Older Updates
November 2019 - Wolfgang Update from Machias, Maine
The Wolfgangs are busy in two different states at this juncture of our lives. Stephanie spent most of the month in sunny Florida to assist her mom following a heart procedure. Her mom came through the surgery well and we thank you all for your prayers. Steph will be heading back for a couple weeks in December for a follow up procedure. I know that her parents at 90 and 91 appreciate her capable presence and home-health-care skills. As a bonus, Steph has been looking after our mobile just a few doors away from her parent’s home. (The kumquats and lemons are ripening!!!)
On the home-front at Machias Valley Baptist Church (MVBC), we have seen our first snowfall and the temperatures have dropped below the freezing point, making for some crisp mornings. Everyone in Maine is adjusting to winter driving, extra layers and window scrapers.
(another beautiful winter sunset from our front window)
Our transition team (TT), which includes myself, the 3 elders and 6 selected members, have been engaged in some great sessions. We have been going through a series on the spiritual gifts and affirming one another’s gifts as we have seen them in action. This is the first step to stimulate more ministry involvement at MVBC. Some other projects of the TT have been a discipleship pathway tool and an organizational chart to facilitate greater accountability and future ministry development. Transition team meetings have been a highlight of my week, hearing of the great love for the ministry of this church from the past to the present and future. On the horizon for the TT is an in-depth look at the church’s mission statement and creating a clear motto that the general church can know and apply.
Another highlight of my week is the gathering of the men of the church for a newly created Sunday School class. The men are studying and serving together. A member of the church was recently diagnosed with cancer and her home was in need of a new roof. The men joined up with other men from other local churches to provide the physical labor to complete this before serious winter weather came. Our morning coffee at Dunkin on Mondays and Thursdays at 6 a.m. have also yielded some “extras” joining us, “the church guys.”
God provides. We have seen this before but this month brought another story to tell. I am thankful for my computer, a gift 6 years ago from a brother in the Lord. It suffered from a spill and soon became inoperable. It looked like an expensive repair or a new replacement. But then God stepped in by the way of another brother in the Lord who spoke of a local bank that was retiring some 6 year old computers lightly used of my make and model. The result was an exchange in a couple of days and the transfer of files was covered by the church. God provided me another tool that I use daily for my work.
A precious saint once told me that, when a society turns from God and churches follow suit by “adjusting” God’s word to fit the culture, displaced Christians find themselves searching for a church that holds to the inerrancy of the Bible. I have been witnessing this and thankful that MVBC is one of those churches who submits to what God has said. This church is a beacon of the gospel to this town and community and I am grateful to serve it during this transition time. We pray regularly for God to send His laborers into His harvest in the Machias area and to be a church serious about making disciples equipped for the field.
Here is a fun Maine fact. Have you heard of a Hackmatack? No, it’s not something that happens to you after picking up drive thru food. A hackmatack is a deciduous evergreen tree, similar to a tamarack, which turns golden in the fall and loses its needles each year to be replaced with new needles in the spring.
Prayer requests of the month:
- Stephanie’s travels to Florida and her mother’s recovery.
- The transition team’s continued work.
- The expanding of our Sunday School offerings going into the new year.
- My study schedule including the second online master's class.
- The upcoming opportunities of special Advent services.
- An opportunity to see some of our family over the Christmas/New Year season.
We can’t say enough how much we appreciate your prayers and thoughts for us and the church here in Machias. We pray that you have an opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving with some of your family. Ours will be a distance away this year but our church family here has welcomed us into their homes. We make good use of ZOOM video calling each week so that we can see those 8 precious faces along with our children and their mates.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all,
Adam & Stephanie Wolfgang
P.s. - Check these links to see what is happening in our lives and Machias Valley Baptist Church.
My blog - Living light and in the Light
Our facebook page - The Wolfgangs
The church’s facebook page - Machias Valley Baptist Church
The church’s webpage - www.machiasvalley.org
The Wolfgangs’ October prayer letter, 2019
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| Jasper Beach find |
Greetings to our support team!
We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your continued
prayers. Without God’s strengthening and guidance, we would not be able to
do anything for him; but with Him, all things are possible. So praise the Lord,
stuff is happening!
The most exciting thing to see right now is the heart and unity of the Transition Team. They have met each week for three weeks and are really capturing the big picture of the past, present and future for MVBC. After reviewing the results of the Natural Church Development survey, they are recognizing the church’s successes and failings and laying down plans for
action. The goal in this phase is to see genuine submission to the Lord so that this team can address the most essential points of need and respond in the most godly and
effective way. As exciting as it is to be in this phase, it is equally taxing on Adam’s mental energy.
One major point of need is that the church’s organizational structure is followed in practice but loosely
represented in documentation. Much prayer is needed for the elders, transition team and
congregation as this is recognized and addressed so that the future of MVBC can remain true to
God’s word.
As expected, there are always a handful of people who elect to attend another church during the
transition phase. This time is simply a window of opportunity for them to carry out what was already
on their hearts as the previous pastor departed. Thankfully, these individuals were already planning
to attend a different church and are now doing so. Please pray for the MVBC congregation and
leadership to extend grace to those who have made this choice and use the experience to strengthen
their brotherly love and fellowship within this body.
Sunday morning messages are focused on the book of Titus in order to help the church understand
the structure of leadership established in God’s word. As Adam directs the congregation to related
cross references, the beautiful sound of the tender pages of scripture ripple through the sanctuary.
The word of God is highly regarded at MVBC, praise God!
Prayer points
- Adam to discern how to edify the elders and transition team in order to promote growth in Christian wisdom and virtue so that a harvest of spiritual fruit would flow from the leadership.
- Building up and strengthening of brotherly love, unity in Christ, and fellowship within the MVBC body.
- MVBC’s increased love for God’s word and desire to uphold the biblical foundations of church structure.
- Steph’s travels to Florida in November and her Mom’s heart procedure on Nov. 7th.
- Continued blessing of health for both Adam and Steph that our service to the Lord would not be hindered.
Adam & Stephanie Wolfgang
September 2019
Every ministry group has met with Adam and so
much has been accomplished through these meetings. The Christian
education committee decided to expand the Sunday school ministry from just one
adult class to include a women’s and men’s class. There is discussion
about adding a class for youth. The worship committee established a new set of
standards for the music teams, which will improve their presence as they lead
praise music. Adam had good meetings with the remaining committees (finance,
missions, social, youth) where he learned about their operations and offered
suggestions from a pastoral perspective.
The master’s course that Adam is taking is going
well. He has managed to stay ahead in his assignments (this is no
surprise if you know Adam) without compromising IPM work. What he is
learning is finding its way into his conversations and prepared messages.
The front pews of the church were lined with
MVBC members working on clipboards and filling out the Natural Church
Development survey on September 15th. Just a couple of days later, Adam
and the elders met and selected a transition team to assimilate the data into a
plan of action. Our prayer is that the
transition team will use the data, seek the Lord’s direction and be empowered
to take the church through some very crucial steps toward healing.
We are thankful for God’s hand of protection on
our health. This fall marks the 7th year since Adam walked out of the
chemo infusion center for the last time and he remains cancer free.
Steph’s thyroid condition seems to be slowly improving and the environment in
Maine is very agreeable, though a bit chilly.
Machias has a market of locally grown fresh produce, which we visit
weekly!
As for Steph’s activities, here’s a quick update
from last month. I’m currently serving as a coach to the worship teams when
they meet for weekly practice. There are 3 teams, for which one I serve
as keyboardist. I am also standing in
temporarily as leader for a weekly women’s Bible study group. This group comprises mostly younger moms and
their toddlers. The ladies are hungry to learn how to study God’s word,
so I hope to introduce the SOAP scripture study method. My prayer is that together we will discover
how, by reading God’s word, His word reads us!
Just in case you like random information, here
are a few fun word usages unique to Maine. A “doah yahd” (door yard) is a driveway. “Wicked”
is used as a superlative adjective. A “Mainah,” is someone born and living in
Maine. “Down East” is the Maine
coast northeast of Boothbay, which is not geographically down. “Bah
Hahbah”, also known as Bar Harbor, is just one of the many words with a
missing “r”. “Torus” with an audible “r” is someone from away, otherwise
known as a tourist. All teasing aside,
if you ever have the privilege to know a Mainer, you will have an unforgettably
loyal and loving friend.
Thank you
so much for your continued prayer support and financial gifts.
We love to hear from you, so send us a note of
update on your life and how we might pray for you!
Adam & Stephanie
Our prayer requests:
- Continued training and development
of the elders
- God to raise up more men to join
the roll of elder
- God’s direction of the transition
team
- Healing, forgiveness, love and
holiness among the church body
- The next pastor, his family and
his calling
- Continued blessing of our health
and stewardship of our bodies that we would be able to serve out the full
number of days that God has assigned to us
- God’s provision and direction in
our financial stewardship
- Steph’s travels to FL in November
as her mom has a heart procedure to treat Afib
from the Wolfgangs in Maine!
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| Jim & Karen |
Adam
continues to conduct interviews with congregants; however, there are fewer
people signing up. Some of these
interviews took place in fellowship over a shared meal while others were a
scheduled part of Adam's day at the office.
So far, the interview process has served well to help Adam get a broad
scope of information that will allow him to assemble his personal assessment of
the church. The next step in the interim
process is the Natural Church Development Survey, to be taken by a select
number of members. The survey asks a set
of questions resembling a standardized test.
The forms are ordered and this step should be underway during
September. The purpose of Adam's
assessment and the survey is to identify the church's strengths and
weaknesses. This information will serve to
direct the transition team once it is assembled.
A primary
focus in the beginning of this interim has been to build a sense of trust
between Adam and the leadership of the church.
The elder training tools that he is using to encourage and bring growth in
their leadership skills are off to a great start. Adam has also initiated meetings with local
pastors to establish a stronger relationship between Biblically founded
churches, which in turn could be a source of support for the future pastor of
MVBC.
In order
to help to improve communication and unity between ministries at MVBC, Adam has
been meeting with the individual ministry groups. These meetings have afforded Adam an
opportunity to hear about their specific ministries, encouraging them to continue
to expand their reach to the church body and community.
The calendar of events in
August has been exciting for MVBC. Adam
has been using the Sunday and Wednesday evening services to cover basic
principles of personal evangelism and discipleship found in scripture. Also, months of planning by MVBC ladies for
the annual Women's Conference were realized in 2 days of challenging teaching
from Nancy Guthrie entitled "Lord, I Need A Change." As a bonus to finish the weekend, Nancy and
her husband shared during the Sunday School hour about their personal journey
in grief and their ministry to grieving parents. August is wrapping up with the town's annual
Blueberry festival when we set up water stations to support the runners in the
Blueberry race.
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| The Savoies |
If you
are wondering about Steph, I have been busy setting up our belongings in our
home (which was nicely furnished). My
greatest desire is to see God bring healing and spiritual growth in the
churches where we serve, so I set aside dedicated time to pray daily. My support to Adam takes the shape of
providing healthful meals, a comfortable environment to rest, a listening ear,
a monthly update writer and a prayer partner.
The gift of music and worship leadership, with which God has entrusted
me, is available to be used in the form of a coach to individual keyboardists
or the music team as a whole. Thus far,
I have met with one woman who wants to improve her approach to improvisation at
the keyboard. My services are free upon
request. Please pray that God will use
and equip me to do His will while I am here.
Prayer points
- Adam's time management, his
first Masters of Biblical studies begins Aug. 19th
- Adam and the elders as they
continue to walk through the elder training process
- The elders as they select
members to take the survey
- The elders as they prepare and
assemble a transition team
- Our travels to Texas, the end
of Sept. to visit Anna (our daughter) and her family
- God to soften and transform
hearts through the ministries at MVBC
We start this letter with a picture of a couple from Illinois who are on
our prayer support team who visited us this month and we finish with another
picture of a family from New Brunswick who also did the same. We are so blessed by those God has put into
our lives. Thank you all for your
prayers and support.
Adam & Stephanie
Reflecting back on the previous two months makes our heads spin with all that God has done in our lives! We are thankful that God provided an interim assignment with Machias Valley Baptist Church (MVBC) bringing to reality the work that He had placed on Adam's heart a year ago!
Our place in Zephyrhills was beginning to feel like home when we packed the essentials to hit the road again on June 29. Just prior to leaving, Adam worked on a wheelchair rack, which he purchased from a local individual, installed a hitch on the car to receive the rack and suited it up with a water resistant cargo bag. The discovery of Hefty Shrink bags made it possible to compact the load, and our Impala was ready for the long haul to Machias, Maine. Poor Buddy the dog had only a "hole" in the back seat where he could sit, turn and lay down. Ironically, he didn't want to spend much time outside of the car during rest stops before he would jump in for more "car ride." We made the 1800-mile trip safely in three days without complications due to route, inclement weather or car performance. Praise God!
Thanks to many who offered their generous financial gifts in June, we are on budget this month and not feeling the pinch of zero income for 60 days straight. God bless you!
Our first monthly income from Machias will be received at the end of July.
A couple from the church is hosting us in their "in-law" apartment situated above a newly built garage located a city block from the church. It is a very comfortable, independent space and has been our temporary home for the month of July. The church has arranged for us to move into a home, currently being renovated, which will be ready for us as you read this update. It is located a couple of miles away from downtown.
Adam wasted no time after arrival and was settling into the pastor's office on Tuesday, July 1st. The first phase of the interim process is for Adam to do a personal assessment of the congregation by way of individual interviews. It will take about two months to meet with all of the congregants. Several interviews have already taken place. This assessment is a very crucial first step toward identifying the profile of this church. We appreciate your prayers. Many more steps will follow this one, but our desire is for the church to GROW, not just GO, through a pastoral transition, which is often difficult for a church body. As he works through each phase of the interim, Adam will be caring for this congregation as a pastor shepherd should by encouraging deeper devotion to Christ, fervent prayer for the direction of a new pastor, and the development of effective discipleship.
We are so thankful for you all, our prayer team. Your effort in prayer has already touched the hearts of the church as they heard about the prayer warriors from all over the country.
Here is our prayer list:
Here is our prayer list:
• God to strengthen the elders as they discover their biblical role in leadership
• Adam as he makes his assessment, that he would have wisdom and discernment
• The congregants to be willing and open in the interview phase
• Both Adam and I to connect in fellowship with the congregation
• The men of MVBC to bond in Christian brotherhood under a newly formed men's ministry
We love you all.
Adam & Stephanie Wolfgang
June update from the Wolfgangs
(an adventure to Downeast Maine)
My first impression is that Maine reminds me a lot of northern
Michigan. Things look familiar to me
here. A big change is the sun shows up
at 4:30 a.m. in June! For us early
risers, this is a plus. I think best in
the mornings.
I had
a wonderful weekend with the congregation of Machias Valley Baptist Church
of Machias, Maine. It is about 85
miles from Bangor, Maine and the Machias River runs right through town with beautiful
waterfalls that you can hear and see from downtown. It is a typical New England town with its
independent shop owners and beautifully restored buildings decorated with
bright colors.
A
young minister came into town in 1956 and founded MVBC in 1962. He pastored here for 50 years. The securing of a long-term pastor hasn’t
occurred since his death in 2008. A
recent departure of pastoral leadership prompted a call to Interim Pastor Ministry
(IPM) to seek help during this time of transition.
My
weekend visit was the first of hopefully many opportunities to share the vision
of not just going but growing through a pastoral
transition. The weekend was full of meetings with
elders and leadership with a presentation of the IPM process, teaching a Sunday
School class, and preaching in the morning and evening services. I looked over our possible living
arrangements and it was the annual Margaretta Days Festival that marked the
first naval battle of the Revolutionary War off the shores of Machias in June
of 1775. Check out our blog for more
pictures and a video link to the sermon given over the weekend. Living light and in the Light
With
your prayer and financial support we need to make it through to the end of July
when our first paycheck would come through IPM from the church. The church paid for my plane fare, baggage
and parking fees, and mileage to and from the airport and they will also be
covering our moving costs per mile.
So this is one of those “faith” months when we get to
see God provide.
Thankfully,
a great “moving in” sale yielded some
resources and we have utilized selling sites to rid ourselves of some larger
items. A couple extra prayers this
month would be appreciated as we depart for Maine on Saturday, June 29th and
travel about 1700 miles north. The car
will be loaded and so will our hearts for God and the people of the area called
“Downeast” Maine.
Adam
& Stephanie
The picture to the right is what
we have been doing between ministry at the church and also necessary physical
goodbyes with those that we love here.
The church gave us a wonderful “going
away” reception and we felt the love of the family of God. These last Sundays have been precious and we
top it off with a baptism following the morning service. PTL!
The truck is reserved for the 30th so what once was a nudge is now a push to complete this leg of the journey.
Another “praise the Lord” is the increase of addresses that these monthly updates
go to. We have gone from just under 40
to 62 at last count. We also received
our first support given through Interlink
Ministries and it was the right
amount for the rental of the moving truck.
God is supplying our needs!
We are so thankful for the
securing of the next pastor for Oglesby Union Church. Pastor Jeremy and Maryjane will be coming in
mid June but are already building relationships with the members of OUC! We are praying for their ministry as they
carry on the torch of gospel to the Illinois Valley.
Two other developments of the
month are a potential call to a church in Machias, Maine and the opportunity to
further my education from bachelors to masters.
Our resume was submitted to a church in Maine and ongoing conversations are
happening about a possible call. Also,
an online Masters of Biblical and Theological Studies has been made available
at an affordable rate and flexible schedule through Belhaven
University of Jackson,
Mississippi. Would you pray with us to see God’s hand leading in these areas?
Here is the prayer list of the month:
· Moving sale done, actual moving to begin, the 30th
& 31st
· 62 addresses with a goal of 100
· Final Sunday at OUC and the baptism service of Glenn
· Possible first call for IPM to a church in Maine
· Possible online classes for continuing education
One pleasure of serving a
local church is to get eye to eye with others.
On one end of the age spectrum is Gabby, a 2nd grader, which
I got eye to eye with during a recent worship service. On the other end is Sandy, a scooter assisted
senior, who travels 7 to 8 blocks to be with her church family. The best way to talk to her is on your knees
so you can see her smiling face straight on.
God gives us ones to love
and ones to love us through
His church.
Until next month…remember to subscribe
to our blog at: Living light and in the Light
Adam & Stephanie
April 2019 – Ministry Update from the Wolfgangs
Here is a silly picture of the love of my life, my wife Stephanie. I am tempted for you to add the caption. She does love kumquats and I recently bought 4 bags of them on a trip to Chicago and I think I may have gotten one or two out of the 4 bags! She did plant a kumquat tree on our lot in Florida so maybe this will satisfy her indulgence.
Plans are moving along and we are one month closer to our departure. The trip to Chicago was to attend a training session with Interim Pastor Ministries (IPM). It was a blessing to go through this material again before being assigned to our first post. An added benefit was that there were many IPM pastors in attendance from the field who were also taking this as a refresher course. They gave tremendous real time examples and I took a “ton” of notes.
A helpful development from Interlink Ministries, our ministry that we are under for financial giving, is the option to have a direct Pay Pal link on our website. On the top of the page of Living light and in the Light you will see a “Donate” button. This will take you to a secure Pay Pal site for ease in supporting us in this transitional ministry. While there, if you haven’t subscribed to the blog, I encourage you to do so. I post weekly devotionals and updates from the field.
Here is the prayer list of the month:
- We are planning a moving sale the first weekend in May (weather permitting).
- Our list of contacts is growing and our initial goal is 100 (about 40 at this point).
- The refresher course with IPM gave me more contacts of mentors to develop.
- The final weeks at Oglesby Union Church and a first call from IPM.
- Saving up for moving expenses.
One last note to share is about the power of the local church made known to me again this Easter/Resurrection Sunday. A lone man was sitting in one of the pews near the back of the church prior to its start. His name was John. I made my rounds and asked him if he was from Oglesby. He wasn’t. He was an over the road truck driver from Washington State and heading to Ohio. He stopped for the night and wanted to be in church with other Christians on Easter Sunday. This local church gave him a place to rejoice of the empty tomb and sing of the Risen Savior! Stephanie and I desire to serve the local churches of America to be those gospel stations for drop ins like the Christian over the road truckers on their way from here to there. God bless John for stopping his route for Him and God bless this church for proclaiming Jesus boldly.
Until next month, thank you for your prayers and support! Adam & Stephanie
March update 2019
Our transition to interim pastoral ministry
Another month has passed and we are taking steps each week to preparing for this transition in ministry. The picture to the left is the apartment complex that our son Ben has moved into. Thank you for your prayers on his transition, which affords him a shorter commute to his work place.
Another praise is that our account with Interlink Ministries, the missionary umbrella organization for financial contributions, has been activated. We needed a certain amount of activity and that has come from financial contributions from you!
http://interlinkministries.org/missionaries - This link will take you to a list of Interlink’s missionaries and we should show up there soon. It will have our picture, a brief description of our ministry, and a link to our blog site to receive more information. This will be another tool to use to share with others as we communicate about the need of interim pastoral ministries. Our prayer and support group is up to 36 addresses and we are thankful for each and every one of you.
Here is the prayer list for the month:
- Downsizing our personal possessions. A garage/moving sale is in our future!
- Reaching out to others for prayer and financial support.
- Attending the April refresher training session in Chicago with IPM.
- Working through transitional issues with OUC, the radio ministry at WLPO, a community Bible study at the YMCA, and the pastoral support group in the LaSalle/Peru area.
- Saving up for moving expenses.
"A story to share this month is about a couple of young men who attend our church. They come alone without the any other family support. It is funny that they occupy pew seats in different diagonal corners of the sanctuary. Each is taking weekly steps to put himself in a place to grow spiritually. I pray for these two because these are the type of people that God calls into full time ministry. The blessing is that the church is providing the godly family structure needed for them to grow in the Word and in His service. One is in high school and the other in college and I make sure to shake their hand whenever possible to let them know that this man, me, is in support of their pursuit of God. May we pray for more devoted as these and create places where they can come and grow no matter if they are the only one."
Thanks again for your time and prayers this month. The next update will probably have some new information after attending the refresher course of Interim Pastor Ministries in Chicago on April 10th and 11th.
God Bless – Adam and Stephanie
P.S. Attached to this email will be another financial support coupon.
Here is the link to online giving: http://interlinkministries.org/make-donation
Here is also the link to our blog site: https://pastorwolfgang.blogspot.com/
February update 2019
Let’s start with a big praise! Ben has found an apartment and we will be
moving him into his new digs in March.
We are so thankful that our future downsize move will provide for him
all the furniture that he needs to start out.
We are another month closer to the transition to Interim
Pastoral Ministries (IPM) and with that comes another reduction on our personal
debt with the goal to be debt free by our departure date.
Stephanie had a great trip to Florida to see our renters settled
into the mobile for the months of February and March. She was also able to spend some time with her
parents, her sister and brother-in-law, and my sister and brother-in-law. Our “home
base” received a good looking over to make this move as smooth as possible.
We, the Oglesby Union Church (OUC) and us, have been
participating in the Explore God series with 800+ churches in the Chicagoland
area. For our church it has offered the
opportunity look at the Scriptures and discover its answers to these 7 common
questions. I have also used the
opportunity to use the “Down To The
River” radio broadcast on WLPO as a way to reach out to the greater
community with some Biblical answers.
I am 2 months into the new schedule with my blog “Living light and in the Light.” https://pastorwolfgang.blogspot.com/
If you are not subscribed, I encourage
you to follow the link and sign up to get email alerts to new content.
On Sundays I post the radio broadcast, some reflections
on Monday, Wednesday in the Word studying the Gospel of John, and finishing
with a Friday Focus.
Here is the prayer list for the month:
- · Moving Ben into his own apartment.
- · Downsizing our personal possessions.
- · Reaching out to others for prayer and financial support.
- · Attending the April refresher training session in Chicago with IPM.
- · Working through transitional issues with OUC, a community Bible study at the YMCA, radio ministry at WLPO, and the pastoral support group in the LaSalle/Peru area.
- · Saving up for moving expenses.
One last thing I would like to share is that a new family
member has come into the family of God and the OUC family. A single man and his son found their way to
our annual Harvest Dinner in November of last year. A congregant invited her co-worker to
come. The church body (especially the
men of the church) surrounded this man with love, support, and gospel
presentations. He now proclaims Jesus as
his Lord and Savior. He is attending
church every Sunday, participating in a men’s Sunday School class, bringing his
son to church on the weekends that are his, and reading the Bible together with
him. We are all grateful for the
ministry of this local church. This is
our heart as we head out to local churches in need during a transition. We want them to catch again the vision of the
mission field around them.
Thank you for reading this latest update and standing with
us in prayer and financial support if able.
We are so grateful to have friends like you who have built into our
lives to take this step.
Adam & Stephanie
1.24.19
Thank you, thank you, thank
you for all your prayers and notes back of encouragement. We are so thankful for the people God has put
in our lives to support us in the ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Thanks to a good friend named
Ron, a new and improved letter has been sent out.
He has been in this type of ministry before and helped me “clean up” my support letter to make it
easier to read and more focused on our main objective. Ron asked me a couple of questions, “Why are you doing this? Why do you see this as an important need to
fill in the local church?” Here are
my answers.
IPM’s (Interim Pastor
Ministries) mission is:
Strengthening churches during pastoral
transition for greater effectiveness.
Cam Taylor, in his book Between
Pastors, said,
“Times of pastoral transition are
windows of opportunity. For a
congregation that seizes the opportunity, it can be a transformational turning
point toward greater health and mission effectiveness. Welcoming a new senior pastor to a healthy,
functioning, spiritually renewed congregation is a goal worth pursuing!”
I wholeheartedly agree. As God has unfolded the gifts He has given
me, I see more clearly that I can be used to fill this spot for a season in the
life of a local church to not just go through a pastoral transition but
rather grow through a pastoral transition. Change is scary but there is a way to
navigate through it for greater kingdom impact.
Titus 1:5 gives a Biblical
picture of what I am looking at being a part of in the life of the larger
church of God in America. Paul writes to
Titus,
“The reason I left you in Crete was to
set right what was left undone and,
as I directed you, to appoint elders in
every town.”
We see something
intentionally done with “the reason.” We see an interim nature with “I left you.” We see a location for a time with “in Crete.” We see some corrective action with “to set right.” We see addressing of important ministries
with “left undone.” We see a focus on spiritual leadership with “appoint elders.” We see the focus on the larger church with “in every town.” Finally, we see the training received to do
this ministry with “as I directed you.”
After receiving the training
from IPM, I realized that the gifts God has given me line up with this type of
ministry to the local church. Some
common elements that need to be addressed that I have seen over the 33 years of
ministry are the navigation of change for the sake of God’s glory and the
discipleship of more spiritual leaders.
Many times the change that is
needed is to go from being inward focused to outward focused. New spiritual leaders are needed in the local
church and they require mentoring and also a space to minister. These elements have been ever increasing in
my life within the scope of the church and I desire to be sent out from
church to church to help at a crucial time to see progress in these areas prior
to the placement of a new pastor.
I want to leave you with some
prayer requests.
· Apartment hunting for our son Ben who will be staying
in this area.
· Trip of Stephanie to Florida to prepare our mobile
home for some renters for a couple months and then our move there in June.
· My opportunity to go through the IPM training again in
April. This will be a great refresher
and an opportunity to meet others who are in the field.
· The paring down of our belongings and the finishing up
of some debt prior to our departure.
· The pastoral search process at Oglesby Union Church,
which is moving along nicely.
· Our continued ministry through this transition at OUC.
Thank you for your prayers
and your time to think of us as you read our reasons for making this move in
ministry. May we bring God glory as we
serve His larger church through the ministry of IPM.
Adam & Stephanie
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