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

Issue 2012.05, March 5, 2012

Comings, Goings, Celebrations, Concerns

North Street Baptist Church has called Matthew Harvey as bivocational pastor, effective January 2012. Matthew and his wife Mary have been married for 21 years. They have five children age 11-19. He operates a successful remodeling business out of Lakeport. He has served as pulpit supply for churches in the Port Huron area, including Westhaven Baptist, a sister ABC-MI church. Matthew has a bachelors degree in Pastoral Studies from Moody Bible institute (1998), and counseling education through Grace Counseling Center, Grand Rapids, and the National Association of Nouthetic Counseling, Lafayette, Ill. We welcome Matthew to the ABC-MI family.
Retired ABC-MI pastor Forrest Hampton's wife Carol reports, "Forrest has been getting weaker every time he has gone into the hospital. The doctor we have here at American House referred us to Hospice...[where] the emphasis will be on making him comfortable, rather than in finding a cure.... We appreciate your continued prayer for us as we change focus. Carol". Send messages of support to hampton.carol2@gmail.com.

Mission Trip to Haiti for Young Adults

Young adults (19-29 years old) have an opportunity to go to Haiti June 23 to July 28 for mission work with various American Baptist mission projects.

It won't be a typical mission trip. Building off the heritage of the Xtreme Team, IGNITE is looking at how to go deep in one's person transformation in relating to God's call to mission.

This ain’t your mama’s mission trip. It’s not even your older sibling’s mission trip. Completely different for a new generation. Help out at a summer camp for kids in Limbe. Participate ith Hatian young adults as they serve in community outreach in Cap Haitien. Experience daily life in North Haiti where American Baptist missionaries have served for decades and are part of the community. Worship, serve and live in Port au Prince where day to day life is a challenge.

IGNITE connects young adults with God's global mission and grows future leaders.

Information and application forms are available at http://www.internationalministries.org/read/36619-apply-for-ignite-.

Short Notices

Tax Guide for Ministers Filing 2011 Returns is an invaluable tool for church staff. It explains—in plain English— the complexities of federal tax filing requirements, including those that are unique to clergy. Tax Guide for Ministers is written by Richard Hammar, an attorney, CPA and best-selling author specializing in legal and tax issues for churches and clergy. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Hammar writes for Church Law & Tax Report and contributed articles to many publications. Download Tax Guide for Ministers Filing 2011 Returns
Federal Reporting Requirements for Reporting 2012 covers the obligation of most churches for withholding and reporting of employee income taxes and Social Security taxes. Download it here.
New Hope Baptist Church, Bay City, is sponsoring HOW TO BREAK THE CHAINS, a prison ministry program on March 10, 2012, 6 p.m. at the church 3360 E. Midland Rd., Bay City. Click here for poster.
Registration is open for the 7-day World Mission Conference (WMC) sponsored by American Baptist International Ministries (IM) May 18-25, 2012 at the Green Lake Conference Center in Green Lake, WI. The 2012 conference, which will include a 3-day call retreat weekend (May 18-20), focuses on discerning God’s call to Christian service and how to make that call a reality. The theme is 2012: Hear the Call. For more information go to www.internationalministries.org/Events. To register, call the Green Lake Conference Center at (920) 294-3323.
Ecumenical Theological Seminary will hold its Second Annual Women in Leadership Conference March 21-March 24, 2012. Plenary speakers will include Rev. Claudette Copeland, DMin, JoAnne Terrell, PhD, Rev. Valerie Bridgeman, PhD, Rev. Barbara Austin-Lucas, EdD and others. Register Now! The conference pre-registration fee is $125. if you register before March 7, 2012, and $150 thereafter. For more information and registration go here.
Transformation Spirituality Center, Nazareth, MI will host the Tranforming Leadership series. The first program is Tuesday, March 13, 2012, "Creating the Structure of Belonging with Peter Block", 9:00 am - 3:00 pm. For information and registration go here.
Stewardship Resource: Generosity is a monthly email newsletter from ABC-USA focused on local church stewardship. For the current issue click here (pdf file). Click here to subscribe.
The most recent Friendship House Newsletter is available at http://abc-mi.org/elink/fh.pdf (PDF) or http://abc-mi.org/elink/fh.docx (DOC).
The next issue of E-Link Online will be published on Monday, March 19, 2012. Please send news items and notices to the Editor (editor@abc-mi.org) by March 15.

Missionary Speakers Available July 2012 - June 2013

ABC International Ministries missionary Jim and Debbie Kelsey will be returning to the States on home assignment for the coming year starting in July. They would love to visit our Michigan churches for mission conferences, ABWM meetings, pastor’s meetings or any venue you may be planning. Their home base will be in Dayton, OH, so it’s just a short trip away from Michigan.

[Click on picture at right for larger view.]

Debbie and Jim Kelsey assist the Evangelical Christian Baptist Union of Italy in ministry to English-speaking immigrants, particularly African congregations. This includes local church ministry and theological and ministerial training of leaders

Church Annual Reports Due April 30

The 2011 Cooperating Church Annual Report for ABC churches is due April 30.

The Report provides important information about each local congregation, including a statistical picture of the church and updated leadership listings. It also becomes part of a database for the ABC-MI and ABC-USA.

The Moderator and Treasurer information helps us to know who to target mailings to with important information and changes for your church.

Please take the time right now before your forget to complete this report and return it to us right away either in hard-copy or on the Internet at: annualreport.abcis.org.

If you have misplaced this form, click here for a copy or contact Debbie Hart at the Region Office at 800.632.2953 ext. 221 or dhart@abc-mi.org.

Doctoral Student Seeks Input from Pastors

Calling all Pastors and Ministers from the strange, isolated and generally weird world of doctoral dissertation land! In the next 2 weeks, I need at least 50 willing (or unwilling) participants to take part in the study I have painstakingly designed. (I am still wiping away the blood, sweat and tears!)

This international study is designed to help understand the scope of relational behavior capability in ministers. For your time and trouble, I will enter your name into a random drawing (e-mails in a hat!) from the first 50 to complete the study, for a cash prize of $50. (I wish it could be more, but this out-of-work minister/chaplain/student’s purse is sadly shrinking!) The questions take about 25 minutes to complete quickly. Some questions will give you the opportunity to add your personal experiences.

When you complete the study, you can view results as they are accumulating! Results are completely anonymous, and will be published as part of a doctoral dissertation for Ecumenical Theological Seminary (www.etseminary.edu) in Detroit, Michigan.

My name is…(now what was it?)…oh, yes! Yvonne. I can be reached by telephone: 519-256-5348, or by Skype, name: yvonne.miloyevich2, or at ydmiloyevich@gmail.com. Please state “Pastor Study” and the best time to reach you!

To be one of the first 50 to take part, go to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZGSK95Y.

Metro Association Annual Meeting on March 8

The Metropolitan Detroit Association of American Baptist Churches and the Detroit Baptist Union will hold their annual meetings on March 8 at 6 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Detroit, Southfield. The gathering begins with a meal at 6 p.m., followed by the meetings at 7 p.m. Click on links below for invitation letter, registration form, delegate procedures, and poster.

You may also register online.

Click on image for larger poster.

Special Interest Missionaries Assigned to Michigan

The program to support Special Interest Missionaries by American Baptist Women began in 1952. This program allows us to:

Personalize American Baptist Mission
Acquaint congregations with missionaries and their ministries
Cultivate 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 (ABW). However, not every church has an active ABW group. To reach every church this program was expanded in recent years so each church will receive the information. This was organized 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.

Please see this list of our missionaries serving in the United States and globally, who have been assigned to Michigan. When possible, these missionaries will be available to speak at meetings or mission events at local churches. Please note the information included in the list of missionaries about ways to support them.

Clergy Retreat Focus: "The Joy of Ministry"

A retreat for all ABC-MI clergy will be held at St. Francis Retreat Center in DeWitt April 23-25. Four speakers will address the theme "The Joy of Ministry."

The Rev. David McMahon, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Cadillac
The Rev. Dr. David Swink, pastor-emeritus of Chilson Hills Baptist Church of Brighton
The Rev. Chris Radcliff, pastor of First Baptist Church of Davison
The Rev. Wilma Johnson, pastor of New Prospect Baptist Church of Detroit.

Suggested reading for the retreat is Eugene Peterson's The Pastor: A Memoir.

Click on graphic at right to see the complete brochure, registration form, and application for New Life Grants.

Educational and Informational Webinars for Pastors and Lay Leaders

The American Baptist Churches of Michigan presents a series of free one-hour webinars led by Region pastors. You are welcome to attend any one or all four of the webinars from the convenience of your own PC. However you must register separately for each of the webinars you wish to attend. Each of the webinars consists of 30-45 minutes of presentation on the subject matter, followed by 15-20 minutes of “open mic” so that attendees can ask questions or share in the discussion. Click on button below for information and registration links. Contact Ron Cary for more information (rcary@abc-mi.org).

Editor's Trips*

*Every edition of E-Link Online features links to articles the Editor has tripped over while wasting time surfing the Web. Posting of these links does not imply that either the Editor or the American Baptist Churches of Michigan necessarily agrees with, endorses, or otherwise puts a stamp of approval on the views expressed in them. Their value comes from whatever further thought, discussion, debate, inquiry, discernment, righteous fury, repentance, Damascus Road conversion experience, change of mind, concerted action, or occasional laugh they may provoke. Readers are invited to send their own suggestions to the Editor.