In the opening
sessions of each conference Pastor General Joseph Tkach asked the ministers
and wives what they wanted to accomplish during the conferences.
By Thomas C. Hanson
In conferences short on lectures and long on frank, honest and open communication, field pastors and wives came to Pasadena March 13 to 19 and April 10 to 16.
The purpose of this round of ministerial conferences is "to build bonds between the field pastors and headquarters," said Dan Rogers, superintendent of ministers.
"We want to reaffirm the value of the field ministers and their contributions to the church," Mr. Rogers said.
For many of the ministers and wives this was the first time they had been to Pasadena since the Ministerial Refreshing Program ended in 1993. In the intervening years, conferences were conducted in various regions of the country.
Many of the ministers and wives met in small groups for prayer each morning, praying for that day's sessions. Church Administration employees maintained a prayer vigil each day of the conference from 8:30 to 5.
In the opening
sessions of each conference Pastor General Joseph Tkach asked the ministers
and wives what they wanted to accomplish during the conferences.
The conferences ended with a discussion on which goals were accomplished.
Mr. Tkach called on each pastor to set a vision for his congregation. When Mr. Tkach set the overall goals for the church for 1997 he encouraged members to get involved in small groups, to discover their spiritual gifts and to be actively involved in some kind of ministry.
After Mr. Tkach's final conference address the ministers gathered in small groups and prayed a recommissioning prayer in which they laid hands on each other and asked for God's blessing on their ministry.
Mr. Rogers quoted 2 Timothy 1:5 and called on the ministers "to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us the spirit of cowardice but rather a spirit of power and of love and of sound judgment."
In a general recommissioning prayer, Mr. Tkach prayed: "We thank you that the Holy Spirit has been moving so mightily among us. We lift up these brothers and sisters in the faith. These are the ones you have used to bring much-needed reform, and they will bring revival.
"We pray that their gifts be stirred up. We pray that all of these brothers and sisters be encouraged and have their gifts confirmed and that you bless their ministries."
The conferences concluded with a Lord's Supper communion service for those who wished to participate.
Following are presenters and topics covered during the conference: Joseph Tkach, Pastor General's address, Vision, and Debriefing and Prayer; Mike Feazell, the Pastor's Life, Prayer, and What Do We Believe?; Dan Rogers, the Pastor's Ministry, Preaching, Preaching and Worship, 2,000 Years of Church History, How to Teach Our Doctrines, and Effective Ministries in Your Congregations.
Tammy Tkach, Women's Ministry; Norva Kelly, One-Anothering; Denice Orr, Adopt-a-Prayer, and Support Systems for Pastors' Wives and Confidentiality; Susie Dick, Nurturing the Pastor's Wife; Mr. Albrecht, Church Relations; Bernie Schnippert, Update from the Treasurer; Ron Kelly and Ralph Orr, Pastoral Development; and Randal Dick, Prepare & Enrich marriage counseling.
Three more field conferences will be conducted this year: two in May and one in August.
COMMISSIONING PRAYER--Gerald Schnarrenberger (center, back), supervisor of Pastoral Relations, asks God's blessing on the further ministry of retiring minister Jim Friddle and his wife, Marge (center, backs to camera). [Conference photos by Ron Grove and Thomas C. Hanson]
CONFIRMING GIFTS--Carn Catherwood prays for Donna Abels of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Beforehand Pastor General Joseph Tkach prayed: "We ask your blessing on all of these ladies. They have been taken for granted and have often been put down. We, collectively, offer our repentance to you and ask for this special blessing on each lady here. We ask that you would make their gifts evident, and that these gifts would be confirmed by others, so that they can be used to advance your kingdom, to edify the body, to heal and to nurture."
By Sheila Graham
"We all have a responsibility to God: to build up the church and add to it, and to give glory to God," said Tammy Tkach in a presentation to field pastors and wives Friday morning, April 11.
"The church will be much more effective in carrying out these responsibilities if the whole church is working, not just half," Mrs. Tkach said.
Sheila Graham gave a similar presentation to regional pastors, field pastors and wives at the first conference March 14. Mrs. Tkach was traveling to New York with her husband for a church visit at that time.
Mrs. Graham and Mrs. Tkach are Women's Ministry Support coordinators for the church.
Mrs. Tkach and Mrs. Graham spoke on how to organize women's ministries in church areas and went through a handout on the subject.
The pastors' wives were encouraged to cast the vision for women's ministry in their areas and act as liaisons for women's ministry directors, providing them with information from headquarters.
In open discussions, the field pastors and their wives expressed their appreciation for women's ministry programs in their areas.
After sessions in both conferences, Dan Rogers, superintendent of ministers, asked the pastors to pray for the women there. The pastors and their wives and other women present broke up into small groups, and the men prayed for each woman and her ministry.
Beth Mears of Big Sandy commented: "The prayers for each of us to be able to identify and use our spiritual gifts to edify the body of Christ was moving, and something that I think has been missing in my life.
"Having hands laid on you and being presented to God as a faithful servant, and having your gifts acknowledged by the entire group is a tremendous boost to your spirits."
On March 16 and April 13, the women gathered for women's sessions.
After worship sessions led by Kim Meyerdierks, Susie Dick of Church Administration International, who coordinates the sister church program, spoke on "Nurturing the Pastor's Wife."
Denice Orr, managing editor of Connections, a journal for ministers' wives, talked to the women about resources available for them from headquarters in a talk titled "Support Systems for Pastors' Wives."
Norva Kelly of Pastoral Development shared personal experiences of her years as a pastor's wife in her presentation, "Being There."
In discussion sessions afterward the women brought up several issues pertinent to their ministries, asking questions and sharing information. At the close of the first session, several of the women volunteered to come forward to pray for those pastors and their wives who had been retired or laid off.
I've come home
with such a full , hope and confidence in the future for our church. The
devotion to prayer and loving service to us by the headquarters staff made
everyone I talked to feel very much a part of the Worldwide Church of God
family.
I filled in my wife, Nancy, as rapidly as I could. We are both disappointed that she cannot participate in more conferences. God has given us a wonderful church and work to do.
I wrote the following to pastors in my region:
What a wonderful conference you all have to look forward to.
Our brothers and sisters in Christ in Pasadena have been praying for a successful, healing, inspiring conference for us and, praise God, he has given us more than they have asked for.
Each of the presenters gave us information that will help us help our congregations grow to spiritual health and ultimately evangelism.
One example was a presentation given by David Smith on youth ministry (see related article page 13). David and his wife, Marla, are growing the youth ministry in Pasadena. He helped us see how to let go of our youths and bring them to Jesus.
He helped us to look beyond our own church families to the other teens in our communities. When we stop trying to hold on to people and focus on bringing them to Jesus, we succeed even if they don't attend our church.
Naturally, if we are successful in allowing the Holy Spirit to move us to help bring people to Jesus they will likely want to fellowship with us. This helped me to see how I have limited the youth ministry in the past.
Dan Rogers, superintendent of ministers, had us brainstorm to see how many active, thriving, healthy ministries we have in our denomination. Quite an inspiring list was developed.
The Holy Spirit is inspiring new ministries that are tailor-made for each congregation and community. Dan encouraged us to write up a short description of an active ministry in our areas and send the write-up to The Worldwide News. In this way we can share what the Lord is doing in our church and inspire others.
Monday evening, March 17, we gathered with Joe and Tammy Tkach for a fireside chat. We enjoyed the time together as we fellowshipped, laughed and prayed together.
During the evening regional pastor Garvin Greene asked Joe, Mike Feazell and Dan to come to the center of the group where we laid hands on them while regional pastor Carn Catherwood prayed for God's blessing on their ministry.
Tuesday, Pastor
Jack Hayford of the Church on the Way in Van Nuys, California, spoke to us.
Mr. Hayford and a friend were moved to come to our church property about
12 years ago, and they quietly walked around our grounds praying for us.
They weren't sure why they were moved to do this but knew God was inspiring
it. He believes that God answered their prayers and the many other prayers
sent up by our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Ken H. Williams
Regional pastor
Rochester, New York
In all the years
I've been a pastor, no other conference has moved me like this one. Even
though we knew the schedule ahead of time, it could not convey the openness,
love and affirmation the headquarters team showed us. Their willingness to
openly and warmly receive our input destroyed any walls (perceived or otherwise)
some may have felt between the ministry and headquarters.
I've never been more encouraged, loved and strengthened before. I thank our Savior for his mighty hand in leading headquarters to help us be prepared to equip his members for his work.
What a healing time this has been!
Leonard Holladay
Alaska pastor
Wow! That's my one-word
response to the wonderful ministerial conference we just returned from. This
conference was unlike any other in that the we-them feeling is out of the
equation.
It has been easier for regional pastors to realize this because we have had much more contact with our top leadership than most pastors have had.
I think any pastor who attended this first session would say that the experience was refreshing and truly transformational.
The entire experience was bathed in worship and prayer, and every session was truly relevant to our felt needs and the challenges we collectively face.
Presentations were not one-way information dumps, but were highly interactive with lots of discussion and answers to questions.
Ray Meyer
Regional pastor
Kansas City, Missouri
We were somewhat
hesitant to attend the first session of the field pastors conference with
the regional pastors and wives. Our past experiences with some senior ministers
at conferences was that as a group they tended to be cliquish and they were
not always that interested in newer pastors. The second day of this conference
both Lorraine and I commented how friendly each regional pastor and wife
was, and how interested they were in every pastor and wife attending.
Another concern was whether we field pastors would be able to express our concerns and give input to the headquarters staff. Not only was our input sought at almost every session, but it was obvious that Church Administration really was interested in hearing from us. It was quite refreshing.
Overall this was truly the best conference Lorraine and I have ever attended. The lunches hosted by PTM and Church Administration and the fireside chats with Dan Rogers and Joe Tkach were great. The warmth and love expressed by everyone was inspiring. It was obvious the Spirit was at work there providing unity in a way I had not seen before.
Lorraine and I feel both physically and spiritually refreshed. I would strongly urge every pastor, and every wife too, to make a real effort to attend.
Warren & Lorraine Wilson
Clarksburg and Parkersburg, West Virginia
The Holy Spirit quickly brought us together in an attitude of unity, and this continued to increase. By the end of the conference we were all very moved.
I believe that the prayer groups, before we came to the meetings, and the praise and worship at the beginning of each meeting, brought us all into a close relationship with God.
We had much more sharing in this conference, and this brought us into a close relationship with each other. We quickly recognized that the headquarters leaders are close to God. This helped us feel close to them. It is wonderful to have humble and Spirit-filled leaders.
I know these conferences will have a deep spiritual effect on the fellowship of the Worldwide Church of God.
Don Lawson
Regional pastor
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
April 22, 1997, WN, pages 6 and 7
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