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Wednesday, 30 June 2010 23:00
Lessons Learned from a Leader David Plaster, 1949-2010 (Editor’s Note – In the days prior to Dave Plaster’s March 2010 death, it became apparent he was leaving a legacy. The beloved Grace Brethren scholar, historian, and pastor had been a mentor of countless young men. Dave Nicodemus, is the pastor of high school ministries at the Grace Brethren Church of Greater Columbus , Ohio, where Plaster was senior pastor.) My story is like many others. The opportunity I had to connect with Dave Plaster has forever changed and shaped me, not only in ministry, but personally. I was a high school graduate when I met Dave in 1996, awaiting my fate as a finalist for a scholarship to Grace College. Our interaction was minimal. I was awarded one of the scholarships but ultimately was unable to attend until the following year. The next fall, as a freshman at Grace, I received a call to meet with Dr. Plaster. I had been in college for less than a month and was being called to the vice-president’s office. What had I done? As it turns out, he just wanted to get to know me. He knew of my decision to wait a year to enter school and he wanted to encourage me. The conversation was not particularly memorable, but the experience of being loved, cared for, and known was remarkable. Fast-forward to the spring of 2007. Now married with a son, I had resigned from my first full-time ministry position and was contemplating the next step. I felt defeated, thinking I had misinterpreted God’s call on my life. I was prepared to move to a secular position. Then my phone rang. It was Dave Plaster. “I heard you resigned from your church. Is this true?” I said it was. “Then it wouldn’t be unethical for me to ask you to consider coming to Columbus to be my youth pastor,” he said. We agreed to meet in the coming weeks. Ultimately, I joined him at Columbus as the pastor of high school ministries, largely because Dave believed in me when I didn’t even believe in myself. Not only did Dave become my boss and mentor, but he and his wife, Ginny, adopted us as their kids and our boys as if they were their own grandchildren. They became an incredible example of Christ, and precious friends. Dave modeled a life that spoke louder than any advice or lesson he gave. It reminds me of a favorite verse: “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.” (Phil 4:9 NIV). I’ve talked with others about Dave’s impact. With each story, the similarities are as striking as the differences. They are similar in that he encouraged, challenged, walked alongside, and accepted so many, but each with a different approach. He was a confidante, often being the only person to ever hear the fears and secrets of the young men he mentored. He was a father, a boss, a mediator, a lifeline, a pastor, a guide, and a friend, not to everyone at once, but to each as they needed. He poured who he was into each individual to help him become more like Jesus. Dave personally mentored hundreds of young men and had an incredible impact on countless others. “His influence helped me navigate through so many choices and challenges,” says Nathanael Smith, who recently finished graduate studies at the University of Oxford and was mentored by Dave as a student at Grace College. Sy Belohlavek remembers Dr. Plaster as being the voice he leaned on when making hard decisions. Now headed to work in Central Asia, Sy plans to carry on the tradition. “I aspire to encourage and build up younger men in the same manner as he did,” says Sy. “I will remember an energetic, earnest, committed, faithful, good-hearted man who did not lose his upbeat optimism and energy for fighting the good fight, even though he had been through challenging situations in life and ministry.”
Wednesday, 30 June 2010 23:00
People: Celebrating AchievementsOn the Move At the Grace Brethren Church , Long Beach, Calif., Adam Kane, director of middle school ministries for the last five years, finished his graduate seminary education and has accepted a job opportunity in business management in Long Beach. He and his wife, Janai, will continue to be part of Grace, where Adam also serves as an elder. In the interim, Adam’s two part-time assistants, Louie Huesmann and Lindsay Knowles, will continue to lead the group, under the supervision of Pastor Josh Swanson (Pastor of Family Ministries). Also at Long Beach Grace, Julie Schumacher has transitioned into the position of director of communications full-time. She will continue to give oversight to Ugandan Lambs, while pastors Eric Marsh and Jesse Krohmer will assume oversight and coordination of the church’s cross-cultural missions efforts. Kudos Jan Brumbaugh, an elder at the Grace Brethren Church in Tracy, Calif., has been recommended for licensure by the Northern California District of Grace Brethren Churches. He is a graduate of Grace College, Winona Lake, Ind., and has a counseling practice at the church. Sang-Bok David Kim was presented the Distinguished Alumnus Award at the 2010 commencement of Grace College and Theological Seminary, Winona Lake, Ind. The recognition is selectively awarded to an alumnus or alumna for a lifetime of meritorious service and leadership that exemplifies the mission of the campus. Larry Krueger, a member of the Harrah, Wash., Grace Brethren Church (Peter Touhey, pastor), has been named Employee of the Year for the state of Washington by the state Department of Agriculture. Larry is a Field Inspector Supervisor in the Yakima, Wash., office. He began working for the Department of Agriculture after retiring from a long career teaching and heading the FFA program at White Swan, Wash., High School.  Tiberius Rata  Tammy Schultz  Ron Sheranko In the North Central Ohio District of Grace Brethren Churches, five men have been unanimously recommended to their respective local congregations to be granted credentials as elders in the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches. They include: Shawn Kaeser (Darby Grace ), ordination; Kary Oberbrunner (Grace Church , Powell), ordination; Jeremy Bury (Marysville Grace Brethren Church) , licensure; Josh Jackson (Capital City Grace Brethren Church ), licensure; and Eric Miller (Capital City Grace Brethren Church ), licensure. In Print  Neil Cole In Memoriam Franklin Forbes “Bill” Gregory, 94, Stephenson, Va., father of Pastor John Gregory and grandfather of Pastor Dan Gregory, March 27, 2010. Martha McIntosh, 91, Simi Valley, Calif., mother of Pastor John McIntosh, April 23, 2010.  James B. Marshall  Dadje Samuel Willa Dean McGuire Sink, 73, Roanoke, Va., wife of Pastor Paul Sink, May 6, 2010. James “Jim” Lloyd Woolman, 58, of Arlington, Wash., died May 1, 2010, after a two-year battle with kidney cancer.
Wednesday, 30 June 2010 23:00
Plunge in to Reach Ethnic AmericaEach Grace Brethren church is uniquely situated toaccelerate the great commission in its own community, according to Jay Bell,director of Internationals USA at Grace Brethren International Missions. “That’s what Reaching Ethnic America is all about!” he says. “This is an opportunity for churches of all sizes,” says Bell. “Local ethnicoutreach is an equalizer between churches—congregational size doesn’t matter atall! It’s all about the size ofyour vision—the ability to see the nations living in your community.” Workshop topics are designed to help church members throughthe stages of involvement, including making initial contacts, sustainingrelationships over time, and planting ethnic churches. “Any size church can begin a significant international,cross-cultural ministry to the nation’s right-at-home,” he concludes. “It’salso ‘pioneer missions’ because many nations in a community are classified‘least reached’ on the Joshua Project website (joshuaproject.net ).” To register, see fgbc.org/celebrate .
Wednesday, 30 June 2010 23:00
Grace Graduates 363 Larry Edwards, Ashland, Ohio, is congratulated by Dr. Jeffrey Gill, dean of Grace Theological Seminary following the May 8 graduation ceremony. Edwards was among three Grace Brethren pastors who received the Doctor of Ministry degree. Larry David Edwards, former pastor of the Southview Grace Brethren Church, Ashland, Ohio; Mark Ernest Saunders, pastor of First Grace Brethren Church , Dayton, Ohio; and Steven E. Williams, associate pastor at Grace Community Church , a Grace Brethren church in Seal Beach, Calif. were among the 55 students who, at enrollment, indicated an affiliation with a Grace Brethren congregation. (See fgbcworld.com for a complete listing of Grace Brethren graduates.) The 363 graduates came from 29 states and five foreign countries. Ronald E. Manaham, Th.D., president of the school, presided over the Saturday morning ceremony.
Wednesday, 30 June 2010 23:00
Studying The Great Commission Bible Institute takes up to 12 students for 10 months of intense study of the Bible. “It was a turning point in my life,” he says of the program at the Grace Brethren Church in Sebring, Fla., known as the Great Commission Bible Institute. Now poised to begin its 6th year, the institute takes up to 12 students for a rigorous ten months of studying the Bible – nothing else. Each student receives a wide-margin, no notes Bible as a textbook. “I want you to read all of it, study all of it, and make it your own study Bible,” Randy Smith, pastor of the church, tells the students. Fifteen years of living and studying in Israel convinced Smith that something was lacking from his theological education. “Kids are learning what the Bible means before they ever read it,” he says. “There’s something academically that lacks integrity, when you know everything about what it means, but you don’t know what it says,” he adds. More... |
