’s recollection of that internship, click here.
This video is posted on YouTube at http://youtu.be/0EwW3S0enLo.
GCS graduation
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We all love to celebrate milestones in our lives—birthdays, baptisms, weddings and anniversaries in particular. Another milestone is graduation, whether from grade school, high school or college. I vividly recall my graduations from high school and Ambassador College. Both marked significant achievements—and also brought feelings of relief!
At our recent GCI Denominational Conference in Orlando, we celebrated an important milestone. Eight students formed the first class to graduate from Grace Communion Seminary (GCS). Seven of those graduates walked across the stage to receive their diplomas, signifying their completion of the Master of Pastoral Studies (MPS) degree. Congratulations to them all!
As chairman of the GCS board of directors, I receive much satisfaction knowing that our seminary is accredited by a national accrediting commission, the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). On their website (detc.org), you’ll find our seminary listed among the institutions they have accredited.
Why expend so much time and effort to educate our pastors, ministry leaders and other members? As Mike Feazell put it in 2003 at the initial GCS planning meeting: “Every thriving denomination has a formal mode for educating its pastors.” Because we are committed to providing quality education and training to our pastors and ministry leaders, many people within our denomination have worked hard to develop two formal online education programs:
- Ambassador College of Christian Ministry (ACCM), which offers ten courses in leadership development, leading to a non-accredited undergraduate-level diploma. ACCM is administered from our office in Australia and is available to anyone with a high school or college-level diploma, or equivalent. Go to ambascol.org.
- Grace Communion Seminary (GCS), which offers an accredited MPS graduate-level degree with courses in biblical studies, theology and ministry. GCS is administered from our office in Glendora, California and is open to anyone with an accredited bachelor’s degree no matter what the person’s major was. Go to gcs.edu.
As befits a fully accredited seminary, we celebrated our GCS graduation in Orlando in a formal manner as seen in the pictures here and at www.gcs.edu/course/view.php?id=37. Graduates, faculty and administration wore the appropriate academic regalia (robes, hoods and colors), representing the collective learning gained from GCS’s fourteen-course program, which concludes with a carefully researched Theology of Ministry thesis as its capstone project. These papers add significantly to the contribution of scholarship in the topics selected by students and can be accessed on the GCS website by all GCS students.
The ceremony included the traditional “Pomp and Circumstance” processional and the singing of hymns. GCS President and GCI Vice President Russell Duke gave an academic address entitled “Reconciliation through Transfiguration,” reminding all present of what we learn of God and Jesus Christ in worship and in life. Participating in the hooding ceremony of our first graduating students was an emotional experience!
We are but one seminary among many that seek to understand our God and Savior and live at one in him. A distinctive feature of GCS is our emphasis on incarnational Trinitarian theology. Our intent is not to disparage other seminaries or denominations, but to rejoice in what we have learned from the Spirit, Scripture and centuries of “faith seeking understanding.” We intend to celebrate again at our next international denominational conference in three years with our second group of graduates. We hope that you will join us.
Let me encourage those with bachelor’s degrees to take a course from GCS. You can take one or two of your choice, or you can take a series of courses toward the master’s degree. To enroll, you must first fill out the application to be accepted into the seminary. Then you will be given access to register for courses. We believe that all pastors and many ministry leaders, should be pursuing some form of continuing education. To serve this need, we are pleased to offer our courses at an affordable price. We encourage local congregations to provide tuition assistance for their pastors.
We plan to expand GCS course offerings over the next three years as we continue to enroll more students. GCS faculty and administration are working toward adding courses in the next year in church polity/administration, preaching and theology. I’ll keep you informed of growth in courses as time goes on. The fall semester starts on September 9, so new students need to apply immediately. Here are the courses offered this fall (go to gcs.edu/course for a detailed description of each one, including required textbooks and assignments):
- TH05 Doctrine of the Trinity – Gary Deddo
- BT01 Pentateuch – John McKenna
- NT01 New Testament Background – Mike Morrison
- NT03 Acts of the Apostles – Dan Rogers
- CH02 Church History: The Second Millennium – Neil Earle
- CM01 Ministerial Leadership – Russell Duke
- CM06 Trinitarian Youth Ministry – Ted Johnston
- CM07 Experiencing the Trinity (begins Aug. 29) – Larry Hinkle
- CM08 Church Planting & Development – Randy Bloom
As we move forward as a denomination, we seek to help our pastors and ministry leaders maintain a deep relationship with Jesus Christ and grow in their understanding of our Christian Trinitarian faith. GCS and ACCM are some of the primary ways we do this—helping our leaders faithfully live and then share God’s love and truth so that the body of Christ is built up in the Spirit. Through our educational resources we seek to bring our pastoral leadership into a deeper understanding of who God is and what he is doing today. These programs are an important part of the way we join with Jesus as he ministers to us and through us to the wider world.
With love, in Christ’s service,
Joseph Tkach
PS: GCI Weekly Update is automatically distributed each week by email to all GCI pastors. We now are making this automatic email distribution available to any GCI member. Please let your members know of this opportunity and invite them to sign up by emailing their request to Ted Johnston at Ted.Johnston@gci.org. Please also let your members know that the current and all past issues of Update may be read online at update.gci.org.
Back to school blessing of children
This update is from James Humphries who pastors GCI’s congregation in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky.
Before leaving for the GCI Denominational Conference in Orlando, we held a worship service that focused on a back-to-school blessing for school-age children and included a baptism ceremony. Our efforts were wonderfully affirmed at the conference when Gerrit Dawson said in one of his presentations that one of the things we could do to reach out as a church is to provide a back-to-school blessing for the children!
Realizing that parents and grandparents who do not normally attend church would be present for our special service, we did all we could to feature their children. They helped with the offering, gave prayers and sang special music. We also had a baptism ceremony at the end of the service, and then a potluck meal following the service to encourage fellowship. All these elements powerfully presented the gospel, providing testimony to God’s love and goodness.
In keeping with the blessing theme, my sermon was titled “God Has Blessed Us.” I noted that the gospel really is good news for all—that all have been blessed by and included in Christ. I concluded with Romans 10:9-10, showing the simplicity of the gospel. Since we had scheduled a baptism ceremony that day, I asked if any others desired baptism. We were prepared with extra clothing, and were thrilled when five people came forward to be baptized. So we baptized six people (five adults and one preteen), including my youngest brother, Nelson. Since that service, three others have requested baptism!
We had 72 people attend our blessing service. Most stayed to fellowship and to enjoy the meal. We still are rejoicing. What a wonderful day it was!
Mike Feazell launches pod-cast
Retired GCI vice president Mike Feazell recently launched With Mike, a personal podcast that interviews “ordinary people with extraordinary experiences.”
The podcast is found at www.withmike.org. Current episodes include interviews with GCI members Ruth Matthews, Pat Halford, Tim Maguire, and James and Shirley Henderson.
Report from US church planters
In the video below, some of our US church planters report on exciting recent developments.
Watch this video on YouTube at http://youtu.be/v3gv_TxwrNk.
Thanks from Alvah Pyle’s family
On behalf of the family, we would like to express our love and appreciation to those who reached out to all of us in so many kind and thoughtful ways following the death of our mother Alvah Pyle. Your words of remembrance of a life well lived, your prayers for the family as we grieved our loss, the flowers and the lovely cards were all a reminder of the lives she had touched.
What a blessing it is to be a part of the body of Christ that is living out his commission to “love one another.” It is with great anticipation that we look forward to the day when we will join her and all our loved ones to be with the Lord forever.
– Norva (Pyle) and Ron Kelly
– Kaye (Pyle) and Jim Kissee
