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THE MIDWEST CONNECTION
July 2023
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Gospel Driven Culture
Culture is the behaviors and practices that define a community of people based on what they truly value.
Churches have cultures. The behaviors and practices of a church reflect what they value. Some cultures were established long ago and often they do not change over time unless there are deliberate attempts to make changes to that culture.
The best way to figure out the culture of a church is trying to change something. It does not always have to be a big change, but you will know how important something is to those people by how much resistance one receives when you want to change something – that is culture. It might be a program, paintings, a plaque on the wall, the time of worship, the practices for a service and so on. Culture is created by people who establish policies, procedures and practices that reflect what people value, in order to accomplish something important. The reason programs exist is because people believed this was the way to accomplish a particular goal and specifically, something of spiritual value. Read More
Pastor Brad Little, Regional Executive Director
Venture Church Network Midwest
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Youth: Gospel Driven
I had a great time talking with Sam Moss about his hilarious podcast, Youth Group Chronicles. This podcast is great for all youth pastors as it shares about outrageous stories people have had while serving in youth ministry. This podcast is great for helping us all realize we are not the only one who have made a mistake in ministry. The podcast also reminds us we are not alone, and God uses broken and sinful people to accomplish His work.
Check out the post cast with the below links.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ygchronicles/videos
Web site: https://ygcpodcast.com/
Submit a story to: stories@ygcpodcast.com
Chuck Babbitt, Youth Pastor
Bloomer Baptist Church, Bloomer, WI
VCNMidwest Youth Ministries Director
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Venture Value: Gospel Driven
“Stop it!” Bob Newhart, the comic counselor, keeps yelling, “Just stop it!” He’s sitting across from a lady who has come to get advice on how to deal with problems, ranging from fear of being buried in a box to destructive relationships with men. His advice is always the same, “Stop it!” Fellow pastors, sometimes, honestly, just sometimes, don’t ya wish we could do that? We come up against individuals in our churches that seem to live in the same habits and problems. Large portions of our congregations are prone to wallow in never-ending spiritual immaturity and a general lack of zeal for the mission of Christ. The temptation is real. “Just. Stop. It!” Yell it loud! It would feel so good, right?
Read More
Kevin Rutledge, Teaching Pastor
First Baptist Church, Sycamore, IL
VCNMidwest Board Member
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The ENGAGE forum has been suspended
for the months of July and August,
but you will be invited to RE-ENGAGE in September.
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CONGRATULATIONS!
Winners of the 2023 Henry C. Spicer Scholarship
It is again the privilege of VCNMidwest to award the Henry C. Spicer Scholarship to some of our graduating high school seniors. All graduating high school seniors from our region's churches are eligible to apply for the one-time non-renewable scholarship. The scholarship aims to help with the costs of continuing education. Having made us a kingdom of priests, we rejoice that the Lord desires to place these young men and women as a faithful presence in different vocational fields.
This year's scholarship committee has selected two graduating students that excelled in many areas. Selection is made based on a number of criteria, including personal testimony (most importantly), future pursuits, academic excellence, and financial need. We would like to acknowledge that every candidate who applied this year was truly outstanding, and reading through each student's testimony and future plans greatly encouraged the committee.
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Kaela Gerig
Bethany Baptist Church, Edwards, IL
Attending Grand Canyon University
Phoenix, AZ
Education Focus: Business Management and a double minor in Business Analytics and Global Missions
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Adelynee Steed
First Baptist Church, Dover, OH
Attending Stark State University,
North Canton, OH
Education Focus: Physical Therapy Assisting
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We've partnered with Cedarville University to offer employees and members of a VCN church a 15% graduate tuition discount. Read More
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Q&A: Correcting Improper FICA Withholdings
Q: Our church has been withholding FICA for its pastors, in some instances for years—or even decades. We recently learned this is a mistake. How do we fix this? ChurchLaw&Tax
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Venture Church Network Midwest
PASTORAL COHORTS
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Iowa
No meeting this month
Location: Calvary Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids
Jay Jentink, Calvary Baptist Church Cedar Rapids, IA
319-396-3233
office@calvarycr.org
Michigan/Ohio
To Be Decided
Meeting by Zoom
Allen Grover, Ganson Street Baptist Church, Jackson, MI
517-740-8961 pastorallen@gansonstreet.org
Central Minnesota
Monday, July 17, 10:00 (CT)
Leader: Brad Little
Location - River of Life Church, Hastings, MN
Contact: Dan Vesta
651-468-1045
dkvesta@sbcglobal.net
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Southern Minnesota
Tuesday, July 18, 11:30 (CT)
Location: Pizza Ranch, Jackson, MN
Walt Moser, First Baptist Church, Luverne, MN
605-254-3092
PastorWalt.Moser@gmail.com
Wisconsin
No meeting this month
Wade Duroe, Crossroads Church, Chippewa Falls, WI
715-723-1054
wljc12@hotmail.com
VCNMidwest Youth Pastor Collaboration
Thursday, July 27,10:30 (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
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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
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All articles and submissions are the view of the individual writer and are not necessarily the official position of Venture Church Network Midwest. | | | | |
