This update is from Eric Shaw, pastor of Community Life Fellowship (CLF), the GCI congregation in Altadena, California. CLF recently merged with New Hope Christian Fellowship, one of GCI’s congregations in nearby Los Angeles. This update tells the story.
Pastors working together in a district church planting network. Left to right: Bermie Dizon, Glen Weber, Heber Ticas and Eric Shaw.
As a congregation, we were experiencing the decline of our resources. We had not been able to draw new people and it became evident that our reserves would be depleted in a couple of years and our members would disperse or we would need to reconfigure into a small-group format.
As we considered our options, we began holding discussion forums after our worship service about once each month. We shared meals together and searched for ideas and vision. As we did so, it became clear that our best option was to merge with New Hope Christian Fellowship, a nearby GCI congregation, and place our remaining cash reserves in the GCI Southwest District church planting fund.
Although merging with another GCI congregation is not often an option for other GCI congregations in similar circumstances, we learned that open communication is vital. Even though people may not say much, it gives them time to process their thoughts and go through the grieving process that typically comes when a congregation faces closing. Indeed, the closing of a congregation is typically experienced as a great loss by those remaining to the end. However, we came to see ours as an opportunity to further our experience and maturity as disciples of Jesus and to leave a legacy toward our denomination’s future.
As we discussed these matters, we realized that our ministry is not over just because the doors of our congregation shut. We believed that God will open new doors. We focused on this concept at our final worship service, where we watched the movie, The Road to Emmaus. The movie emphasized the vital lesson that as long as we have Jesus, we have everything.
We also learned that it is important that communication continue following the closing. I still write my monthly letter to stay in touch with our members. We plan to continue to have gatherings (“reunions”) on a somewhat regular basis. We were a family and we don’t want to lose that. Many who had left before the closing still want to stay in touch and get together.
With the moving of our financial reserves to the GCI Southwest Districts church planting fund (which is coordinated by the GCI pastors pictured above), we are already able to provide support for the Filipino missionary couple planting a church in the Eagle Rock area of Los Angeles. We hope to see another new church develop soon. My hope and prayer is that this fund will not be depleted as we continuously replenish it through appropriate fundraising so that when God calls someone to our district vision for church planting, we will be able to offer them our support. By investing in this new opportunity, our congregation and its legacy live on and continue to impact the lives of others.
Rather than looking at the close of our congregation as a death, we look upon it as giving birth to new life. And rather than looking at it as failure, we see it as completion of an important aspect of the mission that God had, and continues to have, for us. Indeed, the journey is not over. The book is not completed. We have merely finished one chapter and now it’s time to begin another.
Here is an update from Michael Wyatt-Paige concerning his wife LaVerne (click here for the last update).
Thank you for praying for my wife and family. Knowing that so many brothers and sisters in Christ are doing so is encouraging.
LaVerne has begun chemotherapy. So far, she is tolerating the process well. She attended church services this past Sunday, for the first time in two months. Praise God.
Surgay’s wife Jan tells us that he is being moved to a smaller facility in Mandan, North Dakota that is equipped to do the rehab he needs. He’s somewhat improved but has lost lots of weight.
As to long term, the current thinking is that Surgay will need most of the winter to recover but may be able to resume farm work by spring.
Please continue to remember the Kalamaha family in your prayers.
Becky Deuel, co-pastor of the Appleton, Wisconsin congregation, is a long-time GCI member. “I started attending the Radio Church of God in 1959 in the little white church on 8th Street in Eugene, Oregon. Raymond Cole was the pastor.” Becky and her family lived out in the country and she says it was not unusual that the only time she wore shoes during the summer was when she went to church.
By the time Becky was six years old, she determined to go to Ambassador College, which she did in 1971. After graduation from Ambassador, Becky moved to Georgia and got married. “Fifteen years and three children later, we moved to Wisconsin for a better job opportunity for my husband.” Becky is now employed at Point Beach Nuclear Plant as a Human Resources Consultant. She said her job in personnel development has proved to be a good fit for her responsibility as a pastor.
Becky has been married to Steve for eight years and between them they have four adult children, but no grandchildren – yet! She and Steve love to travel and to scuba dive. They make a special trip each year on their anniversary, often to a place where they can dive. They’ve been to Hawaii, California, Bonaire, the Caymans, Spain, Australia, and most recently, on an Alaskan cruise.
Becky became a member of the Appleton pastoral team in January 2002 (she serves as co-pastor with Steve Cole). “I have felt so welcomed as a female pastor and have been given incredible opportunities.” In addition to pastoring, Becky serves on the chaplain teams at GCI’s Northern Light camp in Minnesota and Heartland SEP camp in Illinois.
When asked about her passion, Becky said pastoring is a fulfillment of her passion of “sharing the love that the Father, Son and Spirit have for all of their beloved creation,”… sharing “how much he wants to have a relationship with all of us.” Becky also loves putting sermons together and presenting the message. One of her most memorable moments as a pastor was performing her oldest son’s wedding ceremony.
Becky gives credit to her mentoring and training from GCI district superintendent Dave Fiedler (now retired) and current district pastoral leader Doug Johannsen. “He and his wife Betty are amazing at modeling how to share the love of the Father, Son and Spirit.”
Becky, who is finishing her master’s degree at Grace Communion Seminary, is excited about the future of GCI. “I love the inclusion factor of Trinitarian theology… I am so looking forward to where we are going in the future… Being part of this denomination gives lots of opportunity for networking and travel – whether it is to a pastor conference, a GenMin Summit, a Church Multiplication Summit or training… It is great fun.”
As we post this issue of GCI Weekly Update, hurricane Isaac has made landfall in southeastern Louisiana. The cities of New Orleans and Baton Rouge, where GCI has congregations, and in the path of Isaac. Fortunately, its severity is less than predicted. However, Isaac is still quite powerful and many people are in harm’s way, with flooding a major concern.
Please pray for all those being impacted by Isaac, including GCI pastors Mike Horchak (Hammond, LA); Anthony Rice (Baton Rouge, LA); Richard Young (Lake Charles, LA); John Novick (Hattiesburg, MS); Leonard Tillotson (Natchez, MS); Andrew Britton (Mobile, AL); Phil Nichols (Monroeville, AL); and GCI ministry developer Ted Johnston (Foley, AL).
Despite these concerns, there is some good news. Over the next several days, it appears that as Isaac travels north, it will bring badly needed rain to the drought-stricken areas in the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys (see the map above). Please pray about this situation as well.
This announcement is from Willard High, the pastor of Shepherd’s Community Church, a GCI congregation in South Holland, Illinois.
Come celebrate the 50th anniversary of the congregation that began as Chicago Southside!
Over the years the church has existed under several names: Chicago South, Chicago South-Southeast and presently, Shepherd’s Community Church. Whatever we were called, certain things remained – like warmth, friendliness, fellowship, good food, an appreciation of quality music, a love of social events and stimulating conversation.
Come enjoy all these and more.
Save the date of July 5-7, 2013 for a celebration that will warm your heart and bring a smile to your face. The event will be held at the Tinley Park Convention Center in Tinley Park, Illinois. There will a Friday night meet and greet, services with guest speakers on Saturday and dinner dance Saturday evening, ending on Sunday with a Gospel/Jazz Brunch. Pricing and more details will follow.
I have had a busy week. I began it in Indianapolis, joining our church there for their 50th anniversary celebration. The Indy church is one of our oldest congregations, established in 1962. A few of the people who attended that first meeting were present – including yours truly. My parents were attending in Chicago at the time, and we all drove down for the inaugural service. I was a just a young teenager at the time and would never have believed I would be coming back half a century later as guest speaker.
Pastor David Perry
Indy’s first pastor, Carn Catherwood sent an inspiring video message. Pastor David Perry also gave a short but effective presentation highlighting the past, present and future of the church. Under the leadership of David and Jonnie Perry, the Indianapolis congregation is active in outreach, enthusiastically supporting projects in Haiti, Mozambique and many other places.
After Indianapolis, I drove across to Cincinnati, Ohio, where I was able to spend some time with Rick Shallenberger and the local ministry. Greg and Susan Williams were also visiting. One of Greg’s responsibilities is to coordinate our Pastoral Intern Program, so we were able to spend some time in an impromptu and informal conference, discussing several aspects of the future of GCI.
I flew back to California on Wednesday, in time for a conference with Gary Deddo, Russell Duke, John Halford, Nathan Smith and Michael Morrison. We work together in various media-related projects, often via email. Email has transformed the way we collaborate on projects. It is no longer necessary for people on the same team to be in close proximity. However, I have learned that for this collaboration to work well, occasional “face time” is important to maintain positive relationships. We spent two constructive days, including time to laugh, reminisce and enjoy meals together. This was also an opportunity to introduce Gary to our Glendora staff.
One of the reasons we met together was to discuss the contribution Gary would make now that he is full time in our employ. Gary’s long experience as an editor with InterVarsity Press will help us take advantage of the innovations and advances that are transforming media. He came with a long list of ideas, which can open up some exciting possibilities. We discussed “all kinds of ideas for all kinds of projects using all kinds of media.”
Thom Rainer
Although many of us are older, we must never forget our responsibility to the younger generations who one day will take over the leadership. In that regard, Ted Johnston sent me an interesting blog post from Thom Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources. Thom notes that whereas the majority of the younger generations in the U.S. are not actively interested in Christianity at this time, those who are interested are really turned on. They want to be active in their faith. Thom also notes that parents and churches had a vital role in nurturing and building the faith of young people. I think you will find this post to be particularly thought-provoking. You can read it at http://www.thomrainer.com/2012/08/the-parental-factor.php.
The varied activities of this last week reinforced in my mind the fact that GCI is not only multi-national and multi-cultural. We are also a multi-generational church. We have people who have been members for over five decades, and also younger folk just starting out on their Christian walks. Anthony Mullins, who leads our Generations Ministries summer camp program, has sent positive reports from the directors of this year’s U.S. camps (we have featured several of these reports in recent issues of Weekly Update). These reports indicate that we have many hundreds of young people who are eager to play their part in our ministry with Jesus. We must invest time and resources preparing them for their future, even as we remember our past, as we did last week in Indianapolis.
These are indeed challenging and exciting times to be involved in ministry with Jesus. It’s a joy for me to to share this journey with all of you.
This update is from Ground Zero Church co-pastor Anthony Mullins.
Ground Zero Church, GCI’s new church plant in Aurora, Colorado, recently held a SEP Rockies camp reunion event, which included a worship service, meal and recreational activities.
Several Ground Zero members are on staff at SEP Rockies (Sarah Miles, who directs the camp is shown below speaking at the reunion event). Ground Zero leaders planned for a reunion attendance of about 60. However, 85 showed up – the largest attendance at Ground Zero Church to date!
Perhaps most importantly, the event drew four unchurched new families who live near Ground Zero’s meeting location. They seemed to enjoy the event and their kids returned the next evening for a youth group meeting.
The worship service at the event was filled with testimonies and laughter – there was a wonderful sense of the Holy Spirit’s presence. It seemed to several Ground Zero leaders that the event will be a catalyst for what God does next in the growth of their church family.
One day last week, I was standing in a grocery store line behind two young girls. They were trying to buy a six-pack of beer. “That is bold of them,” I thought, as they looked so obviously under age. The cashier asked them for their ID, and to my astonishment, they were both 22.
Suddenly, I felt rather old. That feeling was reinforced when I overheard two other young people talking about a song titled Titanium by David Guetta. I had never heard of David Guetta or the song. It was the same for the next five songs they discussed.
Slowly, but perceptibly, it seems like the world is starting to pass me by. I never really thought of myself as the center of the universe—my parents made that clear to me long ago. But I always thought I was reasonably aware of the trends and events going on around me. However, more and more, I find myself getting out of touch with the world of the younger generations.
Back in 1970, Alvin Toffler wrote a best-selling book titled Future Shock. He defined future shock as a psychological state of individuals and entire societies, brought on by too much change in too short a period. He predicted that an incredible shift would occur in the next 40 years and that it would affect nearly every aspect of life. He also predicted that some would find this quite disorienting. Time has shown how right he was.
Perhaps we think time-honored institutions like the church would be immune to this and would be islands of calm in the storm. Not so. Recently, Ted Johnston sent a blog post from Jonathan Martin who pastors a Pentecostal church in Charlotte, North Carolina. The post discusses the huge shift taking place in the demographics of Christianity. Here is an excerpt:
Those of us in the younger set…are competing largely for the hearts and minds of the 20 and 30-somethings with their iPads and macchiattos. We are already dinosaurs, and we did not know it. The average Christian in the world right now is an African or Latin American female in her early 20s. She doesn’t read our blogs, and she doesn’t read Christianity Today. She doesn’t know or care who I am, and she never will. The names Piper, Driscoll, Chan, Bell, Stanley, Warren mean nothing to her. Like most Pentecostal women coming into the kingdom around the world, words like complementarian and egalitarian are not in her vocabulary, nor Calvinism and Arminianism.
That this is the case should not surprise us when we consider how the Holy Spirit has been transforming our denomination both theologically and demographically. It may well be that he is strategically preparing GCI for the shift that this pastor is describing.
Recently one of my colleagues commented that GCI Weekly Update seems to feature a lot of news from Asia and Africa. The fact is; we, like many Christian denominations, are growing much faster in Asia and Africa than elsewhere. I don’t mean that we are not seeing growth in other places, but it is not as noticeable.
Though I try to keep you up to date through Weekly Update features and my conference presentations, it is not possible to cover all that is happening. Additionally, some progress is quite gradual and thus almost imperceptible. For example, it was over a long period of time and with much research that we came to the seemingly momentous decision to ordain women as elders. At first, there were only a few such ordinations. However, slowly, the number has grown.
In the USA we have 24 female elders (see last week’s Up Close and Personal for an example). In Canada we have five female elders and there are several in Colombia (see the P.S. below), Congo, France, the Philippines and South Africa. Any reservations that some may have had about ordaining women have surely been dispelled as these women have quietly and faithfully taken up positions of service alongside their brothers in our fellowship.
I am sure that as the future continues to arrive, often ahead of schedule, it will present us with new challenges (even shocks). You and I may sometimes feel out of date and out of touch. But thankfully, Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
That does not mean that Jesus never changes. According to his wisdom he responds afresh to every new situation in order to accomplish his unchanging redeeming purpose. The book of Acts shows how God guided the tradition-bound early Christians through some challenging situations. God is never out of his depth with change. With the unconditional love of the Father, the continuing leadership of Jesus as we join with him in his ministry, and the never-failing guidance of the Holy Spirit, we can look forward in confidence to the future, however unexpected and shocking it may be.
With love, in Christ’s service,
Joseph Tkach
Colombia National Director Hector Barrero and Pastor Sonia Orozco
P.S. One of our female elders is Sonia Orozco. She is the pastor of GCI’s Barranquilla, Colombia congregation. She recently began broadcasting a weekly radio program on a Barranquilla station. On the program she routinely invites listeners to attend her church.
GCI Canada member Leigh Smithson recently made a mission trip to Africa where he visited various GCI congregations and contacts. Here is his report.
I left Canada for Africa on July 7. The plan was to ride “shotgun” with GCI’s African missions directors Tim Maguire and Kalengule Kaoma (KK for short).
Leigh and KK
Before I recount some of the stories, I need to share some thoughts about fear and worry. As Tim and I (sometimes with KK) traveled through the southern part of Africa, we faced many frightening, worrisome challenges. Yet, I felt calm, safe and generally free of fear. All credit goes to the Holy Spirit–and now to the stories.
Johannesburg
Tim met me at the Johannesburg airport. That evening, he hosted a meeting of the SEP camp staff (wonderful people!). Early the next morning, Tim and I packed the car and started on our journey. We headed east towards Mozambique–a route that would take us through Kruger National Park.
Kruger Park
Tim and I spent five hours in this amazing game park. We saw all sorts of animals and Tim got an elephant to “mock charge” our car (thanks Tim!). Was I worried? Well, yes, this got me a little concerned…why tempt the Lord?
Mozambique
At about 1:00 a.m., an ugly pot hole “attacked” our car and bent two tire rims. We pulled over to evaluate and discovered that one tire was rapidly losing air. As we started repairs, a stranger pulled up in a truck and offered help. I felt uneasy with his mannerisms as he took the hammer out of Tim’s hand and started to beat the rim into shape. I thought this was strange, so I made sure my back was never turned to him. As we got the tire inflated with a can of tire repair stuff, the stranger got back into his truck, but the engine would not start. Interestingly, he knew exactly how to hot wire the truck. Once it was started and before he drove away, he told us to follow him to his garage. We said okay, but when he pulled in, Tim kept going–he was sure the truck was stolen and that our “helper” was up to no good. Was I afraid? No but I was a wee bit leery. At 2:30 that morning, after almost 20 hours of driving the world’s worst roads, we parked at a closed gas station. We decided to sleep until dawn when the station would open and we could get gasoline. The place was mostly dark, with spooky shadows; it appeared to be almost abandoned. However, we were confronted by a guard coming out of the shadows, carrying an assault rifle. We told him that we needed to park until dawn so we could buy some gas. He said okay. Tim fell asleep, but as I tried, a large and noisy crowd of young men started to gather. I felt threatened and could not sleep. Eventually, around 6:00 a.m., a school bus picked them up – that was a close call! Tim made breakfast and we offered some to the guard. Was I worried? Not really…ha!
Malawi
We then traveled northward toward Malawi. I was surprised by the young guard who greeted us at the border. He wasn’t wearing a uniform and he smiled a lot. (I later learned that the more a guard smiles, the more trouble you are going to have!) As he interviewed us about the trip, he was twirling his handcuffs and asked for my yellow fever card. I did not have, nor did I need one, and was taken aback even more when he asked if I had been recently in Brazil. As it turned out, I had been in Brazil six months earlier, but that passport had expired and there was no indication of my trip to Brazil in my new passport. However, I said I had been there recently, and it took some quick talking to assure him that I had not been in the Amazon or the jungles (which are prone to yellow fever), so he eventually stamped my book. As we left, the young guard came out to our car and told us that he was fasting to hear God’s direction for him. I prayed for him, Tim gave him his card and we stepped on the gas! Was I worried?? Not a bit (plus we were able to witness). A few minutes after leaving the border station, we hit a deep pothole with a loud thud. We suspected from the sound that we had put a hole in the oil pan. The red oil light coming on confirmed it. We had no choice but to keep driving, and we soon arrived at a little town teeming with people. Loud music was blasting from some poor quality speakers. It was not a comfortable feeling! Tim left me in the car while he searched for oil. Meanwhile, night fell and the town’s power went out. I was now alone in the dark, locked in the car, with no idea where Tim was. Once again, the car was surrounded by a crowd of young men. But I was not worried–I was confident that God was looking after us, even though I was making plans for what to do if Tim did not return! Thankfully, after a long wait, Tim returned with diesel oil, which should be used only in diesel engines (we had a gas engine!). Now I was worried for the sake of the engine, but not for us! Fortunately, we made it to Blantyre, Malawi where we met KK. It was 10:00 at night and we were hungry, so we headed out to find food. However, the car stopped suddenly about two blocks from the lodge; it seems the engine had seized up and would not turn over. We had to walk down a dark street to a gas station to buy oil. The gas station had oil, but we did not have Malawian money. Another short walk to a bank machine was in order. Once again, a young guard there had a big gun. Tim got some funds and we returned to the gas station, bought the oil and walked back to the car. The little engine drank five liters, but it still would not turn over. We eventually pushed the car up an incline where we could then point it downhill. Then Tim steered the car while KK and I followed. It was easy to see where the car had rolled because there was a trail of oil on the road. As we pushed Tim’s car into the lodge parking lot, we could hear oil gushing from the engine. What a mess! Over the next several hours we made plans to get Tim and me back to Johannesburg and get KK to Lusaka. We would have to arrange for our flights and for a tow truck to take Tim’s car the 3,000 kilometers back to his home. In the meantime, we were safe in Blantyre and the ministerial conference would start in the morning. Was I worried? Not a bit. However, I was disappointed because I still wanted to experience Zambia, Namibia and Botswana. I guess that will have to be another trip.
Malawi Ministerial Conference
The conference was a delight. I met most of the people Rick Shallenberger wrote about earlier in the year. KK was host and he made sure that Tim and I were put to work! It was fun how KK arranged it; his exact words were, “You can talk about anything you want, but I want you to talk about conflict resolution methods.” Was I worried? Not a bit. Long before we planned this trip, God had brought into the Blantyre church a young man named Mike. He works for the church at the school doing maintenance, plus he is an auto mechanic! He was able to repair our car and get it running again. It ran flawlessly for the rest of the trip, bent wheel rims and all. There was nothing to worry about. God is in charge!
Malawi church visits
In one of the churches we visited in Malawi, 50 children were in attendance. They were so well behaved that it was a delight to be with them. With KK’s permission, I handed out peanuts that had been given to us earlier. As I did so, the children surrounded me, pushing so hard that I could not move. Looking down, I saw that some of them were being walked on. So I started throwing the peanuts away from me and the kids ran after them, giving us all room to move. Though I feared for their safety, the kids seemed to enjoy it. I don’t think I will do that kind of food distribution again!
Zambia
We next traveled to Zambia, KK’s home country. Though Tim and I had never been there, it soon felt like home to us, thanks to the wonderful hospitality from KK’s family. On Saturday afternoon we had a meal with most of the ministers working in Lusaka. Then on Sunday we met for church. Following that we said goodbye to KK’s family and the three of us headed out. On the west side of Lusaka, we got a call from KK’s family telling us that they had been in a car crash! Before they could share the details, the phone disconnected. You can imagine the heart-stopping thoughts that raced through our minds. We turned around, and then a second call came in. Fortunately it was not as bad as we had imagined–just a fender bender, but it meant we had to return to KK’s house and spend another night. However, this turned out to be a blessing for the family since it gave me time to run solar-powered lighting into KK’s house. Now the family can see at night without having to run extension cords and listen to a noisy generator.
Headed home
Now behind a day in our travels, Tim decided not to go to Namibia as planned. We said our goodbyes to KK and his family, and Tim and I headed off for Johannesburg. On the way, we visited Victoria Falls (magnificent!) and then camped for the night in Botswana. At 3:00 a.m., Tim’s air mattresses sprung a leak with a loud bang. Tim got up and repaired it and fell back to sleep. But I could not sleep–Tim had a cold and his snoring got quite loud. And then I heard loud snorts and grunts outside the tent. Earlier, we had seen warthogs in the area, but as I listened, I realized that these sounds were from hippos resting just 15 meters away. The only “protection” we had was a little barbed wire fence and the fabric of our tent! Was I worried? No, but I was pretty tired!
Tim and Leigh – friends forever!
After 16 days on the road, we arrived back at Tim’s house, both of us still in one piece and still friends (my evaluation). I told Tim beforehand that I wanted to say our goodbyes before we got to the airport (I tend to choke up easily when I am sad). As we said goodbye at the airport, neither of us could speak. Goodbye was a couple of hearty hugs and a wave, and Tim drove off. But he got the last laugh – he had dropped me at the wrong gate! What amazing experiences we shared–many “near-misses,” 18 days (and nights) together–all this can either make friends or enemies. For my part, I feel a deep respect and love for Tim. He does a wonderful job in most difficult circumstances in an efficient and cost effective way. He is totally dedicated to his work as a GCI mission director. The same goes for KK; I really miss those guys and pray for them in a much deeper way than before. I know I will see them again someday and we will pick right up where we left off.
