October 2004 Contents

This is our October cover.

In This Issue

Women

Many of the practices, events and laws in the Old Testament might seem strange to us, writes Pastor General Joseph Tkach. However, the Old Testament is part of the Bible, and in our survey of what the Bible says about the relationship between men and women and God, we need to examine what this part of Scripture says. Page 6.

Church Administration

Commissioned ministry leaders lead the individual ministry segments in our congregations, writes John Stonecypher. Together these ministry leaders form a ministry leadership team led by the senior pastor. For this team to work together in harmony, it is crucial that the ministry team have regular meetings.  Page 12.

Window on the World

Before he returned to heaven, Jesus said to his disciples: “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

This wasn’t just a random list of places, writes John Halford. Jesus was defining the church’s mission for those first disciples, and for all who were to follow in their footsteps. Page 14.

Latin America

As we observe what the Holy Spirit is doing in our churches in Latin America, we see that a number of them are experiencing a transformation, writes Charles Fleming. Page 16.

Youth camps

One hundred two campers from Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California and Texas attended a Spiritual Enrichment Program (SEP) camp in Washington. The goal was to teach the campers what real life in Jesus is all about. Page 18.

One hundred thirty-one campers gathered in Central Illinois for the Heartland SEP camp with a theme of “Get Real,” where the campers were taught to consider what is truly real. Page 20.

Youth ministry

The Rushville, New York, Community Bible Church routinely ministers to as many as 70 mostly non-Christian teens at their Friday night Teen Hang, writes Ted Johnston. Page 22.

Financial report

By the time you read this, all 389 of our U.S. congregations will be operating under the new financial model, writes controller Ronald Kelly. Page 24.

Bible Study

In Romans 15, Paul completes his discussion of how Christians who are strong in the faith should help those whose faith is weak, writes Michael Morrison. Page 25.

Book Review

The Mediation of Christ
by Thomas F. Torrance

By Terry Akers

PASADENA—Thomas Forsyth Torrance is one of the premier theologians of our time.

As an accomplished student of Karl Barth, he was entrusted to edit the Swiss theologian’s monumental Church Dogmatics as it was being translated into En­glish. In 1989, he wrote The Trinitarian Faith, one the finest treatments on the nature of God ever produced. He served as professor emeritus of Christian dogmatics at New College in Edinburgh, Scotland, for 25 years.

Torrance is highly regarded around the world for his intellectual and insightful trinitarian and scientific theology. He has authored more than 30 books and hundreds of articles important to the emerging discipline of Science and Theology.

Torrance’s The Mediation of Christ is one of his most accessible books. (Note: It is important to get the revised edition, which includes a fifth chapter, “The Atonement and the Holy Trinity.”) At only 126 pages, void of footnotes and scholarly language, it can be followed by the average reader with little difficulty.

The book’s subject matter, the atoning work of Jesus Christ, is of immense importance for evangelicals. A proper understanding of the atonement enables Christians to effectively share their faith by articulating the gospel more accurately.

Torrance eloquently expresses how absolutely vital to our spiritual welfare is the concept that salvation is bound up solely in Jesus Christ through grace alone. It in no way involves a partnership effort on our part. As he explains, however, “All of grace does not mean nothing of man … all of grace means all of man.”

This is not a contradiction. He is speaking of our redemption in Christ. When we are born again, we enter the process of becoming new creations in Christ, and we can rest in total assurance that he will complete it. Things break down only when we try to hold onto even one percent of ourselves and stop trusting him completely to accomplish the work of spiritual formation he began in us.

As the book unfolds, Torrance sheds light on the mediating work of Jesus in his vicarious humanity for us.  He presents Jesus Christ as fully God and fully human as attested to in the early creeds of the church.

“It is as man that God himself comes to us in the Incarnation.” There is no hidden God behind the back of Jesus—God fully reveals himself to us in Christ. Within this discussion, Torrance explains biblically how Jesus entered into our fallenness, partaking of the sin, death, evil and judgment that stood against us and transformed them into a new creation.

Christ conquered all that op­posed our hope of becoming real persons by entering vicariously into our fallen humanity and redeeming it. He reconciled God and humanity through his work of mediation on our behalf. As a result of this total victory, he now offers us his healing (including healing of the mind) and his shalom peace through the Holy Spirit.

Torrance wrote: “He took our corrupt humanity in his incarnation, sanctified, cleansed and redeemed it, giving it new birth, in his death and resurrection.” God’s atoning work for us in Jesus Christ fully expresses his love for the creation and his desire to enter into relationship with it.

In The Mediation of Christ, Torrance ex­press­es in a masterful way the importance of a correct appreciation for the atonement and what it means to the believer. This understanding also affects the way we present the gospel to others.

The unevangelical way of conditional grace takes the responsibility off the shoulders of the Lamb and places it on the person—a hopeless prospect.

The evangelical way is to be preferred. The message of God’s grace and unconditional love presents redemption as an accomplished fact by the atoning work of Jesus Christ. We have already been elected in him. Even our human response to God is through his perfect response. All that remains is to receive what we already have by repenting and trusting in Christ Jesus.

Meet Your District Superintendent

Robert Taylor: Mid-South District

FRANKLIN, Tennessee—In 1999 Bob Taylor began the assignment of district superintendent for what is now the Mid-South district. Taylor and his wife, Jan, now serve parts of 10 states with 42 churches.

Taylor was ordained an elder in 1978 and served for 17 years in the Nashville and Murfreesboro, Tennessee, churches before becoming a salaried pastor for the Nashville congregation in 1995. Subsequently he served as senior pastor for the Clarksville, Tennessee, and Bowling Green, Kentucky, churches. The Taylors have lived in and around the Nashville area for more than 40 years.

Before 1995, Taylor spent 36 years in the computer industry as a field engineer and had his own business designing custom computer systems. He began his career in electronics while serving in the U.S. Navy.

Bob and Jan met in 1970 when they both began attending the WCG in Nashville. They married eight years later. Together they have three married children and four grandsons living in the Nashville area. Their only granddaughter lives in Atlanta with her husband and Bob and Jan’s first great-grandson.

Jan works as office manager for a civil engineering firm in Franklin, a suburb of Nashville, where they live. She especially enjoys traveling with her husband while visiting the churches in their district. Her passion in ministry is promoting prayer and an exciting, personal, intimate relationship with our Savior.

The following pastors, wives and congregations are in the Mid-South district.

Alton, Illinois: Austin and An­nette Caldwell.

Belleville, Illinois: Mark and Rhonda Queener.

Bowling Green, Kentucky: Frank and Alvetta Tomes.

Cincinnati, Ohio, South: Rick and Cheryl Shallenberger.

Christ Community Church Cincinnati, Ohio: George and Vicki Hart.

Clarksburg, Mineral Wells and Summersville, West Virginia: Warren and Lorraine Wilson.

Clarksville, Tennessee: Doug and Pam Tomes.

Cookeville, Tennessee: Arlen and Jean Bryant.

Crossville, Tennessee: Dewey and Georgia Peterson.

Huntington, Charleston and Ripley, West Virginia; and Paints­ville, Kentucky: Mike and Dana Greider.

Huntsville, Alabama: Paul and Pat Kurts.

Indianapolis, Indiana, A.M.: Sam and Charlesetta Willis.

Indianapolis P.M., Terre Haute, Hope and Lafayette, Indiana: David and Jonnie Perry.

Kingsport, Tennessee; and Bluefield, West Virginia: Gary and Susan Endres.

Knoxville, Tennessee: Terry and Kathy Smith.

Lexington and Hazard, Kentucky: Ron and Linda Dick.

London, Kentucky: Charles and Gracie Shelton.

Middlesboro, Kentucky: Garvin and Sandee Greene.

Morristown, Tennessee: Ellis and Dorothy Necessary.

Mount Sterling, Kentucky: James and Phyllis Humphries.

Murphy, North Carolina; and Chattanooga, Tennessee: Dennis and Sidni Wheatcroft.

Nashville and Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Jonathan and Beth Stepp.

New Albany, Indiana: James and Carolyn Burgess, Paul and Norma Haycraft, Donald and Marilyn Smitley.

Paducah, Kentucky, and Cape Girardeau, Missouri: Jeff and Abby Williams.

Pikeville, Kentucky: Debby and Eddy Bailey, Estil and Ruth Stewart, Mike and Christine Stewart.

Chester Community Church Richmond, Indiana: James and Gwen DeShong.

Russell Springs, Kentucky: Dick and Leona Scholl, Charles and Alma Green, Danny and Gayle Burris.

Tuscumbia, Alabama: Roland and Shelba Stanley.

2005 Women’s International Conference

UNION, New Jersey—“Be All You Can Be in Christ Jesus” is the theme for the Sept. 9 to 11, 2005 Women’s International Conference. It will be hosted by the Union women’s ministry in Parsippany, New Jersey.

Some of the topics include: As Christ loves us we must love one another, Peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, Growing in faith, Maintaining our bodies as temples where God dwells and Sharing in Christ’s glory.

Experience love and fun while we build and renew relationships throughout the weekend. Tammy Tkach will be one of our guest speakers. Other speakers will be announced later. For more information, please contact Sandra Delmonte, conference coordinator, at GanGan2@aol.com.

Women in
Church Leadership,
part 4

Preface by Joseph Tkach

Many of the practices, events and laws contained in the Old Testament might seem strange to us. However, the Old Testament is part of the Bible, and in our survey of what the Bible says about the relationship between men and women and God, we need to examine what this part of Scripture says. We do not want to sugar-coat what it says, nor to dismiss it.

We will see many things that we would not want to imitate, but we will also see positive examples. And we will see that some biblical laws are purposely set in specific cultures to address specific cultural issues, and as such, may not be intended to be followed blindly.

This two-part survey of the Old Testament will also provide a contrasting backdrop for the following study, which will be about Jesus and women.

Men and Women in the Books of Moses

In our previous paper, we surveyed the teaching of Genesis 1-3. In this paper, we will survey the rest of the books of Moses. Because of the large volume of material involved, we will be brief at many points.

There are numerous interpretive difficulties in this material. Much of it is narrative—it tells the story of what happened without commenting on whether it was good or bad. Other parts give laws about men and women—but even these (such as laws about divorce) may be an accommodation to culture rather than a timeless principle.

Moreover, many of the Old Testament laws are obsolete. Why then should we even examine these passages about an ancient society, when we are asking about a different situation—roles in the church? Many scholars believe that roles in the church are assigned by God in a way that is consistent with God-assigned roles in society. We therefore want to see what the Bible says about male and female roles in general—even if some of that instruction is now obsolete.

We will learn, for one thing, that biblical commands are often set in their particular cultural situation. This survey will also provide background for verses in the New Testament, some of which refer to Old Testament passages.

Throughout this survey, we cannot conclude that just because something happened, it there­­fore presents an example we should follow today. We do not assume, for example, that Abraham is the ideal husband, nor Rebekah the ideal wife. We evaluate behavior based on New Testament principles, rooted in Jesus’ command to love your neighbor as yourself. That command also existed in the Old Testament, yet certain laws of Moses required that men not treat women the way they treated one another.

Genesis

The early chapters of Genesis tell us little about women: We are told that Adam slept with Eve and she had sons (4:1-2, 25). Cain slept with his wife and she gave birth to Enoch (4:17). Lamech married two women, Adah and Zillah (v. 19). In one of the most debated verses of the Bible, we are told that the “sons of God” slept with “the daughters of men and had children by them” (6:4). Noah’s wife and his daughters-in-law were saved in the ark (7:13). Genealogies rarely mention women, though it is noted that various men had “sons and daughters” (11:11 etc.).

Abram married his half-sister Sarai, and Abram’s brother Nahor married their niece, Milcah (11:29). Abram, Sarai and Lot moved to Canaan, and then to Egypt (12:5, 10).

In Egypt, Abram and Sarai assumed that Pharaoh would take Sarai be­cause of her beauty; the only question was whe­ther Abram would survive.

So Abram said that Sarai was his sister, and Pharaoh indeed took her into his harem (vv. 15, 19). After God punished Pharaoh for this, Pharaoh gave Sarai back and sent them all away.

Later, Abraham did a similar thing with Abimelech, king of Gerar, saying that Sarah was his sister, and Sarah said that Abraham was her brother (20:2, 5). God warned Abimelech, so he stayed away from Sarah (vv. 3-4), and Abraham explained that Sarah was his half-sister (v. 12). Abimelech acknowledged that he had offended Sarah, but gave money to Abraham to cover the offense (v. 16). Abraham had told a “half-truth,” and Pharaoh and Abimelech were right to protest Abraham’s attempts to deceive them.

Sarah told Abraham to sleep with Hagar, her maidservant.

Sarah told Abraham to sleep with Hagar, her maidservant (16:1-2). According to ancient custom, any resulting children would then be treated as if borne by the wife. Sarah said, “Perhaps I can build a family through her.” Later, Rachel did a similar thing and said, “Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and that through her I too can build a family” (30:3).

“Abram agreed to what Sarai said,” and Hagar became pregnant (16:2-4). Then there was tension be­tween Sarai and Hagar, and Sarai unjustly blam­ed Abram for the problem (v. 5). Sarah told Abraham to sleep with Hagar, her maidservant (v. 6). An angel told Hagar to go back and name her son Ishmael. And Hagar gave a name to God: “She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me’” (v. 13).¹

Abram let Sarai do whatever she wanted with Hagar, and Sarai mistreated Hagar so much that she fled.

When God told Abraham that Sarah would have a son, Abraham laughed and (apparently lacking faith in the promise) suggested that Ishmael might be blessed instead (17:17-18). But no, God’s promise was for Sarah just as much as it was for Abraham (vv. 16, 19). Later, God again said that Sarah would have a son, and Sarah laughed (18:12). “Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, ‘I did not laugh’” (v. 15).

In chapter 19, Lot set a horrifying example. When the men of Sodom wanted to have relations with Lot’s visitors, Lot offered the men his virgin daughters (even though they were pledged to someone else) to “do what you like with them.”

Lot felt more obligated to protect his visitors than his own daughters! But the angels rescued Lot and his daughters.

Lot reached safety in the village of Zoar, and God destroyed Sodom. Lot’s wife looked back and was killed. Lot and his daughters moved to the mountains, and there his daughters got him drunk and became pregnant by him. It is a tragic story.

Sarah gave birth to Isaac, and when he was weaned, she told Abraham to get rid of Hagar and Ishmael (21:10). Abraham was concerned about Ishmael, but God told him to do whatever Sarah said (v. 12). So Hagar and Ishmael were sent into the desert, where they would have died, except for God’s intervention. Sarah died at age 127 and was buried near Hebron. Abraham also had sons (no daughters are mentioned) by Keturah and some concubines (25:1-6).

Isaac married Rebekah, the daughter of his cousin Bethuel. She was a girl willing to talk to strangers, industrious enough to volunteer to water 10 camels, willing to extend hospitality on behalf of her family, adventurous enough to go on a one-way journey to Canaan, and willing to speak for herself (24:15-61). Abraham specified from the start that she had to be willing (v. 8).

Rebekah was barren at first (barrenness was generally blamed on the woman), but Isaac prayed for her, and she became pregnant (25:21). After the babies fought within her, she inquired of the Lord, who told her that the older son would serve the younger one. (Apparently she did not have to go through her husband to inquire of the Lord, or to receive an answer.)

Rebekah knew that the Lord would bless Jacob, and she favored Jacob, but Isaac favored Esau (25:28). When Rebekah learned that Isaac wanted to bless Esau (contrary to God’s intent), she conspired with Jacob to deceive Isaac (27:5-10). She prepared the meat, and Jacob pretended to be Esau and obtained the blessing. When Esau wanted to kill Jacob, Rebekah told Jacob to go to Haran. She managed to get Isaac to bless him yet again and send him to northern Mesopotamia to find a wife (27:42-28:5).

Esau married two Hittite women, Judith and Basemath (26:34). His parents did not like his Hittite wives, so he married a cousin, Mahalath, daughter of Ishmael, and others (28:9; 36:2-3).

Isaac moved to Gerar because of a famine, and just as his father had done, he told Abimelech that his wife was his sister (26:7), and Abimelech protested (v. 10).

Jacob was deceived by Laban, and ended up marrying two sisters. Leah had four children, and Rachel demanded that Jacob sleep with her handmaid so that she could have a surrogate family. Leah did the same, and at one point she paid Rachel for the opportunity to sleep with Jacob (30:16). There are plenty of wrong examples in this history. Rachel stole her father’s household idols and lied to her father (31:35).

In the city of Shechem, there was a prince named Shechem who slept with Dinah, the daughter of Leah, which caused her to be defiled and shamed in the eyes of her brothers. Shechem offered to pay as much as was wanted, but “Jacob’s sons replied deceitfully” and slaughtered the city, taking women and children as slaves (34:13, 29). Jacob complained about this, but Simeon and Levi responded, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?” Yet it was their mother who had purchased a night with their father.

Rachel had said, “Give me children, or I’ll die” (30:1). And when she had her second child, she died. She named him Son of My Trouble, but Jacob renamed him Benjamin, son of my right hand (probably a reference to Rachel). She was buried near Bethlehem (35:19).

Reuben, the firstborn son of Leah, slept with Bilhah, the handmaid of the now-deceased Rachel (v. 22). As firstborn, he would have eventually inherited his father’s concubines, but because of his premature action, he lost his status as firstborn (1 Chron. 5:1).

Genesis 38 tells the story of Tamar. Judah had married Shua, and they had sons named Er, Onan and Shelah. Judah got a wife for Er named Tamar. God killed Er, and in keeping with ancient custom, the next brother was supposed to sleep with the widow to produce offspring in Er’s name (v. 8; cf. Deut. 25:5). But Onan did not want to make offspring for Er (because Onan would then get a smaller inheritance), and God killed him, too. But even after Shelah had come of age, he was not sent to Tamar to give her children.

So Tamar pretended to be a prostitute and became pregnant by her father-in-law, Judah. When the pregnancy became known, Judah threatened to burn her to death, but when she proved that Judah was the father, he said, “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah” (v. 26). She had upheld her duty to her family, but he had not.

Women play a smaller role in the Joseph story. Joseph had a dream in which the sun, moon and 11 stars bowed before him. The moon was interpreted as his mother (37:10), even though she was dead. Potiphar’s wife wanted to sleep with Joseph, but when Joseph refused, she accused him of attempted rape (39:14). But she has no further role in the story. Pharaoh gave Joseph a wife—Asenath, the daughter of an Egyptian priest, and they had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim (41:45-52).

Exodus–Deuteronomy— narratives

Exodus begins with the initiative of some women. The Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah refused to kill Israelite boys. They lied to Pharaoh, and God blessed them (Ex. 1:19-20). A Levite mother hid her son for three months, then put him in a basket on the Nile; his sister watched while Pharaoh’s daughter rescued the boy. The sister offered to find a wet nurse, and so the mother was paid to nurse her own baby (2:1-9).

After Moses fled to Midian, he came to the defense of seven women and watered their flock of sheep; he married one of them, Zipporah, and they had a son named Gershom (2:15-22). When God was about to kill Moses, Zipporah saved his life by circumcising Gershom and touching Moses with the foreskin (4:25).

God told Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, and he promised to make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward them. “Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing” (3:22). Later he told Moses that both men and women should ask their neighbors for silver and gold (11:2).

Miriam the prophetess led the women singing and dancing in worship (Ex. 15:20). Later, she and Aaron spoke against Moses because of his Cushite wife, and Miriam was punished for a week (Num. 12:1-15), presumably because she was the chief instigator; no mention is made of her gender.

Men and women alike were involved in the golden calf (Ex. 32:2-3), and men and women alike were involved in building the tabernacle (35:22-29).

In Numbers 27, the daughters of Zelophehad petitioned Moses for a change in inheritance laws, allowing daughters to inherit if there were no sons. Moses took the request to God, who said, “What Zelophehad’s daughters are saying is right,” and their request was written into the law (vv. 1-11). These women left a permanent mark in the laws of the old covenant.

Exodus-Deuteronomy—laws

Just as in other neighboring cultures, laws were normally written in the masculine, as if only men would commit crimes. For example: “If a man [‘iysh] steals an ox or a sheep… If a man borrows an animal… (Ex. 22:1-14). The NRSV rightly translates these to be inclusive: “When someone steals an ox or a sheep… Whenever someone borrows an animal…” Many additional examples could be given of laws that assume the person is a male; a few laws mention women as well. All the laws of incest are given from the male perspective (Lev. 18).2

The laws of Israel sometimes apply to men and women equally, sometimes unequally. We will present some of them to illustrate points of equality and aspects of inequality.

God said he punished the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generation (Ex. 20:5), but nothing is said about the sins of the mothers. Women were specifically included in the Sabbath commandment (v. 10) and the commandment to honor parents (v. 12). Anyone who cursed or attacked either parent was to be killed (21:15, 17). But in the tenth commandment, the “neighbor” is presumed to be male —nothing is said about the possibility that the neighbor might be a widow who owned property (20:17).

If a Hebrew man be­came an indentured servant, he was to be set free after six years, and his wife would be free, too; but if the master gave him a wife, she and her children did not have to be set free (21:2-4). The man could stay with his family only if he became a servant for life (vv. 5-6). Servants, whether male or female, were to be freed if injured. A bull that killed either a man or a woman was to be destroyed (vv. 26-28).

If a female was sold as a servant,3 she was not to be set free. (In that society, such “freedom” might force her into prostitution.) She could be sold to Hebrews, but not to foreigners. If she was purchased for a son, she had to be treated as a daughter. If the son married another woman, he must not deprive the first one of conjugal rights, or else he must set her free (21:7-11). The last verse may imply that sexual relations were involved in the previous situations as well; it was common for female servants to be concubines.

If men caused a premature birth through reckless behavior,4 they could be fined “whatever the woman’s husband demands” (21:22). No mention is made of what the wo­man wanted. If a man slept with a virgin, he had to pay a bride-price, even if the father did not allow the marriage (22:16-17).5

Women were unclean for a longer period of time after giving birth to a female (Lev. 12:1-5). After an emission of semen, men would be unclean until evening; but women would be unclean for seven days for menstruation, and her uncleanness was more transferable (Lev. 15:16-24).

For vow redemption, females were valued less than males were (Lev. 27:2-7). Both sexes could take Nazirite vows to dedicate themselves to divine service (Num. 6:1).6 Women were permitted to take religious vows, but they would be valid only if the father or husband approved (Num. 30:3-14). A vow by a widow or divorced woman was automatically valid (v. 9).

Apparently women could not be priests, although no law specifically addresses that (but most men could not be priests, either). A priest could give sacrificial food to his daughters, even to those who had returned to the family after being widowed or divorced (Num. 18:11; Lev. 22:13).

Males were required to go to the festivals and give an offering three times a year (Deut. 16:16), but it was assumed that women, children and widows would normally go as well (26:12; 31:12).

When the Israelites captured women in war, they could take a woman as a wife.7 She could be freed, but not sold or treated as a slave (Deut. 21:10-14). If a man married two women, he was to count the firstborn son (who got the larger inheritance) fairly, not based on which wife he liked more (vv. 15-17).

If a betrothed woman voluntarily slept with another man, she was guilty of adultery and both people would be killed (22:23-24). But if it happened in the country, it was presumed to be a rape, and only the man was to be killed (Deut. 22:23-27). If the girl was not betrothed, the man would be forced to pay 50 shekels and marry her, without right of divorce (vv. 28-29). The law did not give the girl any say in this.

If a man suspected that his new bride was not a virgin, he could challenge her. If evidence of virginity could not be given, the woman was to be stoned at her father’s house, for being promiscuous while under his care (22:13-21).8 If a man had been married for a while and suspected his wife of infidelity, he could bring an offering to the priest and put her to a test (Num. 5:12-28); the law presumed her innocence and left the punishment up to God’s intervention.

If it could be proved that a wife slept with someone else, she and the other man were to be killed (Deut. 22:22)—but it did not work the other way around. A husband who slept with a prostitute, for example, was not considered guilty of adultery. Similarly, laws did not require men to be virgins when they married. Men could have multiple wives, but women could not have multiple husbands. Laws regulated the sexual behavior of young women and wives, but they did not regulate the sexual behavior of widows; nor did they prohibit prostitution.9

If a man wanted to divorce his wife, he had to provide her with a paper that permitted her to marry someone else (Deut. 24:1-4). The woman was not given the right to divorce her husband.

Wives were legally under the authority of their husbands, and were sometimes treated like property, but they were not in the same legal status as “property”—they were not part of an inheritance, although concubines were. “A wife could not be sold as an ox or a donkey could…. A woman’s conjugal rights… distinguished her from the slave who was truly owned.”10

Conclusion

Women were usually better off under the laws of Moses than they would have been in other nations.11 Nevertheless, many of the above laws still strike us as favoring men over women. How should we re­spond to these laws?

First, we must acknowledge that the laws, as part of the old covenant, are obsolete. Christians today are under no obligation to live by these laws.

Second, we must recognize that even when the old covenant was in force, these laws did not describe the ideal society. Jesus pointed out that the law of divorce was a concession that God allowed because the people were sinful (Matt. 19:8). An already existing custom was regulated to prevent flagrant abuses, but the law did not imply approval of the custom itself.

The same is true for many of the other laws, such as those that implied a greater sexual freedom for men than for women. The lack of penalty for men should not be taken as a divine endorsement of their freedom to visit prostitutes, for example. It was a patriarchal culture, and God allowed some inequities to continue for a time.

We believe that no one should be bought or sold into slavery. We believe that the life-long commitment of marriage should not be arranged without the consent of both bride and groom. We believe that fornication and adultery do not merit the death penalty. We believe that men as well as women should be virgins when they marry, and we believe that men as well as women should refrain from sexual activity outside of marriage.

Yet we also recognize that we cannot always insist on these ideals. In many nations, marriages are arranged, and the couples have to live with the result. Many young people are not virgins, and adultery does happen. Even within the community of believers, there is sometimes “hardness of heart”—a hardness that calls for repentance, but also necessitates practical accommodation to what people have done.

This is not the place to spell out ethics for the diverse situations that people get themselves into—we are simply pointing out that these laws, although biblical, were given in a particular cultural context, and we should not view them as timeless directives from God. Even in the New Testament, there are directives that have been shaped by culture—head coverings for women, greeting people with a kiss, making a roster of older widows, etc. We will discuss these in a later paper, but for now it is sufficient to note that the Old Testament is culturally limited to a far greater extent than the New Testament is.

In our next paper, we will look at women in Israel’s history—from Rahab to Esther. Due to the volume of material, we will again have to be brief, but this survey will give some historical context to the ministry of Jesus and the writings of Paul.

 1. “Nowhere else in ancient Near Eastern literature is it recorded that deity called a woman by name, yet the angel of the Lord does just that twice in the case of Hagar (Gen 16:8; 21:17). The conversation between the angel of the Lord and Hagar is just as startling in its cultural milieu as the conversation of Jesus with the Samaritan woman in his day. In both instances God invests a woman with full dignity by solicitously caring for her and by giving her revelations even though both of them come from outside the pure race and are sinners” (Bruce Waltke, “The Relationship of the Sexes in the Bible,” Crux, September 1983, pp. 11-12).

  2. Thus the law prohibits a man from sleeping with his aunt (vv. 12-14), but nothing is said about a woman sleeping with her uncle.

3. Fathers could also sell sons into slavery; men and women could sell themselves (Lev. 25:39; Deut. 15:12).

4. But if they caused a stillbirth or serious injury, verse 23 would then apply. Christopher Wright argues that in this context, “life for life” does not mean a death penalty, but a living child given to compensate for one killed before birth. The death penalty was not appropriate for accidental homicide (v. 13). (God’s People in God’s Land: Family, Land and Property in the Old Testament [Paternoster, 1997], 212).

5. Deut. 22:28-29 is similar, but does not allow any refusal, and specifies that the woman can never be divorced.

6. However, the rest of the chapter is written as if the Nazirite is a man, in keeping with the convention that laws are written as if for males even when they apply to females.

7. No restrictions about race are noted.

8. But if he falsely accused her, he could never divorce her. The “evidence of virginity” may have been a cloth stained by a recent menstruation, showing that the woman was not pregnant at the time of marriage.

9. However, prostitution was regulated and discouraged. Religious prostitution was not permitted, and the wages of a prostitute could not be brought into the tabernacle (Deut. 23:17-18). The daughters of priests could not become prostitutes, and priests could not marry prostitutes (Lev. 21:9, 14). Fathers could not force their daughters into prostitution (Lev. 19:29). But there was no penalty for prostitution itself.

10. Linda Belleville, Women Leaders and the Church: Three Crucial Questions (Baker, 1999), 77.

11. For examples, see William Webb, Slaves, Women & Homosexuals, pages 76-80, and the articles on women in the Anchor Bible Dictionary and InterVarsity’s Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch.

Daniel Bierer:
1949-2004
significant force for change

By Ted Johnston
Northeast district superintendent

Daniel J. Bierer, 55, longtime WCG pastor, was born March 10, 1949 and died unexpectedly and prematurely on Aug. 5.

Throughout those 55 years, Dan lived a full life marked by the  accomplishments listed here. But no list can adequately express the vibrancy, love and passion of the dearly loved husband of Alice, father of Stephen, Jacquelyn and Philip, pastor of WCG congregations, leader of numerous WCG and interdenominational ministry programs, and brother in Christ to thousands.

Aug. 5 was Dan’s day of homecoming. At lunch discussing plans with a ministry associate for the future of the Manhattan congregation, he experienced breathing difficulties, lost consciousness and was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead from congestive heart failure.

On that day, Dan shed his earthly tent and is now at home with his Savior. For us the days following are tinged with sorrow—but we also celebrate a life well spent and look forward to our homecoming when, because of Christ, we will hear Dan’s infectious laugh and see his endearing smile again.

Early years

Dan was born and grew up in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. As a teen, he attended the WCG in Pittsburgh, where he was active in the choir. Concerning those formative years, Dan often mentioned the positive influence of his pastor, Jimmy Friddle.

In 1966, Dan entered Ambassador College in Pasadena. During his time there he was baptized, served as sophomore class president, and spent a year between his junior and senior years as a ministerial trainee in Kansas City, Missouri, and Miami, Florida.

In 1971 Dan graduated and married Alice Dix. Alice grew up in Caswell County, North Carolina, and attended Ambassador for two years following college elsewhere.

After their wedding, Dan and Alice began a 33-year journey serving together in pastoral ministry. They moved first to the Northeast, where Dan was a ministerial trainee in Concord, New Hampshire, and Montpelier, Vermont, and then he served as associate pastor in Boston and Springfield, Massachusetts. During these years son Stephen was born.

In 1973 the family moved to Buffalo, New York, where Dan pastored for eight years. During those years, Jacquelyn and Philip were born.

One of Dan’s greatest legacies is his children, whose achievements reflect Dan and Alice’s devoted parenting. Dan could often be overheard celebrating his children’s many achievements. Stephen has an undergraduate degree from Wharton School of Business and an MBA from Columbia University. He is married and works as a banker in Chicago.  Jacquelyn attended Am­bas­sador and received her bachelor’s degree from Black Hills State University. She is married and works in Orlando, Florida. Phillip received his bachelor’s degree from Indiana University and now works for Post Bank in Bonn, Germany.

In 1982 the family moved to Florida, where Dan pastored the Sarasota and Fort Myers congregations. In 1988 they moved to Rapid City, South Dakota, to pastor the congregation there, in Chadron, Ne­braska, and later the one in Scottsbluff, Nebraska.

In 1994 they transferred back to the Northeast, where Dan first served as pastor in Union and Jersey City, New Jersey, and then as pastor in Middletown, New York, and Mont­vale, New Jersey.

Then, until his death, he pastored the Manhattan Community Church, the Westchester Family Fellowship in White Plains, New York, and the Westchester WCG congregation in Armonk, New York.

Caring pastor

Dan was known as a warm, friendly and caring pastor who loved his Lord and his congregants. He was also known for his concern for children and teens—he served as a regional and district youth coordinator and was active in other ways in advancing youth ministry.

Dan’s final years saw him emerge as a significant force for change within the WCG and the broader Christian community in New York City area. As a chapter leader of the Office of Reconciliation Ministries, he led initiatives related to racial and interdenominational healing. He was also active in interdenominational prayer initiatives, particularly following the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001. He was also one of 300 New York City pastors to gather on the steps of City Hall this spring to pray in defense of marriage.  

How to conduct
a ministry leadership
team meeting

Introduction

By Dan Rogers
Superintendent of U.S. ministers

The church is called to glorify God by obeying Jesus’ Great Commandment to love and his Great Commission to make disciples.

Congregations walk in step with the Holy Spirit in this obedience as they provide a ministry environment that is conducive to disciplemaking, and as they pursue a balanced strategy that is focused on disciplemaking.

The congregation’s leaders have a vital role in nurturing a disciplemaking environment and in ad­vancing a disciplemaking strategy. That role is so important that it should be the focus of nearly all leadership meetings. John Stone­cypher, pastor of the Des Moines and Mason City, Iowa, churches, has written the following article to help ministry team leaders create and maintain that focus.

How to conduct a ministry
leadership team meeting

By John Stonecypher

As outlined in the Church Administration Manual (see also the July WCG News), commissioned ministry leaders lead the individual ministry segments within our congregations. Together these ministry leaders form a ministry leadership team that is led by the senior pastor. For this team to work together in harmony, focused on a shared vision, mission and strategy, it is crucial that the ministry leadership team have regular meetings.  

Following is a suggested agenda outline for such meetings. This outline is designed to help team members to connect, to examine the congregation’s ministry environment (which we often refer to as the foundations), to assess the congregation’s disciplemaking balance, and to coordinate administrative details. 

 1. Connect with God and with each other. Leadership can be lonely work, so it is essential for leaders to take time to be ministered to by God and each other. Begin the meeting with the Word, worship, fellowship and prayer. Give time for the fellowship that occurs naturally before meetings.

Then shepherd the group conversation into sharing praise reports and prayer requests, both personal and ministry-related. Lead the group into an unhurried time of group prayer.

Then move into a time of worship, perhaps using worship DVDs for the sake of easy preparation. This would be an appropriate time to share communion, if desired. The senior pastor or a ministry leader can give a brief devotional from a passage of Scripture that addresses matters of ministry vision, values, mission or strategy. Sonlife’s Harmony Self-Study can be a useful re­source here. By beginning with Scripture, the team will be helped to ground their ministry in the Word of God.

2. Examine the ministry foundations. To what extent is your church environment an atmosphere of love, characterized by the adoration of Christ and prayerful dependence, saturated with the communication of the Word that engenders a biblical church image and a commitment to contact in its members? These essential issues of church health belong at the forefront of leaders’ minds, and deserve close attention in ministry meetings.

To enable depth of discussion, it can be helpful to examine just one of these foundations at each meeting. For example, one meeting can focus on the questions: “Is our congregation’s environment characterized by prayerful dependence? What are we doing that works well? Where are areas for improvement? How can we use our strengths to build up our weaknesses?” It can be helpful to record the responses on a large pad of paper that the whole group can see.

 3. Assess the church’s disciplemaking balance. Make a list of all the programs the church has put on since your last meeting—worship services, prayer meetings, discipleship classes, potlucks, outreach projects—everything. Then, specify the target audience for each event. Was it intended for un­churched people (in other words, was it a winning event)? Was it primarily meant to help Christians grow spiritually (a building event)? Was it targeted at training members to minister to believers or to reach the lost more effectively (an equipping event)? Or was it intended to train leaders (a multiplying event)?

If a program has more than one intended audience, its purpose needs to be defined further. For example, a class for seekers will have different requirements than a class for mature believers, and those differences will be taken into account as the class is prepared. Finally, ask: “How balanced is our programming? On what target group do our programs focus most? On which target group do our programs focus least? What can we do to seek greater balance between the four strategic priorities of Win-Build-Equip-Multiply?” Again, it is helpful to record all re­sponses on a big pad of paper.

 4. Coordinate administrative details. By this point you have a couple of lists that indicate ways to improve your ministry—ways to nurture the particular ministry foundation focused on in this meeting, and ways to balance the four strategic ministry priorities in the church’s programming.

In order to pare the lists down to a manageable size, you may need to postpone a few of the less important items for later implementation. Clarify the goal of each item re­maining on the list, and assign it to the appropriate ministry leader. It will then be the ministry leader’s responsibility to work with his or her ministry team to creatively seek to address the issue. This final part of the meeting is also the appropriate time to raise any administrative issues that need to be addressed.

Sample ministry meeting agenda

Following is a sample detailed ministry leadership team meeting agenda that follows the connect, examine, assess and coordinate outline. It’s helpful to distribute a detailed agenda to participants in advance of the meeting.

AGENDA

-

Window on the World

From Randal Dick
Superintendent of Missions

Full spectrum mission

By John Halford

VERSAILLES, Indiana—Before he returned to heaven, Jesus said to his disciples: “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

This wasn’t just a random list of places. Jesus was defining the church’s mission for those first disciples, and for all who were to follow in their footsteps.

What would the early church have made of this?

“Jerusalem and all Judea” was home territory. The gospel message might not be welcome there, but at least the disciples knew the language and customs. They may have wrinkled their noses about going to Samaria—Samaritans were de­spised outcasts, and Samaria a place to avoid. As for “the ends of the earth”—what did that mean?

Most people at the time had never traveled more than a few miles from home. Their worldview probably extended only as far as the borders of the Roman Empire, with perhaps hazy notions that beyond were places such as India and Britain. But they never expected to go to those ends of the earth, and certainly not to preach the gospel there. But Jesus was showing them that they should be willing to think beyond the limits of their world, and share in his vision to preach the gospel to all people.

Opposite problem

Today we may have the opposite problem. As the European explorers discovered the “ends of the earth,” missionaries followed behind. They risked their lives to preach the message of salvation to even the most savage and remote people. Today there are few places where at least someone has not been reached. The gospel has in­deed been taken to the ends of the earth. 

We’ve done pretty well with our Samarias too. Wherever people have been outcasts, oppressed or in other ways looked down upon, Christians have tried to lend support and comfort. We’re good at that.

But as we have been digging a trench through ignorance and prejudice, have the sides been falling in behind us? Missionary organizations may celebrate their progress, but the home base has been eroding. Some of the greatest mission fields today are the very countries that once so enthusiastically sent missionaries to the ends of the earth.

Decline

The church (or at least church-going) has been in decline in most Western countries, particularly since the 1960s. We can argue about what the statistics mean, but what is beyond argument is that they all point in one direction—down.

For example, in Britain, an average of 1,500 people, many of them committed pillars in their congregations, leave the traditional denominations every week. That’s more than 200 a day! Historian Callum Brown has declared that “Britain is showing the world how religion as we have known it can die” (The Death of Christian Britain, London: Routledge, 2001, p. 198).

On the continent of Europe the situation is even worse. If France and Belgium were evaluated by the same criteria that some missionary societies use to identify places in need of mission, they should be considered unreached countries.

Even Italy and Spain, once strongholds of Catholic Christianity, are showing a drastic decline in churchgoing. The story is much the same in New Zealand, Australia and Canada.

If this trend continues, most of the major de­nominations that once sponsored missions will have died out in 25 years.

Rev. Sam Kobia, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, speaking at a gathering of theologians in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, said: ‘“I fear we are faced with the loss, in all cultures, of fundamental information about the Christian faith as a viable option for men and women today.

“In many places today we can no longer assume the religious, much less Christian, awareness which existed 20 years ago. Regions such as Europe, where we could count on at least a ‘cultural awareness’ of the faith, are now becoming mission fields full of persons who have never heard of the faith.”

What about the United States? 

On the surface, it looks as if the Christian faith in America is in much better shape. Most Americans say they believe in God, and about half go to church regularly. Many of those who don’t worship formally on a regular basis say they believe in an after-life. According to some surveys, more than 80 percent of Americans believe Jesus is coming again.

Christian books are everywhere, and gospel songs flood the airwaves. People are not embarrassed to ask a blessing on their meals in restaurants—it is almost unheard of in other “Christian” countries. American athletes pray openly before competing, and are quick to thank God when they succeed.

But although America may look like and sound like a nation where Jesus is Lord, is it really? Statistics for divorce, drugs, teens in trouble and drunken driving are not really much different for Christians than non-Christians. If he were to survey the need for mission today, St. Paul might recognize the Western world as people “having a form of godliness but denying its power”(2 Timothy 3:5).

So, whereas European and American Christians are still generous in providing resources for foreign missions, they must not forget that many millions of lives are not yet touched by the gospel message right at home. These are not just on the fringes of society—the homeless, refugees, prisoners, inner cities and the other Samarias of our time. They are often our friends and neighbors and even relatives. To put it in New Testament terms, the need is right here in Jerusalem and all Judea.

Priorities

Any church or congregation that seriously takes Jesus’ command to be his witnesses must therefore face the question of responsible stewardship. How do they use their resources—financial and human—to best advantage? What should be used locally? How much should go to help the disadvantaged? To what extent should funding be set aside to support foreign missions? And how much should be used for what we could call reevangelism—presenting the gospel to our ostensibly Christian societies, who have nevertheless lost contact with the knowledge of God.

Our own denomination is faced with a rather unusual situation in this regard. Most of our congregations were called together by a media footprint rather than by local geography. Our members travel long distances compared to most churchgoers, so we are not always in an ideal situation to be a community church.

But in another sense we are a community—on a worldwide basis. Other church leaders have re­marked that, whereas they may claim to be worldwide in vision and scope, we are small enough, but diverse enough, to be worldwide in reality. We don’t only know of our members in other places—we often know them personally.

We are in the unusual position of having a worldview that truly encompasses Jerusalem and all Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth.

Until recently, decisions about where to place resources for the church’s mission activities were made at the denominational headquarters. This allowed us to build a worldwide church, which, in spite of the changes and losses of the last two decades, is still largely intact. However, this was at the expense (or perhaps we should say the lack of expense) of mission activity on the home front.

Local congregations did not have the resources to make a meaningful impact in their home areas, which, as we saw earlier, have now become very much a mission field.

Under the newly introduced financial structure, decisions about use of resources will now be made at a congregational level. And that means you will have the resources to do meaningful work right where it is needed—in your local Jerusalem and Judea.

But we must not forget our worldwide community. While the United States has been preparing for the new financial structure, the international areas have also been restructuring. Whereas in the past, most of them relied on substantial subsidies from headquarters, now nearly every area is financially self-sufficient. They do not need outside support to survive. But they do need their richer brothers and sisters to partner with them in their outreach, which is often beyond their own meager resources.

Positive projects, such as the school in Haiti, the educational institute in Sri Lanka, the orphanage in Madagascar and the media outreach in South America, survive only because of a partnership between hardworking local members and generous support from their brothers and sisters in richer areas. If our church is to continue to do these things, it will need more of these partnerships.

The challenge

This is going to be the challenge for the next few years. As we loosen the controls that have stifled local efforts, can we maintain the bonds that have allowed us to become—perhaps uniquely in today’s church scene—a small but thriving worldwide community of faith?

It is something to think and pray about as we make the decisions to be Jesus’ witnesses in our modern equivalents of Jerusalem and all Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth.

Regional Snapshot

From Charles & Carmen Fleming, Latin America

WCG congregations
in Latin America:
in mission with Christ

ORLANDO, Florida—Jesus promised that those who received the Holy Spirit would be transformed, not only in what they do, but in who they would become. They would be his witnesses.

As we observe what the Spirit is doing in our churches in Latin America, we see that a number of our congregations are experiencing that transformation. In preparing this report, we asked our leaders to pay special attention to the ways in which God is leading us to have more of a concern for people outside our church (non-Christians, backslidden Christians and needy people in the society around us). I hope you enjoy the reports that we received. 

Charles Fleming

David Agreda compiled the following reports.

Puerto Rico

In Puerto Rico we have a congregation in the town of Cayey, with an average attendance of 18 people.

From April 9 to 11, we carried out a seminar with the participation of Charles Fleming and his wife, Carmen, and with Hector and Paulina Barrero of Colombia. Our immediate vision is to serve a section of Cayey. Carlos A. Garcia.

Argentina

In Argentina we have congregations in Ezeiza and Buenos Aires, with an average of 44 in attendance. The church takes care of prayer requests from people of the community, and those people are invited to our meetings with an evangelistic message.

Breakfast is offered to about 50 children of the community who attend the small Sunday school for children and youths of the church and the community. The women offer free meals during the week for children.

Some members take classes in how to evangelize children.

Our vision is to extend the good news of salvation in Christ and to equip the believers for Chris­tian life and service. Carlos Espinosa and Julio Fernandez.

Baptism of Carina Soto in Ezeiza, Argentina

Ezeiza, Argentina

Ezeiza, Argentina

Guatemala

In Guatemala City, between eight and 12 people attend services, not regularly. We support a national program for the reintegration of young people who belong to gangs. Also we collaborate in a continuing education program for pastors in the interior of the country. Cesar Najera.

El Salvador

This year we developed several activities to invite new people to the church. Among them are dinners for married couples, a mother’s day celebration, youth afternoons and Pentecost Sunday.

On Good Thursday we celebrate a Journey to the Cross in the town of Tamanique. 

On Aug. 6 and 7 we had a spiritual retreat with the subject “Why I Am Here on the Earth.”

David Agreda, the leader of our pastoral team, maintains the WCG web page in Spanish and publishes El Noticiero, the official publication of the WCG in Spanish. This publication is distributed in electronic form to the members and congregations of Latin America and Spain. It is also e-mailed to about 400 people who have asked for it through our web page. David Agreda.

Spiritual retreat in Coatepeque, El Salvador

Colombia

Popayan: Last August we made a plan to increase the number of attendants to our congregation through cell groups in homes. We initiated this effort with a barbecue and a Bible study for nine people.

We have developed the Bible study with diverse subjects, but basically with the Discovery series. We help poor students or children of displaced people, and we collaborate with a school lunch for 12 children. Efren Giraldo Rincon.

In Bogota, we have 60 members with an average attendance of 95 at services. We share the love of God with non-Christians through small groups and with the My Hope project of the Billy Graham Association.

In addition, we have attended seminaries, produced radio programs and received invitations to different churches. Aside from  weekly services, we have Bible studies, tours, activities for youths and activities for the leaders. We celebrate congregational fastings and vigils.

Our vision for the future of the congregation is to develop servant leaders, to multiply as a church and to plant new churches in the city. Hector and Paulina Barrero.

Leaders in Bogota, Colombia

Bogota, Colombia: Hector and Paulina Burrero

Mother’s day in Popayan, Colombia

Honduras

The WCG congregation in Tegucigalpa has 45 members. We have several activities to share the gospel: The film The Passion of the Christ was presented where one of the members lives.

We have formed several cell groups in various areas. We print copies of our church publication El Noticiero to give to those who ask for it, and to distribute it in barber shops and hospitals. We make visits to hospitals and to elderly members of our congregation.

We have participated in a youth radio program. Pastor Mauricio Diaz has been invited to preach at several churches and has been invited to participate as a counselor at the Christian University of Tegucigalpa.

When our brother Alex Martinez died, the church paid for some of the funeral expenses.

Fund are being collected to buy sound equipment for the church. The church in Honduras wants to equip members to make more disciples in their communities. We are uniting to buy our own church building.

We plan to have several members take courses to play musical instruments. Joel Vicente Aleman.

Lima, Peru

We have 21 members, and we distribute 50 copies of El Noticiero each month. The activities are made at the individual level as we do not have programs at the congregational level. We take advantage of the opportunities that our members have, for which they have already been prepared. Our vision consists of having a healthy, growing congregation. Jose Kasum Bustios.

SEP Washington:
a relationship
with Jesus Christ

By Dee Bulante

Baptism of Brittany Haines at Cascade Waterfall.

ORCAS ISLAND, Washington—One hundred two campers from Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California and Texas converged on Orcas Island for a one-week camp adventure, Aug. 8 to 15.

Amy Johnson, camp director, reported: “SEP Washington’s mission to make disciples who make disciples and our goal this year to teach campers what real life is all about—a relationship with Jesus Christ—was accomplished. Many thanks to all our staff. What a tremendous impact they have made in the lives of our youths by surrendering their lives to God for one week this summer at camp.”

Dorm G-3 teens.

Campers were joined by 58 dedicated and youth-friendly staff who demonstrated the love of Jesus in action and shared the wisdom of Jesus in words. Their spirit of single-mindedness in purpose, cooperation and service was evident from start to finish. 

The staff started camp with a mountaintop experience. They drove to the summit of Mount Constitution, which has a panoramic view of Puget Sound, the Canadian coastline and Vancouver Island. The staff felt the presence of God when they shared communion, prayed and worshiped the Lord while taking in the beauty of his creation.

Dorm B-2 pre-teens.

Even before camp started, two of our younger staff members gave their lives to the Lord and were baptized at the lake.

Campers enjoyed wind-gliding, canoeing, hiking, yachting, water polo, fishing, arts and crafts, swimming, archery, basketball and volleyball. They attended seminars on knowing the basics of Christianity, sharing the Christian faith, handling personal finances and becoming a better public speaker. They learned the fundamentals of ballroom dancing, which gave them much-needed confidence for their two dances. 

Chapel service.

Most campers helped out in campus improvement, where they assisted in cleaning the camp facilities. They participated in a Spiritual Journey, where they visited 12 stations representing chro­nological events from the life of Jesus, culminating in his resurrection. It was a time for personal reflection and deep meditation on Jesus, a time to get real with Jesus. 

Many of the youths did get real with Jesus, and responded positively to his message of grace and forgiveness. At the end of our last chapel service, campers walked to the lake where they witnessed 17 of their own baptized and making a public confession of their faith in Jesus Christ.

Hiking to the top of Mount Constitution.

An additional 12 campers were counseled for baptism, and have made a commitment to follow up with their pastor. They were blessed as well during that ceremony.

It was powerful to see the Word of God causing spiritual transformation in the lives of these young people. Seeing the fruits of repentance, in turn, makes a profound impact on the volunteer staff. It was an answer to our prayers during the mountaintop experience. 

Camper John Sherrod commented: “The message at camp this year was to ‘Get Real With Jesus.’ The whole week I was searching my heart, the Bible and the words others spoke to me to find out what ‘getting real with Jesus’ actually meant.

Dorm B-1 preteens.

“By the end of camp, I found that in order to form a bond with Jesus, like any other relationship, we need to be completely honest with God. We need to know that though we try to hide ourselves from God, he will always be there, right next to you, waiting. Waiting for you to talk with him, to confess your sins, to share your thoughts and feelings, and most importantly, improving the eternal bond between ourselves and God. Knowing that I will always have a friend in Jesus makes living life easier.”

Camper Shannon Strong added: “I learned that being like Jesus is fun, and I learned that I can help bring people to Christ by praying to God and asking him to give me the right words to say to people. I made a commitment to read my Bible more often and spread the Word more.”

Teens at Camo Night.

Canoeing at Lake Cascade.

Photos by Aaron Burnsides, Bill and Joy Funsten and Amy Johnson.

Heartland SEP:
the Holy Spirit
in Glory and Power

By Doug Johannsen

PEORIA, Illinois—One hundred thirty-one campers and 62 staff gathered in Central Illinois at Eagle Crest Camp Aug. 1 to 7 for the Heartland Spiritual Enrichment Program.

Eight campers were baptized.

We had 31 more campers in Illinois this year than we had the previous summer in Iowa.

Farice Campbell and Trek Blackwell

Activities included arts and crafts, basketball, Christian living, dance, high ropes, journalism, paintball, performing arts, photography, praise and worship, softball, swimming, tennis and volleyball.

What campers and staff had to say:

Jason Orth: The best night of camp was Thursday’s praise and worship service.

Laura Ruf

The campers and staff displayed many talents during performances, mixed in with some rockin’ praise to God the Father by the entire camp.  

A skit about the death of Jesus on the cross showed the severe brutality that Jesus went through as he died to cleanse us of our sins. 

Liz Garman, Julie Holladay and Meghan O’Connor

Because of those wounds and the blood that poured from them we have been redeemed from the things we have seen and touched wrongfully, the places we have walked where we should not have, the things inside of us that are not of God, and the times in which we have turned our backs on God. 

Pastor James Newby

From left: Jerrod Kaufman, Andre Ray, Jonathan Goodwin and Teshome Wilson.

It was a moving scene as nearly two thirds of the campers responded to an impromptu altar-call. 

Shelbii Neller and Carrie Miarecki

The theme for the camp was “Get Real,” and on this night many campers and staff got real with their Savior.

Pastor Michael Houghton, staff member: This was without a doubt the greatest experience I have ever had as a member of the WCG, and to top it all off I was privileged to baptize my own granddaughter. Everyone should visit SEP and see how the Lord is working in the lives of these young people.

Laura Ruf: When asked why the “Get Real” theme was chosen, camp director James Newby an­swered: “I want the campers to be­gin to think about what’s real. Is Hollywood or something eternal more important, and what should be important for their lives?” The path to accomplish this is through God.

Shannon Younts and Tess Monical: All the sports at SEP have a special meaning behind them.

Chris Lightbody

In softball we were told to keep our eyes on the ball, just as we need to keep our eyes fixed on God. In archery, we were told that missing the target is like sinning. We need to stay on target and not get sidetracked with sin.

SEP has a special way of putting God into everything that we do. We get to learn about God while we are playing and having fun. SEP is not all about sports, but it is all about God and everything that he has given us.

At least one camper was in­spired to write a new song:

From left: Tarah Zuniga, Joi Andrews and Marissa Kall

“Get Real!”

By Kenny Schabow

From desire to death

It’s the path of sin

Jesus’ way is better

Fo‑llow him for a new chance to begin

(Chorus)

Andre Ray

Get real with Jesus

He is real to me

He is really the Son of God

He really wants you to love him

I submit myself to God

I’m gonna resist the devil

I’m gonna cleanse my hands

I want to reach a higher level

God is with me

God is for me

Jesus died instead of me

No more sorrow

No more guilt

I’m gettin’ real with Jesus

Now that I’ve confessed my sins

I’m ready to draw close to you.

Jaime Orth: Camp was amazing!  God showed up and moved in our midst! My favorite part of camp has to be that God allowed me to personally lead one of the girls in my dorm to Christ.

To live for Christ you gain everything and lose all the junk. Camp was exactly what a lot of people needed! We all need to get real with God and to live the real life.

Photos by Sarah Vershowske, Heidi Warner and Doug Johannsen.

Youth Ministry

Organizing non-Christian
youths into the church

By Ted Johnston
National youth ministry co-director

CANTON, Ohio—The following article is adapted (with permission) from an article written by Mark Tittley, director of Sonlife Ministries in Africa.

The Rushville Community Bible Church, the WCG congregation in Rushville, New York, pastored by Robert and Deanna Gnage, routinely ministers to as many as 70 mostly non-Christian teens at their Friday night Teen Hang. Several of these youths also come to a small group at the pastor’s house and to church on Sunday morning. At the Spiritual Enrichment Program (SEP) camps we’re seeing a rapid increase in the number of non-churched campers. 

What’s going on? I believe that the Holy Spirit is moving dynamically to draw unchurched youths to our ministries. And that’s wonderful. But it presents a challenge: as these unchurched youths come, they bring their problems along with them.

How should we as adult leaders respond? How can we work appropriately to integrate non-Christian youths into our congregations, camps and youth groups?

Robert and Deanna and other adult leaders who partner with them are facing this problem head-on at Teen Hang. Some of the teens there are heavy smokers and want to smoke at the event. Do you ask them to leave to protect the name of the church or to protect the other kids from a bad influence? Do you read the smoking teens the riot act—letting them know that the group has a non-smoking rule that they are violating? Or, do you welcome them in; ignore their misbehavior with the hope that they will hear the gospel, come to know Christ, and through the influence and power of the Holy Spirit stop smoking?

There are no easy answers to these questions. What might work in one instance might not work in another. But to help us think it through, consider the following alternative approaches:

1. Allow the misbehavior. The leader might take the approach that because these are pre-Christian young people who need to be drawn into the group so they can hear the gospel, the leader should tolerate their non-Christian be­havior.

Unchurched youths come, bring their problems right along with them.

However, this ap­proach may backfire, leading to a loss of control and to giving the im­pression that the leader is condoning and even encouraging the misbehavior. This approach may also aid in negatively influencing other members of the group.

2. Enforce group rules. The leaders may feel that they should strictly enforce the group’s rules about non-Christian behavior no matter what. But this approach may lead the misbehaving youths (and others) to leave the group while giving all the youths present a negative view of the church. This approach may also lead to unfortunate (and unwanted) confrontations when young people refuse to comply.

These two options are at the opposite ends of a spectrum. Many positions are in between. In choosing an appropriate (and balanced) response, it is helpful to keep the following goals in mind:

l Seek to maintain a relationship with the non-Christian young person.

l Treat the young person with re­spect and decency.

l If you need to ask the youth to stop a certain behavior, ask politely.

l Look for a reasonable compromise. I support what Robert and Deanna worked out at Teen Hang. Rather than forbidding youths who smoke from attending, they allow smoking (for those old enough to make it legal) on the front porch of the building.

The inside of the building is then a smoke-free zone. The youths are then supervised (and loved) on the steps and inside. I might add that this approach has helped some of the teens quit smoking. And many of them have come to Christ.

l Ask the misbehaving youth not to influence other members of the group with the misbehavior. This might be approached from a human rights perspective, that is, please do not violate the rights of other people to breathe clean air.

While there are often no clear-cut, one-size-fits-all ways to approach these matters, considering the following principles will help.

1. Beliefs vs. Behavior: Can we honestly expect non-Christian youths to adopt Christian behavior before they have had a heart-change through the gospel of Christ? Is the misbehavior really a danger to the Christian youths in the group? Aren’t they already exposed to such behavior in their homes, schools and malls?

2. Barriers to Conversion. By our approach, are we creating the false impression that in order to be accepted by God, youths must be perfect in their obedience to the youth group’s rules?

It is certainly appropriate (and even necessary) to have basic rules of behavior for the group, but we have to be careful about making these rules more important than the message of salvation through grace apart from human works.

3. Conditional vs. Unconditional Love. How do we apply unconditional love in the sphere of non-Christian behavior? Could we create an environment in which youths are loved unconditionally, an environment in which they can find Christ and then through the convicting work of the Holy Spirit grow into Christlikeness?

4. Identifying Serious Behavior. Should youth leaders stop and think through whether the behaviors are indeed serious issues that demand attention? Sometimes people in the church focus on secondary issues that even the Bible is not clear about—sometimes they are merely socially conditioned to speak out against certain issues.

It would probably be necessary to take action where behaviors are forbidden by law, but even then the way in which it is handled must be thought through carefully to ensure that the relationship with the person is not destroyed. We certainly must take swift action when the misbehavior threatens harm to anyone else, but even then we act carefully and in love.

5. Consequences vs. Morality.It might help to address a misbehaving youth with logic rather than with moralism. We need to remember that it is not reasonable or helpful to expect non-Christian youths to embrace Christian morality before they have embraced Christ.

Furthermore, in our culture, people are usually more open to reasons than to mere rules. Rather than quoting a rule, it’s usually better (particularly with teens) to explore with them the consequences of their behavior.

May God give us wisdom as adult youth workers and leaders in knowing how to handle difficult issues in our ministry among youths. May God use us to exemplify his perfect balance of justice and mercy.

Update from Finance & Planning

New financial model
almost complete

By Ronald Kelly

PASADENA—By the time you read this issue of the WCG News, all 389 of our U.S. congregations will be operating under the new financial model. As I write this copy, seven of our 10 districts have made the transition, and by the end of September, all districts will be enrolled.

Smooth changeover

We have been pleased with the smooth changeover to local congregation collection and budgeting.  Compliments are in order for those who have worked so hard to implement the changes—this includes head ushers, counting and tabulation staffs, church treasurers and pastors. Although starting something new may have some rough spots to smooth over, in a short period of time the local offering process will become an effective and important part of congregational life—and it won’t be difficult to manage.

A number of years ago most congregations began to take up offerings during worship services. The offering is just as much a part of worship as hymns and sermons, so this was an important first step.

Putting manual into practice

Then, more than two years ago we enrolled about 20 congregations in what we called a pilot program. These congregations helped us put a new Financial Manual into practice and then provided valuable experience in actually operating under the new model. 

If we had tried to roll out a new way to do church finances to all congregations at one time, we certainly would have had our hands full. However, by having a pilot program, we were able to make revisions to the manual and provide proper support as each congregation came on line.

Even though a significant number of congregations were processing locally in August, we processed just over $1 million here at headquarters. Of course this cannot now be compared to the previous year because at that time almost all donations were processed in Pasadena.

As I have mentioned a time or two in this column, we will no longer be able to give financial information comparing one year against another. We are, however, continuing to operate on a balanced budget, which was a primary 2004 goal. 

When the new model is fully in place, the headquarters budget from congregational apportionments will be about $300,000 per month. Local congregations will retain more than $1.2 million per month. As you can see, this is a totally different way to manage member contributions. 

Outreach and evangelism

Most congregations are excited to manage their funds. This will enable congregations to focus their talents and gifts on outreach and evangelism programs at the level of the local church.

Many are already starting to save for a future building. We strongly encourage allowing proper time to evaluate the purchase of a building. Having a strategic plan for outreach with a church meeting hall as a centerpiece is important.

Rushing too quickly into such a large financial commitment could turn out to be a mistake. Taking the time to save for an adequate down payment, or even to pay cash for a building, is the wise course of action.

Building a reserve fund

One other experience we learned during the pilot program was the importance of building an adequate reserve fund. In our Financial Manual we suggest that every congregation build at least a three-month operating capital reserve. Of course that will take time, even a year or two, but having reserve funds makes it possible to meet budgetary needs when income is lower than anticipated.

As we continue the financial transition, please continue to pray for wisdom and guidance from our heavenly Father. We certainly feel this important changeover to emphasize the importance of the local church in the work of the gospel will be exciting to each and every one of you who faithfully serve in our fellowship.

Wills and Trusts

Many members have requested information on how best to make a gift to the Worldwide Church of God, either during their lifetime or upon death through wills, trusts or other means.

If you want to receive information regarding such gifts, the Legal Department of the church is available to aid you in this regard without cost or obligation.

Bible Study

Jews and Gentiles Together:
a study of Romans 15

By Michael Morrison

In Romans 15, Paul completes his discussion of how Christians who are strong in the faith should help those whose faith is weak. He reminds his readers that God is calling the Gentiles to salvation, and that they are the focus of Paul’s ministry. Paul shares his plan to visit Jerusalem with an offering from the Gentiles to give to the Jewish believers.

The strong should help the weak

In chapter 14, Paul explained that Christians who were strong in the faith believed that everything was clean and could be eaten. Those who were weak in faith were cautious about their diet and observed certain days as special.

This difference of opinion was a serious problem for the Roman churches, so Paul took a considerable portion of his letter to address it. The cautious Christians should not condemn the more permissive ones, and those who feel free should not cause the weak to sin by pressuring them to do things that their conscience did not yet allow.

“We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves” (15:1, TNIV throughout). The people who are confident of their salvation in Christ need to be tolerant of the doctrinal mistakes that others have. Their faith is already weak; we should not challenge them more than they can bear. Paul taught that all foods are clean, but he sometimes restrained his freedom (1 Cor. 8:13; 9:20).

Paul then gives the general principle: “We should all please our neighbors for their good, to build them up” (v. 2). He uses Jesus Christ as the model we should follow: “For even Christ did not please himself…”

Paul supports his point by quoting Psalm 69:9, a messianic psalm: “As it is written: ‘The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me’” (v. 3). Christ was willing to accept persecution, so the strong should be willing to accept a little inconvenience.

Some people might wonder why Paul is using the Old Testament. He has already used it dozens of times, but now he explains: “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope” (v. 4).

Paul isolates two lessons we can draw from the Old Testament: endurance and encouragement. We need to endure difficulties, and God is faithful to us.

Gentiles praising God

Paul includes a brief prayer: “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (vv. 5-6). That is, may God give you the attitude of service that leads to worship together.

Paul concludes: “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God” (v. 7). Just as Jesus gave up his privileges to serve us, we should be willing to give up some of ours, so people will praise God. Reconciliation with God should lead us toward reconciliation with other people.

“For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth…” (15:8). Paul mentions this because of the situation in Rome: He is asking the strong (primarily Gentiles) to restrain their freedom when with the weak (primarily Jews). He now begins to defend his ministry to the Gentiles.

Why did Christ serve the Jews? Paul explains: “So that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy” (vv. 8-9). It is only through Christ that people may be forgiven and thereby receive the patriarchal blessings. But Christ’s purpose extends be­yond the physical descendants of Abraham—he also wants Gentiles to bring glory to God.

Paul now presents a series of Old Testament prophecies about Gentiles joining the Jews in worshipping God. He begins with Psalm 18:49: “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to your name.” Then he moves to the Gentile response to the good news: “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people” (Rom. 15:10; Deut. 32:43).

Then the Gentiles join in the praise: “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and sing praises to him, all you peoples” (v. 11; Ps. 117:1). Paul concludes with a quote from Isaiah 11:10, showing that this praise comes through the nations accepting the Messiah, the descendant of David and Jesse: “The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope” (v. 12).

Then Paul gives another short prayer, a benediction good for believers everywhere: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (v. 13). Through faith in Christ, we have tremendous hope.

Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles

With tact, Paul explains why he wrote to the Roman church: “I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to in­struct one another. Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles” (vv. 14-16).

Since Christ appointed Paul to serve the Gentiles, he felt that he could remind them that basic Christian principles would help them deal with the doctrinal differences they had.

“He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit” (v. 16). Paul uses special terms here to call his mission a work of worship.

He is zealous in this mission: “Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done” (Rom. 15:17-18). Paul is giving the credit to God, not himself.

The results of Paul’s ministry can be seen in the fact that Gentiles are obeying God. This does not mean circumcision, food laws or Sabbaths—the Gentiles are considered obedient without keeping such laws.

How has Christ achieved this result through Paul? “By the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God” (v. 19). Although Acts describes several miracles done through Paul, Paul rarely mentions them. His readers needed to follow him not by doing miracles, but in humility and enduring difficulties.

“So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum [modern Albania], I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ” (v. 19). Paul did not preach in every city, but everywhere he preached, he proclaimed all the gospel. He preached in a few cities, and after he left, his converts could then take the gospel to surrounding towns.

“It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation” (v. 20). At some point in his life Paul decided that his mission was to go to new areas.

He saw his work as a fulfillment of Isa. 52:15: “As it is written: ‘Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.’ This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you” (vv. 21-22). This verse does not apply to every missionary, but it described what Paul was doing.

Although Paul had wanted to visit Rome earlier, there was a greater need for the gospel in Asia Minor and Greece. Now, Paul sets his sights farther west—Spain—and that will give him an opportunity to visit Rome. But he had a more important mission to take care of first.

Paul’s travel plans

Greek letters often mentioned the writer’s travel plans, and this letter does as well. Paul begins with an almost humorous exaggeration: “But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while” (vv. 23-24).

Paul would never live long enough to take the gospel to all the empire, so he wanted to make a decisive leap westward. He not only invited himself to Rome, he also invited them to support his mission—perhaps even provide some assistants.

But other plans were more immediate—the churches in Greece were sending an offering to the believers in Judea. Paul had urged them to do it, for he felt it was very important to send this token of unity from the Gentiles to the Jews.

“Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people there. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. They were pleas­ed to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings” (vv. 25-27).

The Greek Christians had a debt to pay. But what could the Roman Christians do? It was too late for them to join in the offering being sent to Jerusalem. Paul is hinting that the Gentile Christians in Rome should help the Jewish Christians in Rome. Paul wants peace between Jews and Gentiles, whether it is in Rome or in Jerusalem.

“So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this fruit, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ” (vv. 28-29). Paul viewed this offering as a symbol of the spiritual fruit produced by the gospel among the Gentiles.

The message he wanted to send to the Jerusalem church was this: “See how many Gentiles are now praising God because of the mission you began. They are thankful that your Messiah is also their Messiah, and as the Scriptures predicted (Isa. 60:5; 66:20), they are sending gifts to Jerusalem as a firstfruits offering to sanctify the rest of the harvest among the Gentiles.”

Paul was confident that after he had delivered this offering, that Christ would bless his mission to Rome and Spain. He asks them to help him in his difficult mission by praying for him:

“I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the believers there…” (vv. 30-31).

As Acts 21 confirms, the most dangerous part of the trip was not the voyage, but the disobedient Jews (an ironic contrast to the obedient Gentiles). Paul did not assume that the believers would be glad to see him, either—he wanted prayer that they might accept the offering he was bringing. Some did not want to accept the fact that Gentiles were now in the family of faith.

And after the offering, Paul wanted them to pray “so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed. The God of peace be with you all. Amen” (vv. 32-33). Paul concludes with a benediction of peace—what the Roman churches needed most.

He says “amen,” but he is not yet done. In our next issue, we will discuss the greetings and exhortations of chapter 16.

Questions for discussion

What scruples do weak-faith Christians have today, and in what way should we bear with them? (v. 1)

How do the Old Testament scriptures encourage us? (v. 4)

In v. 7, Paul uses Christ as a model we should follow. Are there aspects of Jesus that we should not follow?

Do we “overflow” with hope when we trust in Christ? (v. 13)

How well do we teach one another? (v. 14)

If evangelism is a priestly duty (v. 16), does it apply to all Christians?

Should we assist missionaries who are on their way to another region? (v. 24)

Are we obligated to share material blessings with the Jews, or should we share with some other parent group? (v. 27)

Do we pray for missionaries in dangerous areas? (v. 31)

Women meet for
annual conference in Germany

NIEDENSTEIN, Germany—The annual conference for women of the German-speaking areas took place June 4 to 6 in Niedenstein, near Kassel. The weekend’s motto was “Women After the Heart of God.” Twenty-seven women from Austria, Germany and Switzerland participated.

On Friday evening, June 4, Rosl Mittag of Munich, Germany, read a greeting from Santiago Lange, WCG director for Germany and Austria. Then Margarita Nobis of Muenster, Germany, gave a presentation on “How to Resist Temptations.” On Saturday the women had a communion service.

In the afternoon, Agnes Domes of Stuttgart, Germany, spoke about one woman who has a special place in the heart of God: the Bride of Christ. Jutta Gutherz of Munich  served as worship leader during the weekend.

On Sunday, Doris Schulte from Mission Work Neues Leben (New Life) gave a seminar on “Saying No to Some Good Things, but Saying Yes to the Best.” Silvia Mair.

Update: News of people, places and events

Sacramento video ministry
serves small churches

SACRAMENTO, California—“That night Paul had a vision. He saw a man from Macedonia in northern Greece, pleading with him, ‘Come over here and help us’ ” (Acts 16:9).

“Little did I know in June 1998 how similar my circumstances would be to the apostle Paul’s,” said Pastor Mike Swagerty. “At the time I was serving as the district superintendent over part of the Western United States, which included Craig, Colorado. I was visiting the small church there, pastored by Carter Chadwick.

“As I was about to leave to head home, I asked Chadwick: “Is there any way I can be of further help to you?” He told me he would soon be undergoing a two-year procedure to correct his eyesight, as he was going blind. This condition would make it impossible to put together a sermon each week. Could I send his congregation a video of my sermons in Sacramento to help them out? I told him I would find a way.

“Upon returning to Sacramento, we located a small home video camera, mounted it on a tripod in the back of the hall, and proceeded to tape the service each week and mail it to him.

“From there we have built a small television studio behind the stage of the church we rent, and we now produce a fully edited version of our worship music and the sermon I give. We have the capabilities to send out videos in VHS or DVD format.”

The songs are subscripted so that groups can sing along without having the words to the music. All the scriptures used in the sermon are also included with the videos. Currently we mail about 40 videos three times a month to groups scattered all over the United States.

One recipient responded: “The church members who are home bound are using the tapes. They feel that they are attending a church service.”

“If you are part of a small church that could use a supplement to your music or sermon ministry, please let us know, and we will send you a sample in either VHS or DVD,” Swagerty said. You can e-mail him at mike_swagerty@ wcg.org.

TELEVISION STUDIO—At the controls are Armin
Reese (left) and Merrill Stevenson.
[Photo by Don Weaver]

Commissioned leader
shares faith in Myanmar

NORTHERN MYANMAR—Naing Key Har, our commissioned leader in the northern part of Myanmar, sent the following report to Wong Mein Kong, Malaysian pastor.

“On March 25, I paid a visit to a village where some of my relatives dwell. I had to stay there for a week, and during my stay I called the village-dwellers every night for Bible study and worship. They were  happy to come to the meeting place, and to hear the word of God concerning the new covenant. Seven families of about 45 people are likely to become members of the WCG. 

“It is hard to make a journey on foot there because of great distance from the nearest provincial town. I returned on April 2 and had to rest for two days because of pain and aches all over my body. I began to suffer from malarial fever starting April 5, and I nearly died of it. Therefore, I had to take a long medical cure together with prayer.

“I was healed of my serious ailment starting from the first day of May. I know that God did not allow me to die early because his work is merely started now.”

Bermuda congregation has
annual women’s day service

HAMILTON, Bermuda—Carmen Fleming, wife of Charles Fleming, Caribbean mission developer, was guest speaker at the annual women’s day service in Bermuda, July 4.

The church is pastored by Cecil Pulley and his wife, Senior.

“The church is doing well,” Fleming said. “They seem ready to go out on mission and are looking for ways to be Jesus’ hands, feet and voice to others.”

They moved their Sunday morning service to 4 p.m. so they could invite people from other churches to their woman’s day service.

Mrs. Fleming’s message was “The Priesthood of All Believers.” She gave practical examples of how to be on mission with and for God.

Texans kick up heels at
Hawaiian Hoedown

DALLAS, Texas—The Dallas North congregation was host to a Hawaiian Hoedown dinner and dance with a Hawaiian and Texan theme July 10 at the Doubletree Hotel in Dallas.

About 60 guests, many wearing tropical and Western wear, enjoyed a six-station buffet dinner that included a smoothie bar, various appetizer and food islands, and a variety of desserts.

Teresa Graham of Crossroads Bible Church said: “My family will always remember that special evening together. We truly had a blast.”

Liana Scott of the Dallas North congregation and Amy Wendland of the Austin, Texas, congregation coordinated the event, which originally was to be an Imperial Schools reunion. Later, it was decided to open the dinner-dance to others.   Angeline Chichaya.

HOEDOWN—From left: Val Thomas, Vera
Gibbs and Dana Ripley [Photo by Sheila Graham]

Fort Worth members
go on mission trip to Mexico

 FORT WORTH, Texas—The Fort Worth church was invited to go on a mission July 16 to 23 by Pastor Mike Helton of Vision Ministries. “We accepted that invitation,” said Tom Pickett, WCG pastor, “and had eight volunteers sign up, of whom six were adults and two were teens.”

It took 14 hours to get from Fort Worth to Saltillo, Codhuila, Mexico. When we arrived we were assigned to help with the Vacation Bible School at the Iglesia Pentecostes Lanaje Escogido church.   

The first night we were there we presented Pastor Luis Llanas a gift from the Fort Worth church. The next day the children were organized into a parade, and we went through the neighborhood carrying the Mexican flag, singing, making noise with a tambourine, and handing out balloons. This brought some of the children into the parade, and some more went to the church for the Vacation Bible School.

Each day after the Vacation Bible School lessons were complete, we would then teach the children En­glish as a second language.

At night we would have a revival, and Pastor Tom would give the sermons and have an altar call after each sermon.

After the last lesson of Vacation Bible School, 22 children gave their lives to Jesus. Jerry Wait.

MEXICAN MISSION—From left: Doris Johnson,
Antoinette Kruger, Jerry Wait, Pastor Luis and
Lucilla Llanas and granddaughter, Pastor
Tom Pickett, Mollie Weatherman, Lance
Tyree, Cody Perez and Johnny Weatherman.

Pacific Northwest men:
Meeting the Challenge

AUBURN, Washington—Seventeen men from churches around the Pacific Northwest met June 11 to 13 at Camp Berachah, a Christian retreat center in Auburn, for a men’s retreat.

The theme was “Meeting the Challenge.” The men discussed sexual purity and godly confidence.

Presenters were Pastor Dee Bulante, pastor of the Olympia and Port Orchard, Washington, churches; Bill Miller, pastor of the Bellevue and Everett, Washington, churches; Bart Baril, an elder in the Port Orchard church; and Mike Limanni.

The goal was to present an atmosphere of challenge, growth and fun for the men. It was a time for the men to strategize on how we can meet the challenge of being Christian men in today’s society and also have a little fun at the same time. Bart Baril.

MEN’S RETREAT—Seventeen men from churches
around the Pacific Northwest met June 11 to 13 at
Camp Berachah, a Chris­tian retreat center in Auburn,
Washington, for a men’s retreat.

JULYJAM youth outreach
takes place in Pikeville

  PIKEVILLE, Kentucky—Jesus Unconditionally Loves You. Just Ask Me. (JULY JAM) was the theme of a youth outreach that took place in Pikeville during the month of July. 

The attendance, averaged over five Fridays, exceeded 200 people each evening. Seven teens dedicated their lives to the Lord because of the services.

The Pikeville WCG congregation was the thrust behind and the organizer of this outreach. Throughout the month, a variety of Christian rock bands played, youths performed dramas and speakers from four different denominations addressed the group. 

When the planning began, we did not have enough money to cover expenses, but by the end of the month, all expenses were paid with a surplus of $350. God provided abundantly above and beyond all that was needed. To God be the glory for the success of JULY JAM. Debby Bailey.

PIKEVILLE BAND—Pulse, a youth band
from the WCG congregation in Pikeville,
plays during JULY JAM. From left: Hoyt
Dingus, Shane Duncan, Natasha Hamilton,
Clinton Bailey, Kenny Worrix and Matthew
Worrix [Photo by Debby Bailey] 

Pasadena teens repair homes
on Navajo reservation

PASADENA—Nine teens and two adult sponsors, primarily from NewLife Fellowship in Pasadena, participated in a weeklong work camp on the Navajo Indian reservation in southeastern Utah, July 25-31. They joined about 300 participants from many other states and denominations who worked on 48 houses selected by a local government agency.

All participants camped in the classrooms of a high school. Each of our participants was assigned to a different six-person work crew. The work involved roofing, siding, drywall, painting, floors, porches and wheelchair ramps. 

Several weeks before the trip, the teens participated in basic skills training and a series of devotionals provided by the organizer, Group Workcamps. Each day of the camp, there were devotions at each worksite, an evening praise and worship session, a message encouraging spiritual growth, and an evening devotional time with the youth group.

The teens also had interesting experiences with the Navajo people and saw some of the scenic attractions in the area. They en­joyed helping the residents and gained new appreciation for their own homes. Most of the teens thought it was a worthwhile experience and expres­sed interest in doing something similar again. Michael Morrison.

Crew 13, including Melinda Morrison
(front left), on their half-built porch.

NAVAJO MISSION—Participants at the
entrance to the Navajo reservation: Janet
Morrison, Aaron Walton, Abel Dizon, Steven
Rogers, Anthony Walton, Melinda Morrison,
Stephanie Golden, Carmel Dizon, Steven
Morrison and Deanna O’Bryan
[Photo by Michael Morrison].

Making the love of God
visible in Columbus, Ohio

COLUMBUS, Ohio—The Columbus congregation, pastored by John Karlson, is making the love of God visible in our community.

The first step was to develop a survey to identify which members were currently volunteering, where we needed additional help, who would like to help and which segments of society we should target. 

We began with a food drive for a food pantry. The congregation was generous in its donations, and members participated in the weekly sorting and stocking of the pantry shelves.

Our second project, headed by Liz Mertes, was adopting a nursing home. The Christmas and Spring parties featured a piano solo by Brandon Bapst, a violin solo by Nicki Bapst and a children’s church performance under the direction of Lisa Bapst, Judy Hoban and Fian Kunesh. Steve Meade delivered a message, and Tad Lamb, Ron Pollard, Dave Tyler and Larry Titus hosted a sing-along. Food was provided by the Women’s Fellowship.

The third project, led by Katie Yoder and Lisa Bapst, involves individual phone calls to each member of the congregation every three months to see if everything is OK or if there is some way that our group can assist them. Prayer requests are forwarded to those identified by our survey as having a desire to be part of the prayer team.

Our fourth project involves books. The Mission of Mercy is starting a library for the nursing home residents and to date we have collected almost 200 books. The Women’s Fellowship, under Cristy Meade’s leadership, is also collecting books for the children’s hospital.   

Ann Miller initiated a meal preparation program that we’ve adopted to assist the grieving in their time of need. Members of our group also house-sit for the family during calling hours and services so their homes will not be left unattended. Catherine P. Lamb.

New Hope conducts
Vacation Bible School

EAGLE ROCK, California—New Hope Christian Fellowship, an Eagle Rock congregation of the Worldwide Church of God, hosted its second Vacation Bible School  Aug. 8 to 10. In attendance were 54 children, 20 of whom were friends invited by the New Hope children.

The VBS used Son Games 2004 produced by Gospel Light Ministries. Using an Olympic setting and games, the children learned how important it is to be on God’s winning team.

Son Games was presented on three consecutive nights with a different theme each night: Join in, Get Strong and Celebrate! The children had a mission project to raise donations to support the Bengali Evangelical Association (BEA), and collected $400, which a Massachu­setts company matched, making the total donation $800. 

The following Sunday, Aug. 15, was VBS day at New Hope Chris­tian Fellowship. The children presented the VBS songs, the youth drama team did a skit and each participant received a certificate of achievement.

At the end of the worship service, Pastor Dennis Pelley gave an invitation, and six children came forward to accept Jesus as their Savior, along with several adults. Son Games 2004 reminded us that the church is a team where the members spur one another on toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24). Nina Perez.

Praise and worship

NEW HOPE VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL—
[Photos by Christine and Daniel Leon]

Kennesaw teens participate in
weeklong missions trip

KENNESAW, Georgia—Fourteen teens and youth workers from Northwest Christian Fellowship joined more than 400 Christian teens and youth workers from around the country at a Group Workcamp (www.groupworkcamps.com) in Brighton, Tennessee, July 11 to 17. 

A primary purpose of the work camp is to share the love of Jesus through construction work that is desperately needed on homes of needy families. Construction projects were completed on 64 homes in the community by the end of the week. Projects included building porches, interior and exterior painting, roof repair and construction, building wheelchair ramps and repairing drywall.

Every project would stop construction at midday to share a spiritual devotional and prayer with the resident. Each evening, the nondenominational Group Ministry staff would lead praise and worship, devotionals, drama and discipleship booths. 

Many of the teens said they were amazed at how God showed up in unexpected ways, how God gave them a greater appreciation of their own spiritual and physical blessings and how they want to go deeper in their own personal ministry to others. 

The residents being served also appreciated the work being done. Resident Patricia Alexander said: “This means a great deal to me. I was first told that I did not qualify for the program and then on Monday morning I had a surprise—six crew members coming to work on the house. I am well blessed. These kids are great.” Anthony Mullins.

Haley Zimmerman (closest to camera)
and friends apply a fresh coat of paint.

Copyright © Grace Communion International, 2004