From the Desk of the Superintendent |
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Dear Church Family,
It is such a joy to be serving our God and King together with you.
A few topics that have been jumping out at me lately are:
- Our AC heritage
- Unity as believers
- Proclaiming the good news of the Gospel
- Eldership in our churches
- The power of prayer
I thoroughly enjoyed our Regional Convention and seeing everyone united together. I have served in South Eliot, Pittsfield, NH, and Windham. It is a joy to see a number of baptisms taking place in Goodwin's Mills and North Dartmouth. We have had a number of people on our prayer list and many good reports as a result of God answering prayer.
I am honored to have such a good team serving the Region. I am pleased to announce that Lisa Godard from the Vernon AC Church has agreed to serve as our bookkeeper. We have worked out a way for her to perform her duties while working remotely with treasurer John Jones and Administrative Assistant Missie Twitchell. We also have two others taking on new areas of service that I hope to announce next month.
May God unite us and keep us from putting each other down, so that we may have a positive witness for all unbelievers to observe ("I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought." 1 Cor. 1:10 NIV) I ask forgiveness to everyone that I have been difficult toward and to whom I have not been united with as I should be. I pray for God's strength and blessing on each of you and the families and ministries you represent.
Grace,
Greg
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Divine Servant Medallion Presented |
On Sunday October 31st, Rev. Bob Story was presented the Divine Servant Medallion by Executive Director Steve Lawson. Bob was ordained on September 17, 1971 in the Maine State Conference. |
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17 people were baptized at Hope Evangelical Community Church in North Dartmouth, MA on October 31st. Due to more interest, they will have another baptism in December. Praise God for the work He is doing in hearts and lives! |
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Several churches across the Region packed shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. Pray for the recipients of these children as they receive the Good News. |
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What's happening at your church? Send info and pictures to secretary@aceasternregion.org. |
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Penny Crusade
Advent Christian ministry partnerships now exist in more than 20 countries. Indian pastors, Filipino missionaries, African pastors, children’s homes, a Bible college, discipleship groups, feeding ministries, training events and new church plants are all strengthened by money raised through Penny Crusade.
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Please remember to send in your Donations. This month we are praying for the Japanese People.
Only one of every 100 Japanese are Christians.
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Totals through November 10th.
96% of Goal Reached!
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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 October Church was the Torrington Advent Christian Church in Torrington, CT. George Karl guessed the correct answer.
Send an outside picture of your church, without the sign/name, to secretary@aceasternregion.org
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Monthly Devotional Thought |
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I went with the grand kiddos to the apple orchard recently. Walking through the orchard, I saw a woolly worm and pointed it out to my grandson. He quickly answered, very matter-of-factly, that we were in for a cold winter. That came to mind this morning when I was reading in my quiet time. 1 Corinthians 1:20b tells us that, "God made the wisdom of this world look foolish." I contemplated this truth; reminded how my grandson believed what he heard about the woolly worm. We adults, on the other hand, believe the idea of the width of a band on a woolly worm predicting winter's harshness is nothing more than an old wives tale. Which is true, but that wasn't the point to my musing.
In our adult wisdom, we decide to see what the research says and do a meta-analysis on the rust-band width of the tiger moth caterpillar. We may research the more severe winters over the last 100 years and determine what the woolly worm's band width was during those winters. Some of us would go so far as developing a scientific question that leads to a prospective study on this great subject. "Does the band width of the Pyrrharctis isabella larvae accurately predict the harshness of a New England winter?" Or maybe we would compare and contrast the accuracy of the woolly worm with the accuracy of the number and size of acorns in the more severe New England winters.
Okay, I think you get my point. I'm not knocking science; my educational degrees are science degrees. I believe in science. But, sometimes...sometimes we don't need to make it more difficult. I think this is what Paul was telling the Corinthian church as he spoke about the message of the cross. Jesus Christ is the power of God for relationship with our Heavenly Father, the one who knows us inside out, loves us and wants to spend time with us. I don't have to earn that relationship. I can't intellectualize it (well, I could but it wouldn't get me any closer to Him). I don't need to run a scientific experiment to determine the veracity of the claim. No mental calisthenics are needed. Period. It is really very simple. This relationship comes solely by faith...simply believing what God said. It truly is that simple, yet we try to make it much bigger. 1 Cor. 1:25 says: "This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God's weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength." God didn't make it difficult for a reason. He makes relationship with Him simple so that anyone can come. For those of us who have been Christians for a long time, it can be easy to fall into the intellectual trap and miss out on the joy of relationship that He offers. Where are you today? Just a thought to ponder as you go about your day.
BTW it looks like it could be along cold winter if the woolly worm and acorns have anything to say about it! Pray for snow! It adds beauty to the winter harshness! Blessings!
~Cindy Ludwick
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Truth Told Blog
This blog post is taken from Nicky Gumbel’s commentary on October 21, 2021 in his Bible In One Year (BIOY) commentary app. By the way, if you are looking for a daily Bible reading to learn and be encouraged by, I highly recommend BIOY.
Click on the picture to visit Larry Anderson's blog site.
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ADVENT CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE HISTORY
Vermont
Excerpts from Advent Christian History
By Albert C. Johnson
A session of conference was held, in accordance with previous notice, at Waterbury, Vt., on the 6th and 7th of October, 1852, at which the following resolution was passed:
"Resolved, That this conference name a committee of ministers to take supervision of their respective fields and set in order the things that are wanting, and to whom destitute churches and localities may apply for preaching and other special religious meetings. And it shall be the duty of this committee, if practicable, either to supply them themselves, or send others."
A report embracing a plan for the mutual co-operation of the various Advent Churches and societies in the State was presented by the business committee, for the action of the conference, though formal action was deferred until a subsequent session. A copy of this report was to be sent to all the societies and ministers in the State for their consideration. A circular addressed to the churches aimed to bring to pass a better state of Scriptural order, and to increase liberality among those who were looking for the Lord Jesus. It called for the meek and sober enforcement of New Testament discipline, for the appointment, wherever they are wanting, of the proper officers of the church, and called upon the churches to recognize the imperative duty of contributing to the support of the ministers who were laboring among them, various Scripture citations being given to emphasize the importance and Scriptural character of these recommendations. The next session of this conference was to be held at Bristol, Vt., on the first Friday in January, 1853. Erastus Parker was president, and D. T. Taylor secretary.
We have before referred to a conference in this State in the fifties but we are unable to trace the connection between that and the later A. C. Conference. It is reported that J.H. Harding and James Cleveland desiring to start a campmeeting made such arrangements as they could and the first meeting was held in 1868, in Bro. Washburn's Maple Grove at Bethel, and was blessed with the preaching of Bro. Cleveland and Eld. John Couch, who remained after the campmeeting and organized the A. C. Conference. In early days this conference was quite strong, including in its membership churches which were later taken over by the International and Hoosick Valley Conferences and the Holiness Association, so that in later years it has been quite small, but still disposed to press on in its work with good courage. The conference has a campmeeting at White River Junction, while the Holiness Association holds one each year at Bethel.
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Meetinghouse Village reminds active and retired AC pastors that they may stay free of charge on Sunday and Monday overnights at our Tower Memorial Suite. Other nights are available at the reduced rate of $25 per night. Availability is dependent on prior bookings and certain Covid-19 protocols. To inquire about a reservation, email info@meetinghousevillage.org.
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Click on Willie's picture to visit his website for upcoming events. |
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Seminary-level teaching brought to your local New England church in partnership with Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary.
We believe that as leaders and lay people in the local church are equipped (Ephesians 4), churches will thrive. These courses will be offered in area churches in two, two-day intensives starting in Sept. Visit their website to see course offerings and schedules.
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Previous copies of the monthly newsletter and reports for the 2021 Convention are on our website.
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Have a mobile phone? You can now give to the Region through Venmo!
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Online Prayer Meeting Tuesdays from 9-10 AM |
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ERA Board of Directors
Rev. George Karl, President - sumkarl@yahoo.com
Rev. Dwight Dean, Vice President - fsufandsd@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. Alan Chamberlin, Maine State Conf. Vice President - polarpastor@roadrunner.com
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
Mrs. Deb Reed, ERA Representative to ACGC - deborahjoreed@yahoo.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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