Akron Mennonite Church, Akron, pa vision Retreat III
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- A Child Protection Policy
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- Current membership is 466 . -Jim S. Amstutz, Dawn Yoder Harms, Co-Pastors Ark Bible Chapel, Boyertown, PA
- Bethel Mennonite Church, Gettysburg, PA
- Birch Grove Mennonite Church, Port Allegany, PA
- Cedar Grove Mennonite Church, Greencastle, PA
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- Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster, PA
- Conestoga Mennonite Church, Morgantown, PA
- CrossWay Church, Ocean City, MD
| Akron Mennonite Church, Akron, PA
Vision Retreat III was held in January with over 60 members attending. Jim Smucker served as facilitator to enable Church Council to hear from a cross-section of the congregation. Themes emerging from this weekend for further action/discernment included: 1. Interpersonal connectedness 2. Program/Worship/Care within AMC. 3. Global Worldview/Anabaptist Theology 4. Children/Youth/Young Adults/Young families.
following several successful fundraising efforts. They had guys and girls weekends away, participated in Bible Quizzing, went to the ACC youth retreat and led worship on MYF Sunday. College students are sent care packages from the Mennonite Women’s group, parents and others in the congregation who bake cookies and write letters. A reception is held over the Christmas holiday break during church and a pastoral team member hosts a drop-in each year as well. Young Adults formed a new Discipleship Hour group of twenties and thirties for informal conversation and a book study. A large gathering of Parents of Preschoolers meets during Discipleship Hour with leadership from Co-Pastor Jim S. Amstutz. They are studying the book “Parenting with Love and Logic.” Co-Pastor Dawn Yoder Harms led an evening series for parents of teens in the congregation using the book “Parenting Teens with Love and Logic.” She also facilitates a weekly stay-at-home moms group as well. Jennifer Davis Sensenig was our Adult VBS speaker in July. Her focus was “Speaking of Jesus” focused on Aramaic sayings of Jesus in the gospels. Diamond Street Early Childhood Center (DSECC), a ministry of AMC, was the recipient of the 2008 Nickels for Neighbors offering to improve their playground area up to level 4 in the STARS program (which they received!) and to increase scholarships for needy families. We ended the year with the Children’s Christmas Program and the annual above-budget Christmas Thank Offering with a total of $18,180 raised for international, national and local mission projects. Jeanette Bontrager resigned at the end of the year as the ¼ time Special Care Minister. She returned to full-time school nursing because of the economic downturn. In 2008, there were 3 deaths, 3 transfers of members out, and 5 new members joining by reaffirmation of faith. Current membership is 466. -Jim S. Amstutz, Dawn Yoder Harms, Co-Pastors Ark Bible Chapel, Boyertown, PA For a number of years, the Ark Bible Chapel has been the only church of any kind in Earl Township. Although there are many churches in neighboring townships, we think it is important to continue to be a light in our community. Many people in our community feel connected to the Ark, and we often have pastoral opportunities to serve our neighborhood. We did not have any baptisms in 2008, but we did receive three new members and a number of new attenders. Average attendance in 2008 was 57. An important part of our church life is the Saturday gathering for intercessory prayer It is not unusual to have 12-15 people participating. We believe it prepares the way for Sunday morning, and we often sense the Lord’s presence in our worship service. A major challenge for the Ark at the present time is to find leadership to replace the pastor who plans to retire in 2009. -Karl Glick, Pastor Bethel Mennonite Church, Gettysburg, PA One of the highlights of 2008 was being able to help Wendell and Kim Gehman, our missionaries to Native Americans out in South Dakota. They’ve been out there for more than 10 years working with Native Americans, but the house they were renting on the reservation was torn down, leaving them with nowhere to live. They decided to build a new house, but it’s a pretty depressed area, and finances were tight. We were able to send a work team out to help with building a new home for the family. (Some other congregations did the same) And we sent significant financial help as well. It really was our pleasure to help a family that has given so much of themselves to follow God’s call on their lives. And it was great to see many other congregations get involved in helping. In the fall at our annual church retreat, we viewed a video series on tithing by a pastor named Robert Morris. He has some incredible stories of generous giving and of God providing even more generously. Following the retreat, our church was challenged to see if 100% of us would tithe for the rest of the year. The final number was closer to 90%, but in these challenging economic times, the offerings at Bethel Church actually increased during the last 3 months of the year. For a couple of years now, a number of area pastors have been gathering to pray for our county, and for the church to have a positive impact. Finally near the end of 2008 we decided it was time to invite the congregations all to join us in prayer. The first prayer meeting didn’t actually happen until January of ’09, but we had more than 100 people from 14 congregations gathered for a prayer meeting. We will continue to meet regularly for prayer. And an evangelistic crusade is being planned for this summer, with even more churches agreeing to work together on this event. Unity in the Body of Christ is becoming a reality in Adams County, and we pray God will bless us as we try to follow His leading. We’re only seeing small numerical growth here at Bethel (4 new members this year), but our people are showing a willingness to give of their time and money to get closer to God, to spend more time in prayer, and to reach out to the needy and the unsaved. We have a good group of people taking big steps in the right direction, and I believe that will soon result in more people meeting Jesus. And that’s really what we’re after. -Bob Murr, Pastor Birch Grove Mennonite Church, Port Allegany, PA "From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you" Isaiah 48:6 Birch Grove has gone through a time of change and we are seeking God's direction. It has been a busy year. Helping Hands began to help those in our congregation in need. We had a rummage sale as well as baked goods sale during our town-wide yard sales. Mothers were honored on their special day with flowers. One of the highlights was a musical night called "Raise the Roof" as a fund raiser to repair the roof on the older building. Vacation Bible School was held for our community children. In the fall we enjoyed a Mystery Dinner. This also helped raise funds for the roof project. In November, Dan Lindsay resigned as our lead pastor. Neil Binder, Irving Woodard and Gene Van Gorder took turns supplying the pulpit. The three men also completed the Gateway Course from EMU. At Christmas time a special dinner was held for the congregation and community friends. Our Mennonite women have met monthly for work, luncheon, devotions and business. We have tied comforters for MCC and Port Allegany Community Services. We also make clothing protectors for a personal care home. A mitten tree is set up before the holidays for donated warm articles given to the community. We participate with area Church Women United in the events and projects they do. We enjoy the Timbrel and the devotional. John Lapp was installed as interim pastor on March 1 [2009]. Our pastoral leadership team is studying the Kiersey Temperament Sorter. We will seek to understand ourselves and better serve the Lord by blending our personalities and gifts. We are looking forward to what the Lord will do. -Pat Woodard Cedar Grove Mennonite Church, Greencastle, PA “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” – Acts 1:8 We take Jesus’ words quoted here seriously; they were not only the Disciples’ promise and God-given directive, but they are also ours as a congregation. Both ministry and mission, flow from Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Lord. We recognize that this is a high and holy calling that requires faithfulness, prayerfulness, humility and grace. Our journey this past year has challenged our resolve to remain faithful to the Word of God, even as we sought to pursue justice and reconciliation among persons within the congregation. Now, one year later, we can look back and see the hand of God upon us, giving us strength and grace for the journey He led us through. As a result of this journey, new opportunities for ministry and mission have sprung forth, giving us even greater opportunities to be the hands and feet of Christ to those in our midst and on our doorstep. We have learned that being Jesus’ witnesses in the world must begin right here in our “Jerusalem.” If we don’t practice the words of the prophet Micah and “act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly,” with others in the local community of faith, then our witness to a watching, needy world will go unheard and unseen; it will be irrelevant. This lesson we have learned. We continue celebrating all the Lord is doing among and through us, having empowered us to be his witnesses. Here are some of the highlights from 2008:
We began a new ministry to women – Beauty for Ashes. We have also continued a weekly Bible study opened to women from the community that has involved over forty women. Our second annual women’s retreat was yet another opportunity for women of all ages to deepen their relationships with Christ and one another. We enlarged our Vacation Bible School ministry, which is also our single largest local outreach, reaching directly into two area neighborhoods for the second year. An annual ministry that formerly had little missional impact has grown to the point where eighty children, representing forty families in our community were impacted with the Good News of Christ. We praise God for his provision and faithfulness; and for opening the doors, locally, for this ministry to happen. Our Children’s Ministry leaders have worked cooperatively with others to provide year-round events for the children who were part of VBS. These additional points of connection have also given us opportunities to foster relationships with their parents. This is local outreach in our “Judea and Samaria.” We welcomed a new pastor to join the ministry team. Quinn Aeschliman joined the team in August as our Associate Pastor of Discipleship and Family Ministries. Quinn and Karla have been married for five years, and are the parents of two children – Mckayla and Connor. We gathered together as a congregation to re-tool our congregational Vision, Purpose and Mission – a document that will guide us as we express God’s Kingdom over the next 3-5 years. In summary it reads: Our Vision: A radical commitment to Outreach / Inreach / Upreach Our Purpose: To glorify God with our lives as disciples of Christ, using every resource He has given us to share the Gospel in word and deed Our Ministry Objectives To introduce non-believers to Jesus Christ To develop holistic ministries that express God’s mercy, justice & love to the world To engage believers in ministries that foster transformation & discipleship to Christ We celebrated five new faith commitments to Christ through baptism and welcomed these persons into the local community of faith. We are partnering with one family and two single adults working in global missions’ assignments. We have also supported persons called to serve with Mennonite Disaster Service. We have persons who regularly work at the Cumberland Valley Relief Center, an outpost for MCC material resources and donations. Our WMSC annual Bazaar, held at the Maugansville Ruritan, raised money that will be channeled into missional efforts and needs around the globe. In addition to these missional efforts, we have endeavored to raise the impact of our local outreach initiatives by partnering with the Greencastle-Antrim Chamber of Commerce. This community connection has afforded our congregation opportunities to participate in community-wide events such as Christmas on the Square in Greencastle and the triennial Old Home Week. Steve Fretz, Pastor Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster, PA 2008 has been a rich year at CMCL. At the same time we provide Christian Education classes for over 100 children and many ways of being together as a faith community, we also encounter increasingly fluid attendance of members and participants. A recent workshop with Gil Rendel helped us name some of what is happening nation-wide with church attendance and begin considering how we want to respond to this new reality. Summertime: A group of 14 senior youth and 8 adults traveled to Elkhorn, West Virginia June 15-21 to participate in SWAP (Sharing With Appalachian People.) The adults and teens found this work to be an excellent way to learn from others and to learn to know each other. Our adult Christian Education classes: Christi Hoover and Tim Seidel led an April class on “Biblical Theologies of Land and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict.” Christi and Tim worked in the West Bank town of Bethlehem on assignment with Mennonite Central Committee. We examined ways the Bible has been used to justify violence and dispossession and ways it can be received as a life- giving word for Palestinians and Israelis wishing to live in peace. Other classes shared the experiences and richness of church participants and how our faith leads us to engage in the world around us. Over the years we have supported several refugee families and that has again emerged as an active focus. We are involved with a family from Burmese who arrived mid-summer. We also relate to a single mother in Lancaster city through our Bridge of Hope support group. We are currently getting ready to receive a Palestinian mother and her two young sons who are arriving unexpectedly in Lancaster. We find these cultural exchanges to be rich and bring us together in a new way as a congregation. Grant Street building: We continue to explore uses for the new property purchased 2 years ago. Our hope is to lease part of the building for either affordable housing or a community service venture and keep part of the space for our future use as a church. Neighborhood block party: As we explore the use of the new property behind our church, we asked the neighbors to work together with us on a block party. We joined in a potluck supper this summer with games and music—one more way to learn to know our neighbors. MOOS: Mornings on Orange Street continues providing care to 25 elementary students before school. This program is in its second year in conjunction with Covenant United Methodist Church across Orange Street. Staff: We have a half-time opening for Director of Children and Youth Programs. Emily Smucker-Beidler returned to public school teaching after completing two years in this role. During Emily’s time she helped the church develop a Child Safety policy. Chad Martin continues in his second year as Associate Pastor. Pam Dintaman, lead pastor, has resigned and will leave at the end of August. A search committee has been formed. CMCL continues to serve approximately 400 participants. Our children and youth programs currently serve 135 students. -Pam Dintaman, Pastor Conestoga Mennonite Church, Morgantown, PA The 2008 year for Conestoga Mennonite Church (CMC) could be characterized as a transitional and rebuilding period. Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) continued supporting the congregation after the September 2007 church division by providing guest speakers and worship leaders during the first quarter of the year. James Wenger (and Faith) joined CMC in February as the Intentional – Interim Pastor. CMC events included hosting ACC Quizzing (January) and the First Annual (Community Outreach) Ping Pong Tournament. In the spring, CMC conducted a Church Assessment with the leadership of Dan Graber, Rose Graber and Jenifer Morales. The assessment process entailed congregational surveys and interviews culminating with a written report to the congregation. The purpose of this assessment was to provide our Interim Pastor, church leadership and the congregation a “road map” for the work we should consider during the interim period and beyond June 14, 2008 was the beginning of a new journey for CMC with a lightning strike in the late evening. The church building suffered severe smoke damage and the south wing was completely destroyed. The church undertook a major restoration and rebuilding effort that would last almost nine months. Mennonite Disaster Services (MDS) held a demolition day with approximately 100 volunteers from neighboring churches and the community who that helped move the cleanup phase along. This blessing helped encourage the congregation by demonstrating God’s faithfulness in everything we do. CMC developed partnerships with Compleat Restoration, Goodville Mutual, Capitol Adjusters, and Weaver Construction to rebuild and restore the church through a series of phases that moved the congregation back into the church building in September. Throughout our journey of rebuilding, the congregation worshiped under the church car port (June 15th – morning after the fire), a large tent on the property the next Sunday, Conestoga Christian School, back into the Fellowship Hall, and then finally back into the sanctuary (October). Through strong fellowship in our Lord Jesus Christ and many prayers and support throughout all, Conestoga will rise from the ashes stronger in our faith. CMC was given the privilege of hosting the 30th Annual ACC Fall Assembly (October) while still under construction. CMC established a Pastoral Search Committee (November) using the ACC search and selection process starting with conducting congregational surveys and performing data gathering to convey to candidates “Who Conestoga is” and our “Walk with Christ.”
CMC has embraced the interim pastor process throughout this year through our transitions and rebuilding trials and is now prepared to select a permanent pastor in 2009. Praise be to God. -Howard Moss, CMC Church Council Chair CrossWay Church, Ocean City, MD This spring, we celebrated 2 years with our Pastor, Nathan Hyde, and his wife Carolyn. They are expecting their first baby in June. We are continuing to pursue the mission of CrossWay Church, which is to make lifelong followers of Jesus Christ throughout our community and around the world. We are continuing to encourage the regular attendees and membership to rely on God as we carry out the five core commitments, embodied in our motto “Loving God, Loving People”:
We will love God by developing intimacy with Him through daily spiritual habits. We will love people by building friendships with them. We will love people by serving them. We will love God and love people by inviting others to share in the first four commitments with us.
In December we hosted the second annual Christmas KidsFest. Nearly 30 children from the Training Station, along with some of their siblings, came to the church on a Saturday in December for a Christmas party thrown for them by the church. It was a huge success and was greatly enjoyed by the church and the children—and the parents who got a break for several hours! God has recently blessed us with an answer to a long-term prayer request in providing two reliable back-ups for our Worship Leader, when he is out of town or unable to be in church on a given Sunday. In addition, one of our newer regular attendees has recently joined the Worship Team! Our Junior High school group continues to meet bi-monthly. Our Senior High group has become largely inactive, due to several kids graduating last year, leaving only one regularly attending high school student. We now have three that are at least partially-active in their church attendance; our former Sr. High leader continues to maintain contact and connection with them. We had some really meaningful sermon series covering various topics, including the Family (Marriage and Parenting); The Promised Land (our Vision, Mission and Strategy, Evangelism, and more); Tough Questions about God (Why do bad things happen to good people, Is the Bible really true?, Don’t all religions lead to God?); Freedom (from fear, anxiety, and loneliness); Real Life (Living in blessing, Christ, the Word, holiness, hope, peace, and more)… God is good and we continue to see His hand at work within our congregation. His faithfulness truly endures forever! Respectfully submitted, -Christi Engle Directory: images images -> Pelan pentaksiran kursus images -> Military callsign list as of dec 2010 images -> For Date: 02/01/2013 Friday Call Number Time Call Reason Action 13-768 0008 motor vehicle stop warning Issued images -> New embedded S images -> Creating Buy-In – Building Relationships images -> Deadline: Saturday, March 12th, 2016 images -> News items from Raising Our Voices images -> Last year four of the best Afrikaans Christian singers joined forces to tour Down Under with the production ‘Manne wat Glo’ images -> World-renowned vocal ensemble sweet honey in the rock images -> Peoples Voice Café History Download 109.78 Kb. Share with your friends:
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