The Latest News from Around the Fellowship:

David Thornton of Soldotna, Alaska, performed a solo number with the BNYC choir as backup at Tuesday morning’s main session.[...]

Christians now have an important new hobby to pursue–analyzing the faith and values stances of the just-announced Democratic vice-presidential candidate. A very helpful and insightful article is on the current blog of ChristianityToday.com. Rather than reproduce it entirely, I’ve selected just a few paragraphs here and there that give the flavor. I highly recommend reading the entire piece. Here are […][...]

Among the many tributes to President Reagan that have flowed through the BMH office since the weekend was this one by a personal friend and former colleague, Pat Nolan. Pat (who once rode as Tommy Trojan at USC) is a former Republican leader of the California state assembly, and is now the president of Justice Fellowship in Washington, DC. His […][...]

Missionaries, nationals, and selected individuals from various Grace Brethren national organizations participated in the GBIM-sponsored Microenterprise Development Summit this past week. (Jay Hocking photo) [...]

What a great gathering Grace Brethren International Missions (GBIM) has been having this week! Missionary businesspeople from all over the world have gathered for a Microenterprise Development Conference, which is being convened by Stuart Hake, the CFO of GBIM. I’ll reproduce here an article on the conference that has been prepared for the July, 2004 issue of FGBC World. I’ve […][...]

‘Coffeehouse Ministry’ Thrives Outside Traditional Settings Neil Cole traded his pulpit for a patio table at a trendy California coffee shop — and started the first of his unusual churches. In 1999, Cole jettisoned his traditional pastoral ministry in Alta Loma to launch Awakening Chapel — founding it literally in the smoking section of The Coffee Tavern (TCT) in Long […][...]

Pastor Charles Ashman (standing, right) was honored Tuesday morning, June 1, 2004 for reaching his 80th birthday. Several dozen friends and Grace Brethren national organization staff people gathered in the lobby of the GBNAM building. Ashman’s wife, Frances, is seated at right (white blouse). Sandy Barrett of the FGBC Coordinator’s office (standing, at left) helped coordinate refreshments and arrangements for [&hel[...]

Oh goody. Here’s something else we can be concerned about! According to several reports I’ve read recently, pastors and church leaders must be much more careful about praying for people in public–you can’t reveal too much about their situation, even in praying for their welfare, because of the recent HIPAA act. University of Chicago’s Martin Marty has written a good, […][...]

BMH Books is off and running again! Last night Dr. Homer Kent, Jr. delivered to us the finished manuscript of a project he’s been working on–the updated and expanded commentary on the book of Mark. He did a shorter,”lightweight” version some years ago, but this new version is meatier, has a chapter for each of the chapters in Mark, and […][...]

My attention has been drawn lately to the “Emergent Church” and the movement within evangelicalism that calls itself “Postmodern.” I recently attended a panel discussion which included about eight leaders in this movement. I didn’t catch the names of all of them, but Doug Pagitt, pastor of Solomon’s Porch in Minneapolis, was the moderator of the panel. Pagitt is author […][...]

A highlight of the hymnsing was a “President’s Quartet” singing “Stand Up for Jesus.” At left are former Grace College & Seminary presidents John Davis, Ron Manahan (current president), Homer Kent, Jr., and at right is former Dean Bill Male.[...]

Tonight we go to the renovated Westminster Hotel here in Winona Lake for an all-community dinner and hymnsing. Grace College is sponsoring it–Don Ogden leads the music, Barb Manahan will play piano and Sharon White will play organ. We’ve heard that perhaps about 150 people have signed up for either the dinner or the hymnsing or both. Should be a […][...]

Bill Kirchner, a layman from the Kent, WA church, got in some early-morning fishing and digital photography at the Northwest Focus Retreat held at Camp Clear Lake near White’s Pass, Washington. [...]

Tom Ireton (left), a lay leader from the Kent, Washington, church and pastor Dave Marksbury (Kent, WA, right) spent some quiet time Tuesday morning meditating on a Second Corinthians passage at the Northwest Focus Retreat. [...]

This rainy Friday afternoon in Winona Lake, Indiana marks two beginnings. The first is BMH’s entry into the blogosphere with this post. Hopefully, this can become a tool to connect people and churches of the FGBC in ways that are mutually helpful and really help advance the Great Commission teamwork. The second “beginning” is a trip to SeaTac and the […][...]