“My heart breaks for my friends who don’t know Christ,” says Chris Springer, a 20-year-old student at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va. The native of Waldorf, Md., believes that the best way to reach non-believers is through the local church.

For that reason he has joined with Mike and Connie Pumphrey in planting Awaken Church, a developing Grace Brethren congregation that will meet weekly beginning in March in the revitalized Town Center area of Virginia Beach.

As a full-time student majoring in Christian ministries (and minoring in government), Springer’s plate is plenty full. Yet he finds time to help with the details surrounding a fledgling church plant.

“I guess you would call me a jack-of-all trades,” he says. He helps Mike Pumphrey, the church planter, with administrative tasks and financial record-keeping. When ministry teams visit, he’s the one making arrangements for their lodging and helping train them in their tasks.

But he says his most important role is that of relationship-builder. Between classes, you’ll find him hanging out in the library with other students. “I do all my homework out and about,” he admits. “I put myself in the community where people will see me. It’s a shift in thinking from what I used to do,” he adds.

He says that he’s been careful not to become enveloped in a Christian “bubble.” He spends time with friends at a nearby secular university and he’s contemplating joining a local fitness club.

“We don’t want only to have a church of Christian people, we want to reach the lost.”

“What we’re doing isn’t any amazing plan,” Springer emphasizes, noting that most of the core team at Awaken Church follows a similar philosophy. “I’ve come to realize that how we live on a day-to-day basis (building relationships to reach others) is how all Christians should live. It is easy to coast through the day and never interact with people.”

He quotes Bob Combs, the recently-retired pastor of the Grace Brethren Church in Norton, Ohio – “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

“If you take interest in them, get to know them for who they are, then you can show them Christ’s love,” Springer says.

 

It’s a unique method of announcing goals, but the vision story recently released by Vision Ohio, the church planting organization in the Buckeye State, is clear in announcing its intention of planting 120 new Grace Brethren churches in the next decade.

The document, which may be viewed at visionohio.org, is the result of 14 months of work by about 30 pastors in churches throughout the state, according to Dr. Tony Webb, executive director. Ohio encompasses five regional districts that are affiliated with the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches.

Community Grace Brethren Church of Whittier, Calif., (Richard Todd, pastor) sold its property to an evangelical Bible-teaching church in spring of 2009. The congregation has since been meeting to worship on Sundays at Whittier Senior Center.

An office/warehouse complex at 12300 E. Washington Blvd., Suite U, Whittier, has been leased for the church office and church-related ministries. As the Lord directs, the Whittier church will eventually relocate to another location in the area. Current information/updates are available at the church website, whittierbrethren.net.

Sunday morning worship is held at Whittier Senior Center, 13225 Walnut Street, Whittier.

By Ron Dorner

Things are changing. It is especially true in the area of estate planning.

I have sat with some of you to help you plan your estate. I tried to impress upon you that it is important to review an estate plan every couple of years. If you have not looked at your will or trust for some time, your lack of action could prove costly.

As of this writing, existing federal law on estate taxes is uncertain after 2010. In fact, if a person dies in 2010, there is no federal estate tax. If you have a credit shelter trust and die in 2010, it is possible that the distribution to your spouse will not be as you had planned. Congress is processing legislation to make changes, but what will become law is uncertain.

This can be very confusing. I urge you to contact your attorney for a complete review of your estate plan. If you have a trust, I suggest you do it soon. Otherwise, wait until later in 2010 once the new law is in place.

Prior to meeting with your attorney, why not consider your charitable goals? Church planting should be near and dear to the heart of every Grace Brethren individual. The church where you are now a member undoubtedly was planted by earlier Grace Brethren who had the vision to develop a church in your community to reach others for Christ.

There are several ministries that are focused on planting new Grace Brethren churches in North America. If you would ask those who lead the ministries what undergirds a successful ministry in church planting, they would tell you money (after prayer). Without a doubt God calls people to plant churches, but they often can’t go because of lack of financial support.

Consider honoring the Lord in your estate plans by leaving a significant gift to one of those ministries. If everyone reading this article did so, the face of church planting in our network of churches would change.

Several organizations are developing new Grace Brethren churches in the U.S. and Canada. Click here for more information.

I am reminded of a passage in the Old Testament that shows David’s great love for God and His temple.

Now with all my ability I have provided for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, and the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, onyx stones and inlaid stones, stones of antimony and stones of various colors, and all kinds of precious stones and alabaster in abundance. – 1 Chronicles 29:2

Consider how you can be involved in church planting – either with a financial gift or by personal involvement.

Ron Dorner is director of Biblical Money Management. BMM has been helping believers handle their finances and estate planning since 1984. Online counseling is available at BiblicalMoneyManagement.com.

North American Grace Brethren Church Planting Organizations

Recognized Officially by the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches

Go2 Church Planting Ministries
320 N. 3rd Street, Telford, Pa., 18969, Tim Boal, executive director
(877) 222-2048,
go2churchplanting.org

Vision Ohio
6730 Rings Rd., Dublin, Ohio, 43016
Tony Webb, executive director, (614) 764-8857
visionohio.org, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

GBCanada USA
Box 836, Charlotte Hall, Md., 20622
Nathan Bryant, executive director
(905) 821-6328,
gbcanada.ca, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Other city, district, or regional church planting efforts may also be active. Contact your local pastor for more information.