CONNECTIONS
News from Converge
MidAtlantic
March 2009 - Vol 3, Issue
2
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| Greetings! |
 With
the spring weather comes a sense of renewal and rebirth.
May you feel rejuvenated after a long winter as we
continue to witness the amazing things the Lord is
accomplishing through this district. Thank you for your
continued partnership with and support of Converge
MidAtlantic. In Christ, Dan
Peterson | | |
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Standing Strong Leadership
Conference: God at Work in our
Movement
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 One of the unique
opportunities available through the upcoming Standing Strong
Conference, May 15 in New Castle, PA is to discover and
perhaps rediscover what God is doing in our movement of
churches. Your church is a part of one of the
fastest-growing evangelical movements in the U.S. today.
Our church planting efforts are recognized by many as
benchmark standards for church planting. The unity and
sense of forward momentum in Converge Worldwide and in our
district is unique among networks of churches like ours
today. Ministries like Love Lift Ukraine, the School of
Women's Ministry, LEAD and LeadNet Teams, and our ReToolkit
consultation for churches are innovative ministries that God
is using all across our country and world. The "Standing
Strong" Biennial Leadership Conference will provide you with
an up-close insight into much of what God is doing in this
movement to which you all belong!
Specific
opportunities on May 15th will include:
- Hearing from Dr. Jay Barnes, President of our Bethel
University and Seminary
- God at Work
Luncheon, Noon on Friday, May 15 - you'll hear first hand
stories of what God is doing in our churches, church plants,
and through district ministries
- "State of the Conference" message on Friday afternoon,
as we give you updates on new directions in church planting,
consulting opportunities, new directions for our Ukraine
partnership, district financial update, and much more
- Networking throughout the day with some top leaders in
church leadership
Make plans now to join us for a
great day together, Friday, May 15 at First Baptist Church,
New Castle, PA. Log onto www.bgcmideast.com, for the registration
brochure. God is working, and we really do want you to
hear first hand these God stories from across our
movement.
For the sake of the Kingdom,
Dan
Peterson, Executive Minister
Converge
MidAtlantic
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Love Lift Ukraine Partnership
Growing Stronger
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 A recent ministry
and planning trip to the Rivne region of Ukraine by Executive
Minister, Dan Peterson, confirmed that our partnership in
Ukraine is truly growing stronger as each year goes by. Our
District now has 14 sister churches that are partnering with
Baptist churches in Ukraine, 11 of these in the Rivne region.
To some extent, as a result of this partnership in Rivne for
nearly 10 years, this district has actually become one of the
fastest-growing movements of churches in all of Ukraine.
Innovative ministries such as English camps, which provide a
dynamic outreach to unchurched adults, are being assisted by
our U.S. partner teams. Children's and youth camps, resourced
again by our U.S. sister churches, are reaching out to
hundreds of children in villages where no Bible teaching
church exists. These outreaches are, in some cases, being used
to help start up new churches in these villages. Our Ukrainian
brothers and sisters really value the partnership with our
Converge MidAtlantic churches and our district. They look
forward to teams coming to Ukraine to minister together. This
partnership is really offering encouragement, hope, and impact
for Jesus in Ukraine.
 Perhaps
as exciting was to see how our own Tanya Martin (new
missionary appointee to Ukraine from First Baptist Church of
Glenarden) is learning the Ukrainian language, and how her
ministry in Ukraine is valued. The leaders in Ukraine have
come to love Tanya, and she is already a wonderful blessing
for Christ in this country.
Teams
from eight of our district churches will be traveling to
Ukraine this summer.
Be
watching too, for plans for a 10th anniversary celebration in
the Spring of 2010, in Ukraine. We're making plans to
celebrate ten years of sistering in Rivne. Please continue to
pray as well for our Ukrainian friends. Turbulent times have
made life more difficult for them. Pray that their faith will
remain strong in the midst of financial and other
challenges.
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The Journey, Eldersburg, MD
Celebrates 5 Years!
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 Church planters
Steve and Sharon Lowe threw a big party on Saturday night,
March 7th, as The Journey church community in Eldersburg
celebrated 5 years of ministry and growth. Some of the
excitement (in addition to the huge amounts of food that
everyone enjoyed) included: video interviews with Journey
members describing things like "what they like the most about
The Journey", "what message series impacted them the most",
"what special church event was the most fun for them", and
"who was their favorite guest speaker". There were appropriate
responses from Steve, in which he talked about five people who
have really made an extra special impact for him in The
Journey's life and ministry. Steve also gave a message
to everyone in a very creative written format about future
plans for The Journey in the years ahead.
 One of the
things that was celebrated together was the simple fact that
many church plants in the U.S. never even make it to their 5th
birthday. Yet, for The Journey, passing this milestone
really signifies moving from survival to now a season of
growth and impact in the years ahead. Congratulations to
Steve and Sharon and to this exciting community of believers
there in Eldersburg. May their tribe
increase!
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Church Planting Plans for Converge
MidAtlantic
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MidAtlantic church
planting leaders met recently with
confirmation from
our board of Overseers, making
plans to upgrade and
even modify our approach to
church planting in the
years ahead. Some of the
changes involve the
following:
- A much stronger emphasis on parenting and partnering
models for church plants in our district. Most of our
financial backing for church plants in Converge MidAtlantic
will be directed toward church planting projects that are
parenting (daughtering church plants), multi-site projects,
or church plants that have a strong backing from two or more
partnering churches. We believe that these church planting
projects will have greater Kingdom impact and will help to
best fuel our movement in the years ahead.
- New standards for church plants including launch team
size, number of ministry partners, and training required to
plant in our movement
- Plans for continuing to utilize area movement
leaders/church planting specialists to oversee church
planting in our district, but in addition, hiring a
part-time church planting director, probably from within our
district, to give oversight to our church planting movement
in the MidAtlantic
Be praying for Pastor Michael
Henderson, Pastor Ron Crawford, Damian Williams, Gary
Schroeder, Dan Peterson, along with our Board of Overseers, as
they give prayer leadership to our church planting movement
here in Converge
MidAtlantic.
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Generosity Summit Touches Hearts and
Minds
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Current
thinking among Christian financial gurus is that a period of
economic crisis is exactly the time when the flag for
generosity should be waved more dramatically. In that spirit,
fifty four men and women from six local churches attended our
second district Generosity Summit at Old North Church on March
7th.
Scott Ridout, the national coordinator of this
movement for Converge Worldwide, led a fast-paced day full of
helpful and productive material intended to broaden our
thinking beyond the idea of being generous with treasure to
include our time, talents and touch, as well and to create
cultures of generosity in our churches. Our minds were
definitely challenged, and our hearts were touched as
well.
The next Generosity Summit in our district will
be a national event September 22-23rd at
First Baptist
Church of Glenarden. If the responses of the pastors attending
our March event are any indication, you will want to make
plans to participate in this life-changing
Summit.
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School of Women's Ministry
Resourcing Leaders
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The third
School of Women's Ministry in our Converge MidAtlantic
movement is up and running and already making an impact with
leaders in our District. Nearly 60 women from 11
churches (several of them non Converge churches) have been
involved now in two Saturday sessions and plans are in place
for the third Saturday session this May. Triumphant
Church in Hyattsville, MD is hosting this school, and what a
wonderful host they are!
The School of Women's Ministry
is a 2-year program designed for women leaders or potential
leaders in local church ministry. Under the direction of
Pamela Heim, this program has resourced hundreds of women all
across the U.S. For further information on this third
school, you can contact Becky Wehr at the Converge MidAtlantic
office at: Becky@bgcmideast.com, or call the office at
330-757-7970.
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| For
Your Calendar |
May 15 - Biennial Leadership
Conference, First Baptist Church, New Castle, PA -
registration info is available at the CMA website: www.bgcmideast.com
July 22-Aug 2 - Love Lift Ukraine
summer trip - (English camps, children's and youth
adventure camps, other ministries). Contact Anna at: Anna@bgcmideast.com for additional
information.
Sept 22-23
- National Generosity Summit at First Baptist Church of
Glenarden. Be watching for more info soon, but
district pastors and leaders are encouraged to put these dates
on your calendar now.
Nov 5-8 - Mighty Men of Valor men's
conference in King of Prussia, PA. For more info,
log on to: www.menofvalor.com.
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Mideast Baptist
Conference
20 E. McKinley Way, Poland,
Ohio 44514 · 330-757-7970 ·
bgcmideast.com
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