Category: Stay Connected

Please help me in welcoming Lucellie Santibanez Enerio – warmly known as Lucy.

Lucy was hired on June 7 part time as an Administrative Assistant in the President’s Office. After only a couple of weeks it was clear that she was a natural part of our team. On June 27, she transitioned to full-time employment.

Lucy’s background is in Music Therapy. She completed her Master of Music with a major in Music Therapy (MMT) at Texas Woman’s University, Denton, TX, in May this year.

Lucy is a joy to work with. She is a self-starter and brings a skillset much needed in our office. Her organizational skills, creativity, and fresh eyes approach are a blessing to the Home Office.

Lucy works closely with the Operations Coordinator assisting with projects in the President’s office and Church Administration. She is cross training in other departments such as Facilities and Member Services.

Pam Morgan
Operations Coordinator

Join us in honoring David Sheridan’s retirement. He served as GCI pastor for over 48 years.

Cards may be sent to:
David Sheridan
101 Cramond Close SE
Calgary Alberta
T3M 1C1

Congratulations, David! We are very grateful to you for your many years of faithful service.

We wanted you to hear from David, in his own words.

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Early memories start at Ambassador College in England and include teaching Physical Education at Imperial Schools and teaching geography on the College faculty. Twice touring the Holy Land and participating in the archaeological excavations in Jerusalem were outstanding experiences.

In Canada, I pastored congregations in Newfoundland (St. John’s and Corner Brook), Saskatchewan (Prince Albert and Tisdale), and Alberta (Calgary, Lethbridge and Red Deer.) The most meaningful and enjoyable part of pastoral ministry was visiting precious members in their homes – a less formal setting. A short teaching from the Holy Scriptures added an important spiritual dimension to these enriching experiences.

Moving with the doctrinal reformation of our denomination from the bondage of painful legalism and authoritarianism to God’s amazing grace, from deception and blinding heresy to the truth of the gospel and Christian orthodoxy was the major highlight. Then along came Incarnational Trinitarian theology enhancing our personal relationship with God and keeping Jesus as “the centre of the centre” of all we say and do. These transformations brought much freedom and joy.

As a long-time fan of Roger Federer, I continue to play singles tennis. Having completed ten marathons, I continue with long-distance running but now reduced to 10-kilometres. Espionage spy thrillers (Tom Clancy/Vince Flynn) bring a welcome change of pace along with cheering on the “Red Devils” – the Manchester United soccer team! Studying theology with the understanding that Jesus is “perfect theology” remains a life-long interest.

I am blessed to have my four beloved children and eight precious grandchildren all living here in the city of Calgary. Spending family time together and watching the little ones grow is an ongoing source of joy.

After 48 years in the ministry, walking daily in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, our beloved Savior, and participating in the life and love of the triune God is always the number one activity.

David A. Sheridan
Calgary, Alberta

Join us in honoring Warren Wilson, longtime pastor, who retired in August.

Cards may be sent to:
Warren & Lorraine Wilson
220 Waverly Way
Clarksburg, WV 26301-4047

Congratulations, Warren and Lorraine! We are very grateful to you both for your faithful service and love for Jesus’ church.

We asked Warren to share his reflections.

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I retired at the end of August after 34 years in full-time ministry. It’s amazing how quickly 34 years can fly by. Now I’ll be able to spend more time with my wife, Lorraine. She and I are celebrating our 50^th wedding anniversary on September 16, 2022. I’m also looking forward to spending more time with our two sons and daughters-in-law, our five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren and two step great-grandchildren. It should be a lot of fun!

My faith journey in GCI began in the early 1960s. Our family listened to the radio broadcast, and we moved to Southern California in 1964. Shortly thereafter my sister Janet and I began attending church and were welcomed warmly by the members.

In 1968, I began attending Ambassador College in Big Sandy, TX, where I met my future wife, Lorraine Holtkamp. During my time there I really didn’t feel that I was being called into the ministry. So, after our graduation and marriage in 1972, we moved back to Southern California. We moved around and attended various congregations, finally ending up in the Bay Area in the early 1980s.

While attending the San Jose church, I began to sense that I was being called to ministry. I was ordained an elder in 1986 and hired into the full-time ministry in 1988. In the summer of 1994, we were transferred to Clarksburg, WV, where I served as their senior pastor. Little did I imagine how things would change in six months, and that I’d serve the rest of my ministry in West Virginia.

It was a difficult time in 1995 as some of our members left. But through it all, I encouraged the remaining members. We are saved by God’s grace, not by our attempts to keep the law. We were wrong — it’s been humbling to accept that. The scripture that has meant the most to me in our transition is Galatians 5:1.

So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. NLT

The thing that has been the most meaningful to me during my years in ministry is the chance to serve the members and to share their joys and sorrows. I can’t imagine doing anything that would be as meaningful as that.

Now that I’m retired, I’m looking forward to seeing how God wants to use me going forward. I don’t believe he’s finished with me yet, so I pray and look forward to him revealing to me what’s next. I still want to serve him and serve others wherever and however I can.

Pastor Warren D. Wilson

We asked our members to tell us why they appreciate their pastors. Click the image below, and read what they had to say!

Welcome to GCI Buzz! What is GCI Buzz? It’s a tool we use to recap GCI buzzwords and terminology — definitions at a glance.

This month’s GCI Buzz defines integration and describes ways to create a welcoming space for guests. #gcibuzz

Click on the image below to check out the full PDF.

Tracey was a retired pastor, who served in Jacksonville, Florida. On August 26, 2022, at the age of 86, he died in Colorado. The following was written by Pastor Marty Davey, who served with Tracey.

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Our dear brother and faithful GCI minister, Tracey Rogers, recently passed. Tracey and his wife, Judi, moved from Jacksonville about 4 years ago to live near their daughter and family in Colorado. He and Judi have been living of late in a very nice, assisted living facility together.

Tracey’s family held a memorial service for him in Colorado. They plan to bring his ashes to Florida in the future, to scatter them where he loved his life and precious wife, whom he met on the beach in Jacksonville.

Tracey passed, having completed his pilgrimage and sojourn in this mortal life. As was so eloquently said in Acts 7, we join with Tracey in saying with him, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

Well done, Tracey – you have been a good and faithful servant!

Cards may be sent to:
Judi Rogers
c/o Morningstar Assisted Living & Memory Care
575 Tantra Drive
Boulder, CO 80395

The U.S. Southeastern region hosted a webinar series early in 2021, facilitated by Ted Johnston, featuring our We Believe curriculum. Ted emphasized how instructive and impactful this tool can be for discipleship and spiritual formation in the Faith Avenue. Several congregations in our region began engaging the We Believe content with their connect (small) groups.

GCI Miramar (Florida) and Pastor Charles Taylor reaped another “graduating” class that completed the We Believe series! The held a special meal to celebrate. I’m grateful for their willingness and diligence to engage trinitarian theology and its implications for life and mission in and with our triune God.

Would you like to learn more about We Believe? Check out the We Believe workbook which explores our core beliefs with individual study and communal discussions: We Believe Workbook

Congratulations to the GCI Miramar We Believe graduates. Praise God!

By Anthony Mullins
Regional Director, Southeast U.S.

We attribute the success of our kids’ back-to-school carnival to the Holy Spirit and the prayers of many who partnered with us in the weeks leading up to the event. Every Sunday for three months, members and friends of GCI Glendora were encouraged to pray for enough volunteers and for God’s will for the carnival.

A week before the event, our Love Avenue champion took the initiative of emailing and mailing out a specific prayer list of what to pray for before, during, and after the carnival. We prayed not just for ourselves and the volunteers, but also for the Holy Spirit to prepare the hearts of the neighbors who would come. Some members performed a “prayer walk” in the surrounding neighborhoods, while going door-to-door to pass out fliers announcing the carnival.

We are compelled by the love of God to serve our neighborhood – that’s our central reason behind neighborhood engagement. Specifically, we held this initial event because we desired to:
• get to know our neighborhood and have some fun with them,
• allow the neighborhood to get to know us and know that we exist,
• bring about a change of mindset from inward to outward,
• provide training for volunteers to be more effective at future activities, and
• create an opportunity to celebrate obedience to God’s call to reach out and serve, regardless of the outcome.

Our goals for the carnival were:
• to give people a good time,
• to start getting to know kids in our neighborhood,
• to help the kids have a good time. Every player wins a prize.

We would have been content if only two kids had attended – but we were amazed and grateful that approximately 200 people showed up! All our neighborhood engagement and carnival preparation has been an act of faith in our God who provides so much more than we expect or imagine.

Through this new Love Avenue experience, we are learning the slow and consistent process of getting to know our neighborhood and how we can best serve with the gifts we already have. It’s as if God is saying to us, “Trust Me. Watch and see what I will do through your obedience to me.”

By Jillian Morrison
Associate Pastor, Glendora, California