The last GCI Denominational Conference was held last August in Orlando, FL (click here for videos). The next one will be held in 2020 at a location near GCI’s new International Home Office in Charlotte, NC. It will start on July 29 and end on August 2 (this is different than previously announced).
Videos of the primary presentations at the 2017 GCI Denominational Conference held last August in Orlando, FL, have been posted at https://www.gci.org/media/conference2017.
Registration is open for the Spring 2018 semester at Grace Communion Seminary (GCS) and closes January 16. The first lecture in each course will be posted on Tuesday, January 16, with remaining lectures posted each Monday, January 22 through March 19. No assignments are due during the Holy Week break, March 26 – April 1. All work is to be completed by April 16.
To register, go to https://www.gci.org/go/gcsspring18.
Here are the courses offered this semester (with course instructor noted):
GCI Publications Editor Ted Johnston reports that beginning in January 2018, changes are coming to two of GCI’s international denominational publications:
We hope you find these changes beneficial. We look forward to serving you in 2018 and beyond.
Due to the Christmas holiday, and the new publishing schedule noted above, GCI Equipper will be published next on January 3 and GCI Update on January 10.
The GCI publications team wishes you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! To help you celebrate, here is a video that highlights verses related to Christ’s first advent.
On YouTube at https://youtu.be/IKlsvGqkrfk.
Here are reports on recent elder ordinations conducted in Canada and Grenada.
GCI-Canada Western District Superintendent Bill Hall joined with Winnipeg Lead Pastor Alan Redmond and elders Dave Adolfson, Charles Norris, Nestor Guspodarchuk and Maurice Yurkiw in ordaining Clay and Gillian Houghton as elders for the congregation. Clay and Gillian have been active with GCI-Canada’s Silver Meadows summer camp, local young adults ministry, small group Bible studies, the congregation’s Table of Grace food bank and the recently approved Canadian charity for education in Sierra Leone based in the Winnipeg congregation.
Elisha St. Louis of GCI’s congregation on the Caribbean Island of Grenada was recently ordained an elder by Caribbean Mission Developer Charles Fleming and the congregation’s lead pastor Emerson McIntyre.
Immediately following the ordination, Elisha was commissioned to serve as the congregation’s associate pastor. According to Charles, “Elisha is not only a great help to Emerson, but has the gifting needed to succeed Emerson someday.”
As noted in a recent post on the new GCI Facebook page, our churches would not exist without the prayerful and financial support of our members. The end of the year is a perfect time for pastors to thank them by sending out notes of thanks, encouragement and congregational vision. To help you do that, we’ve designed a GCI postcard (below). To use it, click on the picture, print it on cardstock paper, cut out each of the cards, hand write your message on the back (blank) sides, then send them out.
Each month we publish a prayer guide on the GCI Facebook page at www.facebook.com/WeAreGCI. To download the guide for December, click here or on the picture below.
GCI Media recently published videos of several presentations at the GCI Denominational Conference (We Are GCI) held last August in Orlando, FL. To access a playlist of those videos on YouTube, click here. The first video, a presentation from Dr. Gary Deddo, is embedded below.
On YouTube at https://youtu.be/a4bhGiQsxYc.
We are pleased to announce the recent wedding of GCI-Canada Pastor Bob Millman and Shelley Bradford. The ceremony was officiated by Al Nordstrom and a reception hosted by the Edmonton congregation followed. As seen in the picture at bottom, our Eritrean members honored Bob and Shelley in their traditional way. These members, who recently resettled in Canada, attend the Edmonton congregation where Bob is lead pastor. Congratulations Bob and Shelley!
This announcement is from Jeff Broadnax, national coordinator of GCI Generations Ministries (GenMin).
In order for us to see more young adults actively involved in GCI congregations, and in ministry leadership roles in particular, we will need to provide more effective “on-ramps” for this age group to participate in GCI at the local, regional and national levels. GenMin is helping provide these on-ramps in several ways, including sponsoring two events that will be held in the U.S. in 2018 (see below). We encourage you to let the young adults in your congregation and other church networks know of these events, then help them attend as you are able.
The first event, called GC Ignite (formerly GC Next), will be held over the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend (January 12-15, 2018). GCI young people ages 18–30 will gather at Mt. Lebanon Baptist Camp near Dallas, TX, for worship, fellowship, equipping and challenge designed to “fan into flames” the gifts God has given them (2 Tim. 1:6), returning home to use those gifts in their congregation and region. For more information about GC Ignite 2018, go to www.generationsministries/gc-ignite.
The second event, called GC Launch, will focus on leaders within GCI congregations who are high school juniors and seniors. It will be held in December 2018 at the GCI Home Office in Charlotte, NC. We’ll have more information about this event early next year.
