I am excited to announce that last Sunday we formally incorporated Bertrams congregation as a GCI congregation! Bertrams was started by Pastor Gideon, who emigrated to Canada a few years ago. He then joined GCI in Canada, and recommended that the church he planted in Bertrams, Johannesburg, South Africa must join GCI as he left them without any structural support. We thank God for the blessing of coming together with them in the ministry of Christ.
We installed Pastor Issa Kwigomba as the Lead Pastor of the Bertrams congregation. We had over 140 people in attendance during the service to celebrate the incorporation of the congregation into GCI. We were also celebrating two baptisms, and we shared a meal afterward. In Bertrams, I experienced a Healthy Church. They are missional, generous, loving, caring, with an excellent mix of children, youth and adults. Their Love, Hope and Faith venues are strong. I had a very blessed time of fellowship with them.
On September 20-23, GCI President, Dr. Greg Williams, joined Michael Rasmussen (Superintendent of North America and the Caribbean), Bill and Averil Hall (National Director of Canada) and Robert and Tanya McKinney (future Regional Director of the Caribbean) for their first Community of Practice (CoP) meeting. This was the first opportunity these individuals have had to gather together face to face to discuss the vision of GCI and how to best implement and share it with those they oversee. The meetings took place in Nassau, Bahamas, just three weeks after the category 5 Hurricane Dorian devastated the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama Islands. Nassau experienced some high winds and some flooding but escaped the worst of the storm.
Left to Right: GCI Canada National Director Bill Hall, Averil Hall, GCI President Greg Williams, Susan Williams, Caribbean National Director Robert McKinney, Tania McKinney, North American Superintendent Michael Rasmussen, and Juli Rasmussen
These meetings began on Friday morning with Dr. Williams giving a presentation on GCI’s structure and vision. His presentation generated good flow and alignment for the rest of the meetings. Michael Rasmussen followed with a presentation on Team-Based / Pastor-Led and what it looks like for a congregation to be healthy with multiple layers of mentored leaders who are positioned and freed up to serve in various areas of ministry.
Bill Hall gave a report on how things are progressing within Canada and some of the challenges they are facing. Robert McKinney followed by sharing some of the challenges they face in the Caribbean, with congregations spread across numerous islands with different cultural backgrounds and where different languages are spoken. We discussed what we mean when we use terms like Healthy Pastors / Healthy Churches as well as the Faith, Love and Hope Venues. Time was provided for all participants to share and to dream about what God is doing within our denomination and to pray for one another as we join him in what he is already doing.
President Greg Williams and North American Director Mike Rasmussen meet the GCI members who survived Hurricane Dorian.
On Saturday, we all gathered for worship services. Due to the storms, there were regular power outages throughout Nassau. It was amazing to see the members adapt so quickly to the outage by moving the chairs and lectern near a glass door where light from the sun was shining in. The temperatures and humidity were extremely high, but the warm hearts and passionate attitudes of the members were even higher. It was wonderful to worship together with brothers and sisters from a different part of the world. We had the privilege of meeting some of our members who lived on Abaco and the Grand Bahamas who had survived the hurricane. All had lost their homes and earthly possessions, but they were still smiling and praising their Lord and Savior for sparing their lives. Their stories of God’s deliverance were inspiring and hair raising at the same time. Lots of help will be needed in Abaco and the Grand Bahamas, and GCI is coming alongside our local leaders to help where the need is the greatest. I have no doubt, these joy-filled, faithful brothers and sisters will rebuild and will continue to live their lives to the fullest in order to be a light to their communities and bring glory to God.
Left to Right: GCI President Greg Williams, Tania McKinney, Caribbean National Director Robert McKinney, North American Superintendent Michael Rasmussen, Averil Hall, and GCI Canada National Director Bill Hall
On Sunday morning, we once again gathered for worship, this time with no power outages. Greg Williams and Michael Rasmussen shared a sermon message and then commissioned Robert McKinney as the next Regional Director for the Caribbean. Greg Williams ordained Natania McKinney as an Elder. There was great rejoicing for what God is doing within our denomination.
On Monday we wrapped up our meetings with a time of reflection on what God has been doing and how we can be more strategic in joining him. We shared with one another some best practices our next steps in spreading the vision and the excitement of what God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) are doing within Grace Communion International.
Last Thursday, Al Nelson, GCI facilitator in Montpelier, VT, suffered a heart attack. His wife Arlene updated us on his condition, below.
Al had his operation on Friday. All went well. The surgeon was able to take care of all 5 bypasses, which is very good news. He’s out of the intensive care unit. They have had him up, walking and going up & downstairs. He might be coming home on Wednesday. But he won’t be back to his job, washing windows, for a few months! Thanks to everyone for their prayers. Praise to God.
The following is a follow-up to our article in the last issue, from Leonard Banks, GCI pastor in Rochester, NY, on his wife Patama, who has been diagnosed with lymphoma.
Patama’s recent tests reveal the lymphoma is more aggressive than doctors initially thought. She is required to be in the hospital for four days to receive chemotherapy treatments. They will give her three weeks rest at home and then she will return to do this all over again. In all, she will have six hospital visits, four days each time. She will have three weeks rest at home in between each treatment.
Sunday August 14th was a day of special celebration. Pearl Charles was ordained an elder on the 47th anniversary of the Trinidad church. Pearl and the congregation grew up together as she joined and was baptized in 1972, the same year the church began. Pearl’s husband, Clifton, is the pastor of the church and she has faithfully served beside him as a de facto second pastor. Her ordination simply acknowledges a reality we have all experienced for a long time. Pearl has been faithfully responding to a call the good Lord has placed upon her. Our prayers are with and for Pearl as she continues to serve to the glory of our God.
Megan M. Stapleton and Jesús A. Molina were united in marriage at 6:30pm on Sunday, September 21, 2019 in Brea, CA. The wedding ceremony was officiated by Pastor Heber Ticas and was followed by a reception with a dance. Around 250 people were in attendance.
The bride is the daughter of Mark and Anne Stapleton (San Diego, CA) and the groom is the son of Hilda Estrada (Pacoima, CA) and Jesús Noel Molina (Sonora, Mexico).
The couple resides in Pasadena, work in Pasadena and Westlake Village and attend a GCI congregation in Glendora, CA.
In His Grace Community Church is a congregation of Grace Communion International. Through the faithfulness of Jim and Kim Meade, the church continued to see God’s direction as a church. As the Meades transitioned into retirement, handing off the church to Grant and Kathy Forsyth, the church found the need to be a church for the community. As they stayed faithfully engaging their community, God’s faithfulness began to produce fruit. The church has grown numerically, and more importantly, grown spiritually. They continue to walk through the doors that God opens for their church and the community.
President Greg Williams and North American Superintendent Mike Rasmussen meet the GCI members who survived Hurricane Dorian. Photo by Averil Hall/McPhedran Phocus
We have sent $23,000 for emergency needs, made available by generous donors, to help with disaster relief for members in The Bahamas and we are standing by for additional requests. We wish to express our sincere appreciation to the GCI congregations and members who have donated to the GCI Disaster Relief Fund, so together, we can assist those in need.
The following is an update from Robert McKinney, National Director, on our members in The Bahamas, following the devastation of Hurricane Dorian.
We would like to thank you for your prayers and overwhelming show of support and love during this very difficult time. I visited Grand Bahama Island two days ago and met with our pastor, Calvin Parker and a number of our members.The devastation on the island is unbelievable. About 50% of our members suffered either a major roof or flooding damage.
Miraculously, a number of our members were not impacted by the hurricane. Pastor Parker has begun to distribute funds, food and supplies to members, and they are beginning to put the pieces together again. I plan to visit Abaco next week. Our members there were harder hit than those on Grand Bahama. Most remain displaced, some living with family members, while others have moved to Nassau and have had to find housing here. We have begun to assist these members with housing, funds, food, clothing and other needs as well.
I am in the process of organizing a work crew with Pastor Charles Taylor of our Miami church to go to Abaco to help with damage to our church building and members’ homes there sometime next month. Thanks again for all the love, prayers, moral and financial support. It’s still a long road ahead for some of our members, but we know that God is with us, and your loving support reassures us that we are all in this together.
Robert McKinney, Nassau, Bahamas
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GCI Disaster Relief Fund
If your congregation has a heart to help members impacted by major disasters like the one in The Bahamas, consider donating to the GCI Disaster Relief Fund. The Fund helps provide members in disaster areas with emergency needs such as food, water, medicine, clothing, temporary housing, home and/or church hall repairs, temporary local pastoral salary expenses and other emergency needs. Monies received into the Fund that are not immediately needed will remain in the Fund to be allocated in future disasters. In previous years, money from this Fund has been used to help members recover from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, storms and flooding in Bangladesh, an earthquake and tsunami in the Solomon Islands, typhoons in the Philippines and an earthquake in Haiti.
If your congregation would like to donate out of local church funds, you may do so at www.gci.org/go/chdonate
If your congregation prefers to send a check, make it out to Grace Communion International, indicating on the memo line that the donation is for the GCI Disaster Relief Fund. Send the donation to:
GCI Disaster Relief Fund Grace Communion International 3120 Whitehall Park Dr. Charlotte, NC 28273
I am excited to announce that last Sunday we formally incorporated Bertrams congregation as a GCI congregation! Bertrams was started by Pastor Gideon, who emigrated to Canada a few years ago. He then joined GCI in Canada, and recommended that the church he planted in Bertrams, Johannesburg, South Africa must join GCI as he left them without any structural support. We thank God for the blessing of coming together with them in the ministry of Christ.
