From the Desk of the Superintendent |
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Dear Family Members,
Welcome to the March edition of the Eastern Regional Newsletter. I hope that you will find a lot of great information here and even have some fun with the pictures, history and trivia. As I bring an opening to this edition, I wanted to share some events that have happened in my own life.
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I was having breakfast with Larry Knowles and Chaplain George Middleton near Meetinghouse Village and Larry asked if I was feeling okay. He and George picked up on the fact that I didn't seem like myself. My speech was off and my memory was slow. As I reflect on the week, I would admit that I wasn't able to focus or get anything done the day before which I attributed to being tired. So they brought me kicking and screaming to the hospital in Portsmouth to "get checked out." My thought was that it is probably nothing, and I didn't even get my breakfast! I ended up being in the hospital for the next day and a half undergoing every test and discomfort known to man. I was clearly not myself as I could not answer many of the basic questions that the doctor asked me and wasn't making sense in some of the things I was saying. After checking me for a stroke, heart attack, and everything else you can name, they figured out through blood tests, that I was struggling with excess ammonia being produced in my liver and being dumped into my blood stream. Believe it or not, this will affect your memory and speech.
I was kept for a period of time so they could run more tests (sadists) and observe the numbers of this ammonia. It needed to be flushed out, which kept me hopping most of the night. After passing all of my other tests, and beginning to see my numbers drop, I was released with my own bottle of medicine filled with some nasty liquid that I need to take 3-4 times daily. I also get to have a follow up with a Gastroenterologist today. I remember just a week or two ago having a conversation with Pastor Dwight about people who don't want to ask for prayer. We discussed the reasons and felt that they were missing out. Now I was in that same boat and was trying to keep my own situation quiet. I have come up with a few reasons why:
- I obviously wasn't thinking clearly due to the ammonia
- I didn't think I was really all that sick and there are so many who need prayer more than me
- I'm a tough guy who can take care of himself
- My problem was a bit embarrassing, when I go into all the details (which I have spared you)
- The truth is, I didn't want anyone to know about my weakness, that I might not be a strong leader as the face I put on
Have you ever been sick or had to visit the hospital? Have you ever tried to bury your need for prayer due to one of these or some other reason? I should know better. I lead the Regional Prayer meeting every week. I pray with my family during family devotions daily and talk to God personally, but I missed out on sharing this need with my Christian brothers and sisters. Don't let the fact that you may be a pastor or leader keep you from being vulnerable. It makes you human, and helps you to connect with everyone else in your church. Many of you found out about my situation as we are a small close knit family. Several even called me. I want you to know how much that meant to me and how I appreciate each and every one of you. I was embarrassed at first, but grew to appreciate the love and concern that what I feared as a negative, God used for good. Please don't let any of these excuses keep you from sharing with your extended and local church family. I thank the Lord for this lesson and that I am only facing a small challenge that He is more than equipped to handle in His great mercy and power. I do appreciate your prayers and will gladly accept them!
Love to you through our Savior, Christ Jesus,
Greg Twitchell
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The Church as Christian Education (for Children and Youth) a Paper by Greg Twitchell |
This paper answers the question, among others, of dealing with the fragmentation in education of children and adolescents in schools, church, and home settings. |
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50th Anniversary Servant Medallion |
On Sunday February 27th, Rev. Ron Thomas received the medallion for 50 years of service. |
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The BICS Bible Lands Seminar is March 16-30. Please keep them in prayer during their travels. |
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Kent Davis was voted in as the new pastor for the South Eliot, ME Advent Christian Church.
Sam Morton was voted in as the new pastor for the Ashland, ME Advent Christian Church.
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March is Pastor's Wife Appreciation Month!
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Many of our churches show appreciation to both the Pastor and spouse in October but if you didn't, this is a great time to extend an act of kindness to your Pastor's wife. |
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Rev. Clinton Taber, Superintendent Emeritus, has released his autobiography, Overshadowed on Amazon. Click the link below to order.
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What's happening at your church? Send info and pictures to secretary@aceasternregion.org. |
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Annual Reports Due
We appreciate your participation!
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The annual ministerial report form has been updated. Visit the Regional website to fill out your pastor's report for 2021. |
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Click the link below to fill out the annual church report for 2021.
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Pastors Reports Received
Heritage - 30%
Maine - 65%
Maranatha - 29%
New Life - 67%
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Church Reports Received
Heritage - 27%
Maine - 19%
Maranatha - 6%
New Life - 60%
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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 February Church was Hope Evangelical in North Dartmouth, MA. John Jones guessed it correctly.
Send an outside picture of your church, without the sign/name, to secretary@aceasternregion.org
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THE STATE OF THE BIBLE 2021
BY BARNA & THE AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY
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The primary purpose of reading the Bible is not to know the Bible, but to know God. - James Merritt |
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Bible Users - defined as individuals who read, listen to, or pray with the Bible on their own at least three or four times a year outside of church service or church event - had reached a 10-year nadir, registering only 48 percent of Americans. In June, as COVID-19 took hold, we recorded a drop in the proportion of Americans who never use the Bible. That figure fell from 35 percent in 2019 to 31 percent in the summer of 2020. As of January 2021, the proportion of American adults who never use the Bible has fallen to 29 percent, its lowest point since 2016. |
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BIBLE STUDY MAGAZINE - "Half of all Americans read the Bible with some level of frequency, with the percentage being higher among older adults, evangelicals, and those living in the south. 37% of those who belong to another religion also read the Bible. Roughly a quarter of Americans prefer reading on a screen, but that number sharply declines among Baby Boomer and those older. The most common reasons Americans have for reading the Bible is to feel closer to God, followed by a need for comfort, then for wisdom and then out of obligation." (by Josh Kelley p. 17 March/April 2022 issue) |
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Proverbs 30:5 "Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him." |
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Monthly Devotional Thought |
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God's Calling
"The phone rings, but it is a marketing call. You hang up with a few choice words under your breath." Sound familiar? How frustrating! I am sure this has happened to you hundreds of times. Yet, in the Christian life, we need to consider God's calling. In the universal call, God calls everyone to follow him and to come to repentance ("Many are called but few are chosen - Matthew 22:14). But not everyone does! Yet, only a few respond. This effectual call of God is the basis for the great doctrine of election.
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Consider your call- Read 1 Cor. 1:26-30 Notice the word “Chosen”? “For consider your calling…God has chosen the foolish things of the world …God has chosen… God has chosen…you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption…” (Compare verse 24 “but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.) Your calling is God’s choice of you to be “In Christ.” How amazing! How Wonderful!
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We are called to belong to Jesus; to be in Christ - Romans 1:6 “…including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.”
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We are called to holy living - Called to holiness – “…He has saved us and called us to a holy life.” 2 Tim 1:9
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We are exhorted to confirm that calling - 2 Peter 1:10 “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. See Romans 11:29 “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” Unbelievable, but true!
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We are called to proclaim the gospel – (to declare the summons of God to the world through the gospel message). We proclaim repentance and faith in Christ to others as the Holy Spirit applies the work of redemption to our hearts and their hearts.
God’s effectual call is rooted in the wonderful truth of Election, planned by the Father in eternity past, accomplished by Christ Jesus our Lord on the cross, and applied by the Holy Spirit (Read Ephesians 1) to our lives. As we experience this calling, our lives are changed and transformed, and an inward desire is created by the Holy Spirit to make that known to others. As we share this wonderful message of the gospel, others are drawn to Jesus since the gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16). No wonder Paul says, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God…” (Romans 1:1).
God’s calling, unlike marketing calls, is made sure, secure, and certain in our lives by God’s grace so we can proclaim that gospel call to others. Are we doing this?
Pastor Jim Caron ~ Faith Bible Church, Plainville, CT
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Truth Told Blog
TO DO OR NOT TO DO
Jesus said, "I need to be about my Father's business." What about you, are you currently about our Father's business?
Click on the picture to visit Larry Anderson's blog site.
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ADVENT CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE HISTORY
Rhode Island
Excerpts from Advent Christian History
By Albert C. Johnson
The Rhode Island State Conference was organized in 1858, and preliminary steps were taken for the organization of the Northwestern Pennsylvania Conference, where Eld. J. T. Ongley was the leading pioneer, who was soon chosen evangelist of the conference. He travelled and preached extensively with great sacrifice in the years 1859, 1860 and following.
In December, 1858, in response to a call issued by Eld. E. Bellows (who in due season was called the father of this faith in the State), a number of brethren met at River Point, to consider the propriety of organizing a State conference for Rhode Island in order to make more effective their labor for the spread of truth among the people and that they might work more in harmony for mutual benefit. Eld. E. Bellows was chosen president and Eld. Joseph D. Brown, clerk. It was recommended that the conference become a "Home Missionary Society" for the State, and that the churches connected make such collections as they were able to sustain evangelists in destitute sections of the State. This body was later called the Rhode Island and Eastern Connecticut conference.
Eld. Augustus Durfee was its second president and held that office many years, and still later Eld. P. S. Butler was chosen president, which office he also held for a long time. Among those of its members well and widely known we name Elds. E. R. Wood, James Hemenway, V. P. Simmons, Amasa Morse and Dr. H. F. Carpenter. In 1874, at its sixteenth annual session a new constitution and by-laws were adopted and at this session seven churches were represented-in 1912 the representation was twelve. While never large, this conference has done much important work in its section.
In the autumn of 1861 the assistant editor of the World's Crisis, Eld. P. B. Morgan, after writing of the earlier opposition to order and system in the work, and the loss of some efficient leaders because of this, records a most hopeful change, stating:
"Conferences have now been organized in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, in the western part of Connecticut, in Canada, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota, that of the last two States being coupled in one."
He notes that with this and as the result of it, there had been a general uprising of the ministry and the people in favor of order, that evangelists had been set at work, the missionary spirit was extending, chapels had been built in many directions, and a better appreciation of the pastorate was finding its way among the people. The organization of the Advent Christian Association naturally resulted from this development of conferences and was recognized as a further token of advance. To the above list, Vermont, Ohio, Wisconsin, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and others should be added, for as time continued the work was extended in the West, opened up and enlarged on the Pacific Coast, and also in the South, sketches of which are elsewhere given.
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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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The Heritage Conference annual meeting is April 23rd at Faith Evangelical Church in Melrose, MA. |
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Interested in BICS? Join us April 24-25 for our upcoming Experience Day! |
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The Maranatha Conference annual meeting is April 30th at Calvary Bible Church in Meredith, NH. |
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The Maine State Conference annual meeting is scheduled for May 20-21 at the Bangor Advent Christian Church.
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The Annual Convention is scheduled for October 21-22. More information to come as the details are worked out. |
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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 are on our website. |
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 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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