E-Link Online -- News of the American Baptist Churches of Michigan

Issue 2009.17, August 10, 2009

First Baptist Sturgis VBS

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. -- Ephesians 2:10

More than 100 kids participated in this year’s Vacation Bible School--“Son Rock Kids Camp”-- at the First Baptist Church of Sturgis. Blending fun and faith, over the course of the week kids learned how their lives can be transformed by building on the Rock of Jesus. Set amidst God’s great outdoors as the sanctuary transformed into campsite in this camping themed VBS, kids learned new skills, played new games, sang new songs, and formed new friendships all while exploring their identity in Jesus Christ. The daily themes moved from ‘Accepted by Jesus,’ ‘Protected by Jesus,’ ‘Saved by Jesus,’ ‘Forgiven by Jesus,’ and finally to ‘Living for Jesus.’

Living for Jesus, this year’s mission project was focused on the needs of refugee resettlement in the Burmese community in Battle Creek. On the final night, the Rev. David Laisum, Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Battle Creek, shared the story of the Good Samaritan and thanked the kids for being good friends and good neighbors. Youth from FBC Battle shared songs with their new friends and neighbors.

Commenting on the success of this year’s program, Pastor Jim Bender said “Many hands make light work, hands of our director, Mary Boughton who involved more than 40 volunteers, hands of those in our church who made this possible, hands of those who reached out to our community to invite others in, hands which reached out in mission to our Burmese friends.”

Indeed, we are God’s workmanship as we come together in community learning his Word and living for Jesus!

Click on right arrow at lower left of image above to view a brief slideshow.

ABC Missionaries to Nicaragua Available for Speaking Engagements

submitted by H. Bruce Carr

Ketly and Vital Pierre

Vital and Ketly Pierre, American Baptist missionaries to Nicaragua, will be in Michigan from Friday, September 25, through Friday, October 2, and are available for speaking engagements. At this point, their only confirmed speaking appointments are for Sunday morning September 27 at Crosspointe Meadows Church in Novi and Covenant Baptist in West Bloomfield. If you are interested in having the Pierres come to your church, contact the Region Office (1.800.632.2953).

Both were born in Haiti and are of Haitian ancestry. Haiti is the most impoverished country in this hemisphere, and the PIerres have done a lot to alleviate conditions there. Ketly's parents moved her to the U.S. when she was a small girl, so she had the benefit of a U.S. education (graduating from Eastern University) before she was commissioned as an ABC missionary to a Haitian immigrant area in the Dominican Republic. Then she met and married Vital. After he also was commissioned as an ABC missionary, both moved to start a new ministry in Bluefields, Nicaragua. They have been there for almost a decade.

Fall Retreat at Lake Louise

Join us September 18-20 at Camp Lake Louise for the annual Fall Retreat. Open to all 6th - 9th graders, it will be an action packed weekend featuring Zach Bartels and the MAB band! Click here for flyer. Contact Ryan Madis at 800-440-1238 or ryan.madis@lakelouiserocks.com for more information. Stay tuned to www.camplakelouise.com and www.lakelouiserocks.com for updates as we spend another weekend getting Back to Basics. See you at Lake Louise this fall!

Bluefields is a very interesting multi-lingual, multi-ethnic community where both Spanish and English are spoken. It is on the Caribbean coast and can't be reached by road frm the rest of Nicaragua. The Pierres began their ministry by building a swimming pool. That was followed by a multi-purpose building serving as a church and after school center and then dormitories -- building them as funds and labor (often from visiting volunteers) became available. You can learn about it this at www.missionbluefields.com. Also see the website for International Ministries: http://www.internationalministries.org/missionaries/89 for more information about Vital and Ketly.

.Bruce Carr of Covenant Baptist is helping coordinate their schedule. His home phone is 248-474-8916, cell phone is 248-933-6136, and e-mail is Hbrucecarr@aol.com. He's been to Bluefields twice and hopes that other people can have that experience.

Important Notice to All Churches

The State of Michigan now requires that Nonprofit Corporations have a minimum of three directors. This will impact the filing of your annual “Nonprofit Corporation Information Update” with the Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth. You may have recently received the paperwork in the mail to complete for this report. You have the option to file the report online, which I did for the Region. In the past, I have listed the president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer with the executive minister as a “director.” With the new requirement, I entered two of the officers twice—once using their title and a second time as director. This satisfied the requirement of having three directors since an officer may also be listed as a director. If you have any questions on filing this report, please contact me at the Region office—tknox@abc-mi.org or 800.632.2953, ext 222. -- Trina Knox

Ministry Leadership Certification Program Continues

The next Friday class is on church governance and structure and the Saturday session is on Baptist History and Polity. The sessions will take place September 18-19 at First Baptist Church, Detroit, and September 25-26 at First Baptist Church, Charlotte. Dr. Joe Mortensen, adjunct professor at Ecumenical Theological Seminary and editor of E-Link Online, teaches the Baptist History and Polity class. If you have not yet taken a class, you can start in September. If you have already begun the program, it is time to register for the next class. For more information and to register, go to http://abc-mi.org/?q=node/610. You may also e-mail: growingleaders@abc-mi.org.

ABC-MI, ABCOPAD and Eastern University Offer Online Youth Ministry Certificate

Registration Deadline August 15!

Do you want to learn how you can reach youth in an effective manner?
Do you wnat to learn to develop effective youth ministries for your church?
Do you want to learn how to deal with difficult students?
Do you want to learn “why we do what we do” in youth ministries?

If you responded 'yes' to any of these questions, then this program is for you! For more information and to register go to www.abc-mi.org and click on Youth Ministry Certificate. For any questions, e-mail Pat Hernandez (phernandez@abc-mi.org) Don't miss this unique opportunity!

Webinars for ABC-MI Pastors

Our Region, in cooperation with The Columbia Partnership, will offer pastors and interested lay leaders the opportunity to engage in two one-hour web seminars (webinars) on congregational transformation/revitalization. Each webinar will include a downloadable PowerPoint live presentation by Bill McConnell, author of Renew Your Church: Healing the Sick, Raising the Dead, and pastor of the Legacy Christian Church in Harrison, OH. Opportunity for a few interactive questions will be provided at the end of the presentation.

DATE	WEBINAR	EMPHASIS	DESCRIPTION
Wednesday, September 16 Noon -1:00pm	First Steps in Church Transformation	Congregational Transformational	Beginning is the difficult part of church transformation. Some of the foundational systemic issues that must be addressed before the process of church transformation can begin will be addressed.
Wednesday, October 28 Noon-1:00pm	Pastoral Leadership For Transformation	Leadership Development	Leading a church in transformation is different from pastoring a church. New skills, concepts and approaches must be learned and applied to lead the church into new life. This will be an excellent opportunity to engage in continuing education without leaving the comfort of your office or home. All it requires is internet access and a telephone conference call. Set-up details will be provided once you register with the region office.

Register today by accessing the registration form at http://www.abc-mi.org/pdfs/Webinar%20Registration%20Form.pdf in PDF format or http://www.abc-mi.org/docs/Webinar%20Registration%20Form.docx as a Word document. Fill it out and email it to dreetz@abc-mi.org OR fax it to 517.332.3186 OR mail it to American Baptist Churches of Michigan to the address on the registration form. Registration deadline for the first webinar is Monday, September 14. For more information contact Debbie Reetz in the Region office (dreetz@abc-mi.org) or Ron Cary (rcary@abc-mi.org).

Training Session for Interim Ministry to be Scheduled

by Tucker Gunneman

ABC-MI will offer the Introduction to Interim Ministry Training for those who believe God has placed it on their heart to serve in this vital ministry. We are seeking people who feel called to ministering to congregations in transition and are trained to do so in line with the Region's vision in Michigan of “Growing Healthy Churches.”

In transitional ministry we are constantly learning and growing as we explore better ways to serve our churches. Therefore we are looking for interims to join our team who desire to learn and grow. We are also seeking interims who can be trusted with a high level of responsibility and authority, while being held accountable to our vision and the Consultant for Transitional Ministries.

As an Intentional Interim, you must be able to travel and at times be away from your home for 3-4 days per week. This is one of the challenges of being an interim, as the opportunities for interim ministry are rarely in your “back yard.” We prefer Interim candidates who have a proven track record in some form of ministerial leadership; but will be open to those new to ministry upon a recommendation from an ABC pastor or Region staff. In addition, anyone who desires to serve as an interim must go through our training and/or be approved by the Consultant for Transitional Ministries.

Our next “Introduction to Interim Ministry” training event is being scheduled for late August or early September, on a Wednesday or Thursday, at the Region office from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. If you believe that God has placed this ministry on your heart and you can meet the expectations listed above, we welcome you to be a part of this year's training event. Please contact Rev. Tucker J. Gunneman, Consultant for Transitional Ministires at tgunneman@abc-mi.org , cell phone 586.219.3392

A Future With Hope Requires Planning

All gifts are planned. When you commemorate special events in the lives of your loved ones, you carefully plan exactly what you will give. You even plan as you give an offering Sunday after Sunday. The same is true of your estate. Indeed, charitable estate planning is also referred to as “planned giving.”

But did you know that with estate planning, WHAT you give can be as important as HOW MUCH or TO WHOM? Knowing which assets to draw on for retirement income, which to use to provide for loved ones, and which to employ to make a special gift for Christian ministry and mission takes special knowledge and consideration.

When you want to help ensure a future with hope, your American Baptist Foundation representative is available to assist you in making the most of what you have. Contact Dr. Joseph Huse, 888-233-1008 for assistance that is personal and confidential. There is no cost or obligation for these services. Together with your tax advisor or attorney, the Foundation will help you find the best gift plan for you and your interests.

Consumer Alert

The Senior Census -- Fact or Fiction? -- The attached consumer alert warns Michigan seniors that recent mailings asking them to complete a survey and provide a "donation" to ensure their state and federal representatives are aware of their opinion are unnecessary. Michigan seniors and other citizens can easily make their opinions known for free. The consumer alert also provides Michigan seniors and others with information on how to contact their state and federal representatives.

Please See Attached Consumer Alert.

MIKE COX
ATTORNEY GENERAL
STATE OF MICHIGAN

Short Notices

The next Sabbath Time Retreat at SPE Resource Center at St. Francis Retreat Center is September 23-25, 2009. This will be our regular facilitated retreat. In addition, we are offering Individually Directed Retreats. For more detail click on either link to see the flyers. Make room in your calendar for your Sabbath Time . . . -- Terry Feuka, Program Manager
The Friendship House Newsletter is now provided in both PDF and DOC formats. The DOC format is a much smaller file and will take much less time to acquire on slow dialup connections. Read it in PDF at http://abc-mi.org/elink/fh.pdf or in DOC format at http:abc-mi.org/fh.doc.
The next issue of E-Link Online will be published on August 24, 2009. Please send news items and notices to the Editor (editor@abc-mi.org) by August 20.

Editor's Trips

Every edition of E-Link Online features links to articles the Editor has tripped over while wasting time surfing the Web. Posting of these links does not necessarily mean that either he or the American Baptist Churches of Michigan agrees with, endorses, or otherwise promotes the views expressed in them. Their value, if any, consists of whatever further thought, discussion, inquiry, discernment, fury, or occasional laugh they may provoke. Readers are welcome to send their own suggestions to the Editor.

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