The Latest News from Around the Fellowship:

Twenty-two potential church planters participated in the church planting course jointly conducted by Grace College and Seminary and Grace Brethren North American Missions. Several students in the course are already involved in significant church planting efforts. Dr. Terry Hofecker, senior pastor of Northwest Chapel Grace Brethren Fellowship in Dublin, Ohio, and a Grace Theological Seminary faculty member, this spring taught [[...]

Events of general interest among Grace Brethren Churches. Details and registration information are available from sponsoring organizations or through www.fgbc.org. May 6 – Grace College and Seminary Commencement May 22-24 – Northwest Focus Retreat, Camp Clear Lake, WA (FGBC) June 5-9 – ACTS Seminar (GBIM) June 23-July 18 – Operation Barnabas, West Coast (CEN) June 22-25 – DRIVEN06, Kenyon College,[...]

Elsewhere in this issue an article talks about a Wild Game dinner at which the speaker “invited unbelievers to receive Christ, the great ‘fisher of men,’ as their savior.” (See Wild Game Dinner is Effective Outreach.) What does that mean, exactly? The “fisher of men” reference comes from Jesus’ own invitation to several men–commercial fishermen–who decided to leave their ne[...]

Ten Years Ago[...]

Dr. Jerry Young, standing right, led the recent AGBM “Certification Summit” held at the Grace Brethren Church in Lititz, Pennsylvania. Participants represented the licensure and ordination examining boards from districts around the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches. (Jay Fretz photo) Twenty-six members of the Association of Grace Brethren Ministers, representatives of national organizations, and the chairs of t[...]

There is still time to register and participate in either or both of this summer’s adult conferences in the FGBC. DRIVEN06, geared mainly for young adults, will be held June 22-26 on the campus of Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. The conference theme is “Alert and Oriented,” and it will focus on helping twenty-somethings answer basic questions about their identity […][...]

Donald P. Shoemaker By Pastor Donald P. Shoemaker Grace Community Church of Seal Beach, CA A longer version of this essay was printed in the Long Beach CA Press-Telegram, on March 25, 2006.[...]

A wide array of orthopaedic, Grace College and Seminary, and local leadership people participated in the March 17 groundbreaking ceremonies on the Grace campus. Grace College and Seminary broke ground on March 17 for a community meeting and exhibition center which will also be Grace’s premier venue for intercollegiate athletic contests, chapels, commencements, concerts, and other events. Dr. Ron Manahan, […][...]

More than 30 years ago, a special financial gift was made from Dayton, Ohio, First Grace Brethren Church to help a new church purchase property. That church is now Centerville Grace Brethren Church, pastored by Steve Makofka. At a recent Tri-States District conference, Makofka presented a gift of $5,000 to Tim Nixon to assist in Nixon’s new church plant. Nixon, […][...]

With the Lord Marjorie Foote, known in the Fellowship as a prayer warrior and as the mother of Pastor Robert Foote of the Huber Heights Grace Community Church in Ohio, passed away in her sleep during the early morning hours Thursday, March 23, 2006, at her home in Winona Lake, IN. Services were held at the Winona Lake Grace Brethren […][...]

BMH’s online editor’s weblog, or “blog,” is now two years old. The first entry was Friday, May 14, 2004. Many people back then had not heard of blogs and weren’t familiar with how to utilize them. That first day’s entry, incidentally, told of former BMH executive Charlie Turner conducting a fundraiser for Grace Village–Charlie is now with the Lord. In […][...]

Four Laws for Effective Communicators, a pamphlet designed to illustrate and reinforce the “SALT Principles” being taught by author Tom Julien, is now available from BMH Books. The four-color 12-page pamphlet is based on Colossians 1:28-29 and is designed both as a standalone publication and as the framework text for SALT seminars teaching the four basic principles of spiritual reproduction. […][...]

The exterior of the Brethren Missionary Herald building in Winona Lake, along with the interior, will be significantly redesigned and renovated under the new lease agreement with Tree of Life Bookstores, Inc. Brethren Missionary Herald Co. of Winona Lake, Indiana, and Tree of Life Bookstores, Inc. of Marion, Indiana, jointly announced on April 5 that they have arrived at an […][...]

The Wooster, Ohio, Grace Brethren Church was helpful in packing and shipping relief supplies to Katrina victims. By Crystal Ludwig When the calls for help came after the devastating hurricanes of summer and fall 2005, Grace Brethren congregations were quick to answer. The Grace Brethren community raised more than $210,000 for a disaster relief fund from which resources were distributed […][...]

By Crystal Ludwig The Leesburg (IN) Grace Brethren Church is going wild. Since the church wanted to expand its ministry to its neighborhood, former pastor Chris Hay suggested hosting a Wild Game Dinner, a ministry that Dr. John The “Stovepipe Holler Band” which performed for the Leesburg Wild Game Dinner included (from left), J. D. Woods, Lowell Dobbs, and Dr. […][...]

A couple from the Ellet Grace Brethren Church in Akron, Ohio (Jonathan Carey, pastor) have been attracting wide attention from the Akron area. Last week the Akron Beacon-Journal newspaper ran a four-part series on Sue and Chuck Minick and the handicapped little Russian girl they have adopted. Some of the donations that have come in response to the story will […][...]

The following article on Emma Fretz appeared on the front page of the March, 2006, edition of Senior Life newspaper, published in Milford, Indiana. It is used by permission of the editor-article and photos are by staff writer Tim Ashley. Mrs. Fretz’ late husband, Walter, was for many years the head of the Grace Brethren Investment Foundation in Winona Lake, […][...]

Twenty-seven leaders among Grace Brethren clergy are meeting yesterday, today, and tomorrow at the Grace Brethren Church of Lititz, Pennsylvania, for a “Certification Summit” to discuss issues relating to the licensure and ordination procedures for the FGBC. The group includes district examining board personnel and AGBM officers representing churches from Soldotna, Alaska, to Fort Myers, Florida. Dr. Jerry Young, w[...]

Debbie Wingard, daughter of Miriam Uphouse Christiansen, was featured last Thursday in the Daytona Beach (FL) News Journal. Here is a substantial portion of the article–to read the remainder click here. SOUTH DAYTONA — If you need Debbie Wingard to find a bunch of pictures of herself coaching over the past three decades, good luck. And if Debbie Wingard’s career […][...]

The lives of 43 adults from East Side Grace Brethren Church in Columbus, Ohio, will never be the same. They just returned from the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina as they ministered for a week in Slidell, Louisiana, a northeastern suburb of New Orleans near Lake Pontchartrain. Before Katrina, 30,000 people called Slidell home. Today, the number of residents is […][...]