E-Link Online -- News of the American Baptist Churches of Michigan

September Events

The Central Area has planned a fellowship event for seniors on Thursday, September 18, at Olivet Baptist Church, Lansing, starting at 11:00 A.M. The event will include lunch and a program by Mandy Bashore. Mandy has been in full timeÊministry as a singer, speaker, and dramatist for ten years. Through her music and speaking Mandy shares a message that is inspiring and encouraging. The cost for the event is $5.00 and you can register by calling Olivet Baptist Church, 517-887-0988.

Clergy Wives Ministry Leadership Group will meet Saturday, September 27, 10:30 – 2pm with lunch included at the St. Francis Retreat Center in Dewitt. For more information and to make a reservation, please contact Pat Hernandez (phernandez@abc-mi.org).

Friendship House Golf Outing: Attention all golfers. Please see this flyer for infomation about Friendship House's 3rd Annual Golf Outing on September 27. This is a fund raiser to support the ministry of Friendship and Harvest House. Put your foursomes together and call to reserve your spot! We are also looking for hole sponsors and raffle door prizes. -- Dennis Trezona.

Equipping Event/Annual Meeting Registration Deadline Looms

The ABC-MI 2008 Equipping Event and Annual Meeting are coming up quickly -- October 17 and 18, not much more than a month away! If you have not yet registered, you will want to do so soon. Registration deadline is September 19.

Our special guest is the Rev. Dr. Ron Sider, President of Evangelicals for Social Action (www.sidercenter.org). The Rev. Dr. Dee Dee Coleman, pastor of Russell Street Missionary Baptist Church, Detroit (www.russellstreetmbc.org) will bring the ministry of the Word on Friday night with special music provided by the Russell Street Missionary Baptist Mass Choir.

This event is not to be missed and all are welcome on both Friday and Saturday. Information and the registration form are available online at www.abc-mi.org or call the Region office at 800.632.2953. DON'T DELAY – REGISTER TODAY!

Local church delegates must register by the deadline, Friday, September 19, 2008. Please assist us by observing this deadline. This is important not only for meal planning and materials, but also to avoid complications inherent with last-minute registrations.

A Request from the Editor

Since I will not be able to attend the Equipping Event/Annual Meeting next month, I am looking for a few people who plan to attend who are willing to write brief reports of the sessions for publication in E-Link. Please email me ASAP if you are interested. I will give specific assignments to those who volunteer.

I also welcome photos of the various activities. Send them as well to editor@@abc-mi.org.

Arrivals, Departures, Celebrations, Concerns

§ Olivet Baptist Church, Lansing, will honor the Rev. Ed Owens on the occasion of his 25 years as pastor of the church and 30 years as an ordained minister on Sunday, September 14.

Last Call to Host Mission Speaker for WMO

This may be very well be your last opportunity to host a mission speaker to promote our 2008 World Mission Offering. Wayne Niles will return to Michigan in October for several days hoping to build relationships with you and getting next to the people in your church to speak about his mission work in the Congo. He will explain to you how your mission dollars are being spent on the mission field as he is our hands and feet spreading the gospel on the far side of our world. The only dates I have left available are:

† Monday, October 13
† Tuesday, October 14 in PM
† Thursday, October 16

Please contact me at your earliest convenience to guarantee your church of hosting a missionary before this year is over. You may contact me at 800.632.2953 ext. 221 or dhart@abc-mi.org. -- Debbie Hart

PIN Numbers for MMBB Access

by Richard Reese, MMBB Regional Service Representative

One of the phone calls that I most often receive is when a member wants to access their account on the ACS website. The first question I always ask is "Do you know your ACS PIN number?" and the response I receive 95% of the time is "No". Your PIN number is a 6 digit number that you either received at the time of your MMBB benefits enrollment or in the year 2000.

If you do not know your PIN, this message is for you. This might be a good time for you to request a copy of your ACS PIN number. You need to either call the ACS Service Center at 877.626.4032 or go to the ACS Service Center website at https://www.benefitsweb.com/mmbb.html.

In either case you will need your Social Security Number to make the request. At the website you need to first select "Forgot Your PIN? Next you enter your SSN. This is also a good time to "Register for 'Forgot Your PIN?'"

Going through this process now may save you time and stress later. If you have any questions regarding this process, please do not hesitate to contact me at 800.969.9905 or through email at Richard.Reese@mmbb.org.

If you have questions/issues that you think would have interest to others, please send them on to me. But as always please do not hesitate to contact me with any personal MMBB issues you want me to respond to.

New Pastor Orientation Scheduled

The ABC-MI will be sponsoring an Orientation for New Professional Church Leaders at the Region office in East Lansing on Tuesday, September 16, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. According to the Rev. Tucker Gunneman, ABC-MI Transitional Ministry Consultant, "This event will provide new pastors and associate pastors with an opportunity to meet the ABC-MI staff and also to learn about the exciting ministries the Region has to offer as we seek to fulfill our vision of Growing Healthy Churches. This will also be a great opportunity to become acquainted with other professional church leaders who also are new to their ministry settings." There is no cost for this event and lunch will be provided. If you would like to attend, please notify Debbie Hart at the Region office by phone at (800) 632-2953 x 221 or email dhart@abc-mi.org.

Get Password for Online Region Directories

Directories of ABC-MI churches, ministerial leaders, and Region staff, officers, and board and ministry team members are available online at http:abc-mi.org. However, access to the ABC-MI directories on the Region website requires entrering a password which you must obtain from the Region office. To obtain the password call 1.800.632.2953.

Face To Face Coming To New Castle, Indiana

by Tucker Gunneman

Attention all ABC/MI Clergy and Search Committees.

FACE TO FACE is a day and a half event which brings clergy, church search committees and seminary seniors in the ordination process together in one location for a series of "first time interviews."

The next event will take place Friday and Saturday October 24-25 at First Baptist Church in New Castle, IN (about 30 minutes east of Indianapolis). The costs are:

Clergy: $75 includes registration fee, two meals, snacks, and photos
Search Committees: $100 for committee, plus $20 per Committee member for two meals, snacks, and photos.

Overnight accommodations and other meals are additional. Hotel and restaurant information is available in the registration packet. Registration deadline is September 23, 2008 – this deadline is final.

Church search committees are assigned an interviewing space and pastoral candidates move from interview to interview. There are nine interview time slots available. Participants are scheduled with churches or clergy who have requested to meet with them and also scheduled with other matches that have been determined by the matching team based on interests, experience, and other background information. Any church in transition is able to attend. Also, any pastor seeking a new call or first time call can register. Clergy must have an up to date ABPS profile, and search committees must have an up to date church profile in order to participate.

To register either as a search committee or pastoral candidate, visit the ABC-MI website at www.abc-mi.org and click on the Face to Face logo, or contact Rev. Tucker J. Gunneman, Consultant for Transitional Ministry, phone: 586.219.3392, or e-mail: tgunneman@abc-mi.org.

If you have any other questions, please contact: Rev. Tucker J. Gunneman, Transitional Ministry Consultant, phone: 586.219.3392, or e-mail: tgunneman@abc-mi.org

Short Notices

The latest newsletter of ABCUSA Women In Ministry may be viewed by clicking here.

Information about the American Baptist Endowment Fund is available in this letter from Joseph Huse, Foundation Executive.

Ecumenical Theological Seminary in Detroit will offer the course on Baptist History and Polity (4 credits) in winter term 2009. The class will meet 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on four Saturdays (1/24, 2/7, 2/21, 3/7) and will also require some work via Internet. Dr. Joseph I. Mortensen, adjunct professor at ETS, is the instructor. This course meets a requirement for ordination in ABC-MI. For more information contact the Seminary or the instructor.

This week's Prayer Call for ABC International Ministries calls attention to the needs of the our missionaries. > > > Go to Prayer Call.

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 September 22, 2008. Please send news items and notices to the Editor (editor@abc-mi.org) by September 18.

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. Suggestions for "Trips" and readers' comments are welcome. Send to editor@abc-mi.org.

The Editor

»»  Church Attendance Boosts GPA -- http://tinyurl.com/662cum (h/t Trina Knox)
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