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Great Things Are Happening
Vicki and I had a great opportunity to visit church pastors on Oahu and Guam, and in the Philippines, this past month. I appreciated hearing about the work and ministry of our churches in Hawaii as they work on an island that is a lush vacation destination, but a very dry place spiritually. Pray for our church planters Dane and Liz Tokushige in Aiea, and Sean and Jessica Palmer in Kailua. I got to preach at International Church in Honolulu where Scott and Fiona Custer started serving earlier this year. Scott was installed as lead pastor in February. I also visited our church on the island of Guam. I preached at Bayview Church while Pastor Kevin and Missy Elwell were in the Philippines celebrating their anniversary. We got to see the wonderful growth and
enthusiasm at Bayview Church. We appreciate the dedication and commitment Kevin and his staff have given to this church on an island 6,000 miles away from California. We traveled to the Philippines for the CBGlobal conference where I heard stories of God working in many countries around the world. I heard of churches in Dubai with over 1,000 in attendance, 215 churches in Indonesia, the Philippines with a goal to plant more than 1,000 new churches in the next 9 years, Japan and Taiwan actively launching new churches as well. Many countries have less than 1 percent of their population attending an evangelical church, and I realize how they see America still as a "Christian" country, with 10 to 20 percent of the population attending an evangelical church. God told Abraham concerning Sodom, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it." (Genesis 18:32) We might feel that our percentage is less than in previous years, and it is, but we still have much to be thankful for here in our country. This Thanksgiving, thank God for the fact that he has blessed our country, and let's continue to pray and do all we can to continue to make a gospel impact in our community.
Happy Thanksgiving.
 Sincerely,
Jim Smith
President
Pacific Church Network
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Annual Meeting 2017 |
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Sunday, January 29, 2017
Mark your calendars and start signing up for our 2017 Annual Meeting.
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Calvary Baptist Church
Huntington Beach, CA
3:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Late Afternoon Seminars
Free Dinner and Networking
General Session - stories of church planting, revitalization, chaplaincy work, coming events and more.
Register
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Time Change |
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Fall back this Saturday
This Saturday, don't forget to set your clocks back. One more hour of sleep. People may show up early for church this week if they forget!
Did you know that China only has one time zone. Yep, China, a country that is of roughly a similar size to the continental United States, has one time zone: Beijing Standard Time. This means that when it's 6 o'clock in the nation's capital, it's 6 o'clock almost 3,000 miles further west, in Kashgar. Most of Arizona will not change their clocks at all, so this winter, when driving to Phoenix, change your clocks back.
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Vote |
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Billy Graham's view on Christian Civic Duty
Billy Graham recently wrote, "
I think it is the duty of every individual Christian at election time to study the issues and candidates and then go to the polls and vote. ...It's the easiest thing in the world for us as Christians to think of national and world politics as something involving men and women of the world. That's where we fail. Our job as Christians is to make the impact of Christ felt in every phase of life-religious, social, economic and political." Get out and vote this month.
Study the issues, pray and vote. Read the whole article.
Suggested voter guides and research sites:
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Wonderful Retreat |
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Pastor and Wife Getaway in Laguna Beach
October is pastor appreciation month. We appreciate all our pastors, and for the third consecutive year, Pacific Church Network sponsored a free getaway for our lead pastoral couples on Sunday, October 23. Seventy people joined us for the short, but relaxing weekend getaway in a Laguna Beach. We had two short sessions to encourage our ministry couples, and then they were given plenty of free time together. God even blessed us with rain, thunder and lightning. All enjoyed the rain, except our couple from Seattle! They did stay additional nights and enjoyed the SoCal sunshine. Thanks pastors for all you do!
(PS: If you lost your coat at this event, please call the PCN office.)
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Surprisingly Overflowing |
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Pacific Church Network's Spanish Men's Retreat Exceeds Expectations
With just 6 weeks remaining before the Spanish Men's Retreat, less than 10 men had signed up! PCN's Spanish Ministries Director,
Emilio Núñez was a little concerned, but this has happened before--a late registration rush. It indeed happened again, and exceeded the hoped for 150.....reaching to 163 by retreat time!! Good things are happening! It was wonderful retreat, with a few men receiving Christ as their Savior, many re-dedications and a relaxing time in the mountains. Congratulations to the soccer tournament winners, which is always a big deal at this retreat. They even have uniforms for each team! Thanks to Emilio and his team for putting on a fantastic retreat. Next year though, Emilio would like our men to register earlier.
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Growing in Kailua, Oahu |
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Church plant on Oahu now with Two Services
Daybreak Church in Kailua on the island of Oahu was one of our church plants in 2014. Pastor Sean Palmer started with a small but growing group. In 2015 they merged successfully with another church and were blessed with a building and new members. This year they expanded to two services and continue to be blessed by God with a constant stream of new people. They currently are seeing over 230 people in attendance.
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PCN Training Event |
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Creating a Culture of Generosity, February 7, 2017
Brad Leeper has the privilege of working with the best people on the planet in accelerating generosity toward God-inspired vision. For any generosity and giving culture to succeed, three key questions must be answered: 'Is God in this plan? Have church leaders cast a vision for the project that exceeds the brick and mortar story? And does each church member understand the sound, biblical basis for engaging in joyful giving in support of that vision?' Creating an environment where individuals ask God what He wants them to do--in light of what He has called their church to do--is Brad's ultimate task. Read more about
Brad.
This event is free for Pacific Church Network, Transformation Ministries and Acts 29 Member Churches and includes lunch. $25 for non-members.
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Armenian Evangelical Brethren Church
1800 Lake Street, Glendale CA 91201
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Fullerton Pastoral Search Team |
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Pacific Church Network serves as Search Team
On October 30, Temple Baptist voted to allow Pacific Church Network to be their pastoral search team to find a pastoral candidate for their church. Temple has also asked PCN to serve as their temporary Elder Board during this transitional period, making the necessary decisions to promote healthy growth and revitalization at this strategic church. Pacific Church Network also served as the search team for Goleta Valley Church and at our church in Burbank. PCN is excited to continue to be strongly involved in assisting churches to find the right pastor to lead their churches into the near future.
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Seminary Experiencing Increased Attendance |
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Highest in recent years
Pacific Church Network's
Seminary of the Americas has seen a rise in attendance this fall. We offered 7 classes at
various locations throughout southern California and the Phoenix area and had a total of 84 students taking these classes. Right
now, all the classes are in Spanish and meet a great need for those who have an interest in higher education in theology and church ministry, but have neither the time or money to attend seminary full time. Seminary of the Americas b
elongs to a network of theological institutions and functions as an agent to accommodate the best training for the student as needed. Many students have received their certificate or diploma and are ministering in different parts of the United States and the world. Seminary Director Dr. Emilio Núñez and his staff are working now to add more classes for the spring semester.
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CBGlobal |
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Global Representatives Gather in the Philippines
This past October, leaders from many nations gathered together in the Philippines. CBGlobal is a network of evangelical church associations around the world cooperating together to strengthen each other in fulfilling the great commission of our Lord Jesus Christ. Many of these churches were planted by WorldVenture missionaries and then organized into national associations, similar to Pacific Church Network. We are pleased to partner with these national associations and provide needed prayer and support whenever the opportunity makes it possible. Ongoing financial support for Japan churches following their earthquake, teaching opportunities and building projects in Indonesia, children's ministry outreaches to
orphanages
in Myanmar, and skills training in Bangladesh are a few of the opportunities that have recently been accomplished between national associations. Jim Smith is the 1st vice-chairman of this group which works together to connect each other with more opportunities to help. The countries of Japan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, America, Hong Kong,
Macau
, Philippines and Taiwan were represented at this conference. More information is available on their website or facebook page.
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Informative Luncheon |
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WorldVenture growing involvement with Pacific Church Network
On Halloween, WorldVenture and Pacific Church Network held a luncheon to update those present with the work of WorldVenture and the growing partnership WV and PCN want to develop. While PCN is planting and strengthening churches regionally, WV is planting and strengthening churches worldwide. Vice-President of Mobilization, Dougg Custer was there to share how WorldVenture is historically connected to Pacific Church Network, both having foundational roots with the Conservative Baptist Association. WorldVenture started in the late 1940's and PCN started in 1954, following the lead of WorldVenture. We look forward to working together worldwide to bring the gospel to a needy world.
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Growing Church on Guam |
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Bayview Church Growing to over 450
Pastor Kevin Elwell has seen Bayview Church continue to grow in the past several years. With a balanced mix of local and military families attending, Bayview is looking for additional staff to help with the need. Their children's ministry is exploding at 150 kids every Sunday. The youth ministry is growing as well. Small groups are meeting all over the island. We praise God for the strong gospel witness that Bayview has on this island of 165,000 people almost 6,000 miles from the shores of California. Jim Smith had a chance to preach at their church in October while Pastor Kevin and his wife Missy where away celebrating their anniversary. Pray for this growing church and their leadership as they seek to continue to spread the gospel on the island of Guam.
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Lessons from Cuba |
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Helpful Workshop in Norwalk
On Saturday, October 29, Pacific Church Network sponsored an opportunity for over 40 Spanish-speaking church leaders to gather at Norwalk Missionary Baptist Church to hear Pastor George Wilson teach on what it means to follow Christ in the times of adversity and
opposition
. Pastor Wilson shared from his personal experience of over 55 years of ministry in Cuba since the beginning of the communist revolution to today. Many were inspired and encouraged to continue serving the Lord no matter what and to see how God works through all the less-than-perfect conditions. Many appreciated the opportunity to hear such an inspirational testimony. Thanks to Norwalk Missionary Baptist and Pastor Yasmany Portillo for hosting this event.
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Date Night in Laguna Beach |
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The Great Date Night - February 25, 2017
Sometimes in marriage we forget that we need to pursue and"woo" our spouse. So PCN wants to give you a great opportunity to make a wonderful memory with your spouse, plus we value strong marriages and want to provide opportunities to strengthen them. This is one of those opportunities.
We will provide a helpful and beneficial afternoon marriage workshop with Jim and Vicki Smith, and Brian and Chandra Howard. Both couples have four children and have been in ministry for decades. They will give you some practical guidelines to strengthen your marriage.
After the workshop, relax and emotionally connect with your spouse by talking about what you learned during your afternoon with a fantastic, memorable evening meal somewhere special, memorable and fun. We are pretty sure you won't forget this event. Saturday, February 25, 2017. Cost is $75. It's well worth it!
More information and register.
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Contact |
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Pacific Church Network
2520 N. Euclid Avenue
Upland, California 91784
Pacific Church Network
909-944-5900
pacificchurchnetwork.com
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