Columbus church serves
homeless and poor

COLUMBUS, Ohio—Morgan Spurlock, director of Super-Size Me, featured the West Side Free Store Ministries in his latest documentary, 30 Days Living on Minimum Wage. The Columbus congregation has been involved in this project during the past year volunteering time and resources.  

The Westside Free Store Ministries is a faith-based initiative devoted to sharing resources, building relationships and creating community by providing clothing and small household items to the homeless and poor. More than two dozen multi-denominational churches are involved in this volunteer-driven mission. 

The store is open nine hours a week. During the past 11 months we have dispensed more than 183,000 items to the homeless, victims of fires, abused women from a shelter who are starting over, and to the poor. One man, a new Christian, said that sometimes the only food he gets during the week is from our store. 

In Spurlock’s documentary, a couple had little to eat, no furniture and empty kitchen cabinets. They heard about our ministry from neighbors. We provided them with sheets, work clothes, cookware, dishes and other essentials. Spurlock was so moved by the experience that he provided the apartment they were living in for a year rent-free to a couple the pastor located for them.

It is moving to see the number of people who join us in prayer each day as the store opens. Catherine P. Lamb.

LAS VEGAS, Nevada—The weekend of July 23 and 24 marked a milestone for the Las Vegas congregation as it celebrated its 35th anniversary. The first service was conducted there July 4, 1970.

On Saturday evening, July 23, Pastor Tom Melear welcomed 96 current and past members and friends celebrating the occasion.

After dinner, former members recalled events in the Las Vegas church history.

Five of the original 76 members at the first service were at the anniversary celebration. They are Lucy Sanders, Sandra Thrower, Jeanette King and Luther and Rosa Kendrick. They received certificates of recognition from Barbara Clark and Pastor Melear. Elder Cleo Dawson and his wife, Mary, received certificates for 33 years of service to the congregation.

The evening ended with a dance with Melear as disc jockey. The women’s ministry served attendees.

On Sunday morning, the guest speaker was Bill Quillen. He and his wife, Lois, served the congregation from 1987 to 1994. The service ended with communion. Gayle Johnson.

LAS VEGAS MEMBERS—[Photo by Elbert McDonald]

Church announces
ministerial status changes

PASADENA—The Worldwide Church of God announced the following ministerial status changes.

Hugh Wilson, pastor of the Reno and Battle Mountain, Nevada, churches, retired June 3 after 38 years of full-time service in the ministry. He remains an elder in Reno.

In 1997, Wilson realized the importance of the outward application of the gospel message to a hurting society. In early 1998 he became a volunteer for the Crisis Center (suicide hotline) for the state of Nevada. He still does shifts and takes calls. 

Since 1999 he has also served as a volunteer police chaplain, serving the Reno Police Department; the Washoe County Sheriffs Department; the Nevada NV Highway Patrol and most recently the Sparks, Nevada, Police Department.

In May he was credentialed as the new FBI chaplain for the Reno bureau. All his volunteer work is gratis. Hugh and his wife, Linda, plan to remain in Reno for the time being.

Phillip Rice, pastor of the Phoenix, Arizona, church, changed from church pastor to bivocational pastor June 24.

 TILBURG, Netherlands—The Wereld-wijde Kerk van God (WCG in the Netherlands) conducted an evangelistic campaign in Tilburg May 28 and 29 together with Trinity Chapel and Voice of the Nations Ministries.

Pastor Jesse Korver (left) and campaign attendee asking about the WCG. [Photo by Lamberta Danenberg]

Eight hundred leaflets were distributed in the neighborhood of the meetings.

Members of the congregations were involved with prayer, while the Tilburg WCG members were involved in supporting physical tasks, such as setting chairs and taking care of the children, and being ready to testify about their belief in Jesus Christ and answering questions.

Eighty people came to the meeting the first evening, and about 60 people to the second meeting. Most were from the Caribbean. Some showed interest in the booklets of the church and asked questions. The sick and afflicted were prayed for.

The speaker for both evenings was Vernon Davis.

“Working with other Christians takes flexibility and accepting one another with their cultural background and manner of worship,” said Pastor Jesse Korver.

Korver said the Tilburg congregation is thankful for this opportunity and listed some lessons learned:

l having the courage to stand up for Jesus Christ and not being ashamed of him.

l accepting other Christians with their expression of singing and praising.

KENNESAW, Georgia—Twenty-seven teens from Northwest Christian Fellowship in Kennesaw participated in the annual Missions Week project July 11-15.

The purpose of Missions Week was to expose the REACH teens to various outreach ministries in the community in hopes that they would return to volunteer at these ministries on their own time. Each day, they visited a different ministry with a specific work project in mind.

From left: Michael Nelson, Cody White and Pamela Teslik.

Ministries visited included Paulding Pregnancy Services, Calvary Children’s Home, Helping Hands of Paulding County, Cobb Street Ministries and The Angel Closet. Each ministry is gospel-centered, and we were blessed to see God’s hand resting on each outreach. The work included painting projects, sign repair, grounds maintenance, moving of flooded items, clothing donation projects and food delivery. Anthony Mullins.

Henry Sturcke’s doctoral
dissertation published

Henry Sturcke

 ZURICH, Switzerland—A dissertation, Encountering the Rest of God: How Jesus Came to Personify the Sabbath, by Henry Sturcke, has been published in the dissertation series of the Theologischer Verlag Zürich. North American distribution is by Eisenbrauns.

Sturcke pastors a congregation near Zurich, which he serves with his wife, Edel.

PIKEVILLE, Kentucky—Debby Bailey, a member of the pastoral team of the Pikeville congregation, received a plaque July 14, when she graduated from the Pike County Leadership class.

Kitty White (left), executive director, Pike County Chamber of Commerce, presents Debby Bailey with her graduation plaque [Photo by David Lester].

Students in the program traveled to different regions of the county over seven months to attend sessions that centered on such topics as health care, education, government and tourism. The purpose of the program was for students to learn the strengths and weaknesses in the various communities and identify ways in which individuals, businesses and churches can help the county become a better place to live and work.

Bailey is a member of the Pike-ville Ministerial Association, which sponsored her as its representative for the 2004-2005 class. The ministerial association believes it is important for the faith-based community to network with those in business and government to have a Christian influence in the decision-making process.

CLARKSVILLE, Tennessee—The Clarksville WCG congregation conducted a “There’s a Hero in All of Us” Vacation Bible Campout for 20 young people May 20 to 22.

The Martin Home Place in Elkton, Kentucky, was used the previous fall for a marriage retreat for couples in the Clarksville congregation. It was then that the idea of a vacation Bible camp was born. The site has a well-maintained farmhouse, pond, outdoor stage and woods ideal for exploring.

Conducting a weeklong vacation Bible school with four-hour days was daunting because of our limited number of teachers and the distance everyone would have had to travel daily, and frankly, didn’t sound like much fun. However, a campout for kids who didn’t get to camp much, with a mixture of spiritual lessons and a lot of fun, did appeal to adults and children alike.

Because it was on a weekend, entire families attended, and we took advantage of having many fathers there: Ed Peters gave a life lesson on David, Mark Powell gave one on Moses, and Tom Davis gave one on harvesting what you plant (spiritually and physically). Jeff Cool and Doug Tomes and the campers had fireside chats and marshmallow roasts around the campfire and discussed “God is just a prayer away.”

Doug Tomes, Clarksville pastor, and James Donovan, assistant counselor, led the campers on a two-hour hike exploring the woods. Impromptu kickball and dodgeball games were coached by Mechelle and James Kaminski, a fishing rodeo was organized by Martha and Dean Wyatt, a scavenger hunt was hosted by Pam Tomes and Lisa Powell and a Jeopardy-type Bible quiz also took place. The adults also put on quick skits of Bible events in which the campers guessed the event that was being portrayed. Sondra Peters.

Campers, front row: Darin Owen, Kayla Williams, Courtney Heath, Cameron and Brandon Hall; middle row: Sara Powell, Whitney Heath, Nate Wolf, Mathew, Alex, and Christopher Davis, and Quentin Nash; back row: Will Peters, James Donovan (assistant counselor), Shelby Garrett, Jon and Josh Porter, Benjamin Owen, Mariel Beth Tomes, and Keribeth Williams. [Photo by Sondra Peters]

Ohio women have retreat

PORT CLINTON, Ohio—The LiLY (Living Life for You) Women’s Ministry at WCG-Edgehill Community Church hosted its second retreat April 29 to May 1 at Erie Island Resort.

In attendance were women from the following Ohio churches: WCG-Grace Community Fellowship in Akron-Canton, New Salem Missionary Baptist Church in Columbus, Imani Church in Euclid, and the Bridging of the Spirit Christian Center in Youngstown.

We all came to the retreat to draw closer to God and to each other, and that we did! Our hearts and souls were led in worship by the Spirit-filled voices of the  Edgehill Praise Team. We were also blessed with a blend of gospel, contemporary and acoustic music from four women who attend Grace Community Fellowship.

The highlight of the weekend was when our spirits were moved, touched and healed by the godly words spoken by our main speaker, Annette Miller, from New Salem Missionary Baptist Church. The theme of the retreat was “Walking Into Wholeness.” Also, we were all part of workshops that taught us how to turn our “Mourning Into Joy!” Christine Kaiser.

WOMEN’S RETREAT—[Photo by Christine Kaiser]

Kingdom of the Son
Prayer Safari

EAGLE ROCK, California—New Hope Christian Fellowship hosted its third annual Vacation Bible School for three evenings, June 26 to 28.

[Photos by Christine Leon]

VBS directors were Pam Morgan and Maryann Stevens with a staff of 52 teens and adults.

We were blessed with 77 children in attendance, preschool age through sixth grade, 38 of whom were invited guests, either from other churches or some who were unchurched. Our attendance was a 40 percent increase over last summer.

Our VBS program was “Kingdom of the Son—A Prayer Safari,” produced by Gospel Light. The children embarked on a journey into God’s Word and Will for their lives. They learned about the greatest adventure of all—getting to know God.

The children were encouraged to talk to God during each session and to develop a personal relationship with him, and the whole group memorized the Lord’s Prayer. We emphasized three attributes of God’s character—God listens, God forgives and God rules. It was exciting to see the children line up at the microphone to pray at the end of each session. 

The children gave $450.76 for World Vision’s effort to help people in Africa. This money was used to purchase two goats, to help dig a deep well and to send four children to school for a year. If you would like a mission project like this for your congregation, check out www.worldvisiongifts.org.

The children were given prizes for bringing friends, and the grand prize was a karaoke machine, awarded to Gammy and Alex Arechiga, who brought the most guests. 

On two evenings, Rose Huff, a marriage and family therapist, presented a parenting workshop, discussing the book, The Five Love Languages of Children, written by Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell. 

During one evening session a child accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior, and at the closing ceremony on the following Sunday morning, Pastor Dennis Pelley gave an invitation, and six more children came forward to accept Christ. Nina Perez.

MADISON, Wisconsin—A stolen truck was driven into the building that houses the Madison church, Saturday, July 16, at 3 a.m. No one was injured.

Damage to Madison house church.

“This act of violence appeared to be directed at both the church and us, the property owners, who are members of the church,” said Juanita Bushert. The rubble was removed, and workers rebuilt doors and walls to secure the building.  The weekly church service was conducted on Sunday morning as usual. 

“The forces of the enemy do not like the light of Christ to shine in this dark community known as the worst area of Madison,” Bushert said. “People in the community are beginning to know who we are, and strangers have been stopping us and asking for prayers.” John Bailey.

A humble little
Bible study sign

TACOMA, Washington—I am a humble little Bible study sign. My creator is a man who loves Jesus Christ, who respects all he comes in contact with, who greets everyone with a hug and tells them that Jesus loves them.

Photo by Fred Warmbier

I stand in the front yard of a WCG Tacoma member in Lakewood, Washington. I am lit 24 hours a day, seven days a week by an outdoor yard light.

It’s been amusing to find out that the neighborhood uses me as a landmark to give directions on our street. Many people have used me as a reason to walk by and contact my creator. Oh the stories I could tell you.

One night while Bible study was in progress, a distraught neighbor came over in tears. Her 15-year-old daughter had run away, and she asked if those attending the Bible study would pray for her safe return. They prayed, and the girl returned home three or four days later, safe.

One evening a man walked up to the front door and asked for a pastor to talk to, thinking one lived there. He had just gotten out of jail, and he and his wife were having problems. A pastor of the church was summoned and the three of them sat in the front yard for two hours talking and praying.

A neighbor from across the street came to the house to talk. She was considering an abortion but was having a twinge of conscience. Happily their son is now two years old and a real joy. He loves to play in the yard with all the lawn creatures, and I love to watch him.

I was created about the time that the Bible study started in July 2001, with five in attendance. Now 10 to 18 meet every week. Dorothy Warmbier.

CINCINNATI, Ohio—Christ Com-munity Church of Cincinnati partnered with River of Life Church in a mission to reach urban children for Christ.

The purpose was to share the gospel message with children in the community around River of Life Church by offering a day camp July 11 to 14 for children of kindergarten age and older.

Camp activities included games, face and hair painting, worship and an evening meal. Games included brain freeze, water bottle rockets, bouncy ball races and carpet ball, along with an obstacle course and rope jumping.

Seventy to 80 children participated each day, with 105 children on the first day.

The mission week began on Sunday, July 10, with a prayer walk. About 40 people from Christ Community Church fanned out across neighborhoods around River of Life Church to pray on the streets and hand out flyers to families and encourage children to participate in the mission camp.

The theme of the camp was taken from Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Youth pastor Gordon Havens committed to visiting the families of the campers. Ron Hickman.

Copyright © Grace Communion International, 2005