COLUMBIA, Md.—The North American Mission Board recently recognized the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware with an award at the 2009 Summer State Leadership Meeting.

In this meeting, NAMB’s church planting group recognized several state conventions for outstanding church planting in 2008: Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware (first in enlistment); Illinois Baptist State Association (first in readiness/awareness); Georgia Baptist Convention (first in equipping); and the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (first in multiplication).

Presented on July 29, 2009, the award recognizes “excellence in enlisting planters and churches for a commitment to church planting among every people group in North America.”

“I am proud to be part of a team so committed to church planters and church planting churches. I’ve never known an organization so passionate, so dedicated to the church planting enterprise as the BCM/D,” shared David Jackson, BCM/D missionary for church multiplication. “Thanks, everyone, for letting me be a part of this journey.”

The North American Mission Board’s Church Planting Process’s four key components, readiness, enlistment, equipping and multiplication, are guided by both theological and missiological truths, and each has unique functions.

Defining the stages and components helps association directors of missions, state conventions, missionary staff, national missionaries, church planter missionaries, church planters, pastors, and laypeople understand their roles in each stage of development.

According to the North American Mission Board, the Readiness component builds awareness of lostness and the need to plant churches contextualized for each specific people group with our partners. Readiness includes items such as spiritual preparation, understanding the place or context of the plant, a discovery of people groups, climate building, and measuring and developing receptivity among the identified audience for the gospel.

The Enlistment component of the Church Planting Process engages individuals and churches through church planting activity. The enlistment focus is around discovering individuals, developing church planting teams, sponsoring churches who plant churches, and other partners such as associations and conventions.

The Equipping component of the Church Planting Process provides training, skill development, and nurture needed by churches, planters, planting teams, and other partners who work with them. Equipping includes items such as development of personal character, expansion of church planting knowledge, new skill development, and evaluation of missionary giftedness.

The final component of the Church Planting Process, Multiplication, is designed to foster church health, life, and growth in the newly planted churches. Multiplication includes items such as gospel saturation in new areas in order to plant churches, development of new disciples, creation of small groups with the emphasis towards them becoming a new church, leadership identification and discovery, and the birthing of healthy, New Testament churches.

Jackson explained that the Enlistment Award was given to the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware for 2008 because of multiple factors, including the strength of its indigenous recruitment, the use of BaptistLIFE, the Strategic Focus Cities efforts of EMBRACE Baltimore, church multiplication’s social media presence and its video recruitment tools on e-quip.net.

“We are convinced that it is important to communicate with potential church planters in the most up to date, innovative ways possible—in ways which are natural for them and their world,” says Jackson. “We attempt to help potential planters learn about what God is doing here in Maryland and Delaware through ‘24/7’ methods whenever possible, so that it is always accessible to them as they may need it. As a result, we have three blogs, two podcasts and two websites, along with multiple other online venues for potential planters to explore God’s calling to church planting.”

He adds, “Who knows when the Holy Spirit may prompt someone to consider partnering with us in the ministry of church planting? BCM/D can’t call them; we can only inform them. Being good stewards of this ministry requires we do what we can to allow the Spirit of God to do what only He can do.”

Under the leadership of Jackson, BCM/D’s Mid-Atlantic Church Multiplication specifically follows a seven-step process to help potential church planters:

First, there is preparation. This includes prayer efforts and site location, which is usually determined by Associational Directors of Missions or Parent Churches.

The second step is partnership, where a parent church, along with the association and even potentially other congregations or organizations, joins the new church planting efforts.

Third, there is recruitment of potential church planters, through the use of e-quip.net, Discovery Days and more of the above. Assessments help evaluate potential planters.

Fourth, the BCM/D provides comprehensive training, beginning with Focused Living and a basic training experiences for planters and their spouses.

The fifth step is nurture and support for the planter and his family.  This includes a coach and mentor, peer learning clusters known as “New Church Incubators,” one-on-one and group interactions for spouses along with joint fellowship opportunities.

Sixth, the BCM/D focuses on evaluation through “pediatric check ups” over the course of the foundational development of the new church.

Finally, there is reproduction, in which church plants are prepared to become “parent churches” themselves.

For more information, contact Jackson at (800) 466-5290, ext. 225, djackson@bcmd.org, or visit online at  www.bcmddavid.wordpress.com; www.plantchurches.com; or www.bcmd.org/churchmultiplication.

BALTIMORE, Md.—The cloud of witnesses referenced in the book of Hebrews probably includes many saints who passed through the doors of Second and Fourth Church in its 212 years of ministry in Baltimore or who were led to Christ by its members. Now called East Baltimore Church, for the second time in its history, the church has an amazing background and a bright new future.

Tally Wilgis

Second Church was constituted in Fells Point on June 11, 1797, the same year John Adams became president of the United States and the same year the city of Baltimore was incorporated.

It merged with Fourth Church in 1916 and the name was changed to East Baltimore Church. Later, the name became Second and Fourth. Now it’s back to its original name but with a brand new start under the leadership of one of its own.

Tally Wilgis, a church planter saved at Second and Fourth Church as a youth, has returned home to the city with a ministry team and partnerships with Embrace Baltimore, a North American Mission Board (NAMB) Initiative and the support of large churches throughout the United States, and with a bold plan to merge the Baltimore church with a Timonium-based start, making it one church in two locations, under the umbrella “Captivate Church.” The suburban/urban connection will give new life to the grand, historic church, enabling it to reach its neighbors as it did in years gone by. The new project launched on Sept. 13.

Calvin Hudson, long-time pastor of Second and Fourth Church writes extensively about the history of Second and Fourth Church. The following history is taken from Hudson’s book.

“Over at the Harvey Lane Church in Leicester, its pastor, William Carey, burdened down for a world without Christ, was instrumental in the founding of the Baptist Missionary Society in 1792 and went out as their first missionary to India.

John Healy

Meanwhile, in the same town, John Healey, a member at Friar Lane, had become much concerned for the people of Baltimore. He had read in Morse’s Geography that the people of Baltimore were ‘Nothingarians,’ which suggested that they had no particular beliefs. John Healey decided to leave Leicester and to go to America to preach ‘glad tidings’ to the people in Baltimore…On July 4, 1794 John Healey and his party of nineteen boarded the sailing ship ‘Independence’ bound for New York. After a brief stay in New York, the group embarked for Baltimore in February 1795, arriving at Fells Point at the foot of Broadway. John Healey never returned to Old England.”

Through the years the church struggled with epidemics and wartime. They saw the arrival of the railroad and the automobiles. They mourned over the split of the Baptist Convention during the Civil War.  Two confederate soldiers served as pastors. They supported the troops through World War I and II. They heard D.L Moody preach a five-week revival. They saw and their members were victims of the riots in the 60’s after the death of Martin Luther King, Jr.

The church also struggled with some of the same issues today’s churches do—doctrine, music (they banned the fiddle, but had to reconsider later), church discipline and finances. They stayed together through the Great Depression.

With God’s protection and help, they weathered the storms and stayed together celebrating the great moments and seeking comfort from each other in sadness.

Hudson writes, “On May 21, 1997, Youth Night was held at the church with our splendid young people conducting the entire service… The message was given by Tally Wilgis, who later served as a Sojourner Summer Missionary to Houston, Texas, under the sponsorship of the Home Mission Board. Following the sermon, Pastor Hudson led in a Commissioning Service in which those present were invited to lay hands on Tally and whisper to him their prayer of support for his summer mission in Houston.”
Shortly after Wilgis’ commissioning, the church began to falter.

Mark Hudson, Second and Fourth Church trustee and son of Calvin Hudson, described the situation, “As a congregation we had struggled with typical inner-city church problems. Most of our members and their families used to live in the neighborhood, but had relocated to surrounding counties for housing and school issues.”

Hudson said the church tried outreaches such as back to school give-aways, Christmas parties, etc., they felt their style of worship did not appeal to the community.

For over ten years the church explored relocating, merging with another congregation, hiring a new pastor or closing the doors.

In the summer of 2008, Hudson met with Tally, who shared his vision for reaching the city with Hudson.

“Tally was known to the congregation, and gave an emotional presentation,” Hudson said. The church was growing weary of the situation. Hudson said he encouraged members to embrace the new opportunity.

“The end result after much prayer was the decision to stop worshiping together as of Dec. 31 and transition the church and all its assets to a new church ministry that Tally would rebuild.

“While this transition had been difficult, most if not all of our members have found new homes in SBC churches. I know that I speak for all the members of the Second & Fourth Church in saying that we look forward to witnessing the work that God can do through Tally in East Baltimore, and our prayers are with him and those who work with him.”

Long-time pastor Calvin Hudson, with the help of his son, Mark, compiled a comprehensive history of Second and Fourth Church, that also includes side stories about more than 100 Baptist and other denomination churches in the city. The history tells not only of Second and Fourth’s achievements, it tells of its struggles, of its foibles, its humorous happenings and its sorrows. Hudson writes the history in a combination informative third person and first person narrative. He adds his own thoughts and opinions throughout. The history is a treasure trove of historic information about Baltimore Baptists. Here are a few highlights excerpted from Hudson’s writings. The many name changes/mergers, etc. are not noted in this article but can be found in the entirety of the history.

Some items of notice in the history are just a sample of those Hudson wrote about in his history.

•    Early on, the church contended with yellow fever. “In 1797, the year the church was constituted, the congregation began construction on their first meeting house… Before the 27×40 foot plain brick meeting house could be finished, an epidemic of yellow fever hit Baltimore and one-half of the small congregation died, including every male member except Pastor Healey.”
•    It became the first church in the United States to have Sunday school that used volunteers and only taught religious studies.
•    The church was mission minded in a time of “anti-missions.” On Feb. 27, 1798, the church resolved to hold a monthly prayer meeting for World Missions, the first such meeting in America.
•    The congregation opposed slavery, grappled with women’s rights in church and church discipline. Two pastors had served in the Confederate army. One of them had been a prisoner.
•    Church members struggled with music. They forbade the fiddle, and then had to reconsider when the choir members protested.
•    Through the years they had struggles with finances, especially during the Great Depression. They squabbled over whether they should do fundraisers or depend on members to tithe.
•    The founder of Fourth Church, layman William Crane, brought ex-slave Moses Clayton from Richmond who established the “First Colored People’s Baptist Church in Baltimore” in 1836.
•    In 1877 D.L. Moody preached a revival in High Street Church (which later became Fourth Church which merged with Second Church). Moody held five weeks of revival meetings and High Street reported 116 additions.
•    In 1910, the Southern Baptist Convention met in Baltimore for the first time. Joshua Levering of Baltimore was the president.
•    Church members had had picnics at Fort Smallwood Park and the children took steamboat rides.
•    The Boy Scouts were founded in England in 1908. When the movement arrived in America two years later, the first scout leader was East Baltimore Church member George Parlett.
•    The High Street Church (Fourth Church) had the first baptistery in Baltimore.

•    When World War II came, East Baltimore Church members sent gifts to service men and women. They dedicated a service flag displaying a star for each of the service men and women. On Christmas day, 1943, church member Eugene Bell made a victory “V” with candles in honor of the men and women in the service.
•    “The ever-increasing presence of the automobile has also been a harmful effect on church activities. In the pre-depression years and later, the Sunday school met at 2:30 in the afternoon. With the advent of the automobile, families were able to visit and do other things on Sunday afternoons and Sunday school was changed to 9:45 a.m.”

Byron Day

By Byron Day, BCM/D President and pastor of Emmanuel Church, Laurel, Md.

It was a clear and cool night, as I delivered the trash can to the curb I looked up at the beautiful stars and a bright full moon, and reflected on the goodness of God. I drank in all the wonderful things that God had done for me throughout the years. He had been faithful in providing food every day, protection from evil every day and many blessings to boot. But most of all, eternal salvation through His Son Jesus Christ.

According to Today in the Word, July, 1990, the first American Thanksgiving didn’t occur in 1621 when a group of Pilgrims shared a feast with a group of friendly Indians. The first recorded Thanksgiving took place in Virginia more than 11 years earlier, and it wasn’t a feast. The winter of 1610 at Jamestown had reduced a group of 409 settlers to 60. The survivors prayed for help, without knowing when or how it might come. When help arrived, in the form of a ship filled with food and supplies from England, a prayer meeting was held to give thanks to God.

The fall season is a time to reflect on the goodness of God. No wonder the pilgrims decided to have a feast that would give thanks to God for bountifully dealing with them.

The Scriptures are full of admonitions to God’s people to be a grateful people and never forget all that they have come from God. But perhaps Psalm 100:4 captures it best.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving.
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him.
And bless His name.

An attitude of gratitude is a mark of developing spiritual maturity. Let’s not wait until Thanksgiving Day, but starting right now let us seek to display a thankful attitude. Since God blesses us every day, let us bless His name every day.

Kim Hardy

Kim Hardy, who will address ministers’ wives, is an inspirational communicator and a unique combination of author, speaker, worship leader, singer, and Bible teacher. As a frequent conference speaker, Hardy has had the privilege to speak to thousands in such venues as the Michigan Theological Women’s Conference, South Carolina Women’s Conference and Evangelism workshops for The North American Mission board in Alpharetta, Ga.

In addition, she has 20 years of experience in women’s ministry. She has been an instructor at the Detroit Bible Institute, worked as a consultant for the LifeWay’s women division in Nashville, Tenn., and served on several boards in her community.

To continue to spread God’s message of hope, Kim has released her new book entitled, “Spiritually Sassy (Serious About Serving the Savior-Yes).” This book provides four secrets to living bold for Christ to women who are serious about serving the Savior.

Currently she works side by side with her husband Dexter as a missionary for the North American Mission Board. The couple resides in Ypsilanti, Mich., with two of their four children and Hardy’s mom, Gloria.

Gary Hollingsworth

Gary Hollingsworth is senior pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark., where he has served since Nov. 2007.

Prior to that, he served as senior director of cultural evangelism at North American Mission Board. While there, he directed five teams: Apologetics and Interfaith Witness, Collegiate Evangelism, the International and Multi Ethnic team, the Evangelism Response Center and Christian Ministry to the United Nations in New York. In the months preceding Hollingworth’s call to Immanuel, God had been redirecting him back to the local church where his heart and passion is to serve as a pastor. As he likes to say, “Being a pastor is not what I do, it’s who I am.”

He had served for nearly 10 years as pastor of First Baptist Church in Trussville, a bedroom community to Birmingham. The church experienced great growth necessitating several building programs. The highlight was the completion of a 2,000-seat worship center and full remodeling of the former sanctuary as a student center, preschool area and administrative complex.

Hollingsworth also has served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Alabama State Board of Missions and was elected both President of the Pastor’s Conference and Vice President of the State Convention.

HAGERSTOWN, Md.—Thirteen-year-old Estefany Zambrano led a successful two-church bilingual VBS where eight children made confessions of faith and countless spiritual seeds were planted. Estefany is the daughter of Ender Zambrano, a church planter who started Iglesia Bautista Hispania de Hagerstown. Members partnered with their host church, Virginia Avenue Church, to minister to the 50 children who attended.

This is the second VBS the young leader has directed. Last year Estefany led VBS for Primera Iglesia Church and conducted it exclusively in Spanish. Over 40 kids attended and five made confessions of faith. She asked children to bring friends but many of those friends only spoke English. The young girl began envisioning the possibility of a bilingual VBS.

After the successful first VBS that Estefany planned, Aaron Miller, pastor of Virginia Avenue Church, asked her to be in charge of VBS this year. It was Estefany’s opportunity to direct the bilingual, bicultural VBS she had hoped for. She set meeting dates and the prospective leaders came together to make plans.

Estefany is soft spoken and articulate. Describing her duties, she said she recruited teachers and assistants, introduced them to the VBS curriculum, distributed material, planned the rotation schedule and helped decorate.

“It was a very good experience,” Aidsa Zambrano, Estafany’s mother said, referring to her daughter’s leadership and to the VBS program itself.

“A lot of kids speak very broken English, some don’t speak Spanish and it’s the same with the adults,” Lisa Molner, Virginia Avenue Church clerk said.  But the language difference was not a barrier. “The kids were interacting and the two cultures were interacting. It went off very well,” Molner said.

Church members worked together decorating the building to prepare for the week. They used LifeWay’s English version of the Boomerang Express curriculum and adapted it as needed. Take home papers for parents were available in both English and Spanish. As the week went on, many of the children, teen helpers and adults were picking up a little of each language.

“The smaller kids pick it up more informally by osmosis,” Molner said.

Throughout the week the kids worked together on crafts, sang, ate and heard Bible stories. Children and adults built and strengthened relationships.

The church sent invitations throughout the community for a block party as a festive end to the week’s events.

Estefany accepted Christ during an altar call when she was five-years-old.  She’s young but has worked in ministry through her young life, helping with Sunday school, and other ministries alongside her mother. She currently helps manage the church sound and video system

“I’m amazed how Estefany has given all her abilities and leadership in God’s hands and He is using her for His Kingdom,” Ender Zambrano said.

“I’m very proud of my children who are serving God in their young ages. My son, Gabriel, who is nine-years-old, enjoys giving away invitations to every Hispanic he encounters. He also requests prayers for his classmates so they can know Christ. And he loves to praise the Lord.

Something we try to do as a family is said in Joshua 24:15: “…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

David Lee

By David Lee, BCM/D Executive Director

I was talking with someone recently who told me about his experience on an airplane. He entered the plane and sat down in his seat beside a gentleman wearing a mask. The man explained, “Don’t take offense. I am a surgeon and I cannot afford to get sick.”

We have such an important task as Christians in a world filled with sickness, the most severe of which is spiritual sickness. We can help people find healing. Yet, in order to do so we ourselves must remain healthy.

Too many of our churches are not healthy. Some are even toxic. Before we can make a significant impact on our communities and our world, some of us are going to have to be restored to health.
The steps are easy to outline, but hard to accomplish.

•    We must take an honest look at ourselves. Do a health assessment of your church.
•    Identify the areas of unhealthiness and develop a plan for addressing the issues.
•    Seek the needed resources. You may need to look beyond your church for help. Your state convention staff and your local Director of Missions can assist.
•    Magnify your strengths while you seek to address your weaknesses.
•    Before all else, and above all else, understand that spiritual issues cannot be addressed by programs and processes, especially if there is “sin in the camp.” Only God can fix the heart.
•    Bathe all that you do in prayer.

Realize that the return to spiritual health can be a lengthy and arduous process fraught with difficulty and often pain. But it is necessary in order for us to be the church God intended.

We don’t need to wear masks. If anything, we need to take off our masks and get real before God and one another.

However, you may want to still stick a mask in your pocket or your purse if you are getting on a plane!

Scott Preissler

Scott Preissler is the Eklund Professor of Stewardship at Southwestern Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas. Preissler serves as director of the seminary’s Center for Biblical Stewardship. The first graduate of Indiana University’s acclaimed National Center on Philanthropy, Preissler earned a Master of Arts degree in philanthropic studies and a Master of Science degree in higher education leadership from Indiana University.

Previously, Preissler served as president of The Christian Stewardship Association, which reached out to Christian leaders across 51 evangelical denominations, 5,000 para-church organizations, and 25 national Christian para-church associations. Before serving as president, he was promoted through the ranks, serving as chief operating officer, and vice president of education and membership. Scott is an ordained pastor and has served in undergraduate and graduate teaching roles at Indiana Wesleyan University, Franklin College, and University of Cincinnati.

A member of the National Association of Evangelicals and the World Evangelical Alliance, he has traveled extensively, primarily to evangelical seminaries on educational assignments in South Africa, United Kingdom, Canada, Central and South America, and Caribbean-West Indies.

Columbia, MD—BCM/D messengers met for a called meeting on October 20 at South Columbia Church to hear a recommendation regarding the possible sale of a portion of the Baptist Mission Resource Center.

Byron Day, president of the BCM/D, welcomed messengers and thanked them for their attendance at the special meeting.

Ron Stanley, Jr., GMB Mission Board president introduced the official recommendation for BCM/D to enter into a contract with Straughan Environmental Services, for the sale of a designated portion of the BMRC for the price of $1,650,000.

General Mission Board members approve sale of portion of Baptist Mission Resource Center

BCM/D Executive Director David Lee explained that there were several purposes for calling a special meeting to make the decision as opposed to just waiting until the BCM/D annual meeting in November. First, he explained, the buyer and the real estate agents aren’t used to having to wait for the approval process that is necessary for the convention.

“They’ve been extremely patient with us,” Lee said.

Secondly, Lee said he wanted to make sure that there was ample time for discussion, and question and answer time.

“The journey began with a call, not a sign,” Lee said. The convention did not have plans to sell. There was no “for sale” sign. The idea was just one of many explored during a futuring session with the executive officers several years ago. At that time the officers contacted a real estate agency that sent representatives to discuss the possibilities. That’s as far as it went. Recently, those agents called once again to see if there was any change in thought about selling. Once again there was a discussion, but that was all. The officers did agree to be open for discussion if a potential buyer showed interest. A few weeks after that, the agents called asking and receiving permission to show the facility to a potential buyer who was indeed interested in pursuing a purchase.

At that point, the officers addressed the administrative committee and GMB seeking advisement and approval to continue investigating and pursuing the purchase possibilities. The GMB voted in agreement.

An offer was made, countered, and eventually a price settled upon. If messengers voted approval and the buyer’s financing is approved, settlement could be as early as December.

Lee said the convention is doing well financially, in spite of the recession. Bills are being paid and ministry is continuing. The sale, however, would put more money into ministry.

After legal and real estate fees, closing costs and renovation fees, the convention is hoping to net approximately $1.2 million for investment, providing about $100,000 each year from the interest and tapping lightly into the principal for ministry resources.

In addition to providing access to more financial resources, Lee explained the move would save on heating, cooling and maintenance costs and address the issues of modifying an over 20-year-old building without incurring debt.

The portion of the building being sold includes the north wall of the current conference room and beyond, including the mailroom, communication area and some missionary offices. It will not affect the classroom or auditorium. There would be a different entrance. Three or four field offices would be established as well as a new ministry assistant area. The bathrooms and kitchen areas would be remodeled and fresh paint and carpeting will give the building a new fresh feel.

Missionaries are in the field often times more than they are in their offices now, Lee said. After the sale, they will work in home offices. By having “virtual” offices, missionaries can better serve churches throughout the convention, Lee said. Churches will have access to a missionary close to them at all times.

“Our philosophy is that we are best fitted to serve if we are out where you are,” Lee said.

Ministry assistants and communications staff will still report to the office.

There are challenges, Lee acknowledged. There will not be the luxury of the extra space. Missionaries will need to adjust to their virtual environments. Ministry assistants will have to adapt to the change in office and structure.

The other issue, Lee said, is bringing the staff together. That will be done in various ways including video conferencing.

The committee discussed the possibility of leasing, but felt the tax concerns and necessary renovations and upkeep would not be the best stewardship choice.

James Edmonson, pastor of Elders Church, thanked Lee and GMB for doing their “homework.” Edmonson asked what are the responsibilities of the new owner regarding maintenance?

“What if the owner doesn’t have the capital to take care of maintenance?” Edmonson asked.

Lee said there is an escrow account set aside to cover some of the shared property maintenance.

Clarence Byerly, associate pastor of Faith Church, Glen Burnie, asked if the day’s vote would authorize the GMB to sell to another buyer. Lee said, no, it is for this particular sale.

Both parties have first right of refusal to purchase if the other party chooses to sell in the future.

“Is this a done deal?” Lee asked, “Not necessarily,” he said. In addition to having financial approval, the new buyer has a thirty-day study period after the sale to identify any issues that could possibly negate the sale.

Messengers unanimously approved the proposal.

“At the end of the day, the key question is, what’s the best stewardship of the resources we have been given by God?” Lee said.

GMB member Bill Cochran reminded messengers of the time Jesus sent out the 12 disciples.

“We’re sending out missionaries,” he said.

Cochran prayed, asking God’s blessing on “…this fine rich tradition and heritage that carries on our desire as a convention to reach out to a lost and dying world.”

Grace Church, Pasadena, is helping the needy in Anne Arundel County by providing food to the North County Emergency Outreach Network (NCEON). A local grocery store donated bags to the church and members distributed them throughout the community asking neighbors to fill them with non-perishables to be picked up later in the month.

New Hope Church, Baltimore, hosted the ABA annual meeting on Oct.12. The church set the hall up in café style with tablecloths on the round tables and baskets of treats. The New Hope praise team led the music and worship time. Director of Missions John Brittain shared highlights of the past year, rejoicing in what was and is and challenging church leaders to grasp what could be.

John Brittain

Brittain said the association is shifting from a church health to a missional church strategy. He introduced “God’s Plan for Sharing: Arundel,” the Association’s vision for using the SBC’s GPS initiative in and around Anne Arundel County. Brittain repeatedly used the phrase, “outside the walls” and continually encouraged churches to move through their churches to reach out to their communities and beyond.

Brittain also encouraged messengers to be trained as “yellow hats” in the SBC’s disaster relief ministry and to encourage other church members to also be trained and involved.

Kendall Miller, pastor of Weems Creek Church, was moderator for the meeting and led messengers through the business session.

Messengers and guests watched a video showing New Hope’s ministry and the church’s new plant in Curtis Bay. Brittain praised God and congratulated New Hope for their successful ministering in the area.

Messengers and guests gave over $300 to New Hope for Curtis Bay.

Baltimore Association

Middle River Church, Baltimore, had a note burning celebration on Oct. 25.

North Point Church, Dundalk, is preparing for the holiday season. They’ll have a Thanksgiving Praise service on Nov. 25 and their annual Christmas Cantata on Dec. 20 and a special concert by well-known singer/songwriter Bill Itzel on Dec. 27. All of the events begin at 7 p.m.

The church is still celebrating their summer successes. Members worked with a mission team from Stony Hill Church from North Carolina, through a partnership with Embrace Baltimore, to have backyard Bible clubs in the North Point Village neighborhood in Dundalk. Twenty-three children attended and several of the children accepted Christ. The mission team also helped promote VBS for the following week, which drew an average of 32 children each night. North Point members gave out 35 bags of school supplies on the last evening of the VBS to help needy children in the neighborhood. On closing night parents and friends attended a “Family Night,” which included snacks, refreshments and a performance by Christian children’s entertainer, “Apple John.”

Members of the North Carolina mission team also put a new roof on part of North Point Church and they installed ceiling fans and lights in the fellowship hall.

Salem Gospel Church ministers to many refugees from war-torn countries. Recently the church received over six families with more than twenty children who arrived from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The families lived in a refugee camp in Tanzania for more than seven years and were recently resettled in Baltimore. Adrian Ngudiankama, pastor of Salem Gospel Church, said the families need clothing, shoes and some household supplies. The church also needs volunteers to teach English and to help with after school care for the children. To volunteer or contribute to this ministry, contact Adrien N. Ngudiankama, at (240) 595-2127.

Woodbrook Church is ministering to the needy in a variety of ways. The church is hosting “Operation Joy” to benefit the Baltimore County Public School’s Office of Homeless Education program. Church members, friends and those in the church’s “Wee” School, Woodbrook’s preschool, are bringing new clothing, toys, gift cards, toiletries and other items to be distributed to the county homeless shelters. Church members are also collecting gently used blankets and winter clothing for needy people in the Appalachia area.

In an effort to raise awareness and money for world hunger, the church had a hunger banquet. Allison Stone, who coordinated the special lunch, said members and friends sacrificed what they would have spent going out to lunch and instead donated the funds to the Assistance Center of Towson Churches and to Heifer International.

Lunch featured meals of rice, beans and chicken. Throughout the afternoon there were tents set up with facts about organizations that dealt with hunger and poverty.

Blue Ridge Association

First Church, Frederick, partnered with a local elementary school in October to provide food to struggling families. They loaded backpacks with food needy kids could take home. The church also helped the school’s staff to provide gently used clothing to the families.

Church members worked to bless the staff by writing thank you notes to teachers and other school workers for the services they provide. On Oct. 31, members washed the school staff’s cars.

Delaware Association

Delaware Association pastors and lay leaders met for the association’s annual meeting on Oct. 2, at First Southern Church, Dover.

The evening began with a picnic style dinner with sandwiches, salads, fruit and cupcakes. Afterwards, First Southern’s praise team led in worship. Clayton Clark was the moderator and introduced interim director of missions Mal Utleye.

Utleye said the association is continuing its search for a permanent director of missions. He also updated church leaders about the Association’s missions involvement in Moldova.

Blake Hardcastle, campus ministry director ministering at the University of Delaware, told messengers that students are not only growing, but also learning to disciple others.

Mitch Dowell, executive director of Embrace Wilmington, spoke of the wonders of light and challenged messengers to truly let their lights shine. Dowell encouraged church leaders to come and join in partnering with Embrace Wilmington, explaining that Embrace is seeking to come alongside the churches and help them and partner with them to advance Christ’s kingdom.

Messengers signed commitment forms to prayerfully commit “…under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, to Embrace Wilmington and all those in the Delaware Association who might be touched by this ministry.”

Eastern Association

Allen Memorial Church, Salisbury, will have a comedy night at 7 p.m. on Nov. 7 featuring Christian comedian Michael Jr. The comedian has appeared on late night TV including “The Tonight Show” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” Tickets are $12.50 and can be purchased at the church, Jack’s Religious Gift Shop or at The Gospel Store.

First Church, Cambridge, hosted “Fun in the fall for senior adults” last month featuring “The Marshmallow Quartet” and “Funny things happen to us on our way to heaven.”

Mid-Maryland Association

Bethel Church, Ellicott City, will host the music group Calling Levi at 11 a.m. on Nov. 1.

Columbia Fellowship will partner with St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church to present “Communication Skills for Extraordinary Marriages” at 7 p.m. on Nov. 1.

Mason Dixon Church, New Freedom, Pa., had a special men’s night last month. The guys enjoyed a dinner then heard guest speaker David Wheeler, professor of evangelism, student ministries and homiletics at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary.

Mid-Maryland Association has moved its office. Their new address is 1036 Circle Drive, Suite 104, Eldersburg, Md.

With the move, the association office will also become more virtual. The Association will still maintain a field office, but the ministerial staff will work from home offices, providing greater mobility and saving resources. 
Montgomery Association

Kensington Church collected clothing to help tornado and flood victims in Burkino Faso.

Greenridge Church, Boyds, had a men’s sporting clay fun shoot last month for a time of fellowship and outreach. Participants each got fifty targets at ten stations. Afterwards they enjoyed “potbelly” sandwiches.

Church members participate in local missions each month by providing, preparing and serving dinners at the Frederick Rescue Mission.

Potomac Association

Hughesville Church will have a fall festival and deacon chili cook-off on Nov. 1 at noon. The event will feature games, prizes, food and a chili contest.  Admission is a canned good item for the church’s Thanksgiving baskets.

Lexington Park Church has self-defense classes for seniors. Those 55-years-old and older meet from 1:30 to 3 p.m. on Thursdays. Students learn about financial fraud, online security, managing medications, emergency preparation and physical defense. The physical techniques are designed to help a victim escape and include such methods as striking using a claw hand to the eye or face or kicking to temporarily stun the attacker.

“The goal for the seniors’ classes is to improve personal safety through proactive strategies,” Darlene Gentry, a member of Lexington Park and the class instructor said. Gentry explained that seniors are often targeted for property crimes. They’re also at higher risk for injury during robberies.

Classes begin with prayer and members of the church’s women’s ministry, Women of Promise, are on hand to give encouragement and pray for those seeking extra help. Fellowship is a large part of the classes’ ministry as the participants get to know each other and share their experiences and fears.

Gentry teaches self-defense classes for all age groups throughout the year. Last summer she taught a class for a group of seven teens ready to go off to college.

“This is an opportunity to show the love of Christ by attending to this basic need,” Gentry explained.

Sometimes, she said, people come to the class after a traumatic event. Gentry remembers one woman who drove two hours to come to a class after she was robbed. Other students were attacked by boyfriends. Many victims are traumatized.

Gentry began teaching self-defense after one of her students in a Chemistry lab class at St. Mary’s College approached her for help after being date raped. Gentry found that these types of assaults were common on college campuses. She spoke with a counselor who advised Gentry to begin teaching some self-defense classes.

“I had been studying martial arts for a long time,” she said. “It was something I could do.” She developed the classes with the help of the counseling center and Maryland Coalition against Sexual Assault. Later, she became certified by RAD Systems, Rape Aggression Defense.

Gentry said the classes provide some assurance that students know people care about them and that they’re not alone.

Prince George’s Association

First Church, Crofton, is participating in an Angel Tree program, collecting Christmas gifts to be distributed to needy families through Christmas stores sponsored by Baptist Family & Children’s Services.

On Nov. 22, church families will bring their favorite foreign foods to an international missions potluck dinner. After dinner, there will be a presentation about the years’ past missions trips and the upcoming missions opportunities.

Kettering Church, Upper Marlboro, celebrated its 40th anniversary with revival services with guests David Keyser, pastor of Potter’s Place Christian Fellowship in Leonard and Reynold Carr, Prince George’s Association director of missions.

Bucas Sterling, III, pastor of Kettering brought the final message. The church also had a celebration concert featuring a variety of special musical guests.

Susquehanna Association

First Church, North East, had an operation Christmas Child motorcycle rally last month with food, music, a silent auction and games for the family. The guest speaker was John Cook, Founder/Director of Indigenous Ministries International.

Church members and friends brought filled shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. Children helped decorate and wrap the boxes, which will be sent to Samaritan’s Purse to be shipped to needy children around the world.

All the funds from the rally were sent to Operation Christmas Child. Shoeboxes will be dedicated on Nov. 15.

Oak Grove Church, Bel Air, had a family Olympics day with food and games such as “corn hole” toss, horseshoes, races, and more. Local businesses donated award prizes.

“The idea is for youth families to get together with other families for fun and support. We hope these events will eventually grow into a student ministry support structure for each other,” Ralph Batykefer, minister to students, said. Local businesses donated prizes.

Western Association

Thomas Winborn is the new pastor of Welsh Memorial Church, Frostburg. He and his wife, Carol, moved to the area from Enterprise, Ala.

Second Church, Cumberland, will host an international mission study on Dec. 5.

Miscellaneous

Inner Harbor Ministry is preparing for its annual Thanksgiving Day feeding ministry. This year’s ministry is being organized so that volunteers have specific jobs including preparation, serving, cleaning-up, clothing disribution and other services. Churches and individuals that want to help should call Monica Good, (410) 978-7286 or Mark Good, (410) 292-1824.