Justin Nash from ACGC made the above map for our website. Each Conference now has its own tab! Click the link below to visit the updated Regional website!
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From the Desk of the Superintendent
I enjoy this time of year as it allows me to spend more time out visiting with our Pastors and leaders. I have already attended the New Life Conference meeting and will be visiting 3 more between now and June. I will be making trips to Connecticut/Western MA churches, Rhode Island and Southern MA, Vermont and NH Churches and finally Coastal Maine and Nova Scotia before the summer gets too busy. At the same time I have been assisting 4 different churches with searches and two of them have some promising prospects.
I would encourage each of you of a few things to be mindful of over the coming days:
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Please get your Pastor and Church reports completed and turned in
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Please talk to your churches about registering for ACGC’s General Conference in Concord, NC.
www.acgc.us
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Please consider talking to Justin Nash about the benefits of strengthening your church through a Church Health study.
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Please remember your 10% commitment to United Ministries giving throughout the year
With Holy Week approaching I pray that you will proclaim the gospel, the resurrected Christ, and His soon return! I praise God for each of you and pray that you will be a blessing to all those you minister to!
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Ministry Spotlight
LOVING GOD, LOVING OUR COMMUNITY, SERVING BOTH is the mission statement at Community Church in Westfield, Massachusetts.
When the church building was sold and the new church plant in the storefront was started, that mission statement was the mantra. But how do you implement such a mission? Serving God is, well, what we all do. But serving our community, that’s a different thing. It’s easier said than done.
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Last winter, we put a tote outside the church on the sidewalk with warm coats for adults and kids. We asked for used coats from everyone we knew. We filled the tote every week and it was empty within a few days. A local shelter supervisor saw the tote and brought us a large number of coats that got us through that first winter. God was supplying the need for warm coats to the people of Westfield though our church. Awesome!
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In March of 2019, one of our parishioners, Samantha Gulsvig, approached the church with a new idea for outreach. Sam is a director at a home in Westfield which serves the homeless and helps them re-enter society. She pointed out that the local soup kitchen doesn’t serve a meal on Saturdays and asked if our church could help fill the gap. Since we don’t have a kitchen at the church, she suggested making bagged lunches and serving them at the end of the month when EBT cards are running low, which would greatly serve those who really need the help. We jumped on board, got permission from the city, teamed up with a local restaurant (Yummi Noodle) to use their commercial kitchen to make the sandwiches, and we now offer bagged lunches on the last Saturday of every month consisting of a sandwich, chips, bottled water, cookies and a piece of fruit, serving between 40-50 people every month. Our ministry is called Community Carryout and is only advertised at the soup kitchen and mostly by word of mouth on the street. A couple of the people we have served have started attending the church.
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This service project has grown over the last year. Now, in addition to serving bag lunches, we offer non-perishable food, toiletry items, books, and clothes for adults and children. One of the coolest things as a Pastor was watching Annabeth, an 11-year-old girl in our congregation, catch the vision to serve others in the name of Jesus. She noticed at the monthly Carryout that people were asking for warm socks so she started a sock drive at the church, her school and dance studio, with her story making it into the local newspaper. In the fall, she generated enough socks to supply us through the winter. We have about 7-10 people volunteering for this ministry and it is neat to see them connecting with each other as they serve. Not only is this project serving those outside our walls, it is building up our church family through working alongside each other.
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With spring upon us, we will be having an influx of homeless people and a tent community has settled along the river in the city. We are now collecting sleeping bags and camping gear to offer at the next few Carryouts.
God has called each one of us to serve the least of these in His name. My prayer is that they may feel His love and will turn to Jesus.
~Pastor Merle
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Does your church have a ministry to your community you would like us to highlight? Send the info to the office and it may be included in a future newsletter.
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Getting to know Roger Brown
Q. How long have you been in ministry and where have you served?
A. With over 50 years of ministry "under the belt" my perspectives and beliefs have matured (hopefully) and center themselves more fully in the dynamic truths and principles of God's Word. Through ministry you test truth in the lab of life. That refining has led me to a new season of serving Jesus and His church. Ministry has been expressed in the following churches: Highland Cliff (Windham, ME), Eliot (ME), Kennebunk & Wells (ME), Whitefield (NH), and now in Meredith (NH) at Calvary Bible Church (20+ years). My wife Catherine and I formed a blended family with six children and by the end of May we will have the blessing of 20 grandchildren.
Q. Where did you grow up and what was your childhood like?
A. I grew up in Rochester, NH and attended the AC Church on Heaton Street (now Emmanuel). Through SS, youth group, and the investments of "senior saints" the Lord planted seeds that would result in my conversion at 10, baptism, and eventual pastoral training at Berkshire Christian College. Subsequently my development has included many training events, Antioch School, CCEF, Bible in Context learning, and so many more exposures to teachers, books, and seminars designed to expand my understanding of biblical truth and its application.
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Q. How do you balance all of your Life and Ministry roles at this stage of life?
A. My present position is Pastor of Nurture (semi-retired). Catherine and I have the privilege of providing care for my mother who is 94 this coming August. The focus these years is now passing the torch on to the next generation. At CBC I teach a Sunday morning adult elective, facilitate a Life Group during the week, offer 1st principle modules periodically during the year, have involvement in One Voice (a Christian performing arts ministry in the Lakes Region), do some visitation, and also have been involved with students guiding Antioch courses on the internet.
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Q. How has BICS impacted your family?
A. Five of our six children attended BICS. One of our grand-daughters is there this year (our first). Catherine and I, six children, 2 daughter-in-laws, and possibly others will have journeyed with BICS to the Holy Land.
Our experience has been that the BICS program laid a solid foundation of biblical truth and lifestyle into the lives of our children. Now all of our grandchildren benefit from the influence of a vital NY world-view. We are deeply grateful for the vision and heart of those who founded this awesome "gap year" opportunity.
Q. Why does Calvary Bible keep doing their camp retreat?
A. Here at CBC we offer some special events during the year to build "community" and a "family of families" environment. Over Labor Day weekend we "host" a family weekend at Mechanic Falls Campground in ME. We stared with about 55 attendees and now average 70-80. It is an inter generational retreat designed to provide maximum time for communication, sharing lives together, serving one another, and just plain FUN. This coming late summer we will host our 16th gathering.
Q. Where did your musical interest and training come from?
A. I love music and profoundly enjoy singing. During my Berkshire years I took voice training with Warren Whitney which provided skills and vocal development that has blessed me over and over again. The One Voice involvement has provided me an outlet for singing, drama, and dance. I sang solos and participated in other musical groupings at my home church. Over the years, I have led music at camp-meetings, directed musical and youth choirs, and this summer will be the worship leader for General Conference.
Q. What is the greatest fruit from your ministry?
A. It is difficult to accurately assess the impact of a person's ministry. Only the Lord finally knows, but my "gift of encouragement" has influenced many. There is no doubt that as I have journeyed in ministry mistakes have been made, off-the-trail explorations have an uneven influence, and profound life circumstances reflected God's maturing process over and over again. I am grateful for His mercy, grace, and commitment to use me for His glory.
Q. How has Antioch impacted your philosophy of ministry?
A. As I realize that my life is moving into the home-stretch, the most important thing to frame ministry is the "way of Christ and the Apostles." NT dynamics and principles are so much better than "evangelical fads" and culturally shaped efforts in the local church. The Bible truly is sufficient for all that we need to believe, do, and hope.
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Monthly Devotional Thought
Christ in the Prophets
Someone has said that the New Testament is the Old Testament plus Jesus. Jesus fulfilled the Prophets' inspired predictions, but also the prophetic dreams, ideals, aspirations, and hopes. The virgin Mary conceives a son (Isa. 7:14 in Greek), who is born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2-5). The infant Jesus escapes from Herod, then returns from Egypt (Hosea 11:1). Herod slaughters Bethlehem's infants amidst great weeping (Jer. 31:15). Thirty years later, John announces in the wilderness the coming of the Christ (Isa. 40:3-6). At Jesus' baptism, the Spirit descends, anoints Jesus as the Messiah/Christ, and commits him to his mission (Isa. 61:1-2).
Jesus heals the sick - bearing our sicknesses and diseases (Isa. 53:4). He teaches in parables to this the truth from the insincere (Isa. 6:9-10). Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a lowly donkey (Zech. 9:9). He cleanses God's temple in holy indignation (Isa. 56:7; Jer. 7:11) and predicts Jerusalem's destruction involving an Abomination of Desolation (Dan. 11:31). The mob captures Jesus, and his disciples scatter (Zech. 13:7). Judas returns the 30 silver pieces, which buy a potter's field to bury indigents (Zech. 11:12). Jesus is beaten and bruised, his head pierced with a crown of thorns, then crucified, and after his death, his side pierced with a spear (Zech. 12:10). But his piercing and wounds are for the salvation of his people (Isa. 53). He is buried for three days and nights (Jonah 1:17), then raised back to life. He ascends to heaven in the clouds and receives dominion at God's right hand (Dan. 7).
Weeks later, at the Feast of Pentecost, God pours out the Holy Spirit from heaven for all Jesus' followers and announces salvation and commencement of the Last Days (Joel 2:28-32). One day Jesus will return in person and in power to bring about the Restoration of all things. This will include the peaceable kingdom in New Heavens and New Earth (Isa. 25:7-9), the universal knowledge of God (Mal. 1:11), and many more blessings foretold by the prophets.
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
Camp Dates are on the website!
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It's time to fill out annual ministerial and church reports!
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Only 23% of churches have reported.
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New Life - 7 out of 10
Nova Scotia - 1 out of 2
Heritage - 5 out of 12
Maine - 5 out of 23
Maranatha - 0
New York - 0
27% of Ordained Ministers, and 36% of Credentialed Pastors 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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Upcoming Training Events
A Weekend to Remember
- Couples attend Weekend to Remember because they're ready to invest in their marriage and intentionally move towards oneness. We help you understand God's blueprint for marriage so you can create a legacy of greatness. Our attendees say their relationships improved on average from a 4/10 to an 8/10 after one weekend.
South Portland, ME
4/24-4/26
Portland Sheraton at Sable Oaks
Windsor, CT
10/23-10/25
Hartford/Windsor Marriott
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Camp Berea Training
- Simply Worship
Imagine an event not just for megachurches with big budgets and fog machines-you get Simply Worship. Bog or small, old or new, we are here to help.
May 9th 8 am-4:40 pm
Crossroads Community Cathedral East Windsor, CT
Also check out Mother/Daughter and Father/Son weekends
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Small Town Summits (STS)
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Small Town Summits will host a Summit in Rhode Island. Pastors and lay leaders from small places across Rhode Island will unite around our love for the gospel of Jesus Christ. How we can most fruitfully obey God's call to minister this big gospel in the small places of Rhode Island. What are the unique challenges and opportunities of small-place ministry? How does God mean for the gospel to shape both the content of our preaching and the contours of our ministry? Please join us to share your experience and to be equipped and encouraged.
May 2nd 9 am-4 pm
Frenchtown Church East Greenwich, RI
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The D.L. Moody Center
Leading the Way Live with Dr. Michael Youssef. Free event in Northfield, MA - registration required. Includes a tour of the Moody Center, Dinner by Chick-fil-A, Special gathering of Pastors, and an evening of powerful worship & preaching.
May 29th 6-8 pm
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The Gospel Coalition New England
Show Them Jesus
October 16-17
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Steve and Thelma Kilbreth serve in the Auburn Advent Christian Church in Auburn, ME. On February 26th Thelma passed the 86,000 (86,004) download mark with her music on Godly Christian Music. Her music was first posted on July 22, 2013.
That means for the past 2,410 days she has had an average of over 35 (35.686) downloads per day!
We are working on another 20+ songs we expect to post before summer. Her numbers will probably jump past the 100,000 mark quickly after that.
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Church Statistics
STATS
When I was a boy growing up in the Oxford, Maine Advent Christian Church, I remember going to church every time the doors were open. We went on Sunday mornings to church and Sunday School. Back then we even attended a Sunday night service! This service died out many years ago now in most places, but as a boy and young man, I benefited from singing songs from the Melodies of Praise and hearing a teaching each week that dove into the word more so than the preaching in the Sunday morning service did. Finally, we attended the mid-week service every week where adults were praying, and the youth were gathered together downstairs for our youth group gathering. There were monthly fellowship dinners, Sunday School picnics, youth outings, Christmas and Easter productions, and outreaches. Not everyone attended all of these events, but many people attended the services weekly and were involved in some or all of the extras.
Those were good days that I look back on fondly, but the new trend is for people to attend church less frequently than they did in the past.
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Gallup Research
Carrie Nieuwhof writes:
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Everywhere I go, I talk to pastors who are experiencing the same thing.
People who attend church are attending less often.
People who used to attend every week are attending 3 times a month. People who were around twice a month often now show up once a month. And attenders who used to come once a month are showing up half a dozen times a year.
This is true of rapidly growing churches, mega churches, mid-sized churches, Bible churches and churches like
Connexus
(where 60% of our growth is from previously unchurched people.)
You can get mad at people…but that’s not really that helpful. If all people get is judgment or ‘should have done better’ when they show up at your church, why would they keep coming? You don’t line up to be judged either.
There are fewer and fewer of us every year who:
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Feel guilty when we miss a Sunday (I do…but I’m a dinosaur…I know it)
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Have a natural instinct to head to a gathering of Christians on the first day of the week
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Miss church when we can’t get there
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I understand what he is saying. How can you not be in love with the BRIDE OF CHRIST and want to be a part of her every chance you get? It almost seems like people are choosing their kids sports, favorite televangelist, sports, or binge watching their favorite show over an opportunity to fellowship with God’s people and study His word. But we “can’t get mad at people” is right. I believe that we need to discuss our approach and consider:
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New ways to engage people with the gospel.
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How to be more effective in offering quality, purposeful gatherings
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How to utilize technology to connect with people who don’t want to come out late or drive a distance for another meeting.
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How to podcast our services and provide for online giving, prayer requests, etc.
With the Coronavirus scare (and probably other similar health crisis’s coming in the future), it will benefit us to figure out how to fulfill the functions of the church to the best of our ability in new ways that won’t cut off those who are concerned about gathering together.
How is your church leadership doing with this conversation?
Who can you tap to help with technology services?
How can you lead your people to be faithful in meeting together even apart from traveling to a building, or can we?
How can we improve on training our people on the value of gathering regularly and not just fulfilling a monthly obligation to show up occasionally at church?
We live in challenging times that are changing rapidly and the church needs to be ready to wrestle with the answers and give up some of our long-held traditions if we are going to be effective in continuing to reach the people in our communities.
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Greg Twitchell
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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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