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Category: Be Inspired
GCI Board Update
Grace Communion International continues to follow Jesus on his mission to share the good news we have been given and make disciples. By his grace and with the resources he provides, we do so around the globe. It is encouraging to see articles in our publications that highlight the growth and vitality that many are experiencing on this journey.
An essential aspect of Jesus’s ministry within our cultural context is to function within the legal guidelines required by governmental agencies. Accordingly, GCI is organized and established according to a set of Bylaws and is “Board Governed.” That is, GCI’s theological foundation, overall mission, financial procedures and administrative policies are overseen by a Board of Directors. This includes insuring publications accurately reflect our mission and GCI doctrines, reviewing and approving the annual budget and financial audit, approving and financing the Ministry Training Centers and overseeing the work of the GCI President as he develops plans and strategies for living out GCI’s vision and mission.
The GCI Board of Directors is a diverse group of elders who serve four-year terms. Each of the directors brings an impressive range of gifts and experiences to serve GCI on a voluntary basis. An aspect of chairing the board that has been particularly enjoyable for me is having the blessing of working alongside a group of people who fervently love Jesus and gladly exercise their gifts to benefit GCI. We are all friends as well as co-workers. While we review, deliberate and decide key issues related to oversight and governance of GCI, we do so with a full measure of mutual respect, grace, and humor (we like each other and have a good time.)
The board generally meets four times per year. Three meetings are by Zoom and the fourth, a face-to-face meeting, is held each October at the GCI Home office. However, our last meeting was an exception. We decided to meet in Surrey Hills at the location of the Ministry Training Center and the home of GCI Surrey Hills. This gave our directors an opportunity to experience firsthand the fruit of their decision to finance the MTC by meeting at the building and participating in the worship service.
During this board meeting something occurred that made the experience particularly inspiring. The board installed Mike Urmie as the newest board director. As a long-time GCI member and elder he has served in many ministry and pastoral roles. He brings a wealth of experience from the world of business and sales. We are honored to have him join the board of directors.
Also at this meeting we thanked Robert (Chip) Brockmeier and Heber Ticas for their outstanding service on the board as they concluded their terms. They have both served faithfully and graciously as co-stewards of the mission and resources Jesus has given GCI. We greatly appreciate their contributions to the board and pray they continue to experience every blessing Jesus has for them as they continue to serve him in other capacities.
As the board continues to follow Jesus, oversee the work of GCI and support President Greg Williams, please pray for us. We covet the wisdom of Jesus and the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we seek to faithfully steward GCI resources. We thank our many GCI members for their financial generosity and support.
May our loving Father continue to bless all of us as we journey together with Jesus.
Randy Bloom, GCI Board Chair
Meet Isaac Bright Buckman
“I feel very much fulfilled each time I get the opportunity to execute my God-given mandate of feeding the flock of God.”
Meet Isaac Bright Buckman. He’s the pastor of the Cape Coast and Asebu congregations of GCI in the central region of Ghana, West Africa.
Prayer Guide—December 2025
“Celebrating Advent means being able to wait… Whoever does not know the austere blessedness of waiting… will never experience the full blessing of fulfillment.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
This December, we gather in prayer with hearts full of expectancy. We are celebrating Christ’s light breaking into our world, and giving thanks for the joy, compassion, and community reflected in our churches this season.
Join our fellowship in prayer this Advent. Download the full prayer guide here.
Would you like to receive this Prayer Guide straight to your email inbox before the first of the month? Sign up here.
ICYMI—2025 Highlights
In Case You Missed It (ICYMI)
As we come to the close of the year, we want to thank you for your faithfulness and the many ways you have participated in the life of our fellowship and your neighborhoods. Your engagement with the resources we share goes a long way in supporting the mission across GCI. We are grateful for you.
This year, we spent time exploring Kingdom Culture and what it means to shape our common life around the character and compassion of Jesus. As we step into a new year, we look forward to continuing this journey together as we focus on Kingdom Living. We are excited to keep offering resources that support you and your congregations in taking simple, meaningful steps in following Christ in your daily rhythms and relationships.
Thank you for participating. We pray God’s blessings over you in this Advent season.
This devotional invited us to slow down and reflect on living from the values of God’s kingdom, not just completing church tasks.
Why revisit: To capture the heart of our theme this year and offers a grounded reminder as we prepare to lean into Kingdom Living.
Epeli Nakautoga shared how Jesus met him with faithfulness during overwhelming seasons of life.
Why revisit: To hear an encouraging reminder that Jesus walks with us in the real, everyday places where we need support and hope.
This issue explored the purpose of the church and the six core functions that shape how we participate in God’s mission.
Why revisit: To learn helpful language and reflection questions that support the conversations we want to continue having about being healthy churches.
This letter from the President encouraged us to join the Spirit’s work right where we are, through simple, everyday steps.
Why revisit: To read practical ways to keep growing into Kingdom Living as we enter a new year.
This Church Hack offered practical ideas for engaging across generations in meaningful ways.
Why revisit: To gain tools that go a long way in helping our congregations foster belonging for children, youth, and adults.
Camps reflect the heart of what many of us have experienced at youth camps — Christ’s love in a warm and welcoming environment.
Why revisit: To be reminded that our global family continues to create spaces where young people can encounter God’s love.
Heber Ticas stepped into his new role as Vice President this year, and our fellowship gathered around him with gratitude, prayer, and encouragement as he began this important season of service.
Why revisit: To watch a meaningful moment of unity and support across our fellowship.
Kingdom Citizens’ Toolbox—Invest in People
Citizens of God’s kingdom embrace God as triune and relational and strive to spend our time in a way that prioritizes relationships and invests in people. We ask the Spirit to empower us to live relational lives, seeking proximity to others. We believe a fitting response to God’s love is to generously give our time to others as an offering. May we waste time on others in the prodigal sense — lavishing and expending extravagantly!
We invite you to read below a spiritual formation article from Publications Editor, Elizabeth Mullins. It was adapted from the Equipper article, Killing Time.
It’s always a good practice to reflect on Jesus’ mission and my participation in it. I believe fellowship is a spiritual discipline, but am I devoted to it? A good formation practice for me is to regularly contemplate whether the way I spend my time prioritizes relationships.
One way I am being conformed to Christ is through relationships. Hanging out with others is how I pursue belonging and connection and build meaningful community. Often the connection that the Spirit intercedes between or among people cannot be planned for and cannot be hurried. Have I made room for availability and spontaneity?
Here are some reflections about cultivating the spiritual discipline of fellowship. May they serve as prompts as you discern with the Spirit.
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- How much unscheduled time do I have? Why? How am I spending it?
- When do I choose comfort, simplicity, solitude? When does that choice contribute to my formation in Christ? Is it ever a hindrance?
- Am I ordering my life around the convenience of privacy and an uninterrupted schedule? Are there ways it has led to isolation?
- How am I drawing a “wider circle” — wider than my family, my home, my preferred friend group? (Jesus widened our image of family — creating a new family, God’s household. Ephesians 2)
- Reflect on the last time you spent time with a toddler or an elder. What do they have to teach me about the way we keep time? Are there ways we can celebrate inefficiency?
- What story is my timekeeping telling? If a stranger observed my bodily rituals, what might they decide that I worship?
- How might the Spirit be inviting me to create just a little more space and margin for killing time with other people?
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Kingdom Living—Investing Time
Kingdom Living looks like faithfully investing time in people.
Read below about three initiatives in GCI India for examples of this type of investment.
Bible Study Fellowship in Bachupally
The GCI India Hyderabad congregation continues to extend pastoral care and spiritual nourishment beyond the church premises. A group of four families residing in Bachupally, a distant part of the city, have been receiving monthly Bible study and fellowship visits from Pastor Praveen Chinta.
These gatherings include 12 adults and children. They are held in rotation at each family’s home. The meetings are filled with joyful participation, heartfelt worship, and deep reflection on God’s Word. The families have expressed how much they miss regular fellowship with the larger congregation but are thankful for this opportunity to grow together in faith and unity.
Through these monthly visits, GCI India continues to nurture spiritual growth and strengthen the bonds of Christian fellowship, ensuring that distance never separates God’s people from his love or his word. The church is prayerfully hopeful that this small fellowship in Bachupally will continue to grow and, in time, become a thriving GCI congregation serving that part of the city.
Equipping for the Lord’s Harvest
Grace Communion Church Hyderabad, in partnership with RHEMA Glob-al, joyfully completed its 53-day Pastoral Training School held from June 2 to July 25.
The participants graduated, equipped with foundational theological education, pastoral care, and missional training to serve the Lord and his people.
Pastor Praveen, who coordinated the training, expressed heartfelt thanks to GCI India for their generous support and encouragement throughout the program. The Lord said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” Matthew 9:37. Let us continue to pray for these new laborers as they go forth to serve in the vineyard of the Lord!
Ecumenical Equipping in Vijayawada
Pastor Praveen has begun volunteering his time equipping co-laborers in Vijayawada. Though many of them have not received formal pastoral training, they are faithfully ministering in their local churches (non-GCI). They show a deep hunger to learn more about Scripture, theology, missional living, and pastoral care.
On October 10, 25 participants attended the first class. Pastor Praveen taught on Bible Study Methods and Rules of Interpretation through the Lord’s Prayer, while Pastor Moorthy from Guntur helped translate into Telugu. The students participated with great enthusiasm and a genuine thirst for the word of God, deeply encouraging the teaching team.
Your prayers are requested for the continued success of this training, that it may strengthen churches in the region and raise up more faithful leaders for the kingdom.
As GCI India continues to live out its motto “Be Blessed and Become a Blessing,” this initiative stands as a testimony to God’s ongoing work in equipping his people and spreading the light of the gospel in local communities.
Devotional—Parables of the Kingdom
Jesus used parables as one of the primary means of teaching about his kingdom. “Parables became one of the primary ways Jesus disrupted the default way of thinking in his culture. The word parable (parabole) comes from two Greek words that mean ‘to place or throw beside.’ Para means ‘beside’, as in parallel lines; bole means ‘to throw or to place.’ Teaching by parable means placing two things next to each other in order to learn more about them through contrast and comparison.”[1]
The parables challenge us to think about our beliefs and values, in light of the culture of the kingdom. Even the disciples had difficulty in understanding the parables when first given. After giving the Parable of the Sower, Mark records:
Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around, they asked him what the parables meant. Mark 4:10 NLT
Jesus then went on to explain the meaning of the parable. If we ask Jesus to teach us, he does. Ask him.
There is so much we can all learn from studying, discussing, and sharing the kingdom parables, and in so doing, we repent. We change the way we think, as we come to understand more about Jesus, his kingdom culture, and our living as citizens of the kingdom of God.
Prayer
Thank you, Father, Son, and Spirit, for including us in your life and kingdom. Help us, Jesus, to change our minds, to repent. Your teaching, healing, and sacrificial love, has revealed the glory and beauty of your kingdom. Spirit, teach us. Give us wisdom to understand your parables. We’re grateful that we don’t need to perfectly understand the meaning of your parables to be included in your kingdom. Amen.
By Bob Regazzoli, Pastor
Carina, Queensland, Australia
[1] Willard, D. (2024). The Scandal of the Kingdom: How the Parables of Jesus Revolutionize Life with God. Zondervan.
Kingdom Citizens’ Toolbox—Educate Emerging Leaders
Citizens of God’s kingdom appreciate the importance of multiplying leaders. Ministry Training Centers bring increased focus to the development of emergent leaders in GCI.
Apprenticing and mentoring the next generation to participate meaningfully in Jesus’ ministry is an act of stewardship for the future. It presents an opportunity for mutual learning and fresh expressions of ministry in response to the Spirit. Ultimately, investment in emergent leadership is a natural outflow of healthy church rhythms.
What is a Ministry Training Center?
Read an interview discussing benefits of creating a learning center like an MTC.
Kingdom Living—Equipping Leaders
Kingdom living involves preparing leaders who make disciples who make disciples. Read on to learn more about the important work taking place in our Ministry Training Centers (MTCs) around the world.
Bogotá, Colombia
MTCs, within a Christ-centered Trinitarian theology, are not merely a doctrinal framework but a way of forming disciples and ministers who live and serve from communion with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In practice, the MTCs emphasize learning in community rather than individualism. Learning takes place through dialogue, mentoring, small groups, and shared service within relationships of discipleship and collaboration.
The movements experienced in the MTCs are interpreted through Christ himself, both as the content and as the model of ministry, in dependence on the discernment of the Holy Spirit. Students are taught to join the mission that God is already carrying out in the community so that each one may experience it in their daily lives. Therefore, it is not merely an academic formation but one of life, service, and relationships, both within the church and beyond it.
It is an integral formation that affirms a clear identity in Christ, who is shaping each of his children into his image and character. At the same time, it develops knowledge that enables a biblical, theological, and cultural understanding, so that students may discern the times and the place where they are, leading them to live lives of service and accompaniment in community. The way we think about God shapes our practice in the church, in community life, and personally.
We can say that the MTCs embody Trinitarian theology in practice when they are formed in community, with Christ at the center, in dependence on the Spirit, participating in the mission of the Father, and living the Christian life with the character, knowledge, and service of the Lord Jesus Christ, who sent us, as Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21 NIV).
By Paulina Salinas, MTC Coordinator and Superintendent of Latin America
Bogota, Colombia
Manila, Luzon, Philippines
The MTC in the Philippines was launched in 2023, following the pilot of the Healthy Church program beginning with Grace Communion (GC) Pasig. During its inception, the MTC design and delivery model was adapted to the local context.
To address immediate and strategic needs for equipping in an inclusive and sustainable way, the MTC program was set up for hybrid implementation. It is hosted by GC Pasig but opened to leaders from other GCI congregations, with 16 local churches currently represented. Many interns are emerging leaders, with a few current leaders also included. Now on its second year, MTC Philippines has two batches of interns: batch 1 with 10 students and batch 2 with almost 30 participants.
3Ms: Ministry Training, Mentoring, Multiplication
One way multiplication is evident in the MTC Philippines program is in the awakening of pastors and congregations to the need for training their leaders and the benefits of leveraging the MTC. There is now a stronger appreciation for long-term and systematic leadership development. Local churches show ownership through their pastoral teams. These teams help select interns and provide church support for their financial, administrative, and ministry needs.
Multiplication is also evident in the growing number of interns, the MTC Philippines administrative staff, and volunteers from GC Pasig and other areas. It is also reflected in the variety of instructors who bring relevant knowledge and expertise, including church leaders who are also GCS students.
Meanwhile, focused and sustained mentoring is an area of growth. Many of our pastors did not have this kind of mentoring early on. To help cultivate a mentoring culture in the MTC, pastors are required to attend classes with their interns and debrief them weekly to promote accountability and deeper relationships. The curriculum involves an annual retreat for all interns, pastors, and instructors to facilitate personal interaction and learning exchange. The hope is for mentoring to become part of GCI Philippines’ leadership culture and way of doing ministry.
For ministry training, MTC Philippines aims to address the three domains of learning: head (knowledge), heart (character), and hands (ministry skills) by providing the Trinitarian Christ-centered lens, character development and team-based culture, and practical ministry tools. Assignments involve application and activities in interns’ local churches or ministry teams, which they have been implementing real time. It is worth noting that local churches have unique ministry contexts and opportunities, so the practicum fields vary.
In the last few years, the MTC program has been instrumental in the Philippines’ leadership development efforts, for interns to better understand GCI beliefs, cultivate practical leadership skills, and receive mentoring and support. It also benefits local churches and contributes to the continued roll-out of Healthy Church by deepening interns’ knowledge of principles and ministry implications, enabling them to participate more in cascading this to our congregations.
By Aron Tolentino, MTC Coordinator
Manila, Luzon, Philippines
Sun Valley, California, US
The Ministry Training Center in Sun Valley, California, began in fall 2024 with 15 credit students and 12 auditing students from the Sun Valley and Hawthorne congregations.
During the spring 2025 semester, we had 12 credit and 10 auditing students. In the Fall 2025 semester we have 12 credit students and 13 auditors.
At the Sun Valley MTC, we have four university students between the ages of 22 and 27. We have three couples between 30 and 45, and some between 50 and 60. All these students are actively involved in the church as Avenue champions, AWANA and Sunday school teachers, and facilitators of connect groups. We fervently pray to the Lord that in the coming years, leaders will emerge from this group of students who will pastor our churches or serve in various areas of ministry.
Finally, I would like to highlight that during the Fall 2025 semester, we had the pleasure of welcoming Dr. Greg Williams, who was the instructor for the class “Introduction to GCI Polity.”
By José Lopez, MTC Coordinator
Sun Valley, California, US
Surrey Hills, Oklahoma, US
For over three years, I have had the honor of serving as the Ministry Training Center Coordinator for Grace Communion Surrey Hills. It has been an incredible experience. I also had the privilege of participating in earlier internship and residency programs years ago before stepping into full-time ministry. Looking back, I can see how the program has shifted and grown, and I believe what we are experiencing now is truly something special.
At Surrey Hills we have two pastoral residents and one intern, and I have seen so much growth, hard work, and heart for ministry in these young leaders. The key, I believe, is GCI’s commitment to High Support/High Challenge. In the past, there was often strong encouragement and support, but perhaps not enough challenge or accountability. Young leaders crave responsibility and ownership. At the same time, challenge without support can overwhelm. Holding both together makes all the difference.
Support looks like saturating them in prayer, grounding them in Trinitarian theology, providing hands-on training, ensuring adequate financial help, and inviting them into life-on-life ministry each week. Challenge means trusting them to lead ministries, form healthy teams, and take responsibility for discipling others. It also means lots of time with me and lots of accountability. When these two dynamics work hand in hand, young leaders are not only encouraged — they are equipped to thrive.
What excites me most is that the fruit is already visible. Our two residents and our intern are new to GCI since we planted here in 2022. They aren’t just learning about church — they are being the Church. They serve daily, lead actively, build relationships, and invite others into the life of Christ. They are walking others through the Apprenticeship Square and are passionate about equipping more disciples.
God has been so faithful to this work, and I believe the best is yet to come. We are seeing leaders emerge who love Jesus, embrace our theology, and are eager to join the Spirit in what he is doing in our neighborhoods. This is how leaders, ministries, and churches will multiply — not by theory alone, but by living out the gospel together every day.
By Ceeja Malmkar, MTC Coordinator and Pastor
Surrey Hills, OK, US
