From the Desk of the President
At the BILD Conference held in Ames, Iowa, in November 2019, Superintendent Twitchell became the first Advent Christian to be awarded a degree from the Antioch School of Church Planting and Leadership Development. Greg received a Masters of Ministry degree. The Antioch school is accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission. Congratulations, Greg, on your significant achievement!
George Karl, President ERA
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Ministry Spotlight
I think we all have the desire for our churches to grow and reach our communities. We here at the Vernon Advent Christian Church in Vernon, VT are no different, and we began to have discussions a few years ago among the leadership of the church as to how to do just that. Our church was founded in 1860 by the Second Advent Society, moved to its current location in 1909, and has been faithfully proclaiming the Gospel for 160 years! Although our building has been, literally, a “visible” part of our community over the years, the church had not been a “visible” part of the fabric of our town for some time and we wanted to take the steps necessary to change that.
The first step we took was prayer. We asked God to give us opportunities to effectively reach our community for Christ. Next, we began to intentionally theme our Sunday morning services over a 3-year period of time toward prayer, what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and then what it means to be a community of believers and to reach our community for Christ. And, throughout it all, we were expectantly waiting on the Lord.
During this time, we did some investigating into the demographics of our town with the help of a group called “Christ Together” (www.christtogther.org). Not only did we discover some fascinating things about our area like “approximately how many ‘un-churched’ people were within a 5-mile radius of our church,” but we also discovered the greatest needs in our community were all related to poverty. The number one concern of folks in our area, when surveyed, was “how do I pay the bills and feed my family.” We decided one of the ways to meet this need was to expand our food pantry. At the time, all we had was a small shelf of food for members of our church in need with a rotating group of volunteers who were in charge. But we knew if we wanted to open it up to the community, it would need to expand. The question was how do we go about it?
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Then one day, God answered our prayers in a very overt way. There was a post on the Vernon Town Facebook page about the need for a community food pantry in Vernon. Being aware of the post, the town clerk reached out to the area churches and asked if anyone would be willing to house a food pantry. Seeing this as an answer to prayer, we accepted and began the process of converting a portion of our fellowship hall into a space large enough to accommodate the expansion. Volunteers from the church put together new shelving, updated some electrical to handle the load of the new refrigerators and freezers, and even took classes offered through the Vermont Food Bank to become Food Safe certified. Within just a few months we were operational and the Bread of Life Food Pantry opened its doors in the spring of 2017. Over the past 2 years, on the second and fourth Wednesdays of every month, we serve between 20-30 clients and their families. We have an opportunity to sit and talk with them while they wait their turn and have become very close with a lot of them. After they get their groceries, we assist them out to their cars and have more opportunities for fruitful conversations and prayer. Some have even started to attend our church on Sunday mornings.
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Over the past year, our church has seen tremendous growth both spiritually and numerically. While this cannot be all attributed to the Food Pantry, I believe it is because we have become outwardly focused as opposed to inwardly focused. We recognized a need in our community, committed it to prayer, were willing to be obedient to the Lord’s leading and timing, and God did the rest. And we have been blessed because of it!
The needs in your town may be different. But if you’re serious about reaching out to your community, I would encourage you to prayerfully consider the needs of your town or city and find a small way your church could meet, at the very least, one of those needs.
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Rev. Derek Irvine
Associate Pastor
Vernon Advent Christian Church
Vernon, VT
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Mechanic Falls Church
The Mechanic Falls Advent Christian Church was Established in 1888 along the road from Norway to Lewiston, linking two of the major shoe making centers of Western Maine. It was built along a railroad like so many of our other camps and churches have been over the years.
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In November of 2013, Darrell Young was called as Pastor of the church with the hope that the savings account would provide enough to call a Pastor who may be able to revitalize the church. Our goal was to give the Pastor a 3 year window and with some growth and good stewardship, the work progressed for 6 years. In that time, the church grew some and many attempts were made at reaching a variety of people in the community. However, the decision was made in 2019 that it was time to end the ministry of the church. Several people had left the church, and the finances were not improving. The congregation reached this decision in consultation with Pastor Darrell after much prayer and discussion.
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There was a wonderful service at the building on January 4th, 2020 where many members and friends past and present showed up to celebrate the life and ministry of the 132 year old church family. Rev. Russell Giasson, President Reverend David Davis and Minister Kent Davis were all present from the Maine State Conference as well as Superintendent Twitchell and a number of other Pastors. Music was provided by Valerie and Elizabeth Young and a wonderful reception was provided by the church following the service. We give thanks for God’s goodness over the years, and we lift up in prayer the other churches in town who are carrying on the work of proclaiming Christ, making and maturing believers until His return!
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Monthly Devotional Thought
Christ in the Psalms part 2
Psalm 118:22-23 foretells Jesus' rejection by others, as it portrays the rejected building stone which God selects and uses as the cornerstone for his Temple (Matt. 21:42; Acts 4:11-12; Eph. 2:19-22; 1 Pet. 2:4-8). Psalm 16:7-11 expresses the faith of a righteous man that God will have the final word over death, and it is fulfilled in Jesus' resurrection from the dead (Acts 2:31-32; 13:34-37). Although the New Testament does not make the point, Jesus' ascension and entry into heaven then fulfill the scene portrayed in Psalm 24:7-10, which is the reward of the godly life described in Psalm 24:1-6.
Psalm 110:1, 4 is the most quoted Old Testament passage in the New Testament. The vision of Jesus seated as King and Priest at God's right hand is cited by Jesus himself (Matt. 22:44; 26:65) and in the apostolic preaching (Acts 2:34). It underwrites our ethics (Col. 3:1), exemplifies God's power available for us (Eph. 1:20, illuminates our hope (1 Cor. 15:25), and certifies Jesus' finished atonement - he can sit because his sacrifice, once offered, is sufficient forever (Heb. 1:3; 8:1; 10:12-13).
Finally, the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews examines Psalm 110:4 word by word in light of Jesus. He notes that Jehovah, not Jesus, appointed Jesus as high priest (Heb. 5:4-6). God did so with an oath, not merely with a promise (Heb. 6:17-20; 7:21-22). God will never change his mind about Jesus' priestly appointment, as he once did about ancient Eli's (Heb. 7:21; 1 Sam. 2:27ff). Unlike the Levitical priests, Jesus is a priest forever, since he lives forever to intercede (Heb. 7:23-25). And he is a priest like Melchizedek, a priest whose efficacy rests on his own moral character, not on ceremonial purity, symbolic holiness, or physical and ancestral requirements for office (Heb. 7).
Edward Fudge
GRACeMAIL
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Upcoming Events:
Maranatha Conference:
April 18
Maine State Conference:
April 24-25
Heritage Conference:
April 25th
Nova Scotia Conference:
May 30th
Triennial August 9-13
Regional Convention
Oct. 22-24
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It's time to fill out annual ministerial and church reports!
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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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Church Statistics
~In just 8 years, the percentage of the U.S. population calling themselves Christians has decreased from 78% to 70%
~31% of all young adults, who have grown up in the church, have left the church because "it was boring"
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In 2014 James Emery White wrote a book called, "The Rise of the Nones." In this book he shows how the number of Christians in the U.S. has decreased steadily over the past decade much like this statistic shows. White points out that the Nones are not habit wearing single women who work for the Catholic church, but rather, people who would define themselves as people who have no religious affiliation and he writes about how this number is rapidly growing.
Over the past 6 years this number has continued to grow and as we saw in last month’s newsletter the area of our country with the greatest number of “Nones” would be in the North East. For years we have sent funds, missionaries, prayers, and evangelists to foreign countries to serve as missionaries. However, we need to recognize that we live on one of the greatest mission fields in the world and certainly in our country.
We need to begin seeing our communities as places where we need to sow the seeds of the gospel, roll up our sleeves and do the work of ministering among our neighbors. We need to invest ourselves and our funds locally to touch lives just as foreign missionaries would do. The alternative is to continue to see the number of Christians decrease here in America.
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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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