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We Believe Youth Edition published

We are pleased to announce that a Youth Edition of GCI’s publication, “We Believe” has been published.

We Believe is a Question & Answer tool to use in teaching the core beliefs of our Christian faith. It is now available in three editions:

  • Youth Edition (for young teens and older children)—click here to download.
  • Adult Edition (for adults and older teens)—click here to download.
  • Teacher Edition (Adult edition + teaching notes)—click here to download.

For more about We Believe, click here.

“We Believe” youth edition published

We are pleased to announce the publishing of a Youth Edition of GCI’s We Believe discipleship tool. It’s designed for adults to use in Sunday school, at home and elsewhere, in teaching younger teens and older children the core beliefs of our Christian faith. To view this tool on our new GCI Resources website, click here. To access all three editions of We Believe, go to https://resources.gci.org/we-believe.

GCS registration

Registration is in progress for the Summer 2018 semester at Grace Communion Seminary (GCS), and ends at the end of the day on Monday, May 14. The first lecture in the semester will be posted on Monday, May 14 with remaining lectures posted each Monday from May 21 through July 23 (no assignments are due during the holiday break from July 1-8). Final assignments in the semester are due by August 13.

Here are the courses being offered in the Summer 2018 semester with the course instructor noted:

Traditional Classes (online only):

  • CM510 — Polity of Grace Communion International — Greg Williams
  • NT504/BI524 — Epistles of Paul — Mike Morrison
  • TH502 — Nature of Humans and Salvation — Russell Duke

Intensive Classes (online and on-site, requires travel):

  • CM508 — Church Planting and Development — Randy Bloom
  • CM511 — Homiletics (Prerequisite BI501) — Dan Rogers

Special note about Homiletics: Students are required to participate in the intensive portion of this course, which will be held during the 7th week of the semester (June 25-28), at Christ Fellowship Church in Cincinnati, OH. The face-to-face portion of the course will begin on June 25 at 1 pm Eastern time, and conclude on June 28 at noon. Further details about the schedule will be available on the full course syllabus. GCS does not cover expenses related to travel, lodging or meals. Students need to arrange their own travel, lodging and meal arrangements, and cover those expenses. Because all the work must be done within seven weeks, the amount of work per week will be more than the average GCS course. Due to the nature of presentations for this course, the instructor has limited the number of enrolled participants to 10. Audits will be permitted as enrollment allows.

Special Note about Church Planting: This intensive will be held at the new GCI Home Office in Charlotte, NC, during the 10th week of the semester, July 23-26. We recommend arriving July 22 and departing late July 26 or on July 27. GCS does not cover expenses related to travel, lodging or meals. Students need to arrange and pay for their own travel, lodging and meals.

2018 Crossing Borders mission trips

Have you been thinking about going on a short-term mission trip? If so, 2018 may be the year for you.

GenMin’s Crossing Borders Mission Organization, which has conducted 25 mission trips in its 13 years of operation, will be conducting a summer mission trip to Mexico on June 16-24, and a winter/shoebox delivery trip to Mexico on December 7-10. Everyone age 15 to 99 is welcome to participate in either or both of these trips. Even if you don’t wish to travel into Mexico, you can participate by helping out at the U.S. camp facility in Texas. For information about these trips, go to cbmission.org or call 903-746-4463.

Schantzs become grandparents

Congratulations to GCI-USA Pastor Steve Schantz (pictured at left) and his wife Carol. The couple who live in Florida, became first-time grandparents on February 23 when their daughter Briana (wife of Vern Perry) gave birth to Vernon Irving Perry V. Baby Vernon weighed in at 7 lbs and was 20 inches long at birth. Everyone is healthy, happy, and thankful! Here’s a picture of the proud mom and dad with their new baby boy:

Ordinations

We are pleased to announce the recent ordination of three new GCI elders:

  • Arnold Crisologo, Jr.: Jasaan, Misamis Oriental, Philippines
  • Ranulfo Suan: Lapu Lapu, Philippines
  • Fitzroy Martin: London and Sarnia Canada (see report below)

Fitzroy Martin’s ordination

GCI-Canada leader Bill Hall joined with Lead Pastor Colin Lauchlan in ordaining Fitzroy Martin. Fitzroy (pictured with his wife, below) had been serving as a deacon for some time. As Pastor Colin moves into retirement, Fitzroy will pastor the congregations in London and Windsor, and the small group in Sarnia.

Granddaughter born

Longtime GCI-UK employee Phil Halford (now retired) the brother of deceased GCI Editor and Regional Director John Halford, is thrilled to announce the birth of his granddaughter, Caitlyn Linda (pictured below). She was born on January 31, weighing 9 lbs. 4 oz. The mother, father and grandparents are all doing well and Caitlyn is healthy and noisy (the noisy part being, apparently, a good sign!).

GCI branded clothing

Customized clothing is a great way to promote your church. You can purchase various items of clothing with the GCI logo (shown below, available in various colors) on the GCI page on the Land’s End website at https://business.landsend.com/store/gci. When you go to the website, choose your item and then your size, and then the option to apply the GCI logo will appear.

GCI logo as it appears on Land’s End clothing.

Note: In the U.S., the IRS does not allow the cost of clothing with a GCI logo to be tax-deductible or reimbursable as a business expense because GCI does not expressly require this clothing to be worn by ministers or other employees or volunteers.