Sheperds for sale!

"The church in a sense has lost its mission to go out and love the people," said Steven Mayo, pastor of Elm Street Congregational Church in Fitchburg, Mass. "We've become useless in a society that desperately needs us."

How to become useful again, however, is a matter on which there is no consensus. Cornelius Plantinga, president of Calvin Theological Seminary in Michigan, urged pastors to talk less about fulfilling personal potential and offer more from the likes of Old Testament prophet Joel, who warns God's people to wail and repent before the Lord scorches the earth.

But church leaders responded to Plantinga's prescription with a reality check.

"For pastors, it's very easy to lose a job by taking your advice," said Rachel Stahle, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, a Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation in Carteret, N.J., after Plantinga's 45-minute lecture. "It's even harder to find another one by taking your advice. So what wisdom do you share with us to take what you've said back to the churches?"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/23/AR2009102303674.html




Easy to lose a job by obeying the Lord? Please help no one in The Church of God ever take this approach. We are to preach the Word, regardless if the world likes it or not. We are called to preach His Truth as He leads us. Lord please help me to speak your will regardless of the outcome.

New Website

Our local church has a new website

www.realhopetcog.org

Welcome!

We would like to welcome the Castalia, OH church back to our region and the Church. Also, welcome to the churches and members in Michigan that have been added to our region. I look forward to seeing everyone at the Minister's Convention here in a few weeks.

We are experiencing many people looking towards the Church in the region and expecting to see great growth this year in churches added, as well as people added to our already existing congregations.

Grandparents Day

We had our Grandparents Day a little late this year. But we had a pretty good time and a good turnout as well. Bro. Riggs, our district overseer and grandparent as well, was our guest speaker. We had a lot of visitors and a little over double our normal attendance. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures taken to post though. I was running around with everything else. Maybe better luck next time. Our next event for here at church is a trip to Apple Works in Trafalgar next weekend. Hope to have a good turnout and a fun trip as well. Hopefully, the weather will be like this weekend, nice and sunny!

Lydia finally arrived!

Almost a month ago that is! Man, I am really behind! We are really glad that she finally got here. Anna especially! She is proud to be the big sister and is glad to help out most of the time. Lydia came into the world at 7 lbs. 5 oz. and 20 and 3/4 in. long. Kelley had a rough time at the hospital but is doing much better now. Her blood pressure is still a little high though. We are settled for the most part with having two little ones around the house. She is awake for quite a bit during the day and her eyes are wide open. Most of the time she is not much of a crier either!