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If our only problem is individual guilt, the solution can be reduced to Good Friday. But as we acknowledge our problem in its true biblical proportions, we need more than Good Friday: we need Christmas as Incarnation, Good Friday as Substitution and Paradigm and the stripping of systemic powers from their illegitimate thrones, Easter as New Creation, and Pentecost as Empowerment. The robust gospel incorporates us into the life of Jesus Christ, into his death with us, for us, and instead of us, into the Resurrection that justifies and creates new life, and the Pentecostal Spirit that empowers us to live together, as image-bearers of God, in such a way that we glow with the glory of the blessed God. -- Scot McKnight, "The 8 Marks of a Robust Gospel," http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/march/

Michigan Baptist Wins Church World Service Award

Victor Atiemo-Obeng, an active lay leader at the First Baptist Church of Midland, is a winner of the Church World Service Advocacy Award. Another American Baptist winner of the award is Mark Coats, son of American Baptist missionaries to Thailand, Bob and Pat Coats. These are the only two American Baptists to receive the award to attend the nation's largest gathering of U.S. and international Christian peace and justice activists, Ecumenical Advocacy Days, March 7-10 in Washington DC.

Victor, a native of Ghana, is chairman of the Church World Service Michigan Region Advisory Board where he helps staff develop strategy and execute programs to raise awareness about the needs of the poor and hungry and to raise money through CROP hunger walks. Victor says his first real exposure to hunger and poverty was as a newly arrived college student. "I couldn't believe what I saw in this land of riches. I find it incredible that there are people living in the United States who feed themselves by rummaging through garbage, even today."

According to Lisa Rothenberger, World Relief Officer for ABC,USA, "What an honor to see that 2 of the 10 recipients of this award are from our American Baptist family. We are privileged to work alongside Church World Service at the local, national and international level to advocate for the needs of those living in poverty in our own neighborhoods and around the world. This award is wonderful recognition of the importance of what is done by activists in our community each and every day."

For more information about the awards and the recipients see press releases at http://tinyurl.com/2meog9 and http://tinyurl.com/36mnlc.

Arrivals, Departures, Celebrations, Concerns

§ Ecumenical Theological Seminary will hold its Second Annual Distinguished Alumni Banquet on Friday, May 30, 2008. The Alumni will be honoring their colleagues Susan Beaumont, Senior Consultant at Alban Institute, a national research and resource center for American congregations, and Carter Grimmett and Doug Ralston, co-founders of Bridges, a program to connect people of diversity to experience one another differently. Ms. Beaumont will be presenting "Reason for Our Hope: Reflections on the Future of Mainline Congregations."

§ The Rev. James Bowden Jr. of Muskegon, MI, aged 83, died on February 26, 2008. James was a minister of Lakeside Chapel in Park Lake, MI from 1950-1960, South Okemos Church from 1962-1972, Valley Farms Baptist Church from 1980-1989. He was also the superintendent for 17 years at Lansing Christian School, after which he ministered to college students in East Lansing through "Sonshine House." He was a member of Mona Shores Baptist Church in Muskegon, very active in Maranatha Missionary and Bible Conference and was an avid hunter. James served in the U.S. Navy Air Corps serving during WWII. Survivors include his wife, Ann of 59 years; two daughters, Cathy (Dennis) Bytwerk of Mason, MI, Kay (Doug) Bytwerk of Spring Lake, MI; three sons, Kent Bowden of Lansing, MI, James (Martha) Bowden III and Calvin (Amy) Bowden, both of Mason, MI; 17 grandchildren; 22 great-grandchildren; and two sister-in-laws, Betty Bowden of Lake Odessa, MI, and Pauline Meriam of Elsie, MI. The funeral service for James was held at March 1, 2008 at South Church with James Bowden III and grandson, McKeel Bowden, officiating. Memorials may be made to Lansing Christian School.

§ Maranatha Baptist Church of Plains, GA held Revival Services March 2-5, 2008. The preacher for the services was Dr. Paul Simpson Duke, co-pastor at First Baptist Church, Ann Arbor. Maranatha, whose pastor is a former student of Dr. Duke, is church home to former President Jimmy Carter, acclaimed as teacher of an adult Sunday school class there.

§ Pastor Matthew and Beth Brown of First Baptist Church, Marshall, announce the birth of their son Canaan David Brown on February 22, 2008. The Browns say of their son's name, "Canaan is the biblical promised land, later known as Israel (same land), and the area in which God carried out his plan of salvation through Jesus. But mostly, we just like the name!" For lots of pictures go to http://tinyurl.com/2zcs74.

§ First Baptist Church of Davison members gathered on Sunday, February 24 to celebrate 150 years of ministry in Davison. The morning worship service, dedicated to thanking God for many years of blessing, was followed by an anniversary dinner honoring the history of the church. This event initiates a number of year long events and activities that will highlight the past and anticipate the future of this growing congregation. These events include a restoration of the church bells, the making of a memory quilt, creation of a church float to be entered in the Davison Summer Festival Parade, and a community picnic and open house scheduled for the Saturday after Labor Day. The Rev. Dr. James Unger serves as pastor of the church.

§ St. Luke Tabernacle Community Church of Detroit is the newest congregation to be received into membership with the American Baptist Churches of Michigan and the Metropolitan Detroit Association, The founding pastor is the Rev. Dr. James Evans, a former president of Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School. Dr. Patricia Butler, assistant to the pastor, is responsible for day to day leadership in the church. The church will be honored during the Spring gathering of Metro Detroit Association churches, and during the fall gathering of the American Baptist Churches of Michigan. The mailing address for the church is: Dr. Patricia Butler, 8308 Westwood, Detroit, MI 48228.

A Vision for New Church Planting

For some time a few members of the Congregational Ministries and Missions Team of the ABC-MI Region have been praying about a dream they have for planting a new church within our Region. This dream fits with the New Life 2010 vision, birthed by Dr. Jeffrey A. Johnson, and supported by the denomination to reach 1,000,010 new disciples and plant 1,010 new churches by the year 2010. Recently God has begun to answer that prayer through an M. Div student at ETS who has responded to God's call upon his life to be a church planter. As a result, the CMMT has met to discuss how they and the Region can support this church plant and to help assure that it is successful. >>> Read more.

New Baptist Covenant -- Continued

The Rev. Stacey Simpson Duke, co-pastor at First Baptist Church of Ann Arbor, reported the following in the church newsletter regarding The New Baptist Covenant;

First Baptist Church of Ann Arbor has had a special role in the founding of this movement. Because of the generous gifts of some families in our church, we were among 25 or 30 founding donors in funding this Celebration (which was offered free to all participants). As a donor, our church was invited to a special reception before the Opening Plenary to receive a certificate acknowledging our gift. I was imagining just a regular paper certificate, presented by one of the steering committee, to be hung on a bulletin board for a few weeks somewhere around the church. What I was given for our church was a beautifully framed certificate - presented by Jimmy Carter himself. He gave personal words of gratitude to each one of us who were there representing our institutions. It was an honor to meet him, and I was further honored to be representing a congregation that puts its money where its mouth is when it comes to concrete Christian witness.

Special Interest Missionary Program

by Debbie Hart

I would like to share with you new information about the American Baptist Special Interest Missionary (SIM) Program. Started in 1952 with the support of American Baptist Women, this program:

Personalizes American Baptist Mission
Acquaints congregations with missionaries and their ministries
Cultivates prayer and financial support for mission work in the United States and other countries

Traditionally, the Special Interest Missionaries program was administered through American Baptist Women's Ministries (ABWM). However, not every church has an active ABWM group. To reach every ABC church, the SIM program was expanded in recent years so that all ABC churches will receive information. This was in response to requests from pastors who want their congregations to learn more about American Baptist mission and to build stronger partnerships with our missionaries.

To see the list (pdf) of the newly assigned missionaries to Michigan click on this link >>> http://abc-mi.org/elink/mispecintmiss.pdf . For more information regarding these missionaries and their work, please check the following websites:

www.internationalministries.org
www.nationalministries.org

You may keep updated through journals and newsletters for your congregation, so your church as a whole can pray for these missionaries, send messages of encouragement and support them financially. If you have any questions, please contact Debbie Hart, Mission Assistant at 800.632.2953 ext. 221 or dhart@abc-mi.org,

Intentional Interims Needed

The Region's further development of strategies for ministering to churches in transition requires a steady supply of Intentional Interim Ministers. "Intentional" means that each interim pastor will work with church leaders and the Consultant for Transitional Ministries to help the congregation explore who they are and how they can become healthier and better equipped to reach their full kingdom potential. We are seeking people who feel called to ministering to congregations in transition and are trained to do so in line with our vision in Michigan of "Growing Healthy Churches".

In transitional ministry we are constantly learning and growing as we explore better ways to serve our churches. Therefore we are looking for interims to join our team who desire to learn and grow. We are also seeking interims who can be trusted with a high level of responsibility and authority, while being held accountable to our vision and the Consultant for Transitional Ministries. >>> Read more.

America for Christ Offering

For more than 180 years The American Baptist Home Mission Societies, now doing ministry as Bational Ministries, American Baptist Churches USA, have shown a compassionate concern in this nation full of ongoing needs and evolving challenges. Even in our affluence and influence, the United States remains the 3rd largest mission field in the world Ð truly a field ripe unto harvest.

Understanding our nation's spiritual and physical needs means identifying and addressing the impediments to wholeness that millions of our women, men and children face every day. To that end, National Ministries continues its widespread outreach across the United States and in Puerto Rico. The America for Christ Offering is a significant source of funding for this work. Only with the continuing generosity of mission-focused American Baptists can National Ministries provide the resources that have changed countless lives through Christ-centered caring.

We have sent hundreds of volunteers to the Gulf Coast to help rebuild homes and lives following Hurricane Katrina. We have helped to resettle more than 96,000 refugees since World War II. American Baptist chaplains, endorsed through National Ministries, serve on the battlefield in Iraq as well as in hospitals and prisons. The American Baptist Children in Poverty initiative, developed and implemented by National Ministries, is working to transform the lives of children with limited resources. And National Ministries' evangelism training is making a difference in sharing God's Good News by transforming regional and church leaders' understanding of evangelism - which in turn is transforming the leadership of those American Baptists they train.

All of these endeavors-and many more-are made possible by generous support of the America for Christ Offering. Support the 2008 offering with a joyful heart-and help to meet the needs of mission on our doorstep with the love of Christ that urges all of us on.

News from Poland

Ryszard Gutkowski, director of the Christian Education Center "Diamond" in Bialystok, Poland, sent a recent report on activities there to Region staff member Trina Knox. >>> Read the letter.

FANNING THE FLAME

(A national Pastors' Renewal Conference)
APRIL 22-25, 2008
GREEN LAKE CONFERENCE CENTER
GREEN LAKE, WISCONSIN

Free luxury bus transportation will be provided to and from the conference on a first come first served basis until the bus is full. Call the Region office (1-800-632-2953) to reserve a seat.

Apply for a New Life Grant of $300.00 from National Ministries and the conference will cost you nothing! Contact Sheila Kaminski (skaminski@abc-mi.org) to receive an application. You must be listed in the Region Professional Registry to receive a New Life Grant.

Short Notices

Camp Lael's summer brochure and related mailings will be sent to the churches by March 14, 2008. Online registration for Camp Lael will begin the same day. The early bird deadline to receive $25 off the camp fees will be May 1st. In the meantime folks can visit www.camplael.com to view the summer schedule and camp descriptions.

On-line Registration For Lake Louise Baptist Camp is now available. Visit the camp website at www.camplakelouise.com to see the camp sessions available for this coming summer.

Camp Lael is accepting applications for summer employment. Needed are cabin counselors, lifeguards, activity directors and CIT's, as well as kitchen and maintenance helpers. Applications are available on our website at www.camplael.com

Rich Williams, youth minister at First Baptist, Midland, is looking for possible locations for spiritual retreats: "Many of you may have heard about or personally know of a wonderful place that is 'a little piece of Heaven'. I'm trying to gather some information that could be used by new ministers that move into the Michigan area as a Sabbath Retreat. It could be a place for them to re-energize and grow or simply to rest and recuperate. It could be a cabin in the woods, a state park or a retreat center in the country or city. If you could email me the Name, City and Contact Information of a Sabbath Retreat location I will then organize and share this information, please email information to r_williams@ameritech.net."

Downtown Birmingham's annual Ecumenical Good Friday Service will held from noon to 3PM on Friday, March 21, 2008, at the First Baptist Church, at Willits and Bates Street. The service has thirty-minute segments. Each will include special music, liturgy and preaching. Participating pastors include: Rev. Dr. J. Wesley Babian (First Baptist Church), Rev. Penny Lowes (Congregational Church of Birmingham), Rev. James Greer (Franklin Community Church), Dr. Michael Byrnes (Northbrook Presbyterian Church), Dr. John Harnish (United Methodist Church of Birmingham), and Rev. Jeff Regan (St. Paul United Methodist Church).

Read the latest issue of International Ministries Prayer Call: http://abc-mi.org/elink/prayer-call.pdf.

B'Jazz Vespers is offered to the public on Sunday, March 16, 6 to 8 p.m. at First Baptist, Birmingham: "Some Sweet Jazz and an Interlude of Worship" features "JERRY McKENZIE'S JUST JAZZ with TWO TENORS plus TWO MORE JAZZ GUYS" at this month's gig.

The Friendship House Newsletter is now provided in both PDF and DOC formats. The DOC format is a much smaller file and will take much less time to acquire on slow dialup connections. Read it in PDF at http://abc-mi.org/elink/fh.pdf or in DOC format at http:abc-mi.org/fh.doc.

The next issue of E-Link Online will be published on March 24, 2008. Please send news items and notices to the Editor (editor@abc-mi.org) by March 19.

Editor's Trips

Disclaimer: listing of these references does not imply endorsement of positions or policies advocated in them by either the American Baptist Churches of Michigan or the editor of E-Link Online. They are provided here for further thought, discussion, and inquiry. Caveat lector.

The Editor

»»  8 Marks of a Robust Gospel -- http://tinyurl.com/3dla9v
»»  How Good People Turn Evil -- http://tinyurl.com/2rqdgj
»»  Americans's Changing Faiths -- http://tinyurl.com/2g3rnx
»»  The Strange, Holy Privilege of a Pastor -- http://tinyurl.com/yu8tg3
»»  Evangelicals Turn to Ancient Traditions -- http://tinyurl.com/3cguk6

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