The Latest News from Around the Fellowship:

Keith Shearer Registrations are strong and enthusiasm is high for the 20-plus courses that are being offered as part of the Grace Brethren national conference, Equip05, to be held July 31-August 5, 2005, in Winona Lake, IN. However, the conference is more-much more-than the excellent educational opportunities. Business sessions, inspiring plenary meetings, worship and devotional times, recreation, historical tours, open [&hell[...]

Let me introduce you to just a few of the wonderful people I’ve spent this past week with, taking a course in the ACTS church-planting strategy from Dave Guiles of Grace Brethren International Missions. Please…take a few moments and pray for each of these if you are so led. Rich and Jill Elledge, pictured here, are a young couple who […][...]

Todd Scoles, of the Northwest Chapel staff in Dublin, OH, and the coordinator for the North Central Ohio district, has sent along a list of North Central Ohio Grace Brethren pastors who will be on mission trips this spring and summer. The NCO district includes 22 churches, 90 clergy staff, and has an aggregate attendance of about 7,000 on Sunday […][...]

The amazing story about the resuscitation of a dying man in an Easter worship service (see Alaska Church Sees ‘Resurrection’ on Easter) could be an illustration of the Easter resurrection itself except that the restored man–like Lazarus of old–will ultimately die someday. That is different from Christ’s resurrection; He rose from the dead never to die again. Why did He […][...]

By Ashley Woodworth Gene Wood Is your church declining or has it stopped growing? If so, this year’s FGBC conference includes a class designed to equip your leaders to stop church decline and start development. “Leading Turnaround Churches,” taught by Gene Wood, will be offered at the Equip05 conference this summer in Winona Lake, IN, July 31- August 5. The […][...]

As a young G.I. in 1970, Robert Smoker experienced some of the worst horrors of war in Operation Ripcord, the last great battle of the Vietnam conflict. Now a Grace Brethren pastor in Pennsylvania, he is returning to Vietnam to bring the love of Christ to those who were once considered “the enemy.” (photo courtesy Robert Smoker) As a young, […][...]

Ten Years Ago – 1995 – Dr. Randall Smith resigned at Ft. Lauderdale GBC to return to his Jerusalem-based ministry in Israel. (Presently, he is pastoring at Sebring, Fla.) – Dedication services were held April 2 for the new building at Community GBC in Goldendale, Wash., Greg Howell, pastor; and on April 9 for the new sanctuary at Waldorf, Md, […][...]

Grace Brethren North American Missions is beginning a new era with a new executive director and a recently-reorganized board structure. Larry Chamberlain will continue to lead the Grace Brethren Investment Foundation. Dr. Tim Boal, pastor of Penn Valley Grace Brethren Church in Telford, PA, has been named the new executive director of GBNAM, and a structure of parallel but linked […][...]

A critical shortage of Bibles in the Central African Republic has recently come to light. Because of the collapse of a previous Bible distribution system and the destruction of so many Bibles and Christian literature during recent uprisings, in some cases as many as six Bible school students have been sharing one Bible. Missionary Jim Hocking located a supply of […][...]

Events of general interest among Grace Brethren Churches. Details and registration information are available from sponsoring organizations or through www.fgbc.org. May 7 – Grace College and Seminary Commencement May 11-14 – PrimeTime (women’s ministry experience) at Urban Hope (CEN) June 19-July 17 – MasterWorks Music Festival, Grace College June 15-18 – “Driven” Conference for Twenty-[...]

Sarah Pratt (left), a recent art graduate of Grace College, is producing illustrations for the forthcoming BMH Books publication Heroes Who Live On, Vol. 2. Prof. Art Davis (right) is coordinating the new relationship between BMH Books and the college art department. Sarah is holding her illustrations of Dr. Orville Jobson (left) and W.A. and Frances Ogden (right), whose stories […][...]

By Ron Dorner One of the blessings of being an obedient servant of the Lord is a long life. Many of us will live well into our eighties and perhaps nineties. Longevity brings some unique financial challenges and lifestyle decisions. It is best to prepare financially as though you will live to be 100, but prepare spiritually as though you […][...]

Remember the story about the little boy who owned his boat twice-once because he built it, and the second time because he bought it back? That’s about what happened to the Grace Brethren congregation in Auburn, California. They built a beautiful new building. Then, bowing to financial pressures, they had to relinquish it. Now, due to God’s grace and good […][...]

By Greg Burgess Pastor Dounia Marc, who once headed a thriving literature ministry in the Central African Republic, is now the lone survivor after Grace Brethren printing materials and facilities were destroyed in the recent war. He is seeking to revive the literature operation and begin printing again. (Jim Hocking photo) The literature work in the CAR was a thriving […][...]

Interest is high, and registrations are strong for Equip05, the national equipping conference for Grace Brethren people to be held in Winona Lake, IN, this July 31-August 5. Many are registering for courses that yield seminary credit, and others are simply choosing topics and workshops that will be helpful in all aspects of church ministry, ranging from intercultural communication to […][...]

Well-known Christian illusionist and evangelist Andre Kole proved a popular draw for an outreach event sponsored by the Harrah, Washington, Grace Brethren Church at a nearby high school. “This is something a small church can do to make a big impact,” says Peter Touhey, pastor of the Grace Brethren Church of Harrah, WA, referring to the Harrah church’s recent outreach […][...]

By Kary Oberbrunner The DRIVEN committee recently met at Kenyon College in Ohio to put the finishing touches on this summer’s first-ever young adult conference. Online and mail-in registrations are coming in at a steady pace. A buzz of excitement is filling the Fellowship. Here are the top 12 reasons why you should come: 12. How many times do you […][...]

Dr. Francis Schaeffer founded L’Abri shelter and study center in Switzerland 50 years ago this spring. Several Grace Brethren leaders reflect on how the L’Abri experience has impacted their ministry.It was 50 years ago–in 1955–that Christian theologian, Presbyterian pastor and apologist Francis Schaeffer and his wife opened a chalet in Huemoz, Switzerland, that became known as L’Abri, which in Fre[...]

Dale Richard, whose heart stopped in the Easter Sunday morning service of the Peninsula Grace Brethren Church in Soldotna, Alaska, was resuscitated, had a pacemaker implanted, and is once again on the road to recovery. (photo courtesy Dan Thornton) Easter worshipers at Peninsula Grace Brethren Church in Soldotna, Alaska, saw a rare sight on Easter Sunday. An elderly gentleman died […][...]

With the Lord-Paul R. Bauman -Elener Norris Grossman Pastoral Staff/Church Changes 4:12 Commission Sites Readied All Hams Invited White Joins Encyclopedia Board Smoke and Roses Chaplain Honored as Instructor BMH to Service Ministers Hispanic Pastor Baptized With the Lord Dr. Paul R. Bauman went to be with the Lord February 8, 2005, in Amarillo, Texas, at the age of 97. […][...]