Category: Stay Connected

Over the last few years, GCI-USA Church Administration and Development (CAD) has been providing “Outside the Walls” consulting services to renewal churches. A primary tool has been helping those congregations conduct community outreach events. Those events are then followed up with ministry training workshops. A Teen and Family Ministry Workshop was held recently at Christian Family Fellowship, GCI’s congregation in Jacksonville, Florida.

Facilitated by CAD team member Anthony Mullins, the workshop was attended by about 25 youth ministers and pastors from GCI congregations in Jacksonville and Tallahassee, FL (see some of them pictured above). The workshop addressed these topics:

• What does it look like to communicate a Christ-informed belonging to young people through word and deed?
• How do we minister to teens in a culture that can be confusing to them?
• Youth ministry hacks (shortcuts) that can be implemented today.
• Going to where youth congregate in the community.
• Spanning the generational gap and how Boomers think differently than Millennials.
• The role that camp ministry has in supplementing local church ministry.

The interactive sessions during the workshop celebrated the good work already being done in these congregations, and challenged them to build on that base. Once it concluded, teens from a nearby neighborhood came to the Jacksonville church building to play a game of touch football and to have a fireside chat with Jacksonville Lead Pastor, Marty Davey. It was a good day of inspiration and hope for the future.

This report is from Anthony Mullins, National Coordinator of the GCI Intern Program.

The GCI-USA annual Intern Orientation took place on December 8-10 at GCI’s home office in Glendora, CA. We welcomed two new Interns: Gordon Herrmann and Mohammad Ali. Both will begin the 2.5-year-long internship in 2018. Gordon will be placed in Cincinnati, OH, with Pastor Dustin Lampe, and Mohammad will be placed in San Jose, CA, with Pastor Mel Dahlgren.

The Intern Orientation included these presentations:

• Greg Williams: CAD Vision Going Forward
• Pam Morgan: Operations and Logistics
• Michelle Fleming: The Power of Vibrant Small Groups
• Mark Mounts: Pastoral Counseling, Boundaries and Self-Care
• Heber Ticas: Healthy Church
• Cara Garrity: Relationship with the Pastor Supervisor
• Dustin Lampe: Welcoming and Assimilating the Intern Into the Life of the Church
• Anthony Mullins: Designing a Ministry Action Plan (MAP)

Regional Pastor Mike Rasmussen and Pastoral Resident Cara Garrity facilitated roundtable discussions specific to the needs of the Pastor Supervisors and the Interns.

The Intern Program will continue to place a strong emphasis showing how GCI’s incarnational Trinitarian theology informs the Intern’s identity and outflow of activity in local church ministry. To help mentor, guide and encourage the Interns, we’ve assembled a “wrap-around support team” that includes their Pastor Supervisor, a Ministry Coach, their Regional Pastor and the National Coordinator of the Intern Program. Included in this support are weekly meetings with their Supervisor, monthly meetings with their Ministry Coach, monthly video conferences with other Interns and Pastoral Residents and bi-annual progress reviews.

The next Intern Orientation is scheduled for July 27-29, 2018 at GCI’s home office in Charlotte, NC. Please join us in asking the Lord to provide young adults who love the Triune God, love Christ’s ministry and want to lean into serving others in GCI.

For more information about the GCI Intern Program, go to https://www.gci.org/internprogram.

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Here is a recently produced video in which Anthony Mullins introduces the GCI-USA Intern Program:

On YouTube at https://youtu.be/32Up7cEi7qs.

Fifteen people gathered recently at the St. Stephens Retreat Center in Titusville, FL, for the 7th annual “Experiencing the Trinity Retreat” sponsored by the Odyssey in Christ Ministry. For four days, participants explored their relationship with God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They practiced various spiritual disciplines designed to open space to hear from God personally. The retreat was structured for the participants to move back and forth from solitude to community to experience the benefits of being with God both alone and in community.

Here are comments from retreat participants:

• It was like being with family—I’m returning home renewed and refreshed.
• I learned how to better listen to God in silence and solitude. I also learned how deeply God loves me.
• I learned to be intentionally making space for Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• Community—God speaks through others.
• It’s just what the doctor ordered—a chance to refocus on what’s important in life and get a renewed sense of direction spiritually and otherwise.

Here are links to updates on recent gatherings hosted by GCI in the Philippines:

1. Leadership camp
2. Ministry equipping retreat
3. Youth friendship day
4. ACCM classes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This update is from Rex Morgan who pastors the GCI church in Auckland, New Zealand, and manages the GCI New Zealand office.

Fifty excited people attended the 50th anniversary of GCI’s Auckland congregation on November 4—50 years to the day after its inaugural service. The event was held at the Mt. Eden hall where we have been meeting regularly for services the past 15 years.

After three baptizing tours in the early 1960s, Graemme Marshall came to live in New Zealand in 1967. On September 7 of that year, the first WCG Bible Study was held in Auckland, at the Workingman’s Clubrooms in Kitchener Street. The first Church service took place on November 4, 1967, in an upstairs room in Queen’s Arcade.

Fifty years later, lots of memories came flooding back to mind as members past and present enjoyed renewing old acquaintances and comparing stories. There was plenty of “mix and mingle” time, pleasantly enhanced by a delicious and abundant finger-food lunch. I read out messages of greetings from members unable to be present, including Don and Alix Engle, Gary and Pam Harvey, Kerry and Anne Gubb, Rod and Ruth Matthews, Bob and Sandy Morton, and Kerry and Anne Gubb. Rod’s message encouraged the attendees to “look around at one another, think of those who went before us and recall that we are but a part of a spiritual body so much bigger, immortal, as yet unrevealed, but flowering plants in the garden of God. We celebrate together this golden anniversary milestone on a journey as yet unfinished but with a sure destination.”

Brief addresses were given by David Wong, Barry Nottingham, Robert Thompson and National Pastoral Director, Dennis Richards, reminiscing on incidents and lessons gleaned during half a century of history. Then we watched a video from GCI President Joseph Tkach. Following that (see picture at right) an anniversary cake decorated in our theme colors of purple and gold was cut by five members present at the inaugural service: Barry Nottingham, Rex Morgan, Jeannette Findlay, and Noreen and Robert Thompson.

I noted in my address that 50th anniversaries are referred to as “golden anniversaries”—a reminder to us of how God is refining our character into spiritual gold for his everlasting temple at the center of the New Jerusalem, which is described as being made of pure gold. It was a wonderful day of golden memories. No one wanted to leave.

Daphne Vidal, one of our members in Dominica, sent the note below, thanking her GCI brothers and sisters for helping GCI’s Dominican members recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria.

Warm greetings from the Nature Isle of Dominica. Nature is healing the wounds inflicted by Hurricane Maria and we can see hope in the leaves returning to what was once a beautiful rainforest. We are greatly encouraged by this sign. The Forestry Division will soon begin to implement the reforestation plan.

We joyfully report that we have received 250 galvanized sheets and 250 lumber planks purchased by members in Trinidad with money sent from GCI’s Disaster Relief Fund administered by folks in the Glendora office. We are truly grateful for this cooperative effort by different groups within the GCI family. We are finalizing with members their exact needs so we can start distribution next week so they can repair their roofs.

We also received the supplies sent by our GCI-USA family in Florida. From that we were able to prepare care packages for all the members and a few persons in need. Most of the packages were distributed today. While supermarkets and business places are open, persons in outlying districts do not always have easy access to supplies. We have also been blessed with the help of Andy Williams from the GCI Orlando congregation. We put him right to work and he was able to assist in clearing and offloading the building materials and supplies from the port.

A special thank you to our GCI family for blessing us during our time of need.

This past Halloween, GCI’s congregation in Tipp City, OH (Grace Communion Tipp City), served 300 hotdogs, more than 450 cups of hot chocolate, and gave candy to about 600 children. The congregation’s church building is situated in the middle of the Tipp City trick-or-treat route, giving the congregation opportunity to reach out to most of the trick-or-treaters and their families. According to interim Lead Pastor, Rick Shallenberger, “Not only did we provide the hotdogs, hot chocolate and candy, but we also provided rest rooms and a place for families to warm up. It was great fun, and a great way to greet most of the children and families in the town.”

GCI President Joseph Tkach and his wife Tammy recently travelled to England for a conference attended by GCI members. As seen in the pictures below (click to enlarge), Tammy gave the sermon at a church service held in Watford. The next day, Dr. Tkach was joined by Dr. Alan Torrance (professor of systematic theology at St Mary’s College of the University of St Andrews) in addressing the conference, which was held in Borehamwood.

This report is from GCI Mission Developer Rod Matthews who works in South Asia and the Pacific.

Along with Northern India and Bangladesh, the country of Nepal was inundated by flooding resulting from exceptionally heavy monsoon rains. Over 100,000 were displaced in Nepal by the flooding. Many of the villages, scattered throughout mountainous areas, and in the plains of Southern Nepal, were devastated.

Our ministry partner in Nepal, Deben Sam, reported that the flooding destroyed food, clothing and household goods along with sources of income including rice fields, chickens, goats and fish. Books and other educational materials used by the children in their schooling were also destroyed. Many dozens of church members in the congregations Deben works with suffered such losses.

Deben immediately initiated an emergency relief program starting with the affected church members in five locations. GCI sent emergency relief funds to help. Deben was most grateful to our members in the USA for their contribution from the GCI Emergency Assistance Fund, along with ssistance from GCI in New Zealand, India and Fiji.

In addition to the personal losses for the dozens of members affected, in Chitwan, the church building was damaged and because the river had changed course, it was not possible to rebuild the church in the same location. In Makwanpur, the church had established a chicken farm to generate income from the community, so they could become financially self-sustaining, but this too was destroyed. Milanchok’s church building was damaged and a simple structure needed to be built so members had somewhere to meet again.

The summer months in Nepal are usually dedicated to conducting the Mobile Bible School in selected mountain villages. This year, Deben and his team have had to deal with the added pressure of this natural disaster. He is most appreciative that so many people in many parts of the world pray for him and for those God is serving through him as a result of the long partnership with GCI.

Here are reports related to “passing the baton” of pastoral leadership in two GCI-USA congregations where, after many years of service, the lead pastors are retiring from GCI employment.

Cincinnati

As reported by GCI-USA Regional Pastor Rick Shallenberger, November 5 was “a day of celebration, reflection and affirmation” as George Hart and his wife Vicki were recognized for 33 years of service to GCI, with 21 years serving as lead pastor in one of GCI’s Cincinnati, OH, area congregations, and several years serving as a district pastor.

After presenting the Harts with a special gift, Rick prayed, asking God to bless the coaching and consulting ministry George and Vicki are launching. Rick then installed Jason Frantz as the new lead pastor of the congregation. Following that, George ordained Julie Frantz as a GCI elder. After the service, all shared a meal where members shared stories of affirmation and thanksgiving for the Harts.

Sacramento

As reported by GCI-USA Regional Pastor Tim Sitterley, November 4 in the Sacramento, CA, congregation was a day for celebrating the 50 years that Mike Swagerty has served in full-time, employed pastoral ministry (including several years as a district superintendent). During the celebration, which included a formal dinner, Mike’s long career was highlighted along with the many ministry contributions of his wife Sandy. The celebration included the presentation of a certificate of appreciation given Mike by the mayor of Sacramento.

In January, 2018, Mike will be retiring from GCI employment. At that time, he will be replaced as lead pastor in the Sacramento congregation by Dwight Sanders, who currently serves as a pastoral resident in the congregation.

All the best to the Harts and Swaggertys. We deeply appreciate these two pastoral couples, and are thankful to them and to God for their many years of ministry within our fellowship.

Cards may be sent to:

George and Vicki Hart
8133 Eastdale Dr
Cincinnati, OH 45255-4559

Mike and Sandy Swagerty
8331 Northvale Way
Citrus Hts, CA 95610-0802