For several days in January, pastors, elders, and others interested in reaching their own ethnic groups in North America for Christ met at Iglesia Comunal Cristiana, a Grace Brethren church in Tampa, Fla., for the first-ever Ethnic Leaders’ Consultation. Among those attending the event, which was held from January 11 to 14, were individuals affiliated with Hispanic, Haitian, African American, Native American, and Japanese returnee ministries.

For many, it was their first opportunity to seriously address the need to cooperate in reaching the growing ethnic population of North America, according to Dave Guiles, executive director of Grace Brethren International Missions. The goal was to encourage key ethnic leaders to create fraternal networks and begin dreaming together about ways to make more disciples among the 120 million non-Anglos in the United States.

by Liz Cutler Gates, Editor, FGBC World

I returned to the classroom this year, not as a student, but as a teacher of 12 eager college students who want to learn about writing for advertising and public relations. It didn’t take long for me to realize that there is a new day in the world of higher education– at least since I matriculated toward the end of the last century.

This group of young people has never used a card catalog to find a book or known a time when women did not outnumber men in college. In their world, most communities have always had a mega-church, at least according to the Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2013.

Today, students may email an assignment or upload it to a portal on the Internet. The world is at their fingertips, either on their computer or their smart phone. It’s not unusual for a guest speaker on the east coast to lecture a class in the Midwest and then there’s the whole topic of online classes. A student doesn’t have to leave the comfort of his or her home to earn a degree, even at the master’s level.

What do these changes in technology mean for a traditional publisher like the Brethren Missionary Herald Company? It’s a frequent topic of discussion here in our Winona Lake offices. The web log, or blog, has been a part of the BMH media family since 2004. You’ll find both FGBC World and the Brethren Missionary Herald Co. on Facebook. We’ve launched cautiously into electronic books as three titles, Restoring the Household, by the late Todd Scoles; Released, by Tom Roy; and God of Hope, by J. Davis Illingworth, are now available on Kindle. A regular podcast is a companion to this magazine and is available at i-Tunes.

We want to provide you with the information you need using the latest technologies, when possible. For that reason, you’ll find a new addition to this issue of the magazine– QR codes. When scanned using a special app (or application) on a smart phone, these funny-looking boxes will direct a reader to additional information in the World Wide Web. For now, they are simply pages on a website, but in the future, they could be audio or video files.

We know the world is a changing place, but the thing that does not change is the timeless gospel of God’s love and grace. We at BMH want always to be open to using the most current tools to help the people and congregations in the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches reach their communities for Christ.

It is, after all, a new day!

Grace Community Church of Ormond Beach, Fla., is partnering with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) to host a week-long conference from May 29-June 4, 2011, entitled Foundations of Apologetics. The Grace Brethren church is located at 1060 West Granada Blvd., Ormond Beach.

“We invited RZIM because we long for people who are Christian to have a deeper understanding of their faith and those who have objections to be challenged to think differently about Christ and the answers He provides to life’s deepest questions,” says Erik Dubasak, senior pastor.

The conference will address the intellectual objections to the Christian faith presented by skeptics in universities, the media, and the arts. It is intended for church leaders, teachers, college students, thoughtful laypersons, and sincere skeptics who are processing doubts about Christianity.

Two keynote speakers will bookend the week. Representing RZIM and speaking twice on Sunday, May 29, is John Njoroge (pronounced Jarogee), a Kenyan native and graduate of Talbot School of Theology. The second keynote speaker, who will speak Saturday, June 4, is Paul Copan, who holds the Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics at Palm Beach Atlantic University.

The remainder of the conference will feature a 12-part curriculum that addresses such issues as the historical reliability of the Bible, the uniqueness of Christ, the problem of evil, and the existence of God. These courses will be taught by the Truth, Evangelism, and Apologetics Mission (T.E.A.M.), which is a ministry comprised of students and alumni of Southern Evangelical Seminary.

For more information, contact Erik Dubasak at (386) 673-0145 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . To register and purchase tickets, see ormondgrace.org.