US District conventions focus on outreach, laughing and praying
Pacific District Convention: moving beyond the comfort zone
Fresno, Calif.
At the Pacific District Conference convention held Nov. 7-8 in Fresno, Calif., delegates were urged to move beyond their comfort zones to reach the unsaved for Jesus Christ. Using Jesus as the prime example of someone who left the comfort zone to help others, conference moderator Roger Poppen challenged the delegates to be like Jesus. Ed Boschman, director of Mission USA, the national renewal and outreach ministry, echoed the theme, emphasizing the need for churches and individuals to share Christ with others. He said that the church's priority has to be changed from meeting the needs of those in the church to meeting the needs of those outside the church. Brad Klassen, a church planter in Phoenix, Ariz., was called upon to explain his outreach endeavours. A one-day door-to-door campaign yielded 10 of the 14 people currently part of a small church group. Other church planters testified about the rewards of risk taking in outreach.
Business included:
Fresno Pacific University president Allen Carden announced a new major in Christian ministries as part of the college's degree completion program designed for people who are employed full-time. Vice-president Art Enns announced that plans for the university's College Commons were scaled back from the proposed $12 million US to a $5 million project for the dining hall, dinner theatre and mail room services.
The Board of Faith and Life presented a paper on the issue of racism, encouraging people to make efforts to meet others from different racial and ethnic backgrounds despite cultural barriers.
Delegates welcomed five new congregations into the conference--all of them immigrant churches. Three were Korean churches: Shin Il in Anaheim, Calif., Joong Ang in Los Angeles and Sam Sung in Federal Way, Wash. The other two were of recent immigrants from the former Soviet Union: Slavic Gospel Church of Bellingham, Wash., and Pilgrim Slavic Church of Spokane, Wash.
The $272,400 US budget for 1997-98 passed as did a bylaws revision reflecting the change in name from Fresno Pacific College to Fresno Pacific University.
from The Christian Leader
Southern District conference emphasizes laughter and prayer
Edmond, Okla.
Laughter and prayer highlighted the Southern District Conference convention held Nov. 7-9 in Edmond, Okla. Duffy Robbins, veteran youth ministry worker and faculty member at Eastern College in St. Davids, Penn., was the keynote speaker, using humorous anecdotes for effect. Convention planners had hoped to attract younger delegates to this convention by selecting Robbins as its keynote speaker and shortening the business sessions while increasing the worship times. A quick survey of the 250 registered delegates and guests indicated that the number of younger delegates was modestly higher than in previous years.
Robbins used the metaphor of a wall to illustrate how God's promises for Christians can be blocked by facilities, finances, personal issues or generational differences. He referred to Joshua standing before the walls of Jericho as a model of how Christians should first submit to God, worship God and then serve God; he contrasted the idea of child-like faith with childish faith; he stated that churches need to focus on those outside the church instead of those inside of it; and he compared risk-taking in the church to a runner in a race and a downhill skier.
Part of the weekend included a walk around the Murrah Building site in Oklahoma City, the federal government building destroyed by a bomb in 1995, killing 167 people; prayer for those in authority as well as for those who resist authority and for the needs of college students; and a walk past the Edmond post office which was the location of a shooting spree by a disgruntled postal worker that killed 14 people.
Business included:
Updates from five commissions.
The approval of new and revised bylaws. The decision to affirm nominees rather than elect district workers did not go unnoticed by delegates but was received favourably.
Discussion of the proposed bylaws relating to a congregation leaving the denomination. A proposed reversion clause met with some resistance but the bylaws passed with a strong majority vote. David Froese, SDC Chair, said a procedures-and-policies manual will be developed during the next biennium to address matters not included in the bylaws.
Delegates approved a 1998 budget of $240,000 US, an increase of nine percent from 1997 and they approved a plan allowing the Executive Council to increase the recommended 1999 budget of $250,250 by as much as six percent.
from The Christian Leader
Central District delegates envision growing urban churches
New Hope, Minn.
With the theme, "Recapturing the Vision" at the annual Central District convention held Nov. 14-16 in New Hope, Minn., delegates were encouraged to think about and envision urban and suburban outreach. District leaders announced at the meeting that the Twin Cities have been targeted again for a church-planting thrust--this time in partnership with Mission USA, the national resourcing ministry for renewal and outreach. Delegates affirmed the plan of the district's Church Planting Committee to begin demographic studies in two communities on the eastern side of St. Paul and launch a search for a church planter.
The ethnic diversity of urban centres was reflected in the fact that the Twin Cities' other MB Church is the Russian Evangelical Church, which was adopted into the district two years ago. Pastor Vladimir Sharikov said some 45,000 Russian immigrants, most of them Jewish, live in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. The church is seeking a permanent meeting place.
In other news:
Millard Bible Church in suburban Omaha, Neb., had outgrown its building and was also planting a new church called Rolling Hills Church in Papillion, Neb., a fast growing community on the southeast edge of the city. The new project was formally recognized by delegate vote as an emerging congregation. The church-planting couple, Rod and Donna Anderson reported that the church began Sept. 13 with 42 people in attendance.
Faith Bible Church in Omaha, organized in 1968, recast its vision statement, hoping to reach out into its urban community with the initiation of four ministries: a "boomer-builder" congregation made up of anglo 33-60-year-olds; a hispanic congregation, Living Water Church, led by Walter and Amalia Preza; a "Generation-NeXt" thrust, led by James Epp targeting 14-33-year-olds; and "Good Neighbour Ministries" directed at providing social-spiritual services.
Lakeview MB Church in Chicago was considering closing but is continuing for the time being with the arrival of a new pastor, Trevor McCready, a Moody Bible Institute student.
Washington Heights in Bismarck, N.D., ended its 30-year ministry in June. The board of trustees hopes to sell the facility and use the money to start a new church in North Dakota.
Delegates took an offering to raise revenue for new church projects.
A recommendation from the Board of Trustees to funnel $20,000 US from the operating fund into the district's Church Grant fund, which is used for facilities was approved. The fund balance was $46,364; the Trustees will use the operating funds to move toward a goal of $80,000.
The guest speaker, Jim Westgate, director of the Center for Training in Mission/Evangelism at MB Biblical Seminary, Fresno, Calif., spoke about the future of urban outreach. He said that the greatest issue facing the church is not secularization but a "sleeping church". He challenged pastors not to see themselves as called to build a church, but called to reach a community. To be effective the church will have to learn to manage chaos, he said. Change is happening at such a rapid and constant pace that even businesses today settle on projecting three years into the future, not five or 10. He said the glue that holds a church together is not its doctrinal statement, but the commitment of its members to read and understand God's Word.
from The Christian Leader
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