Category: Stay Connected

Chula Vista Resort and Waterpark in Wisconsin Dells, WI, was home to more than 350 people attending EngageGCI 2018. With the theme, “The Great Invitation,” the event pursued faith, family and fellowship through general and breakout sessions, plus activities for all ages that included meet-and-greet, senior’s luncheon, praise café, family fun night, midnight church (for teens and young adults) and bowling. The event ended with a worship service on Sunday.

One of the highlights of EngageGCI 2018 was the opportunity to reconnect with friends and make new ones within the GCI family. As one attendee noted, “I enjoyed the company, the reunion and comradery.” To enhance the opportunity to connect, breakout sessions began immediately after morning devotions and just before general sessions. Doing so provided lots of free time for family and friends to fellowship. Here are pictures from the event (click on each to enlarge):

This announcement is from GCI-USA Regional Pastor Randy Bloom.

I’m happy to announce that Timothy Brassell, Lead Pastor of GCI’s Baltimore, MD, congregation, will also be serving as Assistant Regional Pastor for the GCI-USA East Region. Tim has God-given gifts and experiences that will enable him to assist me in various ways as we, through support and supervision, help the pastoral leaders in our region pursue GCI’s healthy church vision. Congratulations Tim!

An important event in GCI history will occur in a worship service to be held on October 14 in Charlotte, NC. In this setting of worship, we’ll be celebrating Dr. Joseph Tkach’s many years of service to our denomination, and the installation of Dr. Greg Williams as GCI’s new President (Dr. Tkach will continue as GCI Board Chairman). In the video below, Greg interviews Joseph concerning his tenure as GCI President and the preparations that have led to the passing of the GCI presidency baton to Greg. That weekend, we’ll also celebrate the retirement of a few other GCI leaders—we’ll include pictures and additional details in a special issue of GCI Update published on October 24. Thanks for your prayers concerning this event, including safe, trouble-free travel for those attending, some from overseas.

On YouTube at https://youtu.be/duxak38hoyU, and available for download at www.gci.org/media/videos/a-presidential-interview/).

We reported last week on the aftermath of Hurricane Florence in the southeastern United States. Sadly, the death toll has risen to over 40 people. So far as we know, all GCI members in the affected areas are safe, though a few have not been heard from yet (we ask for your prayers about this). Pastor Bill Boney in Wilmington, NC, reports severe flooding in his area. Though his home was not damaged, the roof of a neighbor’s home was ripped off. The Boneys feel very fortunate. We’re thankful to report that our Home Office building in Charlotte, NC, was not damaged.

We recently received a report from GCI Philippines Director Eugene Guzon concerning the aftermath of Super Typhoon Mangkhut (called Ompong in the Philippines). It devastated the northern part of the Philippines (around Baguio City) on September 14-15. Eugene reports that though some members in that area were affected, all are safe. For that we give God thanks.

As noted by Greg Williams in his cover letter in this issue, 52 GCI members gathered recently in Columbus, OH, for Together in Christ 2018. This is the second year TIC has been held (it met last year in Atlanta). The purpose of the summit was to address issues related to reconciling people both within and beyond GCI across the boundaries that tend to divide us (things like race, gender, age, ethnicity, socio-economic class, etc.). Those attending represented the wide diversity found within the GCI-USA membership (attendance was by invitation, to achieve the desired diversity and to stay within the limited capacity of meeting venues).

Various voices—young and old; black, brown and white; female and male—spoke into small and large group discussions with a focus on the message of reconciliation in Christ found in 2 Corinthians 5:16-6:2. The discussions were sparked by a group visit to the National Underground Freedom Center in Cincinnati, OH (for reflections on that visit from GCI Pastor Linda Rex, click here).

Here is a short video from the summit, beginning with the visit to the Freedom Center, followed by the closing worship service (held at GCI’s congregation in Columbus, one of the TIC hosts).

GCI’s Queens, NY, congregation (New Life in Christ) held its annual Back-to-School event on September 8. The congregation served over 100 in their local community, distributing specially designed bags of school supplies, serving lunch, and having special face painting and arts-and-crafts activities. The congregation’s Richmond Hill, Queens community is the most diverse community in the most diverse borough of a very diverse city (New York). As noted by the congregation’s pastor, John Newsom,

We are always faced with the challenges of diverse cultures and languages in conducting outreaches. For this outreach, the need was for Spanish and Mandarin and we were blessed to have these skills among our volunteers. Thus, we were able to translate our gospel message in these languages!

Here are pictures of the event:

Thanks and congratulations to Steve and Mary Ann Brown! Steve recently retired from 40 years of GCI employment, pastoring churches in Michigan, Missouri, West Virginia, Ohio and Florida. Here are pictures of a party in the Browns’ honor, held recently in Bradenton, FL (Mary and Steve are at left in the picture below, left). Four of the couple’s five children joined in the celebration.

Cards may be sent to:

Steve and Mary Brown
4350 Genesee Lane
New Port Richey, FL 34655

Here are links to reports concerning recent ministry activities in GCI-Philippines:

• Youth ministry activity
• Spiritual discernment seminar

GCI’s congregation in Derby, KS, recently held a Sunday service that included the blessing of backpacks full of school supplies assembled by the congregation. These were given to students at nearby elementary and middle schools the congregation is reaching out to in multiple ways.

Grace Communion Seminary recently held two courses using a short-term “intensive” class format.

Church Planting

On July 23-26, GCS faculty member Randy Bloom conducted an intensive class in Church Planting. The class, attended by six students from the U.S. and U.K., was held in GCI’s Home Office in Charlotte, NC. At the end of the intensive, Randy conducted a communion service, attended by most of the GCI home office staff. Doing so accentuated the joy and unity experienced throughout the week. Here is a video with pictures of the class:

On YouTube at https://youtu.be/S9P60INiWOg.

Homiletics

On June 25-28, GCS faculty member Dan Rogers conducted an intensive class in Homiletics. The week-long intensive portion of the course, held in Cincinnati, was preceded by seven weeks of online work. During the intensive, the five students each gave three sermons. All agreed that meeting together face-to-face was dynamic and helpful, providing interaction, mutual critique, encouragement, and fellowship. One of the students, Anthony Mullins, shared this:

The intensive was a great success. Tangible growth took place in all the students over the course of a few days together. The relational bonding was exceptional as well. All the students mentioned they could not imagine taking the course online without the intensive. Thanks to Dan for his competent teaching guidance.