BMH Editor's Blog

Fight Club Ignites Fire in Goshen Men

Posted by Liz Cutler Gates on February 21, 2012  |  5 Comments

For the last 12 weeks, men at Grace Community Church, a Grace Brethren church in Goshen, Ind., have been participating in Fight Club, a program developed by the staff of the church that is designed to reach men where they are. “It is an incredible discipleship journey,” says Pastor Jim Brown. “It has all the components of discipleship plus all the stuff that makes men come alive.”

It was advertised as a brand new, life-changing ministry for men. If you wanted to be part of it, then come to an informational meeting at midnight on the specified Monday night.

“Yes, we met at midnight,” says Pastor Jim, “and 323 men came to that informational meeting, which had many elements to it.”

Every participant signed a creed that required them to not talk about Fight Club to people outside of the group. They were given weekly assignments that had to be accomplished. If they weren’t, strikes were accumulated.

“We finished with 145 men,” says Jim. There were 225 men who began the journey. “Men did these assignments with hopes that their actions made a difference.”

Between meetings, the men connected through a password-protected closed website.

“It lit a fire in men and turned our church upside down,” says Pastor Jim, who developed the program from scratch, often writing it as they went. “It lined up well with what I have been saying for 16 years at Grace Community, if you get the man, you get the family. You get the family, you the community. You get the community, you get the world.”

The 12 weeks culminated with an awards ceremony when the men received a shirt with the creed on it and a leather bracelet bearing the Fight Club logo. The videos on this page are from that ceremony.

Currently he and his staff is working on developing the program so that it may be used by other churches.

“I have never been more excited about anything in my entire life!” he adds, as he prepares for another 12 week program with a new group of men.

Two Great Canadian Adventures Offered in 2012

Posted by Liz Cutler Gates on February 20, 2012  |  No Comments

Two Mission Teams – Two Churches

One Family of Jesus – Your Help Needed!

Bring a friend, bring your family, bring your church.

The team of GBC Canada, the Grace Brethren church-planting effort in Canada, has announced two opportunities for ministry teams to come alongside young congregations this summer. The first is July 8 to 14 in Medicine Hat, Alberta. The second is August 5 to 11 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The missions trips this summer are all about supporting the two recent church plants in Canada. Grasslands could use help in keeping the momentum going from their launch last fall.  Community of Hope needs assistance to refresh and reinstate the presence of Jesus in their community.

Grasslands Church

DATE: July 8- 14, 2012

TIME: Sunday night – Friday Night

LOCATION: Medicine Hat, Alberta

GO TO: www.canadianadventure.org

Contact: herb8_44805@yahoo.com

Community of Hope

DATE: August 5- 11, 2012

TIME: Sunday night – Friday Night

LOCATION: Vancouver, British Columbia

GO TO:www.canadianadventure.org

Contact: herb8_44805@yahoo.com

Asia’s Hope Provides Essential, Lifesaving Help

Posted by Liz Cutler Gates on February 20, 2012  |  No Comments

One of the cooperating organizations in the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches is Asia’s Hope, an organization that provides family-based residential care for children at high risk of sexual and economic exploitation in Cambodia, Thailand, and India. From its beginnings in 2001, it now operates 23 homes, providing comprehensive care for about 600 kids and work with about 150 indigenous staff – moms and dads, teachers, nurses, cooks and administrators. A number of the homes are sponsored by Grace Brethren congregations.

Recently, Marla Taviano, a blogger from Columbus, Ohio, interviewed Asia’s Hope executive director John McCollum (and co-founder of the organization) about the ministry and how it came to be. She’s also leading a discussion about orphan care — the pros and the cons. It’s a multi-day post, so feel free to follow along. We’ve only included a portion of the interview here.

meet the mccollum family

…(the youth pastor at the church we were attending)  told me about a pastor from a church in our denomination about an hour away from Columbus. “He does something in Cambodia. Not sure what it is – you should call him.” I called the pastor, and basically invited myself along on his next trip. He graciously allowed me to come along on what was pretty much a run-of-the-mill short term missions trip. But while we were there, God gave us a vision to move beyond a once-a-year visit evangelism and teaching gig. We met so many amazing Christians in Cambodia – they had everything they needed for successful ministry – the organization, the passion, the gifting, the spiritual authority – everything but money. And we as American Christians had the converse – money, and a willingness to help, but very little else to bring to the table.Read the rest of the post here.

what about orphanages? (part 1)

This provides some of the background to the conversation between blogger Marla Taviano and John McCollum, executive director of Asia’s Hope.

…I talked to John McCollum, Executive Director of Asia’s Hope, and asked him if he’d be willing to answer some questions and address some concerns about orphanages and if they’re really in the best interest of kiddos in Cambodia. He said absolutely. He also pointed me to another site that warns people of the dangers of Orphanage Tourism…

Read the complete post here.

what about orphanages? (part 2)

This begins the conversation between blogger Marla Taviano and John McCollum, executive director of Asia’s Hope, about orphan care around the world.

Question: “Three out of four children living in orphanages are not orphans – they still have at least one parent alive.” (I got this quote from the article I linked to in the first post.) Is this true of Asia’s Hope orphanages?

First of all, I think that we have to clarify what we mean when we say “orphan.” Colloquially, most people think of an orphan as a child whose mother and father have both died. For our purposes at Asia’s Hope, however, we define an orphan as any child who has no parents who can or will care for them. So, while we do prioritize for admission kids whose parents have both died, we also provide care for kids who may have, for instance, a mother who has died and a father who is in prison or who has abandoned them.

Just yesterday we admitted a sibling group – two boys and a little girl – whose father had committed suicide, and whose mother had abandoned them. The kids had no food, no access to healthcare, no shelter and no education. Neither the villagers nor their extended family could or would take them in. Do these kids fit the popular definition of orphans? Maybe not. But they fit ours. So, offhand, I can’t quote you stats on how many of the 600 kids in our care have one parent living, but I can say that we only admit children for whom no other credible options exist.

We wholeheartedly support the organizations out there that provide different kinds of care – village-level education, preventative and emergency health services for poor families, well-baby care, advocacy for safe and humane working conditions for destitute laborers – these are all essential! But for a small percentage of poor children – those who have no one else to care for them, especially those who are at high risk for sexual and economic exploitation – we provide essential, lifesaving help.

Read the complete post here.

Learn more about the beginning days of Asia’s Hope, see Asia’s Hope Makes a Difference, published in the January/February 2008 FGBC World.

Native Church Announces Revival Service

Posted by Liz Cutler Gates on February 17, 2012  |  No Comments

Arnold Betoney, pastor of Native New Life Church, a Grace Brethren congregation in Albuquerque, N.M., has announced the schedule for its 2012 New Year’s Revival. Services will be held at 7 p.m nightly, February 20 to 25 at the church, located at 8624 Zuni SE (corner of Zuni and Virginia).

Speakers include:
Monday — Pastor Arnold Betoney
Tuesday — Ray Perry, All Nation’s Indian Baptist Church
Wednesday — Ben Yazzie, iEquip
Thursday –  Jeremy Seaton
Friday — Pastor Julian Gunn, Nazarene Indian Church
Saturday — Three Fold Communion Service

Prayer, testimonies, singing, and enjoy the fellowship, you’re all invited.

More info call Pastor Arnold (505) 220-1188.

Live This Week Like It’s Valentine’s Day

Posted by Liz Cutler Gates on February 15, 2012  |  No Comments

When we shared yesterday’s story about how Grace Fellowship, a Grace Brethren congregation in Pickerington, Ohio, spread a little sweet love in their community, we were drawn to a video on the church’s web site. It’s from Sunday’s services at the central Ohio church and worthy of a second glance. Pastor Keith Minier and his wife, Kelly, remind viewers of the importance of spending time together. He then encourages the congregation to protect their marriages and prays not only for married couples in the audience, but for the single individuals, that they might live lives of purity.

Showering a Community with Sweet Love

Posted by Liz Cutler Gates on February 14, 2012  |  No Comments

Grace Fellowship of Pickerington, Ohio, a Grace Brethren congregation pastored by Keith Minier, showered their community with love this Valentine’s Week. They distributed close to 400 dozen cookies to schools and fire and police stations in their area.

“This was a really exciting event that our church really stepped up and owned,” reports Nicole Waggoner, leader of the Impact Team. “We had originally planned on getting 300 dozen cookies but we got closer to 400 dozen.  In each bag was one dozen cookies.  We sent them to four different local schools and we had enough to take to the fire and police station.”

The team selected schools where the teaching staff includes individuals who are part of the congregation, to provide them with a platform to talk to people and invite them to the church.

“The point of this event was to let teachers know that we appreciate them and all of their hard work,” stressed Nicole. ” Our hope is that if they are ’seeking’ that they would come visit us and we know they will be exposed to the truth of Jesus in our services.”

“People brought the cookies to church this weekend and we packaged them up and delivered them yesterday (February 13),” says Nicole. “We’ve already heard some great reports about how appreciative people were.”

Nicole goes on to explain that the Impact Team creates events for the church to have a large scale presence in the community, which is located on the eastern edge of metropolitan Columbus. “Our hope is to provide a platform of credibility in the community as a church that loves them,” she says. “We hope that if a person finds them self wondering about God, that they will remember the church that gave them the cookies, the free wrapping paper, and provided them with an awesome Easter Egg event with a helicopter and that they will come to a service and hear about Jesus.”

Momentum Promo Video Unveiled

Posted by Liz Cutler Gates on February 8, 2012  |  No Comments

Momentum 2012 Video
The promotional video for Momentum 2012, the annual youth conference hosted by CE National, was released this morning on YouTube. The conference will be July 17-22 at Eastern Kentucky University. Momentum is an annual, national youth conference that teaches, equips, and inspires youth to return to their churches and communities as a light for Christ. Momentum excites youth to lead a lifestyle of intentionally walking with Christ and showing their peers at home what that means.

CPR-3 Featured on Catalyst Blog

Posted by Liz Cutler Gates on February 6, 2012  |  No Comments

CPR-3, a cooperating ministry of the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches which was founded by Dan O’Deens, is featured on the Catalyst blog today. Catalyst is a conference for young leaders of churches and ministries. A portion of the post, written by Dan, appears below. Click here to read the complete post.

I was simply a ‘next generation leader’ looking to make a mark on my world. I was ready to step into the mysterious journey of pursuing Jesus by embracing; courage, danger, adventure, mission and calculated risk. The Lord would use Catalyst to change my world or more accurately His World, forever. Someone other than Jesus believed in me. That was all I needed.

I was pastoring Gateway Church, a church I had the opportunity to plant from scratch. I was sitting in my office when 9-11 rocked our world. That evening I was in New York City and I would serve there for the next 3 weeks as a first responder with the Salvation Army.

Another crisis would awaken my soul as it flooded our media. Katrina! I was now trained by the American Red Cross as a First Responder. I was deployed. Catalyst had etched a ‘key’ word into my brain. LEADERSHIP. I was in Baton Rouge and overheard the need for leadership. I stepped in. I had no idea what was about to happen to my life. I ended up leading 10 counties in Louisiana with 8 large mass shelters under my leadership. It would become the classroom of my greatest leadership experience.

A well-intentioned friend spoke some hard words into my life, unknowingly. He said, “That’s great that you get to go to all the ‘BIG” crisis’, but do you take the Church with you?” That was the birth of CPR-3. I believe in the Church. I wanted to be a catalyst for ‘the RED cross’ the cross that cared for both the physical (the American Red Cross) and the spiritual (the blood stained cross of Jesus) needs of people.

An earthquake in Haiti would be the final ‘catalyst’ to move me into the full time arena of crisis, catastrophe and extreme poverty. CPR-3 is a faith-based organization with a driving passion to ‘Breathe Life and Hope into our World.’ CPR-3 supports relief, rehabilitation and development initiatives.

Click here to read the rest of the post.

Kalahari Winter Retreat Draws 1,500 Students

Posted by Liz Cutler Gates on February 6, 2012  |  No Comments

More than 1,500 students (6th-12th grade) and leaders from 25 churches converged on the Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, Ohio, this past weekend for the annual winter retreat sponsored by student ministries from all over Ohio and Indiana. This was seventh year for this event, which includes three days at North America’s largest indoor waterpark, four main sessions, dynamic worship, powerful messages from God’s Word relevant for student life, time together as a youth group, and fellowship with like-minded churches.

The retreat featured guest speaker Clayton King, worship leaders Exodus, and Soar Dunk, the trampoline dunk team from Liberty University.

Clayton challenged students from John 6 about how to believe in Jesus and then challenged students to holiness and purity. The response to his message saw 86 first-time decisions for Christ, 275 re-commitments to Christ, more than 300 commitments to a year of not dating to focus on identity and character, and 63 other decisions that direct students lives toward Jesus Christ!

“Praise God! I will never forget watching over 400 students stand up and proclaim a decision for Christ!,” said Jana Muntin, a middle school small group leader from Wooster Grace. “I get tears in my eyes right now picturing it. God showed up in a big way at Kalahari 2012!” In total, more than 700 commitments to Christ were made during the weekend.

Another adult leader expressed, “What a great weekend bringing everyone together – lives changed – great teaching!”

Andrew Gartner, a student from Grace Church of Powell, wrapped up the weekend like so many students who walk away saying, “Kalahari was the best weekend of my life!”

Other guests for the weekend included Grace College, Encompass Partners, and CE National (Ed Lewis).

“We thank God for His work in the lives of many this weekend and invite you to pray with us that it was an awakening that will see students awake and alive leveraging their entire lives to make Jesus famous!” said Nick Cleveland, pastor of high school students at Wooster Grace. (Nick also serves as director of the event.)

The next Kalahari Retreat will be January 4-6, 2013, and again will feature Exodus and Clayton King. For more information email rsnyder@woostergrace.org.

Mark Artrip, one of two hosts for the weekend, reflected on the experience on his blog.

Growing Spiritual Conversations in the Inner City

Posted by Liz Cutler Gates on February 6, 2012  |  No Comments

Dan Green, pastor of Global Ministries at the Grace Brethren Church, Columbus, Ohio, helped initiate container gardens at an inner city clinic in Columbus. The result was not only yummy vegetables, but opportunities to talk with people about Jesus.

New Central Ohio Church Plant Announced

Posted by Liz Cutler Gates on February 3, 2012  |  No Comments

Sean Spoelstra, pastor of Encounter Church, a Grace Brethren congregation in Dublin, Ohio, has announced that the church is launching their first church plant.

“For more than three years I’ve said, ‘I don’t know who or where or when, but we are committed to planting a church and are putting five percent of our offerings aside to prepare for it.’  It gives me great joy to tell you that this past Sunday, January 29, Mark and Kristin Artrip were introduced as the couple who will be the first to lead a church plant out of Encounter Church. This will make us a mother church and Grace Church in Powell a grandmother church.”

The announcement came as Encounter celebrated their third anniversary of holding Sunday morning services and Spoelstra was teaching on the church’s core value “Multiply,” which has church planting as a major component.

The couple will move to Hilliard, Ohio, on the northwest side of metropolitan Columbus, to begin a new Grace Brethren work. He is currently the youth pastor at Grace Church in Powell, Ohio.

“Mark is committed to finishing well at Grace Church and plans to come over to Encounter at the end of this summer,” said Spoelstra. “He then will be a leadership resident with us for approximately six months, teaching, training, praying, dreaming, and preparing his ministry team to launch Movement Church in the Spring of 2013.”

Mark Artrip explains more in an open letter to the Powell congregation on his blog. You may also follow Movement Church on Twitter, @movecolumbus.

Pastors Retreat to the Oaks in Southern California

Posted by Liz Cutler Gates on February 2, 2012  |  No Comments

Grace Brethren ministry leaders from California and beyond gathered this week for the Southwest Focus Retreat, which is being held at The Oaks Conference and Retreat Center at Lake Hughes, Calif. Participants have come from as far away as Alaska, Ohio, and Virginia to participate.

The retreat was led by Dan Allan, pastor of the Grace Brethren Church, Ashland, Ohio. Bob Fetterhoff, pastor of the Grace Brethren Church, Wooster, Ohio, and moderator of the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, led the morning session on Tuesday.

The theme is It’s a Jungle Out There… Finding Your Way Forward.

This is the third of five focus retreats held in various locations throughout the U.S. It allows ministry leaders several days away to enjoy scripture study, relationship building, and relaxation. In Southern California, the pastors enjoyed “human foosball” on Tuesday afternoon, in addition to hiking the trails around the camp.

The retreat concluded Wednesday morning prior to lunch.

See additional photos from the week at facebook.com/FGBCWorld.

The next Focus Retreat will be March 19 through 21 at the Florida FFA Leadership Training Center, 5000 Firetower Road, Haines City, FL 33844. Additional retreats are scheduled for Alaska (May May 18-20) and the Northwest (May 21-23).

Leadership Development: Taking a Chance on a Young Guy

Posted by Liz Cutler Gates on January 30, 2012  |  No Comments

Dave Kennedy, pastor of Community of Grace Church, a Grace Brethren church in Richmond, Va., says he’s been entrusted by God to encourage a young pastor. Read about his mentoring relationship with Associate Pastor Brad Gromis in the Winter 2012 issue of FGBC World. It is now available for free at local Grace Brethren churches.

The quarterly magazine of the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches is also available online at fgbcworld.com. To watch more of the interview with Dave Kennedy and Brad Gromis, click here.

FGBC Fellowship Council Meets in Long Beach

Posted by Liz Cutler Gates on January 26, 2012  |  No Comments

Today and tomorrow, the council will also look at a Declaration of Common Identity and review applications from six churches that would like to join the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches.

The council is led by Bob Fetterhoff, current moderator of the FGBC and pastor of the Grace Brethren Church in Wooster, Ohio. Serving on the board are representatives of three regions of the country: east, central, and west. Board members have come from as far away as Alaska, Maryland, and Virginia.

Ministry Helps Those Who Are Overlooked or Struggling

Posted by Liz Cutler Gates on January 23, 2012  |  No Comments

Little did Dan O’Deens know that when he responded to the need for help at Ground Zero in 2001, it would develop into a full-time ministry to those who are overlooked and struggling. In the Winter issue of FGBC World, learn how this passion developed into CPR-3, a new cooperating ministry of the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches. The quarterly issue of FGBC World is now available at local Grace Brethren churches or online at fgbcworld.com.

If you’d like to receive a free copy mailed to your home, send an email to fgbcworld@bmhbooks.com or call 574-268-1122.

Go2 Prayer Summit Concludes

Posted by Liz Cutler Gates on January 11, 2012  |  No Comments

Tim Boal, executive director of Go2 Ministries, the church-planting arm of the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, issued a call to pray on Tuesday as he met with representatives of Grace Brethren districts from around the U.S. “We want to plant churches,” he said. “If we don’t get serious, we won’t have a part in a great commission harvest,” he added as he introduced the Circles of Grace program to the pastors. “The Lord is the Lord of the harvest,” he stressed. “He is the one who will make it happen.”

Circles of Grace has a goal of 500,000 people praying for the 1,765 metro areas, or circles of grace, in America. Boal encouraged the Grace Brethren pastors to begin thinking about church planting by praying for an area — that God would raise up a church planter to begin a work in that area, that funding would become available, and that people would come to know Christ as a result.

He said that everyone one could be involved in this process. “I don’t want any of our churches to think they can’t ‘pray the Lord of the harvest’ because they aren’t very big,” he stressed. “It’s about, ‘can your church pray?’”

The Summit ended Tuesday afternoon as the men gathered to consider how they could carry out the project in their own regions. Pastors came to the Orlando meeting location from as far away as Alaska and California, representing most regional districts in the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches.

Go2 Ministries Prayer Summit Begins in Orlando

Posted by Liz Cutler Gates on January 9, 2012  |  2 Comments

Mission representatives from Grace Brethren districts around the U.S. are gathered in Orlando, Fla., to learn more about Go2 Ministries Circles of Grace initiative and to pray for the development of new Grace Brethren congregations in the United States.

“We’re hoping everyone leaves energized and excited about Circles of Grace and the opportunity the project presents to allow for concerted, focused prayer on the entire country,” said Jim Snavely, national church-planting director for Go2 Ministries.

Tim Boal, executive director of Go2, noted, “It’s Go2’s desire to see each participant become an advocate of this vital project within his or her own sphere of influence.”

The Summit began with dinner this evening and continues tomorrow as the participants review the 1,765 Circles of Grace and prayerfully consider how they and the churches in the region they represent may be involved.

Go2 Ministries is dedicated to the establishment of new churches in the United States of America. It hopes to start 5,000 new churches, see 500,000 new believers, and serve 50 million Americans by 2020.

Vision2020: Integrating the Gospel into the Community

Posted by Liz Cutler Gates on January 8, 2012  |  No Comments

Integrating Gospel with Community from Grace Churches on Vimeo.

Jonathan Carey, pastor of the Ellet Grace Brethren Church in Akron, Ohio, updates a story that was in the November-December 2010 issue of FGBC World. In that issue, ‘Love Your Neighbor’ Comes to Life in Akron, told how the Ellet congregation adopted the Ritzman Community Learning Center, a K-5 elementary school in the Akron public school district, and began to send them school supplies, sponsor pre-school-year fairs, and even cut a hole in the fence between the properties so the church parking lot could be used for after school programs or during special events at the school.

After this video, which was recorded in July 2010, was sent as part of Moderator Bob Fetterhoff’s weekly e-zine last month, Pastor Carey sent an update:

This past fall all the students and staff of the school had their picture taken in front of our building and then they invited us over for a special presentation. They received their results back from the state and were one of two elementary schools in the city to receive an excellent two years in a row. The presented us with a plaque with the picture on it that read, “Your sincere kindness, support, and generosity has helped to make our school achieve ‘Excellence’! Our community ‘grows’ because of you.” They said they couldn’t have achieved this wtihout the help and support of our ministry. They also made posters with the picture, which went to the city council and mayor. We continue to build the relationship with the school and just recently baptized a young mom who is thrilled to be growing in her faith and desiring to reach the rest of her family.

Winter 2012 Edition of FGBC World Now Live

Posted by Liz Cutler Gates on January 6, 2012  |  No Comments

The Winter 2012 edition of FGBC World, the quarterly magazine for the people of the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, is now live at fgbcworld.com. Print copies of the magazine were mailed individually to homes and in bulk to churches in late December. You may also read the magazine in book format here.

This issue includes stories about CPR-3, a new ministry that works with people who are overlooked, struggling, or in crisis; an excerpt for Ed Stetzer’s address at the 2009 conference of the FGBC; and a discussion with two Grace Brethren pastors about their mentoring relationship.

FGBC World is an all-fellowship, all-Grace-Brethren magazine published four times a year. In it you will find stories about Grace Brethren people around the world—from individuals who are on the front line of ministry to organizations that help impact lives for Jesus.

New Issue of “Veritas” Available

Posted by Liz Cutler Gates on January 6, 2012  |  No Comments

The January-February 2012 issue of “Veritas,” a journal of counseling and discipleship, is now available. This issue is the second installment of “The Struggle of the Faith,” which looks to Joshua of the Old Testament. Whether one remembers Joshua’s first appearance in the pages of Scripture as a spy for Moses in the Promised Land, his triumph at the battle of Jericho, or his consummation as the leader of Israel, Joshua was a man of great faith.

The online magazine is a product of the Grace Brethren Church of Columbus, Ohio (Mike Yoder, pastor) and is available online by clicking here.