From the Desk of the Superintendent |
|
Dear followers of The Way. It has been a busy month as I have prepared for Convention and served in a few meetings and teachings. I have taken a couple of Gordon Conwell courses on Exploring the Old Testament with Dr. Jim Critchlow, and Church Revitalization with Dr. Ron Bouthillette. I was able to help the board at Alton Bay with some membership issues, and host a number of meetings within the Region.
We worked on plans for the Convention that included reports, articles, shooting videos, and working on registering, voting and using the Internet programs to make the Convention work. I am very appreciative of Josh Cheney, Josh Duncan, and Andrew Blackstone who have all helped with the technology side of the Convention.
We have a good turn-out for our Leadership Development Fall Courses. We have a number of courses being offered including Priorities in Ministry, Shepherding the flock, and one on Sound Doctrine. Both lay people and church leaders are all benefitting from the studies. These will wrap up in December and we will have a new series of courses in January.
We have lost a number of dear brothers and sisters over the past couple of months:
Holly Fabian, Marcy Alves, Miriam Loghry, Ron Walton, Bob Shriver, and Bob Gedney. They will be missed by many loved ones, but we thank our Lord and Savior that we will see them again!
I was glad to be able to fill in for Pastor Steve Goodwin from "over the hill" in Farmington one Sunday and to get to know the people there better. If any of you need someone to fill in as a speaker, please let me know, as we have several available.
We had a great time with our Prayer Vigil on September 25-26th. All 24 time slots were filled as people joined together to pray for our Nation, the election, the needs of our churches, our pastors, those who have struggled with Covid-19, and to cry out to God for repentance and revival in our Country. We hope to repeat this on a semi-regular basis and to continue offering a prayer hour on Fridays from 12-1pm. If you have a need, please e-mail: secretary@aceasternregion.org and we will add you to our new weekly prayer need list.
May God bless each of you in the coming days. As we wait on the blessed hope of Christ’s soon return!
-Greg
Answers to last month's HISTORICAL piece:
What date is associated with the following events:
I apologize for the typo on September, 11
|
|
1. March 5, 1770
2. 2100 BC
3. March 70 AD
4. September 11, 2001
5. October 31, 1517
6. July 25, 306
7. April 9, 1865
8. June 6, 1944
9. January 20, 1783
10. December 7, 1941
|
|
8 D Day
3 Destruction Of The Temple By Rome
10 Pearl Harbor
7 Surrender Of General Lee
1 Boston Massacre
5 Whittenburg 95 Thesis
6 Constantine Becomes Emperor
4 Destruction Of The Twin Towers
2 Abram Called Out Of Ur
9 Revolutionary War Articles Of Peace Signed
|
|
|
There is a beautifully done video celebration on the Regional website. Please share it with your church. |
|
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 September Church was the Haverhill Advent Christian Church in Haverhill, MA. Sayoko Crabtree was the first to guess it correctly.
|
|
DRIVEWAY FUNDRAISER
Dear AC family,
Thank you so much for your investment in the Eastern Region and partnership in the Network of Churches that make up our Church Family. I would like to thank each of you who have given to meet the annual budget of United Ministries, Penny Crusade, and toward special projects like the driveway fundraiser.
Since last month, we have been given several gifts toward the project and we have raised $4,000. We have been given a $1,000 matching grant that could be used to bring us to our $5,000 goal. Would you consider giving toward this Regional project fund to help us underwrite this Capital Improvement? Each gift up to $1000 will be matched to help us reach our goal. Please send a check or go to the following link to give a donation.
Many thanks!
Greg & Regional Board
|
|
Dunntown Firewood Ministry
The needs of a community will change over time, and so the shape of a church's ministry to the community must also change over time. Here in the Great White North, there is a consistent need to help folks keep their homes warm. Logistically, it is fairly simple to help those who burn oil or propane - a quick call to the appropriate company gets a delivery out there that afternoon. However, whether by choice or out of economic necessity, there are a fair number of folks who burn wood rather than oil, and it is more difficult, even impossible, to find suitable wood in the middle of the winter, even with cash in hand.
To help meet this need, a number of years ago the Dunntown AC Church decided to be prepared with a reserve of seasoned firewood stored at the parsonage that they could load up and deliver that day to someone in need. As an added benefit, the processing and storing of the wood provided the opportunity for the men of the church to work alongside one another, because it needs to be unloaded on the other end, it provides an additional opportunity for a couple guys to spend some time working alongside the neighbor in need, building up that relationship in a way that having fuel oil delivered never would.
The need for this ministry has varied over time - in warmer, more financially prosperous winters it may not get used at all, but in colder, leaner years it might get used frequently. However, over the years that the program has been running, it has been a valuable means of helping some of the most vulnerable in our community, using the unique set of resources that we have been given.
|
|
Monthly Devotional Thought
Life Now and Forever
Immortality, I am learning, is Christ's accomplishment and the Christian's hope. Mortality is what I am encountering more and more frequently in daily experience. The notion that we don't have time to be sick, or that infirmity only comes to other people, quickly vanishes when illness strikes. The truth is that from the day we leave the womb, we are dying people living in broken bodies in a fallen world. Sickness is not the wonder. Wellness is the grace. Saying so is not yielding to morbidity but simply telling the truth.
The larger truth, as we reflected around the breakfast table yesterday, is that this world is preparatory to another, for which God is doing all that we will allow to get us ready. "A man's life does not consist in the accumulating of things to possess," Jesus literally said. "He is richest whose joys are most simple," wrote Thoreau, the sage of Walden Pond. I knew that when I was growing up. I don't ever want to forget it now. "Brief life is here our portion," says the 12th century hymn. "The tearless life is there." Bernard of Cluny was right about it, too.
We live, die, and meet our Maker. To the believer, that is a sweet promise, not a threat or a warning. For what makes the gospel good news is that our Creator deeply loves us and desires our company, and - if we ask him - he will be with us through life and through death, every step of the way.
|
|
Online Prayer Meeting Fridays from 12-1 p.m. |
Previous copies of the monthly newsletter and helpful articles on Covid-19 are now on our website.
|
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. |
Visit our website to make a donation online.
You can now donate through Venmo as well.
|
To the churches who have continued to give this year, THANK YOU! |
|
ERA CONVENTION NEWS
The 2020 Convention is only 8 days away! I am so thrilled to be bringing you this update regarding the Convention. Even though we will not be meeting in person as we normally do, I am excited about the program we have been able to put together. A lot of work has gone into filming, editing, and testing out the technology so that we can bring you a great experience. The Convention can be viewed on Facebook Live, YouTube, and Zoom. I hope that many of you will take advantage of this opportunity to connect yourselves and your people with others across the Region.
~Visit the website to view reports, read articles, and register.
~ On Friday night from 6-8 pm, the Lifetime servant award, and other recognitions will be made.
~ Oak Hill Bible in Oxford, MA and Riverpoint AC in Rhode Island have agreed to be host sites for the Convention. If you would like to attend the Convention at either location , please contact the church to sign up and let them know you are coming.
~ The business will begin Saturday morning at 9:00 am on zoom. Links and a passcode will go out to everyone who registers. Retired A.C. ministers, will get free access.
|
|
Click the link below to register, view reports, and read articles pertaining to the theme. |
|
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
We are planning to offer a series of Bible Classes beginning in the Spring of 2021. Below you will find a tentative list and schedule for these courses which will begin the week of January 11th. There is no cost for these courses except the cost of any books that are needed. Please join us to grow in your development and wisdom. Consider taking some of your leaders and developing leaders through a course to work on strengthening your team together. Also, we are offering a course in the book of ACTS for ladies for the first time. A link will be available after Convention for you to register.
|
|
Leaders Course
Interpreting 1 Facilitated by Steve Brown
ACTS Women's class facilitated by Missie Twitchell
Perspectives
Institutions (General Ed) facilitated by Sam Cobb
Identifying (MAP) facilitated by Nathan Lamarre
Life Nth
First Principles Series 3 facilitated by Greg Twitchell
|
|
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
Josh Rice, Maranatha Conf. President - 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.
|
|
Eastern Regional Association
32 Four Rod Road, Rochester, NH 03867
Phone: 603-332-1412 / Fax: 603-332-1648
www.aceasternregion.org
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
