From the Desk of the President
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Dear Members of the Eastern Regional Association of Advent Christian Churches,
After a thorough search for a person to fill the position of Secretary of the ERA, on behalf of the ERA Board I am pleased to announce that the ERA Board has voted to hire Missie Twitchell for this position. It is usual for the Superintendent to hire support staff, but since Missie is the wife of Superintendent Twitchell, the Board has assumed the responsibility for hiring her. After a search that lasted nearly one and one half years the Board is confident that we have hired the best candidate for this position. Missie brings to this position excellent administrative and secretarial skills along with a very inviting and pleasant personality. In addition, Missie has a very thorough understanding of our ERA ministry, churches, and people. With the hiring of Missie, the Board has implemented several policies to insure a God honoring and successful outcome. These policies shall include:
- Missie’s financial remuneration shall be through direct deposit. (Already accomplished)
- She shall be hired by the ERA Board and thus directly responsible to the ERA Board. Any salary and benefit adjustments shall be made by the ERA Board.
- In the event she has any employment problems, she shall have the authorization to bring any of those problems to the ERA President and/or the Vice-President.
- She shall not have check signing privileges.
The Board is looking forward to a long and fruitful ministry with Missie as secretary of the ERA.
In His Service,
Rev. George Karl
President, ERA
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EASTERN REGION ONLINE CHURCH SERVICES
As churches return to in-person gatherings, the online services may change.
AC Church of Haverhill (Haverhill, MA)
Ashland AC Church (Ashland, ME)
Auburn AC Church
YouTube
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Sunday 10:00 a.m.
Blessed Hope Church (Waterville, ME)
Calvary Bible Church (Meredith, NH)
Crossroads Church (West Ossipee, NH)
Dunntown AC Church (Washburn, ME)
Faith Bible AC Church (Plainville, CT)
Friendship AC Church (Friendship, ME)
Goodwins Mills AC Church (Dayton, ME)
N. Springfield AC Church (N. Springfield, VT)
Oak Hill Bible Church (Oxford, MA)
Rev. David Davis (Carmel, ME)
State Road Church (Mapleton, ME)
YouTube
– Sunday 9:30 a.m., Wed 6 p.m.
State Street Church (Portsmouth, NH)
Sunshine AC Church (Deer Isle, ME)
Torrington AC Church (Torrington, CT)
Vernon AC Church (Vernon, VT)
Westfield AC Church (Westfield, MA)
Whitefield Christian Church (Whitefield, NH)
Eastern Regional Association Prayer Gathering
ZOOM
– Fri. 12-1PM
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5143503559
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Can you guess which church this is? The first person to email the office (secretary@aceasternregion.org) with the correct answer will receive a small prize. If this is your home church, we ask that you refrain from answering. Check back in July for the answer and the winner.
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The Eastern Region's Family of Families
Luuk Geerligs is one of our Pastors serving in Nova Scotia. Following is an article about an outing he and his grandson had that could have turned out disastrously for him and his family.
Grandfather, grandson saved from frigid waters by 'hero' in a rowboat
A man who rescued a grandfather and grandson from a tipped canoe on Nova Scotia's South Shore this week is being hailed as a hero.
Vincent DeMings wasted no time jumping into action when a neighbour called and told him she'd seen two men capsize in Lake George near Shelburne. But he insists he just did what anyone else would.
"When you see something like that, you just react," said DeMings. "All I had in my mind was: 'Try to save these people here in the water.'"
Jakob Almero, 20, and his grandfather, 74-year-old Luke Geerligs, decided to take advantage of the warm weather on Monday and go bass fishing.
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Church Attendance & Giving Statistics During COVID-19
Most churches canceled in-person service
86% of churches did NOT hold in-person, on-campus Sunday services on March 22, 2020. This is a massive, yet predictable jump from 54% of churches declining to meet on March 15. Most churches are responding to the pandemic by either skipping Sunday Services entirely, or instead engaging in some form of digital service.
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Half of churches have begun tracking online attendance
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Of churches surveyed, 52% are tracking online attendance. This will continue to be important as churches learn to estimate how many individuals are reached for every unique view online.
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1 Stats from cdfcapital.org They surveyed 269 US-based churches to learn how Sunday services went
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Online attendance averages slightly higher than regular in-person attendance
Most churches tracking online attendance reported higher-than-average views. Overall, online attendance was 8% higher than in-person attendance before COVID-19.
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Most churches tracking online attendance reported higher-than-average views. Overall, online attendance was 8% higher than in-person attendance before COVID-19.
Church Giving Statistics During COVID-19
When someone experiences a crisis, the way they handle their finances tends to change. The COVID-19 outbreak has left many Americans wondering how long they will still have jobs and be able to pay their bills. So how does a widespread crisis impact overall church giving?
Churches continue to report abnormally low tithes and offerings
43% of churches reported a decrease in giving on March 22, 2020. Half of churches surveyed did not provide giving information, and the remaining 7% reported and increase
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Churches of all sizes experienced this decline
Churches report that giving has decreased by 29% since COVID-19. This is a sharper drop off than last week, when churches reported an average decrease of 13% in tithes and offerings.
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These statistics are highly interesting and while they only represent a small number of participating churches, they probably reflect some statistical trends that are common throughout our Nation. The good news is that congregations are only reporting an 8% decrease in attendance and online views are up. Higher than when the church was in a physical building in many cases. Unfortunately for many, giving is down as many are struggling with the loss of jobs and income. Most of our churches in the Region are reporting average to better than average giving as the impact of Covid 19 has been less in rural areas.
If you haven't already begun to rethink how you do ministry, and your finances, it's not too late. We need to reevaluate our priorities and come up with contingency plans as we may face a resurgence of Covid 19 in the fall, further Government sanctions on the Church, and/or economic struggles as prices go up and more businesses close. Jesus says in Matthew 5:44-45 "
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust
."
It's amazing to think back over the past 6 months and all that has transpired:
January - Australia ablaze
February - Locust invasion in North Africa and the Middle East
March - COVID 19
April - Economic challenges
May - Over 100,000 Covid related deaths in the U.S.
June - Rioting over police brutality
The church has faced many challenges both within and without and it doesn't seem to be ending anytime soon! We will be addressing some of these things at the Regional Convention this fall as we examine, "The Church in Crisis." The good news is that we have a Savior who loves us and is returning to redeem his people from sin, death, and the challenges of this life.
Grace,
Greg
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Monthly Devotional Thought
The Cup Passed
"What should we make of the fact," a subscriber asks, "that Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane to avoid the cross, if possible in God's will?"
"If it is possible, let this cup pass from me," Jesus prayed, "yet not as I will, but as You will" (Matt. 26:39). But was Jesus really asking to avoid the cross? If that is all we see, we will miss one of the most powerful and poignant statements in Scripture concerning Jesus' love for us sinners and the extent to which he was willing to go to save us.
Jesus prayed "with loud crying and tears" to God "who was able to save him from death," says the author of Hebrews - "and he was heard because of his piety" (Heb. 5:7). The expression "save him FROM death" is also literally translated "save him OUT OF death." Jesus prayed that God would save him out of death by raising him to life again. God heard this prayer and did exactly what Jesus asked.
The Old Testament pictures God's punishment against sin as a "cup" that God himself mixes and hands to the person to be punished, who must then "drink" it. Sometimes God's cup sends the recipients reeling, but God then takes the cup back from their hand and they recover (Ps. 60:3; Isa. 51:22). Sometimes God does not take the cup back - and the person who drinks it falls to the ground and never rises again (Obad. 16; Jer. 25:27).
Jesus prays for the first scenario. He drank the cup and died. But God took the cup back from Jesus' hand - he saved him out of death. Jesus rose again, in vindication of his own faith and of God's faithfulness. "Let this cup pass from me," Jesus prayed. And it did! Because Jesus drank the cup of divine wrath, we do not have to drink it. Instead, Jesus hands us the cup of the new covenant do drink, a cup of blessing that attests that we are forgiven forever (Matt. 26:27-28).
Edward Fudge
GRACeMAIL
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Visit our website to make a donation online
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Previous copies of the monthly newsletter and helpful articles on Covid-19 are now on our website.
The Heritage Conference will hold their annual meeting via zoom on Saturday July 18, 2020.
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To the churches who have continued to give this year, THANK YOU!
Income is ahead of budget by $
3585
and Spending is below budget by $
5271
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Online Prayer Meeting Fridays from 12-1 p.m.
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Your Annual Reports are valuable to the Region! If you or your church has not reported, please take the time to do so.
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63% of churches have reported.
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New Life - 8 out of 10
Nova Scotia - 2 out of 2
Heritage - 9 out of 11
Maine - 19 out of 23
Maranatha - 4 of 21
New York - 1 of 1
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74% of Ordained Ministers, and 56% of Credentialed Pastors have reported.
Thank you Pastors and Churches who have reported!
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Click the link below to visit the Advent Christian Voices blog. Where Advent Christians consider the past, examine the present, and define the future of the Advent Christian Church.
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The Eastern Regional Annual Convention is October 22-24, 2020 at Blessed Hope Church in Waterville, ME.
"The Church in Crisis"
Keynote speaker John Tate
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ERA Board of Directors
Rev. George Karl, President - sumkarl@yahoo.com
Rev. Frank Jewett, Vice President - frankrjewett@gmail.com
Rev. Allen Latimore, Clerk - aclatimore@netzero.net
Mr. Howie Munday, Treasurer - mundayhk77@gmail.com
Rev. Doug Tourgee, Heritage Conf. President - dougin401@aol.com
Mr. Kent Davis, Maine State Conf. Vice President - kdavis@pgagnon.com
Pastor Josh Rice, Maranatha Conf. Secretary - jrice.emmanuel@gmail.com
Rev. Derek Irvine, New Life Conf. President drick1221@gmail.com
Mr. Adam Facteau, New York Conf. President - afacteau@twcny.rr.com
Rev. Ken Perkins, Nova Scotia Conf. President - Ken.perkins@EastLink.ca
Mr. Charlie Merrill, ERA Representative to ACGC - cmerrill7967@gmail.com
Rev. Steve Lawson, ACGC Executive Director - slawson@acgc.us
The Eastern Regional Association Newsletter is published as a ministry of the Eastern Regional Association of the Advent Christian General Conference.
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Eastern Regional Association
32 Four Rod Road, Rochester, NH 03867
Phone: 603-332-1412 / Fax: 603-332-1648
www.aceasternregion.org
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