Eastern Regional Association July 2024 Newsletter

Church Spotlight

Massena's 150th Anniversary!

The Northside Community Church (Massena Advent Christian Church) celebrated 150 years of faithful service to the Lord in Massena, NY on Saturday July 6 and Sunday July 7. On July 6 the members gathered together for a covered dish supper in the fellowship hall. The fellowship was great as folks talked about their experiences at the church, the life of the church, and their lives together. Around the fellowship hall were a number of displays with pictures of past and current members, and tables of scrap books with more pictures, newspaper clippings about the church and its former pastors, and other historic documents. The care and preparation for the event were evident and well received. 

 Following the fellowship meal a special service commenced to celebrate the sesquicentennial. There were letters read by members of the church from ACGC Executive Director Justin Nash, ERA President George Karl, and Former Pastor George Middleton. Chris Barton also brought words from the Maranatha Conference and read a letter from ERA Superintendent Clayton Blackstone. These were all well received and appreciated by those in attendance. A few members shared stories. Elder Adam Facteau and Marian Facteau lead us into worship, and Pastor Jason Hall preached powerfully. In all aspects of the service a great balance was struck of looking back with gratitude, being thankful in the moment, and looking forward with hope. The celebration continued on July 7 at the Sunday morning worship service. The celebration concluded around the Lord's Table with communion. Following communion all joined for fellowship time after the service. The presence of the Holy Spirit permeated this time of reflection and looking forward to how God will continue to use the Northside Community Church until Jesus returns. 

submitted by Chris Barton

2024 ERA Convention

The annual Eastern Regional Convention will be held on Friday, October 25 and Saturday October 26 at the Blessed Hope Advent Christian Church, Waterville, ME. The theme for the convention is: “The Gospel for Today-Making Our Methods and Message Relevant”. The following speakers have thus far been confirmed: Rev. Justin Nash, ACGC Executive Director and Ryan Goding Executive Director of Anchor New England. Justin will be one of our plenary speakers along with offering two workshops which will serve as training sessions for the “Darkness to Light” material. Ryan was a speaker at last year’s convention and once again will challenge us in the areas of apologetics. More speakers and worship leaders will be announced as they are confirmed.

Registration will be $25. The meal plan will be $40 which will include continental breakfasts on Friday and Saturday mornings, Friday lunch, and Friday evening banquet.

Lodging has been confirmed with the Fireside Inn, Waterville for $116/ night.

Exhibit tables are available at $25. 

Registration links will be made available in the near future.

Pastor Spotlight

The Joy's of Cancer

Paul Carter

My what a statement, yet a very truthful one for me. Yes, there are those days of tiredness and lack of motivation caused by the daily cancer med's and the forty-two radiation treatments.

Well today is a day of celebration in that I take my last cancer treatment meds. It is also a day to reflect back over the year of the Goodness of God. For you see, God allowed me to have cancer so that I could witness of His goodness to a medical staff, a radiology team, and to encourage many other cancer patients in the waiting room. My wife, Glennis, and I had the opportunity to pray with and for one of our doctors, who is a Christian. We also prayed for a woman in the waiting room, who was concerned for her mom who has cancer. We left several Gospel tracks and Gospels of John in the waiting room.

God is So Sooooo Goooood! We look forward to the next adventure He has for us.

Blessings and Prayers for all.

Pastor Paul

SPAM Camp

Alton Bay, NH—Exciting Updates from Sports and Music Camp!

God continues to work powerfully through the ministry of Sports and Music Camp! Starting on June 23rd, we welcomed 109 campers, ages 12 to 18 (with an average age of 14), to the Alton Bay Christian Conference Center. This was our largest enrollment since 2014. Under the guidance of long-time speaker Luke Middleton and the dedicated SPAM Camp staff, our 51st encampment explored the theme “True Story,” based on Mark 10:45 and selected passages from the Gospel of Luke.

This year's theme tackled the challenge of discerning what is truly trustworthy in a world filled with uncertainty. The Gospels reveal the story of a Savior whose remarkable journey to the Cross demonstrated unparalleled sacrifice and love.

We were blessed with perfect weather throughout the week, allowing campers to fully enjoy the planned activities. Highlights of camp were seeing the campers, joyfully singing together each and every evening and reflecting on the promises of Scripture together in the quiet moments after services.

For those interested in seeing the camp’s activities and recordings of the evening services, we invite you to visit and follow our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/spamcamp for photos and videos from Camp 2024.

We are deeply grateful for the prayers and support we received before and during the camp. As we start planning for SPAM Camp 2025, we appreciate your continued support and prayers.

Blessings,

Rev. Joshua Blackstone

Director of Counseling

News from ACGC

2025 AC Leaders' Conference

The 2025 AC Leaders’ Conference will be held February 4-6 at the beautiful Advent Christian Village in Dowling Park, Florida. The theme is “Rest for Your Soul” and the event will explore building healthy habits and rhythms for longevity in pastoral ministry. Our speaker is Rev. Andy Addis, the Lead Teaching and Vision Pastor at CrossPoint Church in Hutchinson, Kansas, author and host of the Rural Pastor Podcast (theruralpastor.com). Please plan to join us for this time of spiritual renewal and refreshing where you can gather with old friends and make some new ones. Please click the link below to find more info and to reigster. We hope to see you there.

ACGC International Missions Update

TANZANIA – In May, our friends Johnson Odoyo and Amos Komanya made another journey to an unreached people group, choosing this time to bring the gospel to the Datoga. 

This agro-pastoral tribe is known by different names: Datoga, Datooga, Mangati (in Swahili). They raise their own meat: goats, sheep and cattle and migrate to find grounds for feeding and planting.

Upon reaching a Datoga village, Johnson and Amos found the villagers to be very timid, staying near the doors of their huts rather than welcoming them in. It wasn’t long however, before the warmth of their smiles and the sincerity of their hearts won them over...

Click the image above to read the most recent prayer points.

The Annual William Miller Chapel service will be held on Sunday, September 15 at 4:00 PM. Rev. Andy Rice, President of the Berkshire Institute of Christian Studies will be the speaker. Mrs. Carrie Rice, Music Director for Hope Church, Lenox, MA will lead worship. All are welcome to attend the service. The William Miller home and farm will be available for touring prior to the service. Don’t forget to go out behind the chapel and view Ascension Rock. 

The William Miller Chapel (owned by the Advent Christian denomination) is looking for a piano. If you have a piano that is in good working condition and are willing to donate it please contact Rev. David Davis who is one of the Miller Chapel Advent Christian trustees. He can be reached at: revdwdavis@gmail.com

Two of our Eastern Region pastors are making trips to encourage and train pastors in African countries.

• Chris Barton, pastor at the Newport Center Vermont AC Church, and his wife Melanie are currently in South Africa encouraging some of our friendships there.
• Ken Perkins, pastor of the Bear River Church in Nova Scotia, will be going to Malawi on July 30 where he will host a conference that includes Malawi and Mozambique pastors and I’ll present a new ministerial manual. He will return to Canada on August 27.

Please pray for the success of these trips.

ERA Phone Number Discontinued

Scholarship Opportunities

DuBois Scholarship - Sponsored by the Maine State Conference, amount awarded depends on number of applicants and funds available; This scholarship is given in loving memory of Rev. Wendell DuBois, Tammy DuBois and Virgene Hughes. It is designed to assist those seeking a call to vocational ministry in achieving their academic goals. The application needs to be postmarked by August 31 to be considered. The scholarship monies will be disbursed during the 2nd semester of the academic year.

Berkshire Christian College Scholarship Fund - Scholarship amount varies depending on the program of study. The purpose and description of the scholarship is:

• Seminary education in partnership with Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary at four campuses - two in Mass., one in Fla., one in NC. (www.gordonconwell.edu) Advent Christian students receive up to a 50% tuition reduction. (Additional scholarship assistance may also be available.)
• Theological formation through the Ministry Training Institute (MTI). Students enrolled in MTI are eligible for scholarships through Berkshire Christian.

Castle Hill Scholarship Fund - The Castle Hill Advent Christian Church closed its doors in December of 2019 due to declining numbers and the difficulty of finding pastoral leadership. Through a generous donation, a Ministry Scholarship will be established in their name. It is their desire that this ministry scholarship be established to help fund individuals who are seeking vocational ministry training either from a ministry training program within the Advent Christian constituency, or if a person chooses to seek to prepare for vocational ministry outside of the Advent Christian constituency, the Christian institution must be accredited.

Applicants are required to fill out the application and have all of the required information turned in to the Superintendent’s Office by September 15th in order to be considered by the Eastern Regional Board of Directors. The Board will present scholarships to qualified applicants by dividing $2000 dollars among them per year. If only one applicant applies, the cap for an individual scholarship is $1000 dollars made out to the school of their choosing.

Eastern Regional Association

P.O. Box 214 Winchester, NH 03470