Iowa Baptist Conference
Email News Update |
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Dear
Friends,
This news
update comes to you from the district
office of the Iowa Baptist Conference...
keeping pastors and leaders informed of
activities across the state and
opportunities and resources available
through the IBC & the BGC.
If you are NOT
viewing this in HTML format...
you
are missing a LOT!
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IBC OFFICE UPDATE |
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--Excuses, Excuses, Excuses!
In case you hadn't noticed, we haven't sent
out an update since JULY!!! Woops... sorry!
:(
 But...
it's NOT because we haven't had any news!!!
It's because of some recent significant
circumstances in the IBC office... and their
subsequent impact!
FIRST...
Throughout the month of August...
Skip kept ALL of us
busy working on the "5
Loaves + 2 Fish"
presentation!!! (More about that later.)
 SECOND...
At the end of August, Brad
announced his resignation effective
September 14... although we talked him
into staying through the 21st! Brad
raised the office to a new level
of technology during his 2 1/2 yrs!
(He's now in Nashville... doing what he
loves best... photography and
marketing!)
AND,
THIRD...
on September 22nd, I (Sue)
broke 2 bones in my left ankle (notice,
that's the day after Brad's last day!)...
not that that keeps me away from the
office... but it definitely impacts my
mobility... on top of learning and
developing systems to take over Brad's
previous responsibilities!
Now... with excuses out of the way... on
to the real news updates! :)
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"5 LOVES + 2 FISH" |
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--A Letter from Skip Hansen, District
Executive Minister
To All My Dear Friends...
Over the next several weeks I will be bringing
our IBC churches a 25 minute video entitled,
"Five Loaves + Two Fish."
Looking ahead, it contains the most significant
REQUEST for the future; and looking back, it
provides the most comprehensive REPORT on the
mission already accomplished to this point!
My purpose is to provoke a
serious discussion regarding the very nature and
continued viability of the IBC--still the
smallest district in the Baptist General
Conference after 120+ years.
To help the discussion focus on principles and
not a personality,
"Five Loaves + Two Fish" begins with
the announcement that I am planning to
conclude my tenure as District Minister sometime
during the coming year--as early as this
winter, and no later than next summer 2008.
Although I continue to love what I do with the
Bride of Christ across Iowa, I am convinced that
the IBC is growing and developing to the point
where continued momentum will require leadership
skills that more and more are in areas of my
personal weaknesses, rather than my personal
strengths. It is
crucial to me that this ministry not stumble...
over me! And so I believe God is
already preparing another person with all the
necessary skills to lead the IBC to "God's next
level!"
I wanted you to know this in advance... so that
you can join me in praying for clarity as we
walk together these next months with God... into
a future known only to Him!
Bless Ya!
Skip
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DID YOU KNOW??? |
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--A Look at IBC Funding
WHAT IS THE IBC?
The Iowa Baptist Conference (IBC) is a
faith-based ministry, whose mission is to...
"Magnify God by Mobilizing &
Multiplying a Growing Movement of Healthy
Churches"... across the whole state
of Iowa.
The IBC is one of 13 regional districts
of the Baptist General Conference... and
is affiliated in Iowa with 36
established churches, 4 church plants,
70 pastoral staff, and over 6000
worshipers.
HOW IS IBC FUNDED? -
IBC is supported solely from the following
sources:
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Church Contributions
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Individual Contributions
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Pine Lake Operations
WHAT IS THIS YEAR'S ANNUAL BUDGET? -
The total operating budget for the
fiscal year, 2007-08, for Mobilizing
(Church Health), Multiplying
(Church Planting), Memories (Pine
Lake Christian Camp), and Management
(Administration) is: $629,135
WHAT IS THE CURRENT BUDGET STATUS?
- As of the end of September, income
was behind expenses by $57,372 (Don't
panic... see the next section.)
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
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Given the nature of our camp operation, it is
NOT unusual for expenses to exceed income at
this time of the year, in light of the fact that
churches participating in TimeShare contribute
throughout the year... but significant expenses
accumulate during the months of May-August.
(On the positive side, this is actually only
$5,000 more than what had been projected for
this date.)
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Currently we have needed to withdraw $30,000
from our resources in BGC's Cornerstone Fund, in
order to pay bills.
HOW CAN I HELP?
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Send campers to PLCC camps and retreats!
- Encourage your
church to participate in TimeShare
& Adopt-a-Cabin.
- Encourage your
church to add or increase their monthly
financial support to IBC Ministries.
- Personally support
the IBC with regular or one-time gifts.
- Use "Good
Search"
for Internet searches.
- Use our
"On-Line" donations option
Rick Warren, in
"Purpose Driven Life", stands on the premise...
that, "It's not about me!" But in our
self-sufficient, independent, materialistic
society... that is sometimes a principle that
is hard to embrace - I know it is for me!
The truth is... that is what support for
missions is all about. It's not about us - what
we will get out of it... or back from it. It's
about how God will use our resources to grow the
Kingdom. In our case... it is about supporting
new church planting pastors... coming along side
established pastors and churches... providing
the setting and opportunity for kids and adults
to meet Christ at camp... and much more.
But... we can't do it without your support. In
essence, we are a "home-based" mission and
home-based missionaries... your missionaries.
We are here to serve you, and we have no other
source of support.
Thank you, in advance, for considering how you
will contribute to and support the ministries of
the Iowa Baptist Conference
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A GRAND OPENING |
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--An
Invitation from Pastor Marlan Mincks
Hello Everyone!
Dont't miss the Grand Opening for...
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Ironridge Church and Main Feature Theater &
Pizza Pub in Waukon, Iowa
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Sunday, October 21st at 10:00 am
We will have a FREE pizza and salad bar
for everyone following the service... and a
cotton candy machine on hand to send your kids
home with more energy than you knew they had!
I hope to see many of you there!
_______________________________
Since laucning on September 12, 2004, Ironridge
Church has seen 95 first-time commitments for
Christ... and currently averages over 80 in
attendance.
We've also heard they make the
BEST pizza in town!!!
:)
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TWO SIDES OF MINISTRY |
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--Recent Updates from Pastor Carlton
(The River's Edge, Iowa Falls Church
Plant)
THE
FUN SIDE:
 The
Spirit of God is doing great things at
The River's Edge!
I feel like we're in the middle of one of
the greatest weeks of ministry River's Edge
has ever experienced! - and I think it's
just the beginning of what the Spirit of God
wants to continue to do in us and through
us! Let me share what I've seen the Spirit
doing already!
In the past 4
weeks, we've had nearly
35 first-time worshippers
at River's Edge!
Sunday &
Monday, meeting with new
Ellsworth Students, Pastor Mike and I have
found many more open and receptive
students than ever before!
Monday night,
10-15 ladies gathered to
register for the new Women of the Word Bible
study which is starting in two weeks, Sept.
10th!
Wednesday
night, 25 youth
at the first night of our youth programs,
and one girl praying to accept Christ as
Savior!
Thursday
afternoon, strong
enthusiasm among adults and
students for our upcoming Perseverance
events!
Thursday
evening, 8 Ellsworth
students gathered to brainstorm the
beginnings of an on-campus Christian club!
(Last year we had ZERO students show up!)
The Spirit of God is starting to
do some great things!
THE NOT SO
FUN SIDE:
But...
we don't
always have everything all together.
Still being a mobile church plant
means countless times a week setting
up and tearing down sets and
instruments; and we struggle with
that!
Being a young church that's
reaching out to unchurched
people, we find it difficulgt to
get commitments in helping with
community outreaches and finding
enough youth and children's
ministry workers; and we
struggle with that.
We plan events and don't get the
turnout that we think we should;
and we struggle with that.
We get disappointed that
building opportunities fall
through; and we struggle with
that.
But you know what?
We're
still reaching out for Christ.
We aren't experts, but we're
difinitely keeping our eyes on
the goal of Jesus.
That's why we keep on doing what
we're doing, and we're well on
our way!
We're off and
running.... and we're not
turning back! (Philippians
3:12-14)
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10% TO CHURCH PLANTING |
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--A Tithe From the Sale of Their Parsonage
First Baptist of New Hampton
recently sold their parsonage... and gave 10% of
the sale to IBC Church Planting... and this
from a church that's only been in the IBC less
than 5 years! Additionally, they are actually
keeping only 40% for their own personal use, as
you will see from a recent newsletter article...
The sale of the church parsonage was
finalized on Thursday, August 23. As
recommended by the Deacon board and approved
by the church, the net after the sale was
divided as follows: 10% (our tithe)
will go to church planting within
the Iowa Baptist Conference, 40%
will go toward updates for the worship area,
and 50% will help to fund our new
ministry to the community, "Tools of Hope".
THANK YOU, NEW HAMPTON!!!
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UKRAINIAN YOUTH MINISTRY
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--An Update from Minister of Youth, Roman Bevz
 This
summer was the busiest summer in my life. Step
by step God took us to the point when we were
ready to organize the Bible Camp for the school
students. The
miracles started from the very beginning - when
I came to the States in the spring. Through all
of you God provided the funds for the camp.
When I got back to Ukraine, we immediately
started the camp registration. We worried that
we would not get enough campers, as in some
villages kids didn't want to go to camp because
they'd heard something bad about Christians,
saying that we draw people into our organization
like cults do. We kept praying about the kids
and God provided.
With God's help we started the camp on the 18th
of July with 80 campers, where He continued
doing His work in our hearts and in the hearts
of kids.
In the very beginning we had campers who said,
"We want to go home." Some of them wanted to go
home because we didn't allow them to smoke...
others - because we didn't put them into the
group they wanted to be in.
But the campers who wanted to go home in
the beginning, they stayed at camp for all 10
days, and in the end they said, "Thank you for
letting us come to this camp!"
You and us had been praying for these campers
for a long time... even at the time when we
didn't know them, we prayed for them at camp,
and through out 10 days God did amazing work in
the campers' hearts. We had about
40 campers who got saved
at camp this summer! Isn't it
GREAT? Isn't it awesome?
It was so impressive when
we heard
campers calling home after that and calling
their friends saying, "We have
received the Lord, we are different now; we are
not going to drink any more, we are going to
live a different life."
It was a huge blessing
when I dropped off kids after camp in their
villages and when
two
sisters meeting their mom said to her,
"Mom, we have accepted Jesus Christ into our
hearts." And their mom said, "That's great."
This may sound ok in the countries where
parents understand this, but
it's not a common reaction
of non-Christian parents here in Ukraine.
Praise God for these blessings... for
the part that you did, for the staff team who
served at camp, and for the parents who let
their children to come to camp!
Last Saturday (September 22) we had an after
camp meeting where we invited all campers to
come and have fellowship with us. About 40
people came for this meeting. We pray for the
opportunity to organize these meetings once a
month.
We also pray for
the possibility of continuing the work at public
schools in Chernigov Region. About 40 kids from
the schools that we work with received the Lord
at camp and we don't want just to leave them on
their own, we want to meet with
them on a regular basis and help them to grow in
Christ Jesus. Please pray for the funds so that
we would be able to continue the work of
Crossroads Youth Ministry.
For this school year
we will need $4,000 for
the trips to schools, $500 for the after camp
meetings and $300/month for me (Roman Bevz). (Contributions
may be sent to the IBC, who will transfer the
funds to Ukraine.)
Thank you so much
for being a great blessing to me and hundreds of
young people in Ukraine.
______________________________
A follow-up note:
Roman currently works several part time jobs
to support himself, which limits his
availability to work with the youth.
Several IBC churches have funded this
ministry for the past 3 years... providing
the financial resources to purchase a
mini-van 2 years ago... and to host this
past summer's camp.
If you wish to
contribute to this ministry, IBC will be
sending funds over to Ukraine the first week
of November. You may contact Sue at 641 858
3284 or
sue@iowabgc.org
for more information.
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"INNOVATORS & LOYALISTS"
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--A Pastor's Perspective,
by Scott Pearson
(Cornerstone Baptist Church in Eldridge)
Reprinted from "The Cornerstone Connection" by
permission
"Just as each of us has one body with many
members, and these members do not all have
the same function, so in Christ we who are
many form one body, and each member belongs
to all the others. We have different gifts,
according to the grace given us." (Romans
12:4-6)
Many of you are familiar with Rogers'
theory of "Innovation Diffusion" which
characterizes how people relate to new ideas and
innovations.
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Innovators:
about 3% of people are venturesome
risk-takers who envision new possibilities and
thrive on change.
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Early Adopters:
about 14% are the social leaders who
recognize good new ideas and commit early to
bringing about their realization.
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Early Majority:
about 34% who are traditional, skeptical
of new ideas, and resistant to change until
change seems inevitable.
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Laggards:
about 16% who never do embrace change and
must be dragged kicking and screaming into
making any kind of peace with new innovations.
There is a place for each kind of person in the
body of Christ. All are needed for healthy
functioning of the body. New church plants
often are led primarily by innovators and early
adopters. That is one reason why they are most
effective in evangelism and outreach to the
unchurched. The older a church gets, the more
traditional and inward-focused it tends to
become, and more of the leadership tends to
shift to early majority and late majority
long-time members, (Many of the innovators
having long since left the church for greener
pastures.)
Churches that are dominated by laggards in power
will normally be stagnant or declining and
fighting for survival. Their days are numbered.
Innovators and early adopters are essential to a
church's success in reaching seekers, youth,
young adults, young families, and the
unchurched. But innovators are the least loyal
to any organization, including the local
church. Innovators become impatient when
innovative outreach and ministry ideas are
frequently shot down or delayed by tradition,
bureaucracy, late majority people and laggards.
When they get impatient or frustrated, they
leave. They are vision-driven, not
loyalty-driven.
Who are the most loyal church members? Late
majority and laggards. Their faithfulness is
essential to the church's stability (and
financial health). They can be counted on to
staff the church committees and work in the
ministry programs and show up for the meetings
and pay the bills.
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MINISTRY RESOURCES |
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Following are brief summaries of some GREAT
ministry tools.
You can check out additional resources at the
IBC website in regard to:
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RETOOL KIT
is a BGC resource designed to help churches
become all that God wants for them. It is
not a program... it is a pathway... guided
by a trained Mobilization Coach who helps
the church discover and develop healthy
leaders, a biblical community, and a clear
vision for the future.
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of the the end results is a clearer vision
for ministry, along with a three year future
plan. Additional outcomes are the changing
of the church's DNA, spiritual growth, (both
personally and corporately), stronger
community, and more effective Kingdom
impact.
For more information, contact
Pastor Jeff Scherer, IBC
Director of Mobilization at: 563.332.5233 or
jeffscherer6@msn.com
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SHALOM HOUSE is
a pastoral retreat center in New London, WI
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facilitated by Pinnacle Ministries
and providing a comfortable, safe place for
rest, refreshment and renewal for those in
ministry - based on the philosophy that
the health of our churches, and ultimately our
communities, rests in the strength and
refreshment of our pastors.
Pinnacle Ministries offers
three levels of services... from just "hanging
out" to professional counseling services.
Shalom House can also be
utilized for church board and leadership
retreats, church staff training, missionaries
and their families, and pastoral sabbaticals.
If your pastor doesn't know about Shalom, please
tell him or her about it - better yet,
send them for a refreshing, relaxing break to
recharge their batteries for future ministry!
REMEMBER... October is Pastor
Appreciation Month!
For more information, go to:
www.theshalomhouse.org
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QUIET WATERS
MINISTRIES -
offers a FREE, 24 hour a day, 7 days a week,
confidential phone consulting resource for BGC
pastors and home assignment missionaries called
CARELINE - funded
jointly by IBC & BGC
 Call
866.526.2222 to be put in touch
with a licensed doctor or master's level
counselor from Quiet Waters Ministries
to talk about EITHER personal OR
congregational matters.
Services are available for up to 3 hrs of assessment
and consultation via telephone per isolated incident
per year.
All communication with the denomination,
regarding these services is consistent with
confidentiality laws and requirements, and with
BGC's policies and guidelines.
For more information about Quiet Waters,
go to:
www.qwaters.org
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BGC CORNERSTONE FUND
is a ministry of the
Baptist General Conference with a mission
 to
extend BGC ministries - by providing loans for
building/remodeling projects within our
conference churches and ministry centers.
Our ministry is possible because of the support
of our investors, who receive competitive rates
compared to like term investments and have the
satisfaction of knowing that their investment is
being used to help expand ministries of the BGC.
Cornerstone Fund is offering a special bonus on its
2-year Term Certificate during the months of October
- November. Anyone remotely connected with your
church is eligible to invest with them.
For more information, go to:
www.bgccornerstonefund.org
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CHRISTIAN LIBRARY INTERNATIONAL
is a Raleigh, NC, based ministry that
distributes
 used
Christian books (fiction and non-fiction),
Christian music tapes, Sermon tapes, CDs, DVDs,
video tapes, bible study materials, and
tracts to prisons, shelters and international
missions free of charge.
What a great way to
"recycle" those dust collecting books! For more
information, to to:
www.cli-nc.org
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CHERISH CENTER
is a ministry of Shepherd's Fold
- providing housing, counseling, nurturing,
training, and spiritual guidance to young ladies
experiencing the crisis of an unplanned
pregnancy. They have the capacity to care for
six girls at a time for a period of 3-6 months.
And because they are supported by individuals
and churches, they have the freedom to make
Christ central in the home and in the training.
The Executive Director, Jan Turner,
is a member of the Milford Baptist
Church and is also their worship
director. She has seen this project through
the from the very beginnings - property
purchase, building construction and equipping,
and staffing. In their first year of operation
they served eight girls.
Shepherd's Fold Ministries, Inc.,
is a local, interdenominational, non-profit
corporation working to provide a home
and a hope for young mothers in need,
located in northwest Iowa.
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS |
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 --Looking
Ahead
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IOWA
BAPTIST CONFERENCE
Magnifying God by Mobilizing &
Multiplying a Growing Family of Healthy Churches! |
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Iowa Baptist Conference | PO Box 535 | 32203 - 230th Street |
Eldora | IA | 50627
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