the mainstream churches of the great rivers region news of ...the mainstream is a twice-monthly...

News of Ministry and Mission

The Mainstream is a twice-monthly publication of the American Baptist Churches of the Great Rivers Region, 3940 Pintail Drive, Springfield IL 62711 Phone: (217) 726-7366 Email: [email protected] Web: www.abcgrr.org To subscribe or unsubscribe to The Mainstream or to change contact information, please send an e-mail to Debbie Naugle with your request: [email protected].

The MainstreamNew Members of the Churches of the

Great Rivers RegionFirst Baptist Church, Benton IL Welcomes: Eugene Davis, Brad Berrong, and Nickey Berrong

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Note on New Members and Main-stream Articles: If you sent a list of new members or an article for Mainstream during December and it is not in this edition of Main-stream, please email the informa-tion to me again. I had a problem with my computer and several weeks of emails disappeared. I apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you.

************************Coming in Next Issue:

Church Revitalization

Initiative

************************Mainstream Contact

InformationSend your stories of mission and ministry. Please also send the names of new members to:

Linda Ricks232 Devron Circle

East Peoria, IL 61611

[email protected]

January 2018 No 1 Email: [email protected] web: www.abcgrr.org Online edition interactive

Great Rivers RegionalScholarship Programs

Scholarship programs exist in the Great Rivers Region to assist young people who are members of Great Rivers Region American Baptist Churches to secure a college and/or seminary education. Scholarships for any college student (regardless of major) or seminary student from the Gernenz-Shurtleff/Wilcoxen Scholarship are available. Ministe-rial students attending ABC-related schools and seminaries in prepara-tion for ministry can also apply for the Harold O. Long Scholarship.

All applications must be received in the GRR office by April 1, 2018.

To receive an application for these scholarships, write to:

Scholarship CommitteeAttention Debbie Naugle PO Box 13457 Springfield IL 62791

Phone 217-726-7366 Email: [email protected]

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Web Ministry NotesChurches,What is the anniversary date of your domain payment? Is your domain (address on the web, e.g. abcgrr.org, still yours? If it lapses, your users will not be able to find your site.

E-mail GRR Webmaster, Richard Ricks: [email protected]

2018 CalendarMarch:

2 - 3: ABWM Regional Board

10: Area V Annual Gathering Grace Baptist Church Kansas City, MO

11: Area II Annual Meeting FBC Moweaqua, IL

April: 14: Area III Annual Meeting

15: Area IV Annual Meeting FBC Murphysboro, IL 20 - 21: Face To Face

27 - 28: Clergy Spouse Retreat Lake Springfield Camp

28: Area I Annual Meeting Blackhawk Baptist Camp

June:

8 - 10: ABWM GRR Annual Conference, Northfield Inn & Suites and Conference Center, Springfield, IL

September:

27: GRR Ministers Conference

28 - 29: GRR Annual Assembly The Chateau Bloomington, IL

Be a vessel that God can pour his love through. Let It Flow

A Word From PaulGibson, ABCGRR ExecutiveMinister

BE THE PRESENCE I was listening to someone talking the other day about what was the most important thing. The person suggested that it was not to tell people about Jesus, but it was to “be the presence” of Jesus. We live in a skeptical world where many people are like those from Missouri, they want us to show them.

Let the world see what it means to be a Christian both as an individual and as a group of people, be that your church or our region. To help you with this I would encourage you to read a book by David Fitch, from Northern Seminary, “Faithful Pres-ence”. David is going to be with us at our Minister’s Conference in the Fall and at our annual gathering. I found his book to be very helpful.Here are a few thoughts as I have been listening to God these past few weeks.

1. Make America great or make Jesus great in your life? I would suggest you concentrate on the second one. The difference between (continued on p. 2)

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Church News

Rev. Jim Jenkel became the pastor of First Baptist Church of Benton, Il-linois, effective October 1. As a bi-vocational pastor, he shep-

herds the flock of FBC and is also an LPN/patient care technician for a local dialysis company. Jenkel was ordained in 2007 and was the pastor of First Baptist Church of Freeburg for 11 years. He and his wife, Fran, have been married 44 years. “Fran and I are both excited about being here in Benton,” says Jenkel. “I look for-ward to serving the congregation of First Baptist as we grow and learn from one another.”

************************ First Baptist Church of Pon-tiac, IL has called Doyle James (Jay) Hurd Jr.to become part-time Associate Pastor effective January 7, 2018. Jay will have primary responsibil-ity for youth, music, and worship. During worship on Janu-ary 7 Jay will be licensed to preach which allows him to perform pasto-ral duties within the local church. Jay has been in the Ministry of working with people for 30 years. He is married to Lisa and has 5 children. Music has always been a big part of his life and Jay especially enjoys worship and praise through song.

First Baptist ChurchMoweaqua, IL To Host

2018 Work As WorshipRetreat

You’re invited to the 2018 Work as Worship Retreat, where eleven in-fluential business leaders and pas-tors will discuss what it looks like to connect faith and work. Taking place as a 1 – Day Local Church Retreat on February 23, 2018, the live event in Dallas will be web-streamed to over 2,000 churches around the world. The First Baptist Church of Moweaqua IL is one of the host sites so you don’t have to drive far to participate. The church address is 7 Fox Meadow Lane Moweaqua IL 62550.

Join Patrick Lencioni (Author, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team), Joel Manby (CEO, SeaWorld), Phil Vischer (Creator, VeggieTales and Jellyfish Labs), Wendy Davidson (President, US Specialty Channels Kellogg Company), Matt Chandler (Lead Pastor, The Village Church), and others in a day filled with real-life stories, biblical teaching, and practical wisdom that will equip believers in the marketplace to see their work as an opportunity to care for their families, fulfill their calling, and bring glory to God.

Go to www.workasworshipretreat.org to learn more or register for the retreat. Search 62550 to register for the Moweaqua site. The cost is $25 and includes a full day of speakers and lunch.

Come seek God’s Kingdom with usfor the!

Paul Gibson (continued)

these two is that, in making Jesus great in your life you are thinking about others, because that is what He did. Make Jesus great in your life, and He will take care of the rest

2. CRI. Church Revitalization Initiative. What is it and how can we be involved? Those questions will be answered in the next two newsletters.

3. Family Reunion. That’s what I think about when I think of our annual meeting in Bloomington this fall. I am asking every pas tor and church to prayerfully consider joining us for a great gath ering. Are you going?

4. Missions. When I think of it, we don’t have 220 churches in our region, we have 220 mis sions. Each church is a mission outpost for Jesus. Remember, you don’t “go” to church, you “are” the church!

5. Sunday night service or mid- week service? My thinking has changed on these two things. I think it would be good to be involved in both, but with a twist. I think Sunday night would be a good time to serve God as you serve your family. Sunday night could be a service night to family, to be together and encourage each other. Mid-week service could be sometime during the week where you and yours take 2-3 hours to be involved in service to friends and neighbors. Once again, it is not something you go to, but something you do. Food for thought.

I pray that each one of us will be able to continue the Christmas celebration by being the presence of Jesus to those around us.

And….be rightly related to God and find your joy there, and out of you will flow rivers of living water. Be a vessel that God can pour His love through.

LET IT FLOW

Paul

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Face to Face: A Help for Churches and Pastors

Searching For God’s CallFace to Face is an opportunity for Search Committees of churches seeking full time pastors (not bivo-cational) to interview pastors and seminarians seeking to discern God’s next step. Each participating church and each pastor will be able to patici-pate in several interviews during the two day event. Look for information in the next few months about this op-portunity on the GRR website. www.abcgrr.org

Host Church: First Baptist ChurchAnderson, Indiana

Dates: April 20 - 21, 2018

Who’s Involved? The American Bap-tist Regions of Indiana / Kentucky, Greater Indianapolis, Michigan, Ohio, and Great Rivers (Team Member: Muriel Johnson)

http://bentonfirstbaptist.org/



http://www.fbcpontiac.org

http://www.fbcpontiac.org

http://www.firstbaptistmoweaqua.org/

http://www.firstbaptistmoweaqua.org/

http://www.workasworshipretreat.org

http://www.workasworshipretreat.org





Great Rivers RegionFirst Baptist Church, Canton, IL Welcomes: David & Sheila Bell, Joe & Jamie Davison, Nicole Booth-Griffi th, Amber Downing, Brian Henderson, Tony & Julie Henderson, Jim & Tracy Holliday, Kamie Holliday, Kyle & Jessica Jansen, Christine Jenkins, Dante Swanson, Shawn Larkin, Amanda List, Tom & Kim Malone, Holly Miller, Danielle Minton, Andrew Pitzer, Zoey Pitzer, Robert Smith, and Anna Whitehurst

First Baptist Church, Greenville, IL Welcomes: Elizabeth Bays and Brenda Coster

************************GRR Website


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Mainstream ContactInformation

Send your stories of mission and ministry. Please also send the names of new members to:



[email protected]

January 2018 No 2 Email: [email protected] web: www.abcgrr.org Online edition interactive

Area I Annual MeetingPlease save the date on your calen-dar. On Saturday April 28th, the Area 1 Annual Meeting will be held at BlackHawk Baptist Camp with the theme “Working, Not Weary.” Rev. Muriel Johnson, Area Min-ister for Area V, will be our guest speaker. Registration will begin at 9:30 with program beginning at 10:00 AM. More information will become available as the day gets closer.

***********************Church News

First Baptist Church, Highland, IL burned their mortgage on Sunday, January 21, 2018. This mortgage came about when the previous church building was destroyed by fi re. This year will be the 20th an-niversary of the new building. The following is a portion of a note of refl ection by Pastor Rob Kirbach. “Today’s mortgage burning symbol-izes more to me than a fi nancial milestone. As I lit that paper, watch-ing it become consumed by fi re in the same manner as the church building that preceded it, I saw the culmina-tion of a determined and resilient people whose faith was strengthened by adversity. The warmth of those little fl ames this morning remind me of the warm generosity and compas-sion this congregation has become known for. And seeing the charred remains of that promissory note make me think of a future yet to be written. Today’s mortgage burning marks the beginning of a new era for FBC Highland. The future of this congregation looks exciting, indeed.

2018 CalendarMarch:




April:

14: Area III Annual Meeting

15: Area IV Annual Meeting FBC Murphysboro, IL

20 - 21: Face To Face

27 - 28: Clergy Spouse Retreat Lake Springfi eld Camp


June:

8 - 10: ABWM GRR Annual Conference, Northfi eld Inn & Suites and Conference Center, Springfi eld, IL

September:




Area II Annual MeetingFirst Baptist Church of Moweaqua

Sunday, March 11, 2018

Registration will begin at 2:00 p.m. and dinner will be at 5:45 p.m. The cost will be $15.00 including dinner.

Dr. Saul Ebema will be sharing his testimony with us. He was born in war-torn South Sudan and earned a Masters of Divin-

ity and a Doctorate of Ministry from Northern Seminary. Today, he serves as the senior pastor of the Lombard Bible Church in Lombard, Illinois. He also serves as president of the Saul Ebema Foundation, which helps children aff ected by South Sudan’s civil war.

Rev. Patty Bilyeu will be delivering the mes-sage during worship.

Dr. Ryan Follis and the Nokomis Praise Team will be leading us in praise and wor-ship throughout the afternoon.

$2,000 TOTAL INCLUDES: AIRFARE*, ROOM & BOARD, GROUND TRANSPORTATION, INSURANCE, LEADERSHIP *HOUSTON, TX – SAN JOSÉ, CR – APPLETON, WI

(Other expenses include passport, travel to Houston, TX and from Appleton, WI)

Limited to 6 Person Team

Final Payment Due May 1, 2018

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The Great Rivers Region has been in partnership with the Baptist Fed-eration of Costa Rica since 1985.One or more GRR partnership groups have traveled to Costa Rica each year since 1985.Pictured above is Dr. John Grish-am being presented a sign by Rev. Johnny Saborio Conejo, the Pastor of Iglesia Bautista De Cinco Esquinas in San Jose, Costa Rica and Rev. Nidia Rodriguez Jimenez, President of Federa-cion DeAsociaciones Baptistas De Costa Rica. (FABCR) .and retired Pastor Minister of FABCR. The sign is displayed by many of the member Churches of the Baptist Federation of Costa Rica.

And now the rest of the story. Be rightly related to God and fi nd your joy there, and out of you will fl ow rivers of living water. Be a vessel that God can pour His love through.

Paul

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International MinistriesCosta Rica

Young Adult Experience

June 19 - July 8, 2018Transform Your World Through Creation Care

Join IM staff , missionaries, and Costa Rican brothers and sisters in sustainable farming and construc-tion practices, learn about the state of a country pioneering creation care, and dialogue cross-culturally about how love of nature is an expression of love for God and neighbor. Return with your peers to Green Lake, Wisconsin, where you will examine your experiences in a retreat format and present at the 2018 World Mission Conference.

Leaders: Emily Ferrin, IM Assistant Director of Short-Term MissionsRuth Mooney, IM Missionary to Costa Rica

Partners: Latin American Biblical UniversityThe Federation of Baptist Associa-tions of Costa RicaAssociation of Development through Education (continued in next column)


DON’T TELL ANYONE

What do you think of when someone says that to you? Do you wonder why they want to keep it a secret? Do you wish they never would have told you? That was part of Tommy Simons’ great sermon at Third Bap-tist in St. Louis last Sunday. He was preaching on the verses from Mark 8 and he had us thinking about who we would say Jesus is in our lives. He also got me thinking about why someone would be told not to tell anyone about Jesus. Here’s what I came up with. Even if we can’t tell people about Jesus through words, the way we live should tell people a whole lot about who Jesus is. They should be able to fi nd out a whole lot about Jesus just by being around us. In the days that we live in, people need to experience the love of Jesus much more by our actions than our words. So don’t worry much about telling people about Jesus through words, just make sure that your life is demonstrating His love, mercy, joy, hope, faithfulness, kindness, forgive-ness…you get the picture, and so will others.

CRI – CHURCH REVITALIZATION INITIATIVE

I’m like a kid before Christmas, I can’t wait to open the presents. So it is with this. It is a good project involv-ing so many good people and I want to roll it out right now, BUT. We still have a few crucial parts to work on

before we can share anymore news about it. We should have things in place by the end of March, so it’s coming, but don’t tell anyone.

MISSIONS

Two important items for prayer and possible action. The Stantons have been informed that their fi nancial support has dropped a bit and they need to raise more support. Pray and respond as God leads you. Paul Rollet headed back to the Philippines this past week to get back to the mis-sion that God had laid on his heart. Be praying for him as he settles in again and as he continues some rehab.

SKWIM

What a great event! Skiing, swim-ming, Green Lake, cool speakers, great music, and wonderful kids and sponsors. You missed it this year but pray about being involved next year during the MLK weekend. Special thanks to Josh Sabo and the Rollet family for working so hard to make this youth event special.

PUERTO RICO SISTER CHURCH PROGRAM.

As I write this, there is a group of people from ABCUSA meeting with leaders in Puerto Rico to develop this plan. Be praying about the possibility of your church, or group of churches, becoming a sister church to one of the churches aff ected by hurricanes.

FAMILY GATHERINGS

They are coming up soon, in all fi ve of our areas. They are also called area meetings, but in eff ect they are times for us to come together to con-nect, share in fellowship and inspira-tion, and share a table. Hope to see you there.




Great Rivers RegionFirst Baptist Church, Decatur, IL Welcomes: Dana Stolte, Kloee Stolte, Ashley Simmons, Sarai Sim-mons, and Micah Simmons

************************Church News

Selma American Baptist Church near Festus, MO ordained two new deacons, Matthew Bradley and Heather Kirkland on January 28, 2018. Pastor Leslie Limbaugh preached “Selected to Serve” and the whole congregation was invited to participate in the laying on of hands and a celebration luncheon.

FBC Rantoul, IL has called Rev Dan Cole to serve as their interim minis-ter.

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GRR WebsiteE-mail GRR Webmaster, Richard Ricks: [email protected]

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February 2018 No 1 Email: [email protected] web: www.abcgrr.org Online edition interactive

Clergy Spouse Retreat“Growing Into an Effective

Minister’s Wife”

Friday Evening, April 27 - Saturday Afternoon, April 28, 2018

Lake Springfield Baptist Camp5878 Iron Bridge RoadSpringfield, IL

Retreat Leader:Sharon Malone, is a member of St. Luke Baptist Church in Rockford, Illinois, where she serves as teacher, mentor, and counselor.

All spouses of clergy (pastors or church staff) are welcome to attend.

Cost: $40.00 $20.00 First Timers

Send Registration To: Judi Mills7812 Hunt RoadSpringfield, IL 62712

************************Area News

Dr. Rex Rogers is pleased to an-nounce that Rev. John Kress of Cordova, IL and Rev. Dan Siems of Galesburg, IL have agreed to as-sist him in the workings of his job as Regional Associate Minister. Rev. Kress will be the assistant for Area I and Rev. Siems will be the assistant for Area III. They are both ready to serve as they are able. To get better acquainted, they will be contacting pastors in their respective areas..

2018 CalendarMarch:








June:


September:




Area V Annual Gathering

“Sharing Our Faith”

Date: March 10, 2018 9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Grace Baptist Church3101 NE Vivion RoadKansas City, MO 64119(816) 452 - 0212

Dr. Jeffrey Johnson will be speaking. His work with American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS) involves refining and developing the Got Style?™ personality-

based evangelism training, coaching members of the National Evangelism Team (NET) with introductory and enhanced NET training sessions, and reading and staying knowledgeable about the field of evangelism as a resource to churches and their leaders.Registration Cost: Adults: $10.00Teens: $5.00, Children - Free

Mail registration forms and payment to:Area V Registrar, PO Box 30698 Columbia, Missouri 65205-3698 Pre - Registration Deadline March 5, 2018







Area III Annual Meeting“To Know and Be Known”

Making our churches known and attractive to our communities

Saturday, April 14, 20189:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

First Baptist Church of Peoria401 W Lake AvenuePeoria, IL

Keynote Speaker:Dr. Gene Crume, President of Judson Uni-versity

Huntley Brown will be leading worship.

Cost: $25.00

$30.00 after April 1

************************Area I Annual Meeting

Please save the date on your calendar. On Saturday April 28th, the Area 1 Annual Meeting will be held at BlackHawk Baptist Camp with the theme “Working, Not Weary.” Rev. Muriel Johnson, Area Minister for Area V, will be our guest speaker. Registration will begin at 9:30 with program begin-ning at 10:00 AM. More information will become available as the day gets closer.




Dr. Saul Ebema will be sharing his testimony with us. He was born in war-torn South Sudan. He is a graduate of Northern Semi-

nary where he earned a Masters of Divinity and a Doctorate of Ministry from Northern Seminary.

Today, he serves as the senior pastor of the Lombard Bible Church in Lombard, Illinois. He also serves as president of the Saul Ebema Foundation, which helps children affected by South Sudan’s civil war.

Rev. Patty Bilyeu will be delivering the message during worship.

Dr. Ryan Follis and the Nokomis Praise Team will be leading us in praise and wor-ship throughout the afternoon.


But Jesus, but God, you don’t understand.The disciples were trying to get Jesus to understand that you just can’t feed a multitude with just a few loaves of bread and a few fish. The followers of Jesus were trying to explain why Saul/Paul could not be trusted to be in leadership. Moses was trying to get God to understand why he could not lead the people. The people were wanting God to understand why they were finished with the sea in front of them, and the Egyptian soldiers behind them. The giant was looking for a face off and the only person willing was a little shepherd boy.

When do WE say, “but Jesus” or “but God”, you don’t understand--what we face is too big, too dif-ficult, too hard, or too impossible? Sometimes I think we forget what God has done and what God is able to do. Sometimes I think we forget about the power of God, yes, even the power to do what seems impos-sible. Could God take a small group of people and do amazing things with them? There is story after story in scripture of Him doing just that. Do we really believe that?

If so, with God’s power, even just a small group of us can turn things around. That’s good news for me! If I am willing, and I give myself to Him, He can do many things. Let’s do our best and then trust Him to do the things we cannot do.

AREA MEETINGSThey are coming up in March and April. Each one has great speak-ers and I know there is always food involved, so it should be a good time. I hope to see you at one of them.

PUERTO RICO SISTER CHURCH-ESIn the next two months we should know what churches in Puerto Rico would want to have sister churches here to help them walk through the hurricane recovery process. Would your church or your group of church-es be willing to partner with one of the sister churches in Puerto Rico? The sister church program will lead up to our 2021 ABCUSA Biennial in Puerto Rico. Be praying.CRI--CHURCH REVITALIZATION INITIATIVESomeone said that it looks like the word cry. Maybe that is what we feel like doing when we see what has happened to our church over the years. It makes us feel sad. Well, we are doing something about it. The information about the process and how your church can be involved will be out next month. Could your church use revitalization? Is your church willing to take the necessary steps to be revitalized? Pray.

And…Be rightly related to God and find your joy there, and out of you will flow rivers of Living Water. Be a vessel that God can pour His love through. Paul



The MainstreamCentral Baptist ChurchQuincy, Calls New Pastor

Central Baptist Church of Quincy, IL has called Rev. Jason Sommer-feldt as Senior Pastor. He began his ministry with the church on January 11, 2018. Jason and his family moved from

Pennsylvania but he has lived in many places including Illinois. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Youth and Family Min-istry from Cen-tral Christian College of the Bible in Mober-ly, Missouri. After serving in different min-istry positions, he received his Masters of

Divinity degree with an emphasis in Pastoral Care from Liberty University. Jason and his wife Constance have two children, Justin and Addison. Central Baptist Church is very happy to have called Jason as pastor and looks forward to seeing how the Lord will use him in the ministry of the church.

***********************GRR Website


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February 2018 No 2 Email: [email protected] web: www.abcgrr.org Online edition interactive









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[email protected]

2018 CalendarMarch:








June:


September:







Dr. Saul Ebema will be sharing his tes-timony with us. He was born in war-torn South Sudan. He is a graduate of Northern Seminary where he earned a Masters of Divinity and a Doctorate of Ministry from Northern Seminary. Today, he serves as the senior pas-tor of the Lombard Bible Church in Lombard, Illinois. He also serves as president of the Saul Ebema Founda-tion, which helps children affected by South Sudan’s civil war.

Rev. Patty Bilyeu will be delivering the message during worship.

Dr. Ryan Follis and the No-komis Praise Team will be leading us in praise and worship throughout the after-noon.












Keynote Speaker:Dr. Gene Crume, President of Judson Uni-versity


Cost: $25.00

$30.00 after April 1

************************Area I Annual Meeting

Please save the date on your calendar. On Saturday April 28th, the Area 1 Annual Meeting will be held at BlackHawk Baptist Camp with the theme “Working, Not Weary.” Rev. Muriel Johnson, Area Minister for Area V, will be our guest speaker. Registration will begin at 9:30 with program begin-ning at 10:00 AM. More information will become available as the day gets closer.



Date: March 10, 2018 9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.


Dr. Jeffrey Johnson will be speaking. His work with American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS) involves refining and developing the Got Style?™ personality-based evangelism training, coaching members of the National Evangelism Team (NET) with introductory and enhanced NET training sessions, and reading and staying knowledgeable about the field of evangelism as a resource to churches and their leaders.Registration Cost: Adults: $10.00Teens: $5.00, Children - Free

Mail registration forms and payment to:Area V Registrar, PO Box 30698 Columbia, Missouri 65205-3698 Pre - Registration Deadline March 5, 2018

Find contact information for each area meeting: http://www.abcgrr.org/areas/annualmeetings.htm


“Be rightly related to God and find your joy there, and out of you will flow rivers of living water. Be a vessel that God can pour His love through”. Oswald Chambers.

Two major headlines involving death were in the news the past couple weeks and there has been a lot said about both. In one, a student went into a school and started shooting, killing seventeen and wounding many more. Since then there has been a debate on almost every level about gun control, the second amendment, and mental health issues. And, if you are follow-ing it, kind things are not being said. People are mad, blaming, accusing and preaching…and that is what Christians seem to be doing. Dur-ing this time, would you check your responses and comments with the statement above from Oswald Cham-bers? Can people see God pour-ing His love through you by your responses and comments?

The second headline is about the death of one person, Billy Graham. He really lived out Chambers’ state-ment. He gave good counsel to ev-ery president and continued to pray for each one, no matter the party. He truly was a vessel that God poured His love through. I was fortunate to be the coordinator for the youth part of the “University of Life” crusade in Reno, Nevada in 1980 and got to meet Rev. Graham. He allowed God

to flow through him to each presi-dent. Blessed.

Our Area meetings begin in a couple of weeks. I do hope that you would consider attending the meeting that is in your Area. I would love to see you.

Puerto Rico Sister Church Plan. We will be hearing the details about this in a few weeks and will pass that information as soon as we receive it. In the meantime, be praying about the possibility of becoming a sister church. The Great Rivers Region provided the funds to get this pro-gram started.

CRI – Church Revitalization Initia-tive. We will be putting the finishing touches on this in March and then will share it with all of you. Please be praying for Wally Holt and his team as they work to get things finalized.

This, again, is my answer to all the “stuff” being said about shootings, etc. – “Be rightly related to God and find your joy there, and out of you will flow rivers of living water. Be a vessel that God can pour His love through.” Paul

************************Church News

On January 28, Grace Baptist Church in Kansas City, MO rec-ognized the 18 people who joined the church in 2017. The service of “Membership Affirmation” reported that 4 had joined the congregation by baptism, 11 by Christian experi-ence, and 3 by transfer of letter. Total church membership for 2017 rose by 14. We rejoice with these new members who have joined in the ministries of Grace.

http://www.abcgrr.org/areas/annualmeetings.htm




The MainstreamArea III Annual Meeting“To Know and Be Known”




Keynote Speak-er:Dr. Gene Crume, Presi-dent of Judson University


Cost: $25.00 ($30.00 after April 1)

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GRR WebsiteE-mail GRR Webmaster, Richard Ricks: [email protected]

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March 2018 No 1 Email: [email protected] web: www.abcgrr.org Online edition interactive









************************


Send your stories of mission and min-istry. Please also send the names of new members to:



[email protected]

2018 CalendarMarch:







June:


September:





Scholarship programs exist in the Great Rivers Region to assist young people who

are members of Great Rivers Re-gion American Baptist Churches to secure a college and/or seminary education. Scholarships for any col-lege student (regardless of major) or seminary student from the Gernenz-Shurtleff/Wilcoxen Scholarship are available.

Ministerial students attending ABC-related schools and seminaries in preparation for ministry can also apply for the Harold O. Long Schol-arship.




Phone 217-726-7366

Email: [email protected]












Dr. Saul Ebema will be sharing his testimony with us. He was born in war-torn South Sudan. He is a graduate of Northern Semi-nary where he earned a Masters of Divinity and a Doctorate of Ministry from Northern Seminary. Today, he serves as the senior pas-tor of the Lombard Bible Church in Lombard, Illinois. He also serves as president of the Saul Ebema Foundation, which helps children af-fected by South Sudan’s civil war.

Rev. Patty Bilyeu will be delivering the mes-sage during worship.

Dr. Ryan Follis and the No-komis Praise Team will be leading us in praise and wor-ship throughout the afternoon.



Date: March 10, 2018 9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.


Dr. Jeffrey Johnson will be speaking. His work with American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS) involves refining and developing the Got Style?™ personality-based evangelism training, coaching members of the National Evangelism Team (NET) with introductory and enhanced NET training sessions, and reading and staying knowledgeable about the field of evangelism as a resource to churches and their leaders.Registration Cost: Adults: $10.00Teens: $5.00, Children - Free

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Area I Annual MeetingPlease save the date on your calen-dar. On Saturday April 28th, the Area 1 Annual Meeting will be held at BlackHawk Baptist Camp with the theme “Working, Not Weary.” Rev. Muriel Johnson, Area Minister for Area V, will be our guest speaker. Registration will begin at 9:30 with program beginning at 10:00 AM. More information will become avail-able as the day gets closer.


Shootings, NRA, and other things. Wow, have we had enough already? I still hold to the same things. When-ever commenting on these things, or listening to other people comment on them, I run the words through two tests. 1. What would my mom say? 2. Do my comments or the comments of others fit in the mouth of Jesus? If they don’t, then I don’t go much further with them. Try it out, and see what if feels like.

Black History Month. I feel bad that I didn’t say anything about this in the last two newsletters, so I am doing a bit of make-up. There are many sto-ries out there that you could read, but this one is close to home. We have a funeral this week of a great pastor who served one of our churches for over 50 years. His name was Rev. Dr. William Collins, Jr. He was the pastor at The Antioch Baptist Church and was a respected and active leader in the St. Louis community for many years. He was also on several national boards for ABCUSA. More than that, he was loved and respect-ed by many, many people. He will be missed.

Area Meetings. During the next two months we will have all five of our area meetings. I do hope you will plan to be at one of them. It is always a good time when we get together to worship, fellowship, and eat. I hope to see you at your area gathering.

Puerto Rico, Sister Church Pro-gram. The information is out. You can sign up to be a sister church to one of our churches in Puerto Rico that was damaged in the hurricanes of last year. I hope many of our churches will prayerfully consider getting involved in this.

EASTER. It’s right around the cor-ner. I hope you are doing something to work up to it, and then I hope that you have a wonderful time going through the Easter season with your church. This is a great time for us as we celebrate the greatest victory ever.

Two Personal Notes: 1. We were blessed to attend our son’s commissioning service in 29 Palms last week when he became a Captain in the Marine Corps. We are a little proud.

2. It was good to see an old man, 47 years old, win a golf tournament…way to go Phil [Mickelson].

And….Be rightly related to God and find your joy there, and out of you will flow rivers of living water. Be a vessel that God can pour his love through.

Area Meeting Online Information







The Mainstream

Grow HealthyJoin Michael Lukasze-wski in Grow Healthy, a workshop for pastors and church leaders, hosted by Decatur First Baptist Church May 18 and 19. Free

to participate. Download informa-tion | Form to fill out, then scan or fax. Details on form.

Ron French, host pastor, “This work-shop is intended to help churches consider their vision and mission and develop a strategy unique to their situation that will help them grow and blossom as lights in their community.”

If you have any questions, please call the First Baptist Church and ask for Pastor Ron, 217-875-8034, or e-mail him at [email protected]

***********************Rolling Prairie Baptist Church in

Rochester (IL) and Elliott Avenue Baptist Church in Springfield (IL) are hosting an open house reception for Pastor Mark Estrop on Sunday, April 8th from 2

pm to 4 pm.

Before his current pastorate, Mark had served as Minister of Camping and Christian Education on the Staff of the ABC GRR.

March 2018 No 2 Email: [email protected] web: www.abcgrr.org Online edition interactive









************************





[email protected]

2018 CalendarMarch:

30 Good Friday, GRR Offices Closed

April: 1 Easter Sunday





June:


July 4-7 World Mission Conference Green Lake, WI September:





Scholarship pro-grams exist in the Great Rivers Region to assist young people who are

members of Great Rivers Region American Baptist Churches to secure a college and/or seminary education. Scholarships for any col-lege student (regardless of major) or seminary student from the Gernenz-Shurtleff/Wilcoxen Scholarship are available.

Ministerial students attending ABC-related schools and seminaries in preparation for ministry can also apply for the Harold O. Long Schol-arship.




Phone 217-726-7366


*************Scholarships are also available for a variety of pursuits at AB Home Mis-sion Societies. http://abhms.org/min-istries/developing-leaders/education-scholarships/




http://www.abcgrr.org/areanews/a2docs/GH.pdf


http://www.abcgrr.org/areanews/a2docs/GH%20FORM.pdf


mailto:revfrench%40comcast.net?subject=Grow%20Healthy%20Mainstream%20Article





http://abhms.org/ministries/developing-leaders/education-scholarships/



Area I Annual MeetingSaturday April 28th, we will gather at BlackHawk Baptist Camp.

Rev. Muriel Johnson, Area Minister for Area V, will be our guest speaker. The theme is “Working, But Not Weary.”

Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m. The program begins at 10:00 a.m.

************************

Area Meeting Online Information


************************World Mission Conference

Location: Green Lake Conference Center, Green Lake, Wisconsin

Dates: 6:30 PM on Wednesday, July 4, through 9:00 PM on Satur-day, July 7

Discover how International Minis-tries global servants and partners make disciples for Jesus Christ through ministries of health and wellness, economic and community development and the abolition of human trafficking.

Celebrate the 4th of July as you interact with global servants and international leaders from dozens of nations, participate in global wor-ship and conversation and explore ways to be more involved in global mission.





Keynote Speaker:Dr. Gene Crume, President of Jud-son University

Huntley Brown will be leading wor-ship.

Cost: $25.00 ($30.00 after April 1)

************************Area IV Annual Meeting

Murphysboro First Baptist hosts our Area IV Youth and Adults

April 15. 2:00 p.m. reg; 2:30 Worship

Encouragement and Updates from our Regional Ministers Paul Gibson, Patty Bilyeu, and Bill Stoklosa Missions in Hungary - Larry and Becky Stanton, Vivian May Steve Willis as Adoniram Judson

A Word From PaulGibson, ABCGRR ExecutiveMinister Rex Rogers and I were at a great event last

week hosted by a group called Fresh Expressions USA. It is a new church planting movement that started with the church of England about 20 years ago. One of the people presenting said that you know that had to be the work of the Holy Spirit if it came out of the church of England. We will be sharing more about this in the future, but here are a few things that struck me.

One of the sayings from the event was, “we are not planting churches, we are planting the gospel“. The whole idea behind this movement is that each church becomes a mis-sion and each member becomes a missionary. The key word is not coming to church, but the key word is to go from the church and take the gospel to your world. Each church could encourage members, or missionaries from their church to be starting fresh expressions of the gospel in the community. The key to all of this is that most of the people in those fresh expressions will be unchurched people. This is going to be an emphasis in our denomina-tion. There were 52 American Bap-tists at this gathering and we had a great time. Our own David Fitch from Northern Seminary was one of the key presenters.

We still have three of our area meetings coming up so I hope to see you at one of them. It’s a great time to learn about what’s happening in

our region and also a great time of fellowship being with friends.

One event that’s coming up this summer that I would encourage you to think about is the world missions conference at Green Lake at the beginning of July. This is a wonderful event and you will meet 30 or 40 of our missionaries and be able to find out all about them and their work. Prayerfully consider it.

As Easter is just around the corner I hope you and your church family have a blessed time celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our world needs that more now than ever.

Remember, Be rightly related to God and find your joy there, and out of you will flow rivers of living water. Be a vessel that God can pour his love through.

Sturgis Mission

The ABC Emergency Services Center mission project will be open August 4 - 12 during the Black Hills Motorcycle Rally in and around Sturgis, South Dakota. Prayerfully consider this opportunity as a church. Find out more by downloading the flyer: . http://abcgrr.org/abc-usa/Stur-gisFlyer2018.pdf



https://www.internationalministries.org/world-mission-conference/

http://www.fbcmurphy.org/



The Mainstream

Great Rivers RegionArea I Annual Meeting

Theme: “Working Not Weary”

Saturday April 28th9:30 a.m - 3:00 p.m.

BlackHawk Baptist Camp4491 West Henry Rd.Oregon, IL 61061

Guest Speaker:

Rev. Muriel John-son has served as Area Minister for Area V for the past 17 years. Her desire to introduce people to Jesus Christ and the love of God is a primary and persistent motivator for her life and ministry

Ministry spotlights from Rev. Dar-ren Leopke and Rev. Daniel Yeager

Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m.The program begins at 10:00 a.m.

Cost: $10.00 (includes lunch)

You can register with Bobbie Rose:

Mail to: 40 W735 Powers Rd, Huntley IL 60142


April 2018 No 1 Email: [email protected] web: www.abcgrr.org Online edition interactive









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[email protected]

2018 Calendar

April:





May:

12: Professional Boundaries Course - GRR Resource Center

June:


22 - 23: AB Men’s Conference Bloomington IL First Baptist ChurchJuly:

4 - 7: World Mission Confer- ence, Green Lake, WI

August: 24 - 25: American Baptist History and Polity Course GRR Resource Center


New Members of theChurches of the

Great Rivers RegionFirst Baptist Church, Sparland, IL Welcomes: Pam Snyder, Sherri Van Dehy, Zack Allen, Trenten Allen, and Anna Allen

************************Grow Healthy

Join Michael Lukasze-wski in Grow Healthy, a workshop for pastors and church leaders, hosted by Decatur First Baptist Church May 18 and 19. Free

to participate. Download informa-tion | Form to fill out, then scan or fax. Details on form.

Ron French, host pastor, “This work-shop is intended to help churches consider their vision and mission and develop a strategy unique to their situation that will help them grow and blossom as lights in their community.”


************************

GRR WebsiteGRR Webmaster: Richard Ricks:





mailto:bobbierose10%40yahoo.com?subject=Area%20I%20Meeting











mailto:revrick4%40comcast.net?subject=Webmaster%20via%20The%20Mainstream

World Mission Conference The World Mission Conference will be held at: Green Lake Confer-ence Center, Green Lake, Wiscon-sin from 6:30 p.m. on July 4 through 9:00 p.ml. on July 7, 2018. Discover how International Min-istries global servants and partners make disciples for Jesus Christ through ministries of health and wellness, economic and community development and the abolition of human trafficking. Celebrate the 4th of July as you interact with global servants and international leaders from dozens of nations, participate in global wor-ship and conversation and explore ways to be more involved in global mission.

************************Church News

Lindxi Zhu was licensed to preach by the First Baptist Church of El Paso, IL on March 18, 2018. The licensing ceremony was lead by Nancy Greene, the church modera-tor. Lindxi, pictured with Rev. Paul Gibson (left) and Interim Pastor Russel Zehr (right), is from Guangxi, China. She is currently serving as associate pastor at the church. She graduated with her M. Div from Sioux Falls Seminary in 2017.

American Baptist Women’sMinistries GRR

Annual Conference

Celebrating 50 YearsJune 8 - 10, 2018

Northfield Inn Suites & Conference Center, 3280 Northfield Drive, Spring-field, IL

Missionary: Betty Martin, Executive Director of Murrow Indian Children’s Home

Bible Study Leader: Rev. Muriel Johnson, Area V Area Minister

50th Anniversary Celebration

Special Music by : D. Scott Kramer and Rachel West Kramer

Send registration to:

Lori Hill, 26 NW 40th St., Kansas City, MO 64116, Email: [email protected]

************************

American Baptist MenAnnual Conference

Each year, the men of Great Riv-ers Region join together for a time of fellowship, renewal, food, fun, work-shops, speakers, and challenges. Our 2018 Gathering will be held in Bloom-ington, Illinois at First Baptist Church on June 22-23. Mark your calendars to attend.

Here is the registration site: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScX5Q_BrxrGhFu7z8q4oOo9mnhxb2UiF-p2rWlvMX8SlIyoPZg/viewform


Fresh Expressions USA, ACT to end racism, ABCUSA Leaders meeting, Q Commons, Area V meeting, Area II meeting....a busy few weeks. DC, DC again, Green Lake, Nashville, Peoria, Murphys-boro...and then I am home for a while. All of these have been wonder-ful meetings that will be meaninglful to our region as we move ahead. If you don’t know what they are, google them and find out. We know what the area meetings are, and they are always a good experience filled with good food, fellowship, and wor-ship.

Right now I am with a group of pas-tors at the Q Commons meeting in Nashville. Wow, are we being chal-lenged and motivated. They are a great group. (from left to right): sitting Patty Bilyeu, David Bilyeu; standing: Josh Sabo, Wade Allen, Mike Moore, John Withum, Dezo Desauguste, Paul Gibson.

Three things I am asking you to be thinking and praying about:

1. Church Revitalization Initia-tive (CRI). We are just about ready to roll with it. Wally Holt will be shar-ing more about it in just a few weeks.

2. World Missions Conference at Green Lake this summer. Consid-er going....a great place to meet and greet over 20 of our missionaries.

3. Our annual gathering in Bloomington this September We have both Dave Fitch and Shane Claiborne to help us get in touch with what Jesus would want us to do. Don’t miss it.

Remember, Be rightly related to God and find your joy there, and out of you will flow rivers of living water. Be a vessel that God can pour his love through.

Sturgis Mission

The ABC Emergency Services Center mission project will be open August 4 - 12 during the Black Hills Motorcycle Rally in and around Sturgis, South Dakota. Prayerfully consider this opportunity as a church. Find out more by downloading the flyer: . http://abcgrr.org/abc-usa/Stur-gisFlyer2018.pdf


https://www.fbcelpasoil.org/


https://sfseminary.edu/

mailto:Lori.hill%40gmail?subject=ABW%20Ministries%20Annual%20Conference

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScX5Q_BrxrGhFu7z8q4oOo9mnhxb2UiFp2rWlvMX8SlIyoPZg/viewform





http://www.abcgrr.org/annualmeeting/2018/Sept2017Announcement.pdf



The Mainstream

Church Revitalization Initiative (CRI)

With great excitement we introduce to the Great Rivers Region churches the Church Revitalization Initiative (CRI). The Church Revitization Initia-tive is designed to help committed pastors and church leaders who are willing to do what it takes to revitalize their churches. The Initiative is com-prised of pastors and church leaders who have helped lead their churches to healthy revitalized congregations. If you are feeling stagnant and/or un-decided how to move forward, please email me ([email protected]) and we can discuss your situation and de-termine if the team can be of service to you. We know that we are living in difficult times and that is why we want to be of assistance to you. In Proverbs 20:18, we read the follow-ing: “plans succeed through good counsel;…”. Since we are all one family (of God), the Great Rivers Region has put together this initiative so that all will know we are here for each other. If you think you may be interested in some counsel concern-ing the health/vitality of your church, please contact me. Wally Holt, Coordinator

April 2018 No 2 Email: [email protected] web: www.abcgrr.org Online edition interactive

International MinistriesMatching Gift Challenge

On April 15, International Ministries launched the 2018 Spring Matching Gift Challenge to benefit IM’s global servants. IM advises that any new or increased gift to a global servant will be doubled when it is received now through midnight June 15 PST or when the matching fund is depleted, whichever comes first. At a time when IM global servant support has fallen behind by almost $150,000, “our desire is to make up the difference by encouraging new and growing support so our global servants can continue changing lives around the world,” says Zofia Dripps, Associate Executive Director for Mis-sion Advancement.. For donations made as part of the Spring Matching Gift Challenge, matching funds will be applied as fol-lows: 1. A donor’s first one-time gift for a global servant will be matched in its entirety. 2. When a donor makes a new monthly pledge for a global servant, the first month’s installment will be matched. 3. In the case of a one-time gift for a global servant whom the donor has supported in the past, the amount of increase will be matched. For exam-ple, if the most recent gift was $100 and the donor makes a new gift of $150, $50 will be matched. 4. When a donor who is currently making monthly gifts to a global ser-vant increases his or her pledge, the amount of increase will be matched

2018 CalendarMay:

12: Professional Boundaries Course - GRR Resource Center 18 - 19: Grow Healthy Workshop First Baptist Church Decatur, IL

June:


22 - 23: AB Men’s Conference Bloomington IL First Baptist Church

July:


August:

4 - 12 Sturgis Mission 24 - 25: American Baptist History & Polity Course GRR Resource Center

September:

27: GRR Ministers Conference, Bloomington, IL



for the first month’s installment. For example, if the monthly gift is in-creased from $25 to $75, $50 will be matched for the first month. Gifts may be mailed to: International Ministries, 1003 W 9th Ave, Ste A, King of Prussia, PA 19406. Gifts may also be made online. For more information, IM supporters may contact IM’s Donor Services team at [email protected] or 610-768-2323.

************************New Members of the

Churches of theGreat Rivers Region

First Baptist Church, Greenville, IL Welcomes: Cera Douglas, Brooke Anderson, and Kaitlyn Washburn

************************GRR Website

GRR Webmaster: Richard Ricks:






[email protected]




mailto:wallyholt63%40gmail.com%29?subject=Mainstream%20Article%20-%20CRI



https://portal.internationalministries.org/spring-matching-gift-challenge

https://portal.internationalministries.org/spring-matching-gift-challenge



http://abcgrr.org/abc-usa/SturgisFlyer2018.pdf




************************Grow Healthy

Join Michael Lu-kaszewski in Grow Healthy, a work-shop for pastors and church leaders, hosted by Decatur

First Baptist Church May 18 and 19. Free to participate. Download information | Form to fill out, then scan or fax. Details on form.

Ron French, host pastor, “This workshop is intended to help churches consider their vision and mission and develop a strategy unique to their situation that will help them grow and blossom as lights in their community.”


GRR Annual Conference









************************





When I am around you or your church would I hear or experience these words?

Love Joy Peace Patience Good-ness Kindness Gentleness

Faithfulness Self-control. If the answer is yes, then I have a pretty good idea that you are allowing Jesus to flow through you. CRI (Church Revitalization Initia-tive) is up and running!!! See the article (page 1 of this issue) written by Wally Holt. Contact him if you or your church is interested.

The Puerto Rico Sister Church Partnership is ready. Check our website of the ABCUSA website for more info. We are hoping for 10 from our region, already have 4 churches or groups of churches signing up. The need is huge.

FITCH, CAMPOLO, CLAIBORNE….What do they have in common? They will all be at our Annual Gath-ering in Bloomington this Sept. 27-29. You won’t want to miss it. Each one of these could headline on their own, but we have all three. WOW!!! Spread the word and plan on coming and bringing others with you.

Camps, Conferences, and Mission-aries. Tis the season. Hope you plan to attend one of our camps this summer, or one of the conferences at Green Lake. The Missions confer-ence, July 4-8 will have over 20 ofour missionaries attending. Melissa

and I will be there, will you? Bewatching….many of our missionaries will be in the area this summer, check our website for more info.

China Trip. I have been invited by Sharon Koh and Lee Spitzer to go with them on a trip to visit some of the work in China at the end of May. It will be wonderful to see some of the work started by missionaries years ago and visit our friends and partners there.

Give thanks. I give thanks every day for our regional staff. Our RAMS (Regional Area Ministers) are doing a great job….thanks Muriel, Patty and Rex. Our office staff are tremendous, thanks Nancy, Debbie and Melissa. Also thanks to our communication people, Linda and Richard Ricks, and to the head of our AME program, Paul Maitland. We are blessed.

Finally, be rightly related to God and find your joy there, and out of you will flow rivers of living water. Be a vessel that God can pour His love through.

Sturgis MissionThe ABC Emergency Services Center mission project will be open August 4 - 12 during the Black Hills Motorcycle Rally in and around Sturgis, South Dakota. Prayerfully consider this opportunity as a church. Find out more by downloading the flyer: . http://abcgrr.org/abc-usa/Stur-gisFlyer2018.pdf


















The Mainstream

Camping Season 2018 Camping season for 2018 is com-ing soon. It is time to register for camp. Blackhawk and Lake Spring-field Baptist camps offer opportuni-ties for all ages.

Lake Springfield Baptist Camp & Conference Center (www.lsbcon-line.com) is a year-round facility on

the shore of Lake Springfield in Springfield, IL. The man-agers for Lake Springfield Camp areJohn

and Kelsey Parrish.Several new camps are planned for this year. Descriptions of the camps and reg-istration forms can be found on the camp’s website. Blackhawk Baptist Camp is a wooded camp in northern Illi-nois near White Plains State Park and Or-egon, IL. Bruce and Bobbie Rose are the managers of Blackhawk Camp.

Camping is a wonderful experience. Fun camping experiences AND life changing spirtual experiences give campers and staff opportunities to grow closer to the Lord.

May 2018 No 1 Email: [email protected] web: www.abcgrr.org Online edition interactive


With great excitement we introduce to the Great Rivers Region churches the Church Revitalization Initiative (CRI). The Church Revitization Initia-tive is designed to help committed pastors and church leaders who are willing to do what it takes to revitalize their churches. The Initiative is com-prised of pastors and church leaders who have helped lead their churches to healthy revitalized congregations.

If you are feeling stagnant and/or un-decided how to move forward, please email me; ([email protected]) and we can discuss your situation and determine if the team can be of service to you. We know that we are living in difficult times and that is why we want to be of assistance to you. In Proverbs 20:18, we read the following: “plans succeed through good coun-sel;…”. Since we are all one family (of God), the Great Rivers Region has put together this initiative so that all will know we are here for each other. If you think you may be interested in some counsel concerning the health/vitality of your church, please contact me. Wally Holt, Coordinator

2018 CalendarMay:

12: Professional Boundaries Course - GRR Resource Center 18 - 19: Grow Healthy Workshop First Baptist Church Decatur, IL

June:



July:


August:

4 - 12 Sturgis Mission 24 - 25: American Baptist History & Polity Course GRR Resource Center

September:

27: GRR Ministers Conference, Bloomington, IL




Great Rivers RegionFirst Baptist Church, Kansas City, MO Welcomes: Andrea Davidson,Matt Clingan, Jill Clingan,, Amelie Clingan, Jackson Clingan, William Rinck, Christine Rinck, Skye Neal and Geneva Abel

************************


************************GRR Website



************************




East Peoria, IL [email protected]




http://www.lsbconline.com

http://www.lsbconline.com










************************Grow Healthy

Join Michael Lu-kaszewski in Grow Healthy, a work-shop for pastors and church leaders, hosted by Decatur

First Baptist Church May 18 and 19. Free to participate. Download information | Form to fill out, then scan or fax. Details on form.

Ron French, host pastor, “This workshop is intended to help churches consider their vision and mission and develop a strategy unique to their situation that will help them grow and blossom as lights in their community.”











************************





WHAT ARE YOU DOING? What are you doing to make the presence of Jesus more real in your life and neighborhood? What is your church doing to make His presence more real in your community? Use Micah 6:8 or the passage on the Fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22-23, as your measuring tool. How are you doing?

CAMPS AND CONFERENCES. Plan to be a part of a camp or conference this summer. The folks at Blackhawk Camp and Lake Springfield Camp have some great opportunities for you this summer. Be praying for the workers, counsel-ors, and volunteers as they prepare for the camping season. There are also many great camping experi-ences waiting for you at our Green Lake Conference Center. I will be involved in two of them, the Holy Spirit Conference, and the Missions Conference. I look forward to meet-ing many of our missionaries at the Missions Conference, and hopefully I will see some of you.

MINISTERS CONFERENCE/ANNU-AL GATHERING, BLOOMINGTON, SEPT 27-29 We are blessed to have David Fitch, Tony Campolo, Shane Claiborne, and Sharon Koh with us. Wow….you won’t want to miss this gathering. Plan now to attend

GREAT CHANGES. Our board vot-ed this past week to go to an every other year gathering, on the off years of our national gathering (Biennial) for ABCUSA. They will bring it to us for an approval vote at the meeting in Sept. in Bloomington. So, we will meet this fall, and then if approved, our next gathering will be in 2020. This is happening so that we can put effort into a joint conference venture we are doing with Judson Univer-sity and Northern Seminary. This Conference will be held in early May on the odd years. The first one is being planned for May 9-11 in 2019, and will be held in Bloomington. This is the first time anyone can recall all three partners going together to plan an event. You will be hearing more about it in the next few months, but put that date on your calendars for 2019. So, on even years we will have our annual gathering, and on odd years the joint conference. It has been exciting to sit down with both presidents, Gene Crume of Judson, and Bill Shiell of Northern, to plan this new event. Be praying for us as we plan.

I just got back from spending 3 days with my 94-year-old mother. It was a blessing. Here is our wish for you….Be rightly related to God and find your joy there, and out of you will flow rivers of living water. Be a vessel that God can pour His love through.















The Mainstream

Experience God’s Love at the

Holy Spirit Conference -- Coming Soon!!

It’s not too late to make plans to be there!

Where: Green Lake Conference Center, Green Lake, WisconsinWhen: 10:30 AM Sunday, June 24, through 9:30 PM Thurs., June 28

Hear from acclaimed guest speak-ers: Dr. Michael L. Brown, biblical scholar, author, revival leader and voice of moral, cultural and spiritual revolution; Francis Anfuso, nation-ally known speaker, evangelist and intercessor, and radio teacher on 1-Minute of Encouragement on K-LOVE radio programming. Celebrate Jesus, experience worship, engage deeply.

Workshops: Great variety ofrelevant workshops.

Daily: Childcare for little ones, Chil-dren’s Ministry K-4, Middle School and Youth Ministry.

Scheduled Young Adult Fellowship mixers and activities.

Registration: After June 1: Full week $100/family, $70/single, $40/youthOne Day rates: $40/family, $25/youth

May 2018 No 2 Email: [email protected] web: www.abcgrr.org Online edition interactive



If you are feeling stagnant and/or un-decided how to move forward, please email me; ([email protected]) and we can discuss your situation and determine if the team can be of service to you. We know that we are living in difficult times and that is why we want to be of assistance to you. In Proverbs 20:18, we read the following: “plans succeed through good coun-sel;…”. Since we are all one family (of God), the Great Rivers Region has put together this initiative so that all will know we are here for each other. If you think you may be interested in some counsel concerning the health/vitality of your church, please contact me.

Wally Holt, Coordinator

2018 CalendarJune:



July:


August:

4 - 12 Sturgis Mission

24 - 25: American Baptist History & Polity Course GRR Resource Center

September:

27: GRR Ministers Conference, First Baptist Church Bloomington, IL


October:

20: American Baptist Professional Boundaries Course GRR Resource Center



Great Rivers RegionFirst Baptist Church, Virden, IL Welcomes: Piper Parrish, Cynthia Carter, and Jennifer Carter

************************


************************GRR Website



************************

















************************Church News

First Baptist Church of Cordova, IL is preparing for “2018 Picnic Un-der the Pavilion”. Last summer, the church started a new outreach of love. They offered a free lunch to all in the community for two hours one day a week each week during summer break. The meals were available under the church’s pavil-ion on the church grounds. This year, the church hopes to expand upon this ministry. Fliers were given to the schools in April and May so that the kids were made aware of it before school was out for the summer. Fliers were also post-ed around town, on Facebook, and on the church’s website. The “2018 Picnic Under the Pavilion” will be on Tuesdays, June 5 through August 14 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The food is provided through donations.










************************





“Make me a blessing, make me a blessing. Out of my life, may Jesus shine. Make me a blessing, O Savior I pray, make me a blessing, to some-one today.” Old hymn, great words. Are you being a blessing to the people around you, to your church, to your community. Let’s look at it another way, are you being a bless-ing to God?

Summer is here, and we can really feel the heat. I hope you have some cool ideas for this summer. Let me encourage you to include attending a camp as one idea. We have two great camps in our region, Black-hawk Camp, and Lake Springfield. I hope you are involved with them in some way this summer. Melissa and I will be at the Green Lake Missions Conference at the beginning of July, and I will also be at the Holy Spirit gathering at the end of June. These gatherings can be a great time of spiritual renewal and a time of renew-ing old friendships. We also have regional ABW and ABMen gatherings in June, so pick one and enjoy.

This fall we will be gathering in Bloomington for our annual gathering at the end of September. We have a great group of speakers to challenge and inspire us, including Dave Fitch, Tony Campolo, and Shane Claiborne. Please come join us, and invite oth-ers to come along with you.

Is your church in a difficult spot and trying to figure out what will happen in the next five years if things don’t change? If so, and you would like us to come along side and help with ideas, give Wally Holt a call and he will share with you what we are doing with our Church Revitaliza-tion Initiative (CRI). We have funds, a plan, and people in place to help you. Don’t wait until it’s too late to do anything. We have had a number of churches call in the past few months saying that they will be closing. We would have loved to have had them call us a few years ago to see if things could be done to turn things around. Don’t wait, think ahead and pray.

THE GREAT OFFERING. We will be coming out with materials to send out to you to let you know about the “Great Offering” for this fall. Please be praying about your church being involved.

Remember, be rightly related to God and find your joy there, and out of you will flow rivers of living water. Be a vessel that God can pour His love through.

************************Note About Mainstream: There will be only one issue of the Mainstream each month in June and July.









The Mainstream

51st Great Rivers RegionAnnual Assembly

September 28 - 29, 2018

The Area I and III Churches of the Great Rivers Region invite our Church Family (all churches of the region) to the Great Rivers Region’s 2018 Annual Assembly on Sep-tember 28 - 29, 2018. The Annual Assembly will be held at the First Baptist Church of Bloomington located at 2502 East College Avenue Bloomington IL. There, as one body, we will worship and fellowship together as a family. We are plan-ning a great meeting and invite you to celebrate with us Please note that this is a change from previous years All meetings and meals except Saturday morn-ing breakfast meetings will be held at the church. The breakfast meet-ings will be held at the hotel. We will be staying at The Chateau Hotel located at 1621 Jumer Dr, Bloomington, IL. The hotel is a short distance from the church. The Ministers Conference will be held on Thursday, September 27 at First Baptist Church of Bloomington. Speakers for the events will be Da-vid Fitch, Shane Claiborne, Tony Campolo, and Sharon Koh. Please make plans to attend this very important meeting of our region. More information and registration materials will be coming soon.

June 2018 Email: [email protected] web: www.abcgrr.org Online edition interactive





2018 CalendarJuly


August:



September:


28 - 29: GRR Annual Assembly First Baptist Church 2502 East College Avenue Bloomington, IL and’ The Chateau Hotel 1521 Jumer /Drive Bloomington, IL - Break- fast meetings, Saturday.

October:


November:

14 - 16: Space For Grace: Thy Will Be Done Philadelphia, PA


2018 Annual GatheringChurch Highlight Pages

It was so GREAT to see last years’ highlights sent by churches to be included in the Annual Gathering Pro-gram Book. Last year we asked for churches’ highlights of the 50 years we celebrated as a Region. Your great response has led us to request this again this year. If your church would like to be in-volved, please submit one paragraph describing a particular highlight(s) that took place along with a photo/photos depicting that highlight, keep-ing it to one page giving each church in the GRR the opportunity to share a specific highlight to be published in our Program Book this year. Please submit your paragraph/photo(s) NO LATER THAN August 6th .

Send to [email protected]

************************GRR Website



************************








https://www.firstbaptistbloomington.org/








http://www.abc-usa.org/2018/05/18/registration-opens-for-abhms-highly-anticipated-space-for-grace-2018-urban-retreat/

mailto:debbie%40abcgrr.org?subject=Church%20Highlight%20Pages%20for%20Annual%20Gathering


Our small church, which averages 50 on a Sunday morning, saw the need at Bacone. Three of our members went there last year with a group of American Baptists, on a work project. We discovered that significant storm damage had oc-curred to one of their dormitories. This happened at a time of a dra-matic increase in enrollment, which resulted in students sleeping in their cars due to the dormitory damage. Last year’s team of American Bap-tists restored 5 dorm rooms.

Another trip had been planned to continue the restoration the week of June 11-15 of this year, but the work trip was cancelled due to the financial crisis at Bacone. Our church board felt that, even though we are a small church with limited resources, that we need to help them financially. We are sending a check for $2,000.

I would challenge the other church-es of our region to help Bacone meet their financial needs by send-ing immediate funds and putting Ba-cone College in your annual church budget so that they can continue to provide a Christ-centered education to Native Americans and others.

Thank you and God bless you for your support.

Brian RomanowskiFirst Baptist Church of Mahomet

GRR Mission Discovery TripTo Costa Rica

Plans are in place for Great Rivers Region Mission Discovery to Costa Rica October 29 - November 6,2018. The group will be limited to 20 per-sons.

• Meet IM missionaries Ruth Mooney, Sue Hagerty, Peter and Sarah McCurdy and Ingrid Roldan-Roman.

• Visit churches that have hosted recent GRR partnership groups as well as visit churches that may host groups in the future.

• Meet with FABCR church pastor and leaders.

• Visit places of historical and cultural interest in Costa Rica including 2 days of tourist activity.

GRR groups have joined in Partner-ship Projects in Costa Rica each year since 1985.

For information contact Dr. John Grisham. [email protected]. Cell/Text:217-553-1560

************************

Bacone College Needs Our Help

Bacone College began in 1880 by Almon Bacone, a missionary teacher with the American Baptist Home Mis-sion Society. The college was started to teach Native Americans and has done so for the past 138 years. That long, rich history of educating Ameri-can Indians could end if Bacone does not receive financial assistance.

(continued in next column)


I was sitting in a meeting a couple of weeks ago and we were discuss-ing the immigration fiasco that was happening at the border. There were many viewpoints shared, mostly with respect and an attitude of listening to others, even when we disagreed. But one person really got our at-tention. She got up to talk about how important immigration was to her because it completely changed life for her and her people. She was a Native American, and she was just reminding us that this illegal immigra-tion wasn’t new to her and her peo-ple. Taking an honest look at history helps us to keep perspective. Maybe we are afraid that the immigrants that are coming in will do to us what we did to the Native Americans. Hope-fully they, and us, will work things out as we love and understand each other, and as we continue to love and understand the words of Jesus. Take a moment to read Matthew 25:34-45, it always helps me.

Bloomington, Sept 27:

Ministers Conference with Dave Fitch.

Bloomington, Sept 28-29:

Dave Fitch, Tony Campolo, Shane Claiborne, Sharon Koh, WHAT A LINEUP! I have already had some people tell me that some of our speakers are quite controversial. I

agree. You can’t take the words of Jesus seriously and not be some-what controversial.

We will schedule some conversation time to share concerns on Saturday morning. I would encourage you to be in prayer for our gathering. Please come.

I will be at two gatherings in Green Lake, the Holy Spirit Conference, and the Missions conference. The Dieselbergs, the Stantons, Paul Rollet and others are home for these gatherings. It will be good to see them. Continue to pray for them and others. Also continue to pray for the people of Puerto Rico in their rebuilding effort. Check out the sis-ter church program and pray about your involvement. There is still much to be done.

And….be rightly related to God and find your joy there, and out of you will flow rivers of living water. Be a vessel that God can pour His love through.

Happy Summering.

************************

Note About Mainstream: There will be only one issue of the Mainstream each month in June and July.

http://www.fbcmahomet.org/


mailto:john%40abcgrr.org?subject=Costa%20Rica%20Discovery%20Trip

http://www.bacone.edu/

http://www.abcgrr.org/annualmeeting/2018/2018%20Bloomington%20IL%20Save%20the%20Date.pdf

http://www.abcgrr.org/annualmeeting/2018/2018%20Bloomington%20IL%20Save%20the%20Date.pdf

http://glcc.org/2018-conference-schedule.html

http://glcc.org/2018-conference-schedule.html

http://www.abc-usa.org/2018/02/22/iglesias-bautistas-de-puerto-rico-abcusa-sister-churches-initiative-announced/

http://www.abc-usa.org/2018/02/22/iglesias-bautistas-de-puerto-rico-abcusa-sister-churches-initiative-announced/



The Mainstream

Rivers Growth ConferenceSeptember 28 - 29, 2018

The Rivers Growth Conference (Formerly, Annual Assembly) will be held at the First Baptist Church of Bloomington located at 2502 East College Avenue, Bloomington IL. Please note that this is a change from previous years. All meetings and meals except Saturday morn-ing breakfast meetings will be held at the church. The breakfast meet-ings will be held at the hotel. We will be staying at The Chateau Hotel located at 1621 Jumer Dr, Bloomington, IL. The hotel is a short distance from the church. Use the Block Code ABCGRR to receive the discounted rate of $99.00 + tax per night (available until Aug. 24th) Call the hotel at (309) 662- 2020. The Ministers Conference will be held on Thursday, September 27 at First Baptist Church of Bloomington. Speakers for the events will be Da-vid Fitch, Shane Claiborne, Tony Campolo, and Sharon Koh. Please make plans to attend this very important meeting of our region.

Registration Information: Rivers Growth Conference: $20.00Ministers Conference: $15.00

Download form or register online @ www.abcgrr.org/#growth

July 2018 Email: [email protected] web: www.abcgrr.org Online edition interactive





2018 Calendar

August:



September:


28 - 29: Rivers Growth Conference First Baptist Church 2502 East College Avenue Bloomington, IL and’ The Chateau Hotel 1521 Jumer /Drive Bloomington, IL - Break- fast meetings, Saturday.

October:


November:




Great Rivers RegionFBC Decatur, IL Welcomes: Barb Reed and Paul Reed

************************2018 Annual GatheringChurch Highlight Pages

It was so GREAT to see last years’ highlights sent by churches to be included in the Annual Gathering Pro-gram Book. Last year we asked for churches’ highlights of the 50 years we celebrated as a Region. Your great response has led us to request this again this year. If your church would like to be in-volved, please submit one paragraph describing a particular highlight(s) that took place along with a photo/photos depicting that highlight, keep-ing it to one page giving each church in the GRR the opportunity to share a specific highlight to be published in our Program Book this year. Please submit your paragraph/photo(s) NO LATER THAN August 6th .

Send to [email protected]










http://www.abcgrr.org/#growth






mailto:debbie%40abcgrr.org?subject=Church%20Highlight%20Pages%20for%20Annual%20Gathering


20 Years of ServiceFor Debbie Naugle

The Great Riv-ers Region would like to recognize Debbie Naugle for her 20 years of service in the GRR office. Debbie started working for

the GRR on July 15, 1998. Debbie works very hard and is especially busy planning and coordinating the Rivers Growth Conference (An-nual Assembly). Thank you Debbie for your continued service.

************************GRR Mission Discovery Trip

To Costa RicaPlans are in place for Great Riv-ers Region Mission Discovery to Costa Rica October 29 - November 6,2018. The group will be limited to 20 persons.




• Visit places of historical and cultural interest in Costa Rica GRR groups have joined in Partner-ship Projects in Costa Rica each year since 1985.

For information contact Dr. John Grisham. [email protected]. Cell/Text: 217 - 553 - 1560

2018 - 2019 Gernenz-Shurtleff & Wilcoxen

Scholarship RecipientsMathew Briggs, Emily Bright, Hannah Brimner, Kayla Brimner, Hope Cash, Noah Cash, Caroline Costello, Melissa DeBall, Levi DeWitt, Kathryn Dunning, Madeline Dunning, Joshua Ekberg, Moses Gary, Alyssa Goss, Amy Gruschka, Max Gruschka, Joshua Henderson, Whitney Brianne Hirano, Elizabeth Ann Lamkin, James Lea-ton, Audrey LeVault, Emma Loeppky, Kamryn Malenius, Kaylie Malenius, Connor McBride, Matthew McGlaugh-lin, Taylor McGlaughlin, Adam Meyer, Lindsey Morgan, Mariah Myrtil, Andi Phelps, Kaycee Robinson, Clay-ton Savage, Kayden Savage, Anna Sawyer, Jared Shotton, Nate Shot-ton, Zachary Shotton, Braden Smith, Maw Rach Taw, Ryan Taylor, Hannah Warfel, and Alexandra Weber

2018-2019 Harold O Long Scholarship Recipients

Courtney Kliment-Haworth and Robert Lee

************************

FBC El Paso, IL Celebrating 160 Years

First Baptist Church of El Paso, Il is celebrating 160 years of ministry on August 5, 2018. The celebration will begin with the morning worship service with communion at 10:30 a.m.. An open house will be held at South Pointe Park from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. featuring live music, games, a magic show at 2:00 by Rev. Ed Haun, and refreshments. Everyone is invited to attend.


Melissa and I were blessed to be able to attend the World Mission Conference at Green Lake a couple of weeks ago. What an inspiring time! We met many missionaries who are home on leave, including our very own Larry and Becky Stanton. We also met several missionaries who are preparing to begin their mission work. Two couples that will soon be heading to the mission field are Brian and Lynette Smith - Haiti, and Mark and Alise Juanes-Thailand. These two families are wonderful people and would appreci-ate your prayers. Thanks to Sharon Koh and our own Reg Mills for put-ting on a great conference.

September 27 - 29, 2018 make plans to attend the best conference around. With speakers like Dave Fitch, Shane Claiborne, Tony Cam-polo and Sharon Koh, you will not find a more inspirational conference. Dave Fitch (Northern Seminary) leads the Ministers’ Conference on Sept 27th, and the other speakers will join him for our annual assembly, September 28 - 29. This year we are calling our annual assembly “The Rivers Growth Conference”. Reg-ister now on our web page.

MMBB is providing the meal for our Ministers’ Conference and ABC-GRR is covering the cost of our closing luncheon together. This is a great deal--don’t pass it up! Register now on our web page.

Missionaries. We are blessed to have Corenne and Phil Smith - Bra-zil, and Laura Parajon - Nicaragua, joining us at the Growth Conference. They have great stories to share about what God is doing in their areas. We are also blessed to have Sharon Koh, the Executive Direc-tor of IM with us. Register now on our web page.

Mission Trip February 12 - 26, 2019, Philippines and Thailand. If interested, contact the regional office. Estimated cost of this trip will be around $2,800/person.

Have you made your plans to attend the Rivers Growth Confer-ence, September 27 - 29? I hope to see as many of our pastors and lay people there as possible. You will be challenged and inspired. We have scholarships available if you need help to attend. Register now on our web page.

Remember, be rightly related to God and find your joy there, then out of you will flow rivers of living water. Be a vessel that God can pour His love through.

************************GRR Website

GRR Webmaster: Richard Ricks: Email: [email protected]

God leading you to work in web design and related fields? Check out your local community college for training opportunities..





The Mainstream

August 2018 No. 1 Email: [email protected] web: www.abcgrr.org Online edition interactive

2018 CalendarAugust:


September:



October:


November:


************************

GRR WebsiteGRR Webmaster: Richard Ricks: Email: [email protected]


The Rivers Growth Conference (Formerly, Annual Assembly) will be held at the First Baptist Church of Bloomington located at 2502 East College Av-enue, Bloomington IL. Please note that this is a change from previous years. All meetings and meals except Saturday morning breakfast meetings will be held at the church. The breakfast meetings will be held at the hotel. We will be staying at The Chateau Hotel located at 1621 Jumer Dr, Bloom-ington, IL. The hotel is a short distance from the church. Use the Block Code ABCGRR to receive the discounted rate of $99.00 + tax per night (available until Aug. 24th) Call the hotel at (309) 662- 2020.

The Ministers Conference will be held on Thursday, September 27 at First Baptist Church of Bloomington.

Speakers:

Shane Claiborne is a prominent speaker, activist, and bestselling author. Shane worked with Mother Teresa in Cal-cutta, and founded The Simple Way in Philadelphia. He heads up Red Letter Christians, a movement of folks who are committed to living “as if Jesus meant the things he said. Shane is a champion for grace which has led him to jail advocating for the homeless, and to places like Iraq and Afghanistan to stand against war.

David Fitch is B. R. Lindner Chair of Evangelical Theol-ogy at Northern Seminary Chicago, IL. He’s married to Rae Ann and they have one child, a son Max. He’s pastored and participated in many church plants including Life on the Vine Christian Community a missional church in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago of the Christian and Missionary Alli-ance. Most recently he and his family have joined Peace of Christ Church, Westmont, a church planted from Life on the Vine. He writes on the issues the local church must face in Mission including cultural engagement, leadership and theology. (continued on page 2)


Baptist History and Polity Course

Are you interested in becoming a Baptist minister, and wonder where to start? Are you ordained from another church background and want to be recognized as an American Baptist minister? This course is required for transfer of credentials, or for gradu-ation from the Alternative Ministerial Education program of the ABCGRR. Dr. Adrian Lamkin, an expert in Baptist history and a retired history professor, who is now serving an Area III church, will lead this class in an exciting tour through our past, at the ABCGRR Resource Center in Springfield on August 24-25. The cost is $50, plus a book. You will need to provide your own meals and over-night lodging, if needed. For more information and an enroll-ment form, contact Debbie Naugle at the GRR office. For questions about the class or about Alternative Ministe-rial Education, contact Paul Maitland at [email protected] or 309.691.3387.













http://www.shaneclaiborne.com/new-page/

mailto:pmait%40att.net?subject=Baptist%20History%20and%20Polity



Plans are in place for Great Riv-ers Region Mission Discovery to Costa Rica October 29 - November 6,2018. The group will be limited to 20 persons.






************************

The Church Revitalization Initia-tive is designed to help committed pastors and church leaders who are willing to do what it takes to revital-ize their church. The Initiative is comprised of pastors and church leaders who have helped lead their churches to healthy revitalized con-gregations. If you are feeling stagnant and/or undecided how to move forward, please email me ([email protected]) and we can discuss your situation and determine if the team can be of service to you. Rev. Wally Holt

brought these two together and are looking forward to a week of celebrat-ing with friends and family.

The second big event is our Annual Assembly that will be in Bloomington on the last weekend in September. This year we are calling it “The Rivers Growth Conference”. We have the Ministers’ Conference on Thursday, September 27, with Dave Fitch as our speaker, and then The Rivers Growth Conference takes place on Friday and Saturday, September 28 - 29. We have wonderful speakers and presenters including, Shane Clai-borne, as our main speaker for the Growth Conference, Tony Campolo, Sharon Koh, and missionaries Lau-ra Parajon and Philip and Corenne Smith. Plan on attending—you will be challenged and encouraged in your walk with Jesus. I hope to see you there!

One more thing…Be rightly related to God and find your joy there, and out of you will flow rivers of living water. Be a vessel that God can pour His love through. Let it flow!

***********************

GRR Mission Trip to the Philippines and Thailand

Paul and Melissa Gibson and John and Laura Rollet will be leading a mission trip to the Phillippines and Thailand Feb 12-26, 2019. For more information contact [email protected].

Rivers Growth Conference(continued)

Tony Campolo is an alumnus and professor emeritus of soci-ology at Eastern University in St. David’s, Penn-sylvania. He is

an ordained Baptist minister and evangelist, presently serving as an associate pastor of the Mount Carmel Baptist Church in West Philadelphia, which is affiliated with both the National Baptist Con-vention, USA, Inc. and the American Baptist Churches USA

Sharon Koh is an ordained American Baptist minister and the Executive Direc-tor of International Ministries.

Missionaries: Laura Parajon and Philip and Corenne Smith

If your church has taken a mission trip this past year or if you are a part of the sister church program, please contact the office and let us know. We want to highlight your church at The Rivers Growth Conference.

Please make plans to attend this very important meeting of our region.



A Word From PaulGibson, ABCGRR ExecutiveMinister Why is the church

growing in so many places overseas but seems to be declining in Amer-ica? One answer I heard seemed to make sense because in many of those countries the government and the economy were not the best. It is happening because the Gospel is not tied to the economy or nationalism. In many cases the church is growing despite a government that opposes it. Their hope is in Jesus Christ and not in the leadership of their country nor their economy.

Another question for each to con-sider. Do you love Jesus? Does He know that? How would He know? He knows we love Him if we are living out His teachings. He makes it simple by giving us two command-ments and then He says the two are one in the same. Love God and love your neighbor. Mt 22:37-40. I have had a great time this summer visiting several of our churches to worship and to celebrate anniversa-ries. I worshipped with the people at FBC in Oak Park and FBC in Jer-seyville and then celebrated a 150th anniversary with the folks at Deer Creek Baptist Church led by Pastor Steve Evans.

As the summer comes to an end there are two big events that are on my mind. First, and most important, is a wedding taking place in Nashville on Sept 1st for our daughter, Emily, and her fiancé, Adam Hendren. Me-lissa and I are very excited that God


mailto:melissa%40abcgrr.org?subject=mission%20trip%20to%20Philippines





The Mainstream

“as if Jesus meant the things he said”. Shane is a champion for grace which has led him to jail advocating for the homeless, and to places like Iraq and Afghanistan to stand against war.

David Fitch is B. R. Lindner Chair of Evan-gelical Theol-ogy at Northern Seminary. He’s married to Rae Ann and they have one child, a son Max. He has pastored and participated in many church plants including Life on the Vine Christian Community, a missional church in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago of the Christian and Missionary Alli-ance. Most recently he and his family have joined Peace of Christ Church, Westmont, a church planted from Life on the Vine. He writes on the issues the local church must face in mission including cultural engage-ment, leadership and theology. Tony Campolo is an alumnus and professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern Univer-sity in St. David’s, Pennsylvania. He is an ordained Baptist minister and evangelist, (continued on page 2)

August 2018 No. 2 Email: [email protected] web: www.abcgrr.org Online edition interactive

2018 CalendarSeptember:



October:


November:


************************GRR Website



The Rivers Growth Conference (Formerly, Annual Assembly) will be held at the First Baptist Church of Bloomington located at 2502 East College Avenue, Bloomington IL. Please note that this is a change from previous years. All meetings and meals except Saturday morn-ing breakfast meetings will be held at the church. The breakfast meetings will be held at the hotel. We will be staying at The Chateau Hotel located at 1621 Jumer Dr, Bloomington, IL. Call the hotel at (309) 662- 2020.

The Ministers Conference will be held on Thursday, September 27 at First Baptist Church of Bloomington.Dave Fitch will be the conference leader.

Speakers:

Shane Claiborne is a prominent speaker, activist, and bestselling au-thor. Shane worked with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, and founded The Simple Way in Philadelphia. He heads up Red Letter Christians, a movement of folks who are committed to living

Be a vessel that God can pour his love through. Let It FlowThe Church Revitalization Initiative

(CRI) is designed to help committed pastors and church leaders who are willing to do what it takes to revitalize their church. The Initiative is com-prised of pastors and church leaders who have helped lead their churches to healthy revitalized congregations. If you are feeling stagnant and/or undecided how to move forward, please email me ([email protected]) and we can discuss your situation and determine if the team can be of service to you.

Rev. Wally Holt

************************





Rivers Growth Conference

September 28 - 29

Bloomington First Baptist Church











mailto:wallyholt63%40gmail.com?subject=Church%20Revitalization%20Initiative










************************


Paul and Melissa Gibson and John and Laura Rollet will be lead-ing a mission trip to the Phillippines and Thailand Feb 12-26, 2019. For more information contact [email protected].

Here is how I responded:

Sometimes we get away from what and who we are to be.We are sup-posed to be people who represent Je-sus and allow His spirit to flow through us. When that happens, we demon-strate His love, joy, peace, gentleness, kindness, faithfulness, goodness, patience, and self-control. Would you like to be around people like that?

Then I asked him this question: “Do you see that in me, my friends and my church?” What about your friends, do they see that in you and your church?

Two things I want you to be pray-ing about in the coming weeks and months. 1. Our gathering in Bloomington is only a few weeks away and I hope to see you there. I am excited about the missionaries that will be there and our speakers. My prayer is that we would experience the presence of Jesus in a powerful way as we come together. 2. We continue to have churches show interest in our Church Re- vitalization Initiative. Wally Holt is leading us through this process as we take a serious look at our churches and ministry. If your church is struggling as you look ahead to the next five years, prayerfully consider being involved with this initiative. We want all of our churches, and our region, to be vessels that God can pour his love through.

As always, be rightfully related to God and find your joy there, then out of you will flow rivers of living water. Be a vessel that God can pour his love through. Let it flow!

Paul

Rivers Growth Conference(continued)presently serving as an associate pastor of the Mount Carmel Baptist Church in West Philadelphia, which is affiliated with both the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. and the American Baptist Churches USA

Sharon Koh is an ordained American Baptist minister and the Executive Direc-tor of International Ministries.

Missionaries: Dr. Laura Parajon and her husband, David, have been serving in health ministry since 2001, sharing Christ’s love and healing through AMOS Health and Hope in Nicaragua.

Philip and Corenne Smith serve in Brazil ministering to children who are part of a residential program that rescues homeless street children and youth ranging in age from 8 to 18.

If your church has taken a mission trip this past year or if you are a part of the sister church program, please contact the office and let us know. We want to highlight your church at The Rivers Growth Conference.





“You can’t handle the truth!”

Do you remember that phrase spo-ken some years back from a well known movie? Well, I heard it the other day from someone who wasn’t sure if the church really wanted to face the truth.

But, before I get into that conversa-tion, here is the most important truth for me this week: Our daughter Em-ily is getting married!

We are in Nashville this week with friends and family getting ready for the wedding of Adam Hendren and Emily Gibson. Our little girl will be getting married on September 1st and we are so excited. There are a lot of important things happening around the world right now, but none of it is more important for our fam-ily than this momentous event. It’s wonderful when you see two people who were obviously made for each other, end up together. We thank God for this young couple and the way that they love and care for family and friends around them.

Now, back to the conversation I opened this column with...the person continued: “Not only do people not care what the church says anymore, but people don’t even want to go to church anymore. You have become irrelevant and you don’t even under-stand that. You make a lot of noise, but nobody really cares.” Then the person waited for my response.

What would you say?




mailto:debbie%40abcgrr.org?subject=Our%20Church%27s%20Mission%20trip%20this%20year




The Mainstream

September 2018 No. 1 Email: [email protected] web: www.abcgrr.org Online edition interactive




October:


November:


************************GRR Website


Rivers Growth Conference and Ministers’ ConferenceSeptember 27 - 29, 2018

Thursday, September 27: Ministers’ Conference

Conference Leader: David Fitch is B. R. Lindner Chair of Evangelical Theology at Northern Seminary. First Baptist Church of Bloomington, 2502 East College Avenue, Bloomington IL.

1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Conference5:00 - 6:30 p.m. Dinner Friday September 28 - Saturday, September 29:


(All meetings and meals except the breakfasts are to be at the church)

Speakers:

Shane Claiborne is a prominent speaker, activist, and bestselling author. Tony Campolo is an alumnus and professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University.

Sharon Koh is an ordained American Baptist minister and the Executive Director of International Ministries. . (continued on page 2)



Rev. Wally Holt

************************






September 28 - 29





















************************GRR Mission Trip to the Philippines and Thailand

Paul and Melissa Gibson and John and Laura Rollet will be lead-ing a mission trip to the Phillippines and Thailand Feb 12-26, 2019. For more information contact [email protected].

************************New Members of theChurches of the GRR

First Baptist Church, Decatur, IL Welcomes: Arthur Michaels and Ginger Wilson

Ministers’ Conference. Dave Fitch will be there and he has a great experi-ence planned for us. If not a pastor, I look forward to seeing you on Friday and Saturday for our gathering called “The Rivers Growth Conference”. It will be wonderful. Plan to be there.3. We just had a full day at the office. The Shurtleff group met and handed out about $100,000 to some very wor-thy ministries in our region. Much of it was given to four campus ministries in our region.4. COMSAO met with four candidates for ordination and had a blessed time interviewing them and approv-ing them. You will be hearing more from these four wonderful ladies in the future.Final thoughts and prayer concerns: We have some very fine people in our region who are dealing with some very serious health problems. Several of themare battling cancer. Please be praying. Lee Spitzer, the General Secretary of our denomination and close friend to many of us, discovered a short while ago that he had serious heart problems. That led to serious surgery just a few days ago. He will be recov-ering for about two months. Please keep him, his wife Lois, and their extended family in your prayers.What can you and I do during all of this? Be rightly related to God and find your joy there, and out of you will flow rivers of living water. Be a vessel that God can pour His love through. LET IT FLOW.


Schedule: Friday, September 27:Ministers and Spouses Luncheon: 11:45 a.m.

Regional Business Meeting: 2:00 p.m.

First Session: Panel Discussion: 2:30 p.m

Mission Banquet: 5:00 pm

Missionaries: Dr. Laura Parajon serving in Nicaragua.

Philip and Corenne Smith serving in Brazil.

Second Session: 7:00 p.m.

Reception: 9:10 p.m.

Saturday, September 29:

Breakfasts (ABWomen/ABMen)7:30 a.m. - Chateau Hotel

Informal Conversations: 9:15 a.m.

Third Session: 10:15 am

Lunch: 12:30 p.m.(Provided by the Great Rivers Re-gion)




(Online registration closes on Sep-termber 14. Walk-in registration at the event is available)


The water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. John 4:14 “The picture our Lord described here is not that of a simple stream of water, but an overflowing fountain. Continue to “be filled” (Ephesians 5:18) and the sweetness of your vital relationship to Jesus will flow as generously out of you as it has been given to you. If you find that His life is not springing up as it should, you are to blame—something is obstruct-ing the flow. Was Jesus saying to stay focused on the Source so that you may be blessed personally? No, you are to focus on the Source so that out of you will flow rivers of living water, irrepressible life” (Oswald Chambers) What’s flowing out of you? Ask the people around you, you may be surprised. Let His love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, patience and self-con-trol, flow from Him, through you, to others.Here is what else is on my mind.1. More than wonderful. That is how Melissa and I felt about our wedding experience with our daughter Em-ily, her now husband, Adam Hen-dren, and many more of our family and friends. It was a fantastic and blessed time.2. I look forward to seeing you in a few weeks in Bloomington. If you are a pastor, I plan to see you at the







The Mainstream

Friday September 28 - Saturday, September 29:

Rivers Growth Conference (All meetings and meals except the breakfasts are to be at the church)

Speakers:

Shane Claiborne is a prominent speaker, activist, and bestselling author.

Tony Campolo is an alumnus and professor emeritus of soci-ology at Eastern University.

Sharon Koh is an ordained American Baptist minister and the Executive Director ofInternational Ministries.

(continued on page 2)

September 2018 No. 2 Email: [email protected] web: www.abcgrr.org Online edition interactive




October:


November:


************************GRR Website


Rivers Growth Conference and Ministers’ Conference

September 27 - 29, 2018

First Baptist Church of Bloomington,

2502 East College Avenue,Bloomington IL.

Thursday, September 27: Ministers’ Conference with David Fitch, B. R. Lindner Chair of Evangelical Theology at Northern Seminary

1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Conference5:00 - 6:30 p.m. Dinner

Conference Cost: $15.00

In this issue...

- Ministers Conference & Rivers Growth Conference pp 1-2 - Regional Minister’s Column p 2 - Update on Lee Spitzer p 3 - Mission Trip Opportunities p 3 - Update on Larry Stanton p 3 - CRI p 4 - GRR Calendar p 4



Rev. Wally Holt

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September 28 - 29






https://tonycampolo.org/

http://internationalministries.org

http://internationalministries.org

















************************Update on Larry Stanton

Larry Stanton is serving refugees in Bosnia. Recently, he and Pastor Zoltán Nyúl visited refugee camps in Sarajevo and along the western border of Bosnia and Herzegovina. “The Holy Spirit showed us the great needs and great opportuni-ties to share the love of Christ with the refugees and our brothers and sisters (and non-believers) serving them.” Larry will be back in Illinois this week to attend the Rivers Growth Conference.. This is a great time to talk with him about his ministry and joining his support team.

renewal. It is also like a familyreunion in that we will be together with folks from around the region that we don’t see that often. I hope to see you there.

UPDATE ON LEE SPITZER. Many of you know that Lee, the General Secretary of ABCUSA, had sudden heart surgery just a few short weeks ago. The surgery was successful, and he is at home resting. He will need about two months for recovery so continue to pray for him and his family. Jeff Woods will be filling in for Lee during these crucial months, so also be praying for Jeff.

This last month I was asked to be on the IM (International Ministries) Board. With the approval of our Regional Board, I will be accepting the request. Many of you know that I have a big heart for international missions, so this is something that I am excited to be a part of.

So, be rightly related to God and find your joy there and out of you will flow rivers of living water. Be a vessel that God can pour His love through.


Paul and Melissa Gibson and John and Laura Rollet will be leading a mission trip to the Phillippines and Thailand Feb 12-26, 2019. For more information contact [email protected].


Schedule: Friday, September 27:Ministers and Spouses Luncheon: 11:45 a.m.

Regional Business Meeting: 2:00 p.m.

First Session: Panel Discussion: 2:30 p.m

Mission Banquet: 5:00 pm

Missionaries: Dr. Laura Parajon serving in Nicaragua.

Philip and Corenne Smith serving in Brazil.

Second Session: 7:00 p.m.

Reception: 9:10 p.m.

Saturday, September 29:

Breakfasts (ABWomen/ABMen)7:30 a.m. - Chateau Hotel

Informal Conversations: 9:15 a.m.

Third Session: 10:15 am

Lunch: 12:30 p.m.(Provided by the Great Rivers Re-gion)

Registration Information: Rivers Growth Conference: $20.00

Walk-in registration at the event is available.



I am convinced that if we are rightly connected to God and are willing to allow His spirit to flow through us, that people will enjoy being around us and connecting with us. Look at Jesus, the com-mon folk loved being around Him.

If we demonstrate love, joy, peace, gentleness, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, patience, and self-con-trol, (Gal. 5:22-23) people will love our company and want to spend time with us. Do people feel those fruits of the Spirit when they are around you, your home, or your church? What is flowing through you?

Even if we would just choose three--kindness, patience and self-control--I think it would have a huge effect on people, especially in our churches. I share this in response to a per-son telling me the reason many of our churches are struggling is that no one wants to be around them. Then to even add injury to insult, they said that even children don’t want to go to their parents’ churches. Look around, is that true?

If it is true, let’s repent and get on with it. We have His Spirit in us that can transform and reform. Let’s re-vitalize. Let Jesus come alive in you and yours.

This is our big weekend. We will be gathering in Bloomington for our annual meeting, aka Growth Confer-ence, and a time of reflection and






The Mainstream

May 9 - 11, 2019 we will have a joint conference with Northern Seminary and Judson University. The title/theme of the conference will be REsource--Renewed Energy from the Source, who is Jesus.

ABCGRR -- One body. The Great Rivers Region is made up of many churches, large and small, working together to be the presence of Jesus Christ. Not only are we doing this work in our city/state/region, but we are joining together to support global servants who are serving Jesus all over the world. I thank God for our churches that support each other, pray for each other, and encourage each other to do God’s work.

I felt like I was on the mountaintop after listening to our speakers and global servants at the Growth Con-ference, but the experiences on the mountaintop are meant to make us stronger as we go into the valley where God has called us. Now it’s up to us. So, be rightly related God and find your joy there and out of you will flow rivers of living waters. Be a vessel that God can pour His love through

October 2018 No. 1 Email: [email protected] web: www.abcgrr.org Online edition interactive

Calendar2018

October:


November:

2 - 4: ABY Gathering FBC Jacksonville, IL


2019

January:

18 - 21: SKWIM Green Lake Conference Center, Green Lake, WI

March:

9: Area V Annual Meeting April:

13: Area III Annual Meeting FBC Champaign at Savoy, IL

26 - 27: GRR Clergy Spouse Retreat - LSBCMay:

9 - 11: RESOURCE Leadership Conference The Chateau Hotel & Conference Center Bloomington, IL


This is Pastor Appreciation Month. I really appreciate the pastors in our region and I hope that each of you will take time to let them know that you appreciate them. I think we should include our global servants as well and suggest that you choose a global servant and send them a gift to let them know you appreciate them and are praying for them. You know we have great global servants when the main speakers at the Growth Conference, who speak all over the world, tell you they were impressed by the global servants they heard at the conference.

Our Growth Conference in Bloom-ington was one for the books. I heard repeatedly how meaning-ful it was to those who attended. If you were there, you know what I’m talking about. From our speakers to our global servants, it was powerful. If you weren’t there, go to our web site to hear what was said. The Holy Spirit was moving. Let it flow!

We are moving from an annual gathering to a biennial, which means our next gathering of church-es for the Great Rivers Region will be in September 2020. However,



Rev. Wally Holt

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https://www.abcgrr.org

https://www.abcgrr.org





The Rivers Growth Conference

Shane Claiborne shared about his ministry in Philadelphia.

Sharon Koh provided updates of mission work by global servants around the world

Tony Campolo preached at the Clergy/Spouse Luncheon and was part of the panel discussion.

David Fitch led the Ministers Conference on Thursday and was part of the panel discussion on Friday.

David Bilyeu waselected president of the Great Rivers Region for the next 2 years per bylaw changes establishing biennial gatherings.

Melissa Gibson and David Rogers led the music of the conference along with Dean Williams, Brenda Donley, Claudia McCain, Diane Russell and Russell Zehr

The GRR Family together at FBC, Bloomington,

Panel Discussion participants were Tony Campolo, David Fitch, Sharon Koh, and Shane Claiborne with Paul Gibson serving as convener.



The Mainstream

GRR Business NewsSome changes were made in the GRR during our annual gathering in Bloomington in September. 1. It was decided to go to a biennial instead of an annual meeting. That means our next gathering will be in September 2020 and will be every two years instead of every year. 2. The number of officers of the Regional Ministry Board was also changed. We now will only have a president and a vice-president. We removed the second vice-president and changed the term of office to two years. Our three ministry committees remain the same.

3. Our new president is David Bi-lyeu, pastor at FBC Greenville, and our vice president is Claudia McCain, retired pastor from FBC Macomb. 4. In May of 2019, 2021, and 2023, we will be sponsoring a conference with Northern Seminary and Judson University. It is called the REsource Conference, and will be held in Bloomington, May 9-11, 2019. Plan now to attend this great gathering.

5. Our region voted to accept a new ministry to officially be affiliated with ABCGRR. That ministry is the American Baptist Jail Ministry, also known as the Cook County Jail Min-istry. They have ministry at the Cook County jails, Livingston County JailDanville State (continued on p. 4)

October 2018 No. 2 Email: [email protected] web: www.abcgrr.org Download Color or B&W for printing. Online edition interactive

Calendar2018

November:

2 - 4: ABY Gathering FBC Jacksonville, IL


2019

January:


March:

9: Area V Annual Meeting April:


26 - 27: GRR Clergy Spouse Retreat - LSBCMay:



New Members of the Churches of the

Great Rivers RegionFirst Baptist Church of Greenville, IL Welcomes: Alexandria LaFaye and Theresa Matheny

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Videos Now Available

Rivers Growth Conference (2018 Annual Gathering) are now available in streaming (from this site) and dvd formats. (Contact the office of the GRR for dvd ordering information.)

Experience again - or for the first time - witness of God’s work presented by David Fitch, Shane Claiborne, Tony Campolo, Sharon Koh, and Wally Holt (GRR church revitalization).


The Church Revitization Initiative is designed to help committed pastors and church leaders who are willing to do what it takes to revitalize their churches. The Initiative is comprised of pastors and church leaders who have helped lead their churches to healthy revitalized congregations.

If you are feeling stagnant and/or un-decided how to move forward, please email me; ([email protected]) and we can discuss your situation and determine if the team can be of service to you.

Because we are all one family (of God), the Great Rivers Region has put together this initiative so that all will know we are here for each other. If you think you may be interested in some counsel concerning the health/vitality of your church, please contact me.


************************

GRR Business News (continued from page 1))Penitentiary, and the penitentiary outside Joliet. If you receive any info from them, just know that they are now an official ministry partner with ABCGRR. We are proud to be involved with this great ministry.





http://abcgrr.org/mainstream

http://www.abcgrr.org/mainstream





http://www.abcgrr.org/annualmeeting/2018/index.htm#videos


During this last part of the year we are taking two very special offerings.

- World Missions Offering,

- Retired Ministers and Missionar-ies.

I know not all churches take both, but if you still want to give to them you can give through the region.

Someone asked me the other day, “why should we be a part of the region?” I had a ready answer. We can do more together than we can do separately. No one church can support all the missionaries and other ministries out there, but together we can reach way beyond what just one church could do. The other reason to belong is that we need each other. We never want to get to the point where we believe we don’t need each other. We are brothers and sisters in the work and each of us plays a part, whether we are a large or small church. Each of us is important. Be the presence of Je-sus in your community and together we will reach out to be the presence of Jesus all over the world.

Remember...Be rightly related to God and find your joy there, and out of you will flow rivers of living water. Be a vessel that God can pour His love through.

A Word From Paul Gibson, ABCGRR Executive Minister

I heard something the other day that keeps going around in my head and has me thinking of all kinds of things. It was a statement by Ron-ald Godbee at Northern Seminary’s Founders’ Day. “You can’t have a stuck church with a moving God”. If your church is stuck, examine yourselves to see if you have done something to stop God from moving in and through you. If Jesus is alive and well in your church, you will be moving, maybe not always comfort-able, but there will be activity.

What about it? We could say the same thing about our personal lives. If we feel stuck maybe we are doing something to keep God from moving in our lives. How do we know He is moving? Here are words that I think we can use to help us identify when God is moving: love, joy, peace, pa-tience, goodness, kindness, gentle-ness, faithfulness, and self-control. If those words are actively running in and through our personal lives and in our churches, then I believe we will see a moving God, a risen Christ, a Spirit led life.

DO YOU HAVE MAY 9-11, 2019 ON YOUR CALENDAR FOR OUR RESOURCE CONFERENCE IN BLOOMINGTON? The Great Rivers Region is joining with Judson Univer-sity and Northern Seminary to bring some great things your way. Plan now to attend.

First Baptist Church of Greenville Receives the

ABCUSA Matthew 25 GrantThe First Baptist Church of Green-ville, IL received news that the church has been awarded a Matthew 25 Grant from the American Baptist Churches USA. Thirty-eight grants, ranging from $500 to $2,100 were awarded to applicants who demon-strated a wide variety of service to people in need across the United States and Puerto Rico.

Six of the 23 programs the church has going at the present time include “Get to Know Your Neighbor,” Camp Scholarships, Community Seminars, the Clothes Closet, School Sup-plies, and a community Thanksgiving Dinner. The funds received will be used for one to three of the specified projects between now and 2019.

“One can hardly expect persons to hear God’s Word unless they first experience the love of God’s people. Christ-followers are called to deeds of love that care and share,” says the Rev. David S. Bilyeu, the church’s pastor. “We are humbled to have been recognized by our denomina-tion as a church that is living out the principles of Matthew 25. We rec-ognize that when we serve those in need, we are serving Christ,” contin-ues the pastor.

The Matthew 25 Grant is sponsored by the ABCUSA Office of the General Secretary and the Board of General Ministries. It is funded by a gener-ous anonymous donor. The goal is to help meet the needs of “housing, feeding, education, and health with regard to the less fortunate.” The Matthew 25 Grant initiative began in 2013.

Church NewsHarvard Park Baptist Church of Springfield IL is pleased to anounce that MaryJean (Richardson) Sheets was ordained as a Minister of the Gospel, and was installed as the Pastor of Spiritual Formation and Community Outreach on August 26, 2018. MaryJean graduated from Lin-coln Christian University in May 2015 with dual Bachelor Degrees in Bible and Intercultural Studies. She has completed the Alternative Ministerial Education (Seminary) program and practicum under American Baptist Churches in the Great Rivers Region. Pastor Gary W. Sheets has served at Harvard Park since 2014. Gary and MaryJean were married on Janu-ary 6, 2018. Both are members of the Springfield Vicinity Ministerial Al-liance, and have a vision for Harvard Park Baptist Church to become a vibrant Community Center.

* * * * *

First Baptist Church of El Paso, IL is pleased to announce that Lingxi Zhu will be ordained on November 4, 2018 at 4:00 p.m. She was licensed by the church earlier this year and serves as Associate Pastor. Lingxi is originally from China and received her Master of Divinity from Sioux Falls Seminary in 2017. Rev. Russ Zehr, interim pastor of the church received his Master of Divinity degree from Northern Seminary in June. The church also celebrated their 160th anniversary on August 5th. Pastor Russ presented a historic account of the church’s origin while costumed as Rev. William Branch, the first pastor of FBC El Paso in 1858.

https://www.internationalministries.org/world-mission-offering/

http://www.abc-usa.org/2016/12/01/now-online-2016-rmmo-materials-english-and-spanish-2/

http://www.abc-usa.org/2016/12/01/now-online-2016-rmmo-materials-english-and-spanish-2/

https://www.abcgrr.org/resource/

http://fbcofgreenvilleillinois.com/

http://fbcofgreenvilleillinois.com/




The Mainstream

Mission Giving Opportunity NightLight International in Bangkok, Thailand, led by IM missionary Annie Dieselberg, has been ministering to Thai women who seek to leave com-mercial sexual exploitation and gain ethical employment. Song Sawang Church, whose lead pastor is Jeff Dieselberg is a safe place for women to worship and to bring their friends and families to introduce them to the love of Christ.

By securing the needed $379,000, a significantly reduced price over mar-ket value, NightLight can purchase the building it currently rents. Fur-thermore, when remodeled, the two buildings together will have enough square footage on the first floor to accommodate Song Sawang Church. Annie and Jeff are excited to see how God is answering the prayers Night-Light has prayed for many years!“What an amazing Christmas gift that will enable Nightlight to continue to minister to countless women who seek dignifying employment, and for the church to provide a way to introduce the families to God’s grace,” says Annie,

International Ministries is excited to announce that, thanks to a generous donor, all gifts to IM for this project up to $100,000 will be DOUBLED between now and De-cember 31, 2018.

November 2018 No. 1 Email: [email protected] web: www.abcgrr.org Download Color or B&W for printing. Online edition interactive

Calendar2019

January:


March:

9: Area V Annual Meeting

29 - 30: Face To Face First Baptist Church Indianapolis, IN April:


26 - 27: GRR Clergy Spouse Retreat - LSBC

May:

4: Area I Annual Meeting Blackhawk Baptist Camp Oregon, IL







************************


Videos of Growth Confer-ence Speakers Now Avail-able

Rivers Growth Conference (2018 Annual Gathering) are now available in streaming (from this site) and dvd formats. (Contact the office of the GRR for dvd ordering information.)



Scholarship programs exist in the Great Rivers Region to assist young people who are members of Great Rivers Region American Baptist Churches to secure a college and/or seminary education. Scholarships for any college student (regardless of major) or seminary student from the Gernenz-Shurtleff/Wilcoxen Scholar-ship are available. Ministerial students attending ABC-related schools and seminaries in preparation for ministry can also apply for the Harold O. Long Scholarship. All applications must be received in the GRR office by April 1, 2019.




************************Missionary News

Ruth Mooney will be retiring at the end of this year, December 31, 2018, after 32 years working with Interna-tional Ministries in El Salvador, Cuba, and Costa Rica. Ruth Vindas of Santo Tomás, Costa Rica, has been appointed to serve as an International Ministries (IM) associate missionary in San José, Costa Rica. She will be replacing Ruth Mooney at the Latin American Biblical University (UBL).











http://www.abc-usa.org/rmmo/

gardens and parks. Shane was very gracious and wanted me to bring greetings to his new friends in the Great Rivers Region.

Lee Spitzer is slowly making a comeback. I also attended the General Board meeting for ABCUSA last week. One of the highlights was a visit from Lee Spitzer on the final day of our meeting. He came and spoke to us and then had some time afterwards for conversation. His re-covery is going well, but slow, as they expected. Please keep Lee and his family, Lois and Josh, in your prayers as they work through the coming months.


I think there are two basic groups within those who call themselves Christians: 1) Those who are using Jesus to get what they want, and 2) Those who are letting Jesus use them to get what He wants. What group do you fit in? What group does your church or organization fit in? Sometimes I think we too easily fit into the first group. We use Jesus to get what we want, but make it seem like it is His doing. I think the second group is always concerned about others, even if it means they must give up something.

What if Jesus really meant the stuff He said? That is what the t-shirt said that I received from Shane Claiborne when I visited “The Simple Way” in Philadelphia last week. Printed on the back of the t-shirt is the Sermon on the Mount. I had a great time walking around

with Shane as he showed me the work they are doing in a rundown neighborhood. They are changing the neighborhood one rowhouse at a time. They are also adding murals on some of the walls and turning

Another highlight of the trip was to see the new building that will be the headquarters for ABCUSA. It is only a few miles from the present building and will be ready to move in around March of 2019. The present building is still in the process of being sold so please continue to pray for that situation.

As we get ready to celebrate the holidays, and especially Thanksgiv-ing, let’s think back on many of those immigrants who left a hostile land to start up again with the help of the people who were already here.

That is what the story of the first Thanksgiving in America is about. We were immigrants and the natives welcomed us. Please be praying for those in other lands who live in fear for their lives and seek a better place.

Be thankful for what you have and be willing to share with those around you. May you and yours have a great Thanksgiving.

And remember, be rightly related to God and find your joy there, and out of you will flow rivers of living water. Be a vessel that God can pour His love through.

Paul

First Baptist Church,Cordova, IL Celebrates

175th AnniversaryOn December 28, 1843, First Bap-tist of Cordova was founded. On October 21, 2018 the church cel-ebrated175 years of worship and Christian fellowship. The day included Sunday School, Morning Worship, lunch andan anniversary program. that fea-tured special music, words from past ministers and special guests, and recognition of founding families of the church. Various photos and displays were exhibited around the church building for all to see. Pictured below are church member Fred Genung and Regional Minister Paul Gibson.


The Church Revitization Initiative is designed to help committed pastors and church leaders who are willing to do what it takes to revitalize their churches. If you are feeling stag-nant and/or undecided how to move forward, please email me; ([email protected]) and we can discuss your situation and determine if the team can be of service to you.

https://speakerpedia.com/speakers/shane-claiborne



https://www.fbccordova.org/

https://www.fbccordova.org/



The Mainstream

GRR Intern Grant Program Many churches have discovered that part-time internship programs provide an effective means for churches to enhance their existing ministries or to explore new ministries during the summer months. These internships not only expand the min-istry of the church, they also provide a significant opportunity for people to explore ministry vocations and to re-ceive meaningful coaching in ministry. The GRR Intern Grant Program is designed to challenge GRR churches to use interns to enhance existing ministries or to explore new minis-tries. Funding of this program is made possible by the Des Peres Legacy. This is how it works: The church designs a ministry that would benefit from a Summer Intern. The design includes the ministry to be done, the time frame for the minis-try, and a plan for ongoing training, coaching and evaluation. The church will prepare a job description for the internship, and commit funds in its regular church budget. Based on the merit of the proposal and the avail-ability of funds, GRR will award a matching grant (up to a maximum of $3,000) to the church for enhancing the financial support of the Intern. Any GRR church in good standing with the Region can apply. Applica-tions are due April 30, 2019. Check the GRR website (www.abcgrr.org) for more information and an application.

November 2018 No. 2 Email: [email protected] web: www.abcgrr.org Download Color or B&W for printing. Online edition interactive

Calendar2019

January:


March:





May:





Great Rivers RegionFirst Baptist Church, East Moline, IL Welcomes: Libby Swanson, Annie Thirtyacre-Inmanm, and Debbie Maddux

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Videos of Growth Confer-ence Speakers Now Avail-ableRivers Growth Conference (2018 Annual Gathering) are now available in streaming (from this site) and dvd formats. (Contact the office of the GRR for dvd ordering information.)







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http://www.abc-usa.org/rmmo/

you, especially by the way you love them and respond to them. Don’t let them steal your joy. “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, sweetest name I know, fills my every longing, keeps me singing as I go.” What song are you singing this Christmas season? Not only is this time of year all about Jesus, but for followers of Jesus, it’s about Him all year long.

What picture of Jesus are you showing people? Do they see love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faith-fulness, gentleness, patience, and self-control? It’s easy to let the busy-ness of the season get in the way of those things.

Merry Christmas to all of you from your regional staff. We pray that you have a safe and blessed Christmas season. May others see Jesus in you.

And remember, be rightly related to God and find your joy there and out of you will flow rivers of living water. Be a vessel that God can pour His love through.

The Church Revitalizaiton Initiative CRI

The Church Revitalization Initiative (CRI) is designed to help committed pastors and church leaders who are willing to do what it takes to revitalize their church. The Initiative is com-prised of pastors and church leaders who have helped lead their churches


It’s here! You see it all around and you hear about it most everywhere.... CHRISTMAS. It includes decora-tions, cookies, lights, trees, carols, programs, family gatherings, pres-ents, shopping, traveling, and so many other things. It’s a great time of year and I hope you enjoy it all. But remember, the true meaning of Christmas centers around the One whose birth we celebrate, Jesus. If you want to give Him something for His birthday, give Him yourself and your service to Him and others. He would enjoy your present of giv-ing to others in His name.

Holiday times don’t make us im-mune to other things happening, and one of those sad things happened to Debbie Naugle and her family on Thanksgiving morning. They re-ceived word that her brother James had passed away sometime during the night. In times like these we are even more thankful for the Christ child, who not only came to give us life, but to give us eternal life. So, we thank God for being with the Naugle family during this time and ask that you will keep them in your prayers.

I know some folk would say that Christmas has become so com-mercialized that it almost makes them sick. The best way to over-come/change that is to make sure you spread the love, joy and peace of Christ to everyone you are around. Let them know that Jesus is alive in

to healthy revitalized congregationsIf you are feeling stagnant and/or un-decided how to move forward, please email me ([email protected]) and we can discuss your situation and determine if the team can be of service to you.

************************News From Jon and Amanda

Good - Global ServantsFrom Hungary

We celebrated this Thanksgiving in an unusual way. Our family attended a conference for area missionaries. As we gathered to worship near this beautiful stream, God interrupted our plans. We had just finished our opening song and a man standing nearby began a conversation with us. He and a few others had come to baptize a family of refugees. They shared with us that there is unprec-edented revival taking place and that many are accepting Jesus. They have witnessed over 100 baptisms this year. Our group of missionaries became the choir for this special occasion. We sang songs of praise as each one came up from the chilly stream. The joy radiating from their faces was as warm as the sun. We praise the Lord for this Thanksgiving Day worship. Please pray for the new Christians and for those who will continue to share the good news of Jesus.

Yours in Christ,

Amanda and Jon Good

Mission Giving Opportunity NightLight International in Bangkok, Thailand, led by IM missionary Annie Dieselberg, has been ministering to Thai women who seek to leave com-mercial sexual exploitation and gain ethical employment. Song Sawang Church, whose lead pastor is Jeff Dieselberg is a safe place for women to worship and to bring their friends and families to introduce them to the love of Christ.

With over 14 years of successful min-istry in Bangkok, Thailand, NightLight has been paying rent for its current location and is at risk of losing the space. Song Sawang Church minis-try has been seeking a new location.

By securing the needed $379,000, a significantly reduced price over market value, NightLight can pur-chase the building it currently rents. This building is adjacent to NightLight Design’s permanent location, so jobs could remain without disruption. Fur-thermore, when remodeled, the two buildings together will have enough square footage on the first floor to accommodate Song Sawang Church. Annie and Jeff are excited to see how God is answering the prayers Night-Light has prayed for many years!“What an amazing Christmas gift that will enable Nightlight to continue to minister to countless women who seek dignifying employment, and for the church to provide a way to intro-duce the families to God’s grace,” says Annie,

International Ministries is excited to announce that, thanks to a generous donor, all gifts to IM for this project up to $100,000 will be DOUBLED between now and December 31, 2018.




The Mainstream

. Merry Christmas From the

Great Rivers Region StaffPaul Gibson

Muriel Johnson

Rex Rogers

Patti Bilyeu

Nancy Fromme

Debbie Naugle

Melissa Gibson

Richard Ricks

Linda Ricks

Paul Maitland

John Grisham

Pattty Meyer

John KressDan Siems

Brad Donoho

William Stoklosa

December 2018 Email: [email protected] web: www.abcgrr.org Download Color or B&W for printing. Online edition interactive

Calendar2019

January:


March:





May:



Be a vessel that God can pour his love through. Let It FlowThe Church Revitalizaiton

Initiative CRIThe Church Revitalization Initiative (CRI) is designed to help committed pastors and church leaders who are willing to do what it takes to revitalize their church. The Initiative is com-prised of pastors and church leaders who have helped lead their churches

to healthy revitalized congregationsIf you are feeling stagnant and/or un-decided how to move forward, please email me ([email protected]) and we can discuss your situation and determine if the team can be of service to you.

************************GRR Website

GRR Webmaster: Richard Ricks Email: [email protected]

Videos of Growth Confer-ence Speakers Now Avail-ableRivers Growth Conference (2018 Annual Gathering) are now available in streaming (from this site) and dvd formats. (Contact the office of the GRR for dvd ordering information.)







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http://www.skwim.org/

https://www6899.ssldomain.com/grr-reg/f2fweb/index.cfm





mailto:debbie%40abcgrr.org?subject=Regional%20Scholarships


THE GRREAT OFFERING We started this annual offering this past September and so far, 24 churches have participated for a total of $10,323. Thanks to all who have participated. We are challenging all our churches to consider this special offering for 2019. Would you and your church take up the chal-lenge?

SPEAKING OF THE GRREAT OF-FERING—TAYLORVILLEThe folks in Taylorville will be on the receiving end of the GRReat Offer-ing. A group of approximately 38 people, coordinated by our American Baptist Men, head to Taylorville to help in the recovery from the recent tornados and are already using funds from the GRReat Offering. These funds will help with expenses and help families who lost their home and other essentials. Thanks for your gifts.

SAFE TRAVELS AND BLESSINGS For those who will be on the road during the holidays I pray for safe travels and blessings as you get to-gether with friends and family. I head to North Dakota the weekend of De-cember 15th to celebrate my mom’s 95th birthday with friends and family. Mom is okay but wishes she could soon join my dad in heaven. Hard to argue with that. Merry Christmas.

Paul Gibson


ON THE RUN, MARY, JOSEPH, JESUS AND OTHERSAs I prepare for Christmas I am reminded of the situation surround-ing the birth of the One we worship. I recall that He and His family had to escape to Egypt because they were facing death if they stayed. It seemed a gang, led by a guy named Herod, had put a death sentence on the boy and many others about that same age. I am thinking there were many scared parents marching toward the border of Egypt to escape that death sentence that was placed on their boys. Maybe that’s why Jesus speaks about helping others in Matthew 25. Not only does He have compassion for them, but He was one of them.So, if you want to give a special gift this Christmas, try giving compas-sion to those around you. I think Jesus would like that gift.

PUERTO RICO SISTER CHURCH PROGRAMI wanted to update things since our region gave funds to help get this program started. As of now, there are over 62 churches and groups from the mainland who have commit-ted to partner with a church in Puerto Rico. There are also 40 churches from Puerto Rico who have agreed to partner with churches in the States. Thank you to the six churches in the Great Rivers Region who are partici-pating in this program.

2019 Biennial MissionSummit

Plan now to attend the American Baptist Churches USA 2019 Bien-nial Mission Summit event, June 21-23 at the Virginia Beach Con-vention Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia! The theme is “Summit by the Sea.” Registration will be avail-able in January 2019 – Don’t miss it! Speakers have been announced for the event: Dr. Howard Ste-venson, clinical psychologist and researcher, will speak during the Friday evening worship service. Elijah Brown, general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), will speak during the Saturday evening worship service.Dr. Jolene Erlacher, founder, trainer and consultant at Leading Tomorrow, will provide Sunday Morning Word and Witness. Ngwedla Paul Msiza, BWA president, will bring the mes-sage during Sunday morning wor-ship. In addition to hearing from signifi-cant speakers, American Baptists and friends will have an opportunity to take part in an all-new Biennial Academy, with tracks offering con-tinuing education and spiritual growth opportunities for both clergy and lay leaders alike. Academy Tracks will include Social Media, Technology and Ministry; 21st Century Options for Church Planting and Renewal; Transition Ministries Training; Bible Studies; and more. The 2019 event will also offer op-portunities for all ages featuring new events for youth and children, with a new 3-day youth conference for middle and high school students, and separate VBS-style classes available for elementary ages. Day care will also be offered.

GRR Intern Grant Program Many churches have discovered that part-time internship programs provide an effective means for churches to enhance their existing ministries or to explore new min-istries during the summer months. These internships not only expand the ministry of the church, they also provide a significant opportunity for people to explore ministry vocations and to receive meaningful coaching in ministry. The GRR Intern Grant Program is designed to challenge GRR churches to use interns to enhance existing ministries or to explore new ministries. Funding of this program is made possible by the Des Peres Legacy. This is how it works: The church designs a ministry that would benefit from a Summer Intern. The design includes the ministry to be done, the time frame for the min-istry, and a plan for ongoing training, coaching and evaluation. The church will prepare a job description for the internship, and commit funds in its regular church budget. Based on the merit of the proposal and the avail-ability of funds, GRR will award a matching grant (up to a maximum of $3,000) to the church for enhancing the financial support of the Intern. Any GRR church in good standing with the Region can apply. Applica-tions are due April 30, 2019. Check the GRR website (www.abcgrr.org) for more information and an applica-tion

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International Ministries1009A W 9th AveKing Of Prussia PA 19406(This is also the mailing address)

http://www.abcgrr.org/GRROffering/index.htm



https://abhms.org/mission/themes/puerto-rico-relief/

https://abhms.org/mission/themes/puerto-rico-relief/

https://americanbaptists2019.weebly.com/

https://americanbaptists2019.weebly.com/


the mainstream churches of the great rivers region news of ...the mainstream is a twice-monthly...

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