From the Desk of the Superintendent |
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What a wonderful time of year to be a Christian. We have celebrated not only the death of our Savior on the cross for our sinfulness, but also his resurrection, proving to be truly man and truly God. The temperature is warming, birds are returning, and flowers are blooming as we look forward to Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon all believers. It is this truth that we share, that leads us to share our HOPE with others.
I apologize if you have tried to call the office and the phone has not cooperated. It was down for some time needing repairs and we are still waiting for the old company to port our numbers over to the new company.
I have been studying a book called Generational IQ with Executive Director Steve Lawson, President Paul Dean and the other 4 Superintendents. As we meet weekly to pray for each of you, we have also spent some time reading books that will help us to know how to encourage our churches. Author Haydn Shaw quoted Ed Stetzer with some positive and negative aspects of the Millennial Church.
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In 100 AD there were 1,400 believers representing 0.0023%
In 200 AD there were 217,800 believers representing 0.36%
In 300 AD there were
6,300,000
believers representing 10.5%
Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity (Harper San Francisco, 1997), p. 7.
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STATS ON MILLENIALS
NEGATIVE STATS
Only 1 in 6 look for Spiritual Guidance at church
9/10 believe that they can have a good relationship with God without the church
60% are turned off by religion
POSITIVE STATS
9/10 have a close friend who is a Christian
89% said they would listen to someone tell them about their Christian beliefs
46% said they would join a small group if asked
Ed Stetzer, Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach them (Nashville: B&H, 2009), 59
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With the current cultural challenges we face here in New England and across the country, and with all that is going on in Washington and the world, we may be feeling like there is no hope for the gospel. However, if you look at the world in which Paul lived, with the level of persecution, hedonistic emperors, and outright rejection of this new religion called “the way” it is amazing to me that Christianity grew at all. It seems like Satan was pulling out all the stops both within the church, in the community and the political system to bring the Apostles work to a halt. However, this is what we see in the early church (see above left).
The early church multiplied like crazy as they worked with apostle types being sent out, and the multiplication of churches that were led by Elder Teams who could rapidly grow as the Church grew. By the time the church became the State religion under Constantine, it had already grown by 40% per year.
This is incredible growth, and it can happen again if we are willing to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading and The Way of Christ and His Apostles as it appears in the New Testament. As I reflect on the comments of the Millennials above, I am struck with the idea that they are open to the Gospel if I were bold enough to share it. It is time that we stop preaching to the choir and using the church for our own personal benefit, and begin to see it as a mobilized army, designed to reach lost people. May the Lord use us in these last days as His ambassadors of TRUTH to every generation of Americans who do not know him yet. This is my prayer for you and for each of our churches!
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LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT CAMPAIGN |
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We are raising money to invest in Leadership Development within the Region. $3,000 has been raised. Our goal is $6,000. This will provide money toward:
~Funding for Leadership Development training in Summer and Fall of 2021
~Scholarships for AC students doing Antioch degree work
~Underwriting attendance for Training Event Costs
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Thank you to those of you who donated to the Pastors Aid Fund! $1,800 was raised! |
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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.
The March Church was the Crouseville AC Church in Crouseville, ME. Paul Carter was the first to guess the correct answer.
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Monthly Devotional Thought |
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May I be honest with you? Sometimes prayer is very difficult for me. I have a hard time sitting still while talking with God. I have an even harder time waiting on Him. Often times while praying I find myself thinking about the numerous inconsequential things I need to do instead of praying. Even harder though, are the times that I have prayed and prayed, but haven't seen the answer. I have rationalized what Jesus meant when He promised to do what we ask when we pray in HIs name. This rationalization has helped me "keep the faith," yet it has also cheated me from passionate prayer. I haven't given up praying; I believe in prayer! Yet my prayer life has lacked authority and vibrancy. For this reason, I asked the Lord to help me grow in this area. He has been busy answering this specific prayer!
My personality is such that I would like Him to just push a prayer button and poof - my prayer is suddenly "powerful and effective!" Sometimes it feels like I am shooting in the dark as I try to pray according to God's will. "You just keep praying, Cindy, if it's God's will, He will bring it about!" There is truth to this, but I yearn for more clarity when I pray. Without it, I tend to give up more easily. To teach me, my Father reminded me of Elijah. After three years of drought, Elijah was to tell King Ahab that it would rain. This was risky for Elijah but he did as he was told. Then, he sat back and waited, looking for God to do what He promised. If you know the story, you know that's NOT what he did. Elijah immediately prayed for rain. In fact, he prayed seven times before he even saw a rain cloud. I also thought about Daniel. This faithful man had been reading the Scriptures when he realized Israel's time of captivity was nearly over. In his excitement he went around telling everyone of God's promise, packed his belongings and prepared to leave. Nope, that sounds more like what I would do. Daniel went immediately to prayer, earnest prayer until he saw the promise fulfilled. Then the Lord clenched the lesson for me as we came into the Easter season. In Matthew 26:36, as Jesus enters the Garden of Gethsemane, He tells his disciples to wait while He goes further to pray with Peter, James and John. A distance away, He instructs these three to watch with him as He goes a short distance further. As He falls to His face in prayer, I'm sure they could have heard what He was saying had they ben listening. I never took much stock in this, thinking that Jesus was asking them to watch for His imminent arrest. But notice the wording of the next verses. When He comes back, they are sleeping. He wakes them, asking if they couldn't watch for just one hour. Then He tells them to "watch and pray" so they wouldn't enter into temptation. Did you catch it?
It excites me to realize that Jesus didn't instruct them to start with prayer. No, He first encouraged them to watch. It wasn't until after He came back that He instructed them to watch and pray. Sadly most days I'm like the eight disciples who accompanied Jesus but sit around waiting to see what will take place. It is amazing to me that God has ordained to work through men and women whose hearts are devoted to Him. When he shows us through His word, or another manner that has God written all over it, it becomes our responsibility to go to prayer until we see the answer. Elijah did this, Daniel did this, and Jesus instructed this. The lesson is clear: God reveals, we pray, God works. It is God who does the work, but He chooses to use us in the process. We have a great responsibility to watch and pray, as well as great joy as we see God doing more than we could ask or imagine! Listen to this very familiar passage from the Passion Translation: "...for tremendous power is released through the passionate, heartfelt prayer of a godly believer!" Wow, just wow! Who else is into releasing some of God's power with me today? Let's watch so that we might pray!
~Cindy Ludwick
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Truth Told Blog
"Sensing a calling from God to share my faith, and recognizing an ability to communicate more widely by being online, I have started this blog." Larry Anderson
Click on Larry's picture to visit his blog site.
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PROFILES IN ADVENT CHRISTIAN HISTORY
Excerpts Taken from Albert C. Johnson - AC History
There were many men with the designation of "ELDER" who were part of the early Second Advent movement and played a significant part in the preaching, teaching, and publication ministry. This is the third installment of Profiles in AC History.
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Elder Ward
Elder Henry Dana Ward was first a congregational layman, but later an Episcopal minister of New York City, was also an able leader. He was chairman of the first general conference (Boston 1840) and his address to that assembly on the history and doctrine of the Millennium, was considered very able and comprehensive, was published with the report of the conference, widely circulated and is of value to this day. He was a leading member and adviser in subsequent gatherings. He was a graduate of Harvard college, possessing brilliant talent, much experience, and deep piety. He wrote largely for The Signs of the Times, and The Midnight Cry.
He wrote several books including: Glad Tidings, Telescope of Faith, The Gospel of the Kingdom, and The Faith of Abraham.
Later he traveled and lectured on the subject of Christ's coming, the promises to Abraham, the Kingdom of God, and the restitution of the earth, in America and in Europe. While associating freely with the early Adventists, he never accepted the definite time view, but wrote an earnest protest against believing and teaching a set time, which was published in The Signs of the Times, in December, 1841, and it was not many years before almost the entire Adventist ministry accepted this view, later definite time theories being accepted by only a fraction of the people.
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Elder Jones
A congregationalist of New York City, having heard the message of the near coming of Christ, gave it much prayerful study, and embraced it with a whole heart. He was a man of brilliant talents, and an active worker in the cause. He wrote many valuable communications on the coming of Christ, a tract entitled "The Scripture Searcher," and later, a published paper, in addition to writing and preaching the message, giving many evidences of the end near at hand. Yet, he rejected the definite time conclusions as being uncertain, and , therefore, unsafe to teach. He was considered a very successful laborer and did much to extend the message and establish the cause. He was secretary of the first general conference, and served some other gatherings in the same capacity. His writings on the question of the restoration of the Jews were able, sound and influential and are still worthy of careful perusal.
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ELDERSHIP
By: Greg Twitchell
I think that it is incredibly interesting that most of the leaders in the early Advent Christian Church were called, “ELDERS”. Elder Litch, Elder Himes, Elder Fitch, Elder Ward, Elder Jones, Elder Bliss, Elder Hale, Elder Southard, and Elder Miller to name a few. It has become far less common for us to call our leaders Elders. It is Pastor, Reverend, or Deacon depending upon their roles today.
In the New Testament, we see the roles of Elders as, “after establishing new churches, Paul very quickly appointed elders in every church (Acts 14:23). He later established this practice as the norm for all churches (Titus 1: 5 - 9; 1 Timothy 3:1 – 7). This team of leaders is responsible for the oversight and management of the local church community (Acts 20: 28). Their basic responsibilities include the following:
A. Shepherding the lives of people (Acts 20:28)
B. Speaking, exhorting, and refuting in sound doctrine (Titus 1:9)
C. Community oversight in matters of discipline (1 Thessalonians; 5:12-14)
D. Confirming and commending trained ministers of the gospel (Acts 13: 1- 4 ; 1 Timothy 4:14)
E. Oversight of finances of the church community (1 Timothy 3: 4 - 5; Acts 6:1 – 7)
F. Decisions of corporate property matters (Acts 4:32-37; 6: 1 - 7; 1 Timothy 3: 4, 5)
G. General oversight of the ministry of the church (1 Timothy 3: 4, 5)
There are a number of leaders mentioned in scripture. This chart shows that “leadership and ministry were solidified into several specific offices. This means that some ministries became the primary responsibility of certain leaders-a development that eventually resulted in the threefold apostolic offices of deacons, elders, and bishops by the second century A.D.”[1]
Patzia writes, “the early church made room for a variety of functions. The picture of leadership is much more like a series of interlocking and overlapping circles than a row of separate entities.” As I understand this, it means that rather than having a gift, like that of “evangelist” and fitting neatly into that box on a flow chart. I find that I may have the primary gift of “evangelist”, but with these concentric circles, I may also be an “elder” and a “teacher”.
Another important aspect of the Early Church model of Eldership, is that it has a plurality of Elders. I am not a perfect leader, and I give my best when I work with others who are using their gifts alongside of me. Also, Paul had the foresight to be a leader who had planting through the multiplication of churches by sending out elder teams as part of the plan from the beginning. This gave them the ability to experience growth at an incredible rate as the chart above shows.
[1] “The Emergence of Ministry, Leadership & Church Order in the Early Church”, by Patzia, Arthur. Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, p. 182.
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I am sharing all of this with you to show that there were more leadership roles within the early church than simply that of “Pastor”. Somehow, we have narrowed it down to one leader who is an educated professional. During the time of the early church, there were many leaders who worked together to minister to the body and fulfill the various roles of leadership. People utilized their gifts and weren’t expected to all be highly educated. Character and ministry training were even more important aspects of ministry preparation than educational pursuits. What do you think the benefits are of this model? How do we return to this ministry style rather than the one we find ourselves in now? Do you see how incredibly beneficial having an Elder team would be to the growth, multiplication, shepherding and training of other leaders? What if every member of your church were mobilized to utilize their gifts within the various leadership roles? |
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Maranatha Conference 2021 Year of Bible Interpretation and Exposition continues on April 17th from 1-4 p.m. There is no cost for these sessions. Click the link below to register or read more about this event. |
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Click on Willie's picture to visit his website for upcoming events. |
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BICS Virtual Experience Day - Sunday, April 18th
The Berkshire Institute for Christian Studies will be conducting a virtual Experience Day on Sunday, April 18th from 3-5 pm. This is a great way for potential students and parents to get a feel for the BICS program. We would love to see you there!
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Be sure to mark your calendars!
The Annual Meeting for the Maranatha Advent Christian Conference
is scheduled for Saturday, May 1st, beginning at 9:00am.
In order to accommodate the most people, and to handle the ever-changing state recommendations, we will be meeting only via Zoom.
We will be sending further update soon regarding the theme, and how
you can register to participate. This is sure to be a good time seeing
and hearing from one another.
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The Way of Christ and His Apostles
SUMMER LEADERSHIP COURSES - FREE!
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We will be offering 3 different studies this summer. Thanks to some benefactors, these books will be provided at no cost along with the courses. Please consider going deeper through one of these studies. |
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The Encyclicals - These small books are packed with teaching, challenging us to return to the New Testament Principles.
- From Jesus to the Gospels
- The Churches of the First Century
- Women and the Spontaneous Expansion of the Early Church
- Kerygmatic Communities
- Funding Spontaneous Expansion
- Shepherding, Counseling and Sustainability
Beginning Sunday, May 16, 6-8 pm, every other week. Facilitated by Mike Neigh
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The Paradigm Papers - They move across the full spectrum of theological education-from the training of children to the training of older adults. These papers provide a unique guide to the Church of the 21st century-as we educate our children, as we reeducate adults, and as we train a future generation of pastors and missionaries.
- Church-based Leadership Training: A Proposal
- Church-Based Theological Education: Creating a New Paradigm
- Churched-Based Missions: Creating a New Paradigm
- Church-Based Theology: Creating a New Paradigm
- Church-Based Christian Education: Creating a New Paradigm-Part I Childhood and Adolescence
- Church-Based Christian Education: Creating a New Paradigm-Part II: Adulthood
Beginning Wednesday, May 17, 6:30-8 pm, weekly. Facilitated by Greg Twitchell
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ACTS - The overall objective of this course is to determine the fundamental biblical principles regarding the mission of the church and its role in missions.
Beginning Monday May 17, 6:30-8 pm, weekly.
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Pastor and Church Reports. Let's try to be at 100% for the next newsletter. |
Pastor Reports Received:
Heritage: 71%
Maine: 72%
Maranatha: 13%
New Life: 64%
New York: 100%
Nova Scotia: 50%
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Church reports received:
Heritage: 64%
Maine: 40%
Maranatha: 15%
New Life: 60%
New York: 100%
Nova Scotia: 50%
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Have a mobile phone? You can now give to the Region through Venmo!
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Online Prayer Meeting Fridays from 12-1 p.m. |
Previous copies of the monthly newsletter and the 2020 Convention are on our website.
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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. John Jones, Treasurer - pastorjoj@gmail.com
Rev. Doug Tourgee, Heritage Conf. President - dougin401@aol.com
Rev. Russell Giasson, Maine State Conf. Representative - rgiasson@nb.sympatico.ca
Rev. Josh Rice, Maranatha Conf. President - jrice@emmanuelacc.net
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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