|
THE CENTRAL CONNECTION
November 2022
"We are an organization of churches that is committed
to the mission of Christ to multiply disciple-making churches
through evangelism, leadership training, and connection with
other like-minded churches."
| |
Disciple-Making: Championing on our Strengths | | |
|
|
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law (Galatians 5:16-18).And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith,… being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love (Ephesians 4:11-16).
The power of utilizing the strengths of God’s grace is indispensable in the Body of Christ. God gave gifted individuals to establish the foundation of the church (Eph. 2:20). God gave different gifts and different responsibilities to different people to launch this new people of God. Ephesians 4:11 is often referred to as APEST (Apostles / Prophets / Evangelists / Shepherds (rather than pastors) and Teachers – regardless of your theological bent on cessation, the argument is that a healthy church needs these types of gifts to get established and grow. The argument proposes that when churches are missing these kinds of gifted people, the church struggles. Read More
Pastor Brad Little, Regional Executive Director
Venture Church Network Midwest
| |
|
Fractions that make up the Whole of a Ministry
Recruiting new Youth Ministry volunteers is an ongoing quest to make sure there are enough adults for the students we have. I want to start off by saying how incredibly grateful I am for the volunteers who have been working in the youth for years! Thank you so much for your commitment and love for students. I understand serving in the youth ministry at church is not always the most attractive and can be the largest time commitment, but youth ministry is so critical in reaching lost students with the Gospel and discipling them into the men and women who will carry the message of Christ in future generations. Read More
Chuck Babbitt, Youth Pastor
Bloomer Baptist Church
VCNMidwest Youth Ministries Director
| |  |
|
‘Championing Strengths’ – The Pastor and His Career Development
In between church ministries, I spent two years working for the Oregon Employment Department prior to moving to Wisconsin. This was a difficult two years for me. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to get back into full time ministry, my career/financial life wasn’t going upward like I wanted it to, and most significantly, I was experiencing different levels of discouragement and depression. This time was important for numerous reasons and one of those is my career development. An aspect of my job at the employment office was to assist people with their careers. Read More
Pastor Rob Buhl
First Baptist Church, Whitehall, WI
| | |
|
Upcoming Workshop:
Life-on-Life Discipleship
Many churches have great preaching and programs but still struggle to produce mature and equipped Christ-followers who can lead others. How can your church ignite a movement of life-on-life missional discipleship? You don’t need another program. You need transformation — a journey to rediscover what church could look like. We want to help you launch that movement in your church.
We have worked with churches all over the world and established a training and coaching process that is built with discipleship as the foundation. Our discipleship training is a 2-year commitment for churches and includes workshops, coaching, and more.
To learn more, visit https://lifeonlife.org//. To register for the Chicago cohort (hosted by VCN's Cityview Community Church), visit https://lifeonlife.org/cohort-application/ (be sure to select "Chicago cohort" from the dropdown menu).
| |
|
Tuesday, November 29, 9:00am (CT)
with an alternative repeat session
Wednesday, November 30, 3:00pm (CT)
.
WATCH FOR YOUR ZOOM INVITE COMING SOON!
The Purpose of ENGAGE is to address gospel and missional critical issues and challenge our thinking related to pastoral ministry, leadership and the purpose of our churches.
The Goal of ENGAGE is to continue to become gospel-centered, grace driven, biblically anchored churches passionately committed to fulfill the mission of Christ.
| |
Venture Church Network Midwest
CLUSTER GROUPS
| |
|
|
Iowa
No Meeting in November
Tuesday, December 13, 12:00 (CT)
Location - Creekside Bible Church, Marion, IA
Jay Jentink, Calvary Baptist Church Cedar Rapids, IA
319-396-3233
office@calvarycr.org
Michigan/Ohio
Thursday, November 17, 2:00 (EST)
Meeting by Zoom
Allen Grover, Ganson Street Baptist Church, Jackson, MI
517-740-8961 pastorallen@gansonstreet.org
Central Minnesota
Monday, November 21, 10:00 (CT)
Leader: Brad Little
Location - River of Life Church, Hastings, MN
Contact: Dan Vesta
651-468-1045
dkvesta@sbcglobal.net
| | |
|
Southern Minnesota
Tuesday, November 1, 11:30 (CT)
Location - Pizza Ranch, Jackson
Walt Moser, First Baptist Church, Luverne, MN
605-254-3092
PastorWalt.Moser@gmail.com
Wisconsin
Thursday, November 17, 11:00 (CT)
Location - Season's Cafe, Barron
Wade Duroe, Crossroads Church, Chippewa Falls, WI
715-723-1054
wljc12@hotmail.com
VCNMidwest Youth Pastor Collaboration
Thursday, November 17, 10:00 (CT)
Meeting by Zoom
Chuck Babbitt, Bloomer Baptist Church, Bloomer, WI
515-230-0774
youth@bloomerbaptistchurch.com
To Be Decided
Illinois
Northern Minnesota/North Dakota
| | |
|
Venture Church Network Midwest
1410 44th Street, Marion, IA 52302
Dr. Brad Little
Regional Executive Director
blittle@vcnmidwest.org
763-350-4263
Administrative Office
Regular Hours: Tues. thru Fri. 8am - 2pm
Gina Perry, Administrative Assistant
gperry@vcnmidwest.org
319-830-6478
| |
All articles and submissions are the view of the individual writer and are not necessarily the official position of Venture Church Network Midwest. | | | | | |
