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"... but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance,in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses,... in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love...
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| February has:
Ground Hogs day--2/2
Ash Wednesday--2/6
Lincoln's birthday--2/12
Valentine's Day--2/14
Washington's birthday
2/22
Leap Year--2/29 |
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 You will notice that we have been experimenting with a different format for this newsletter. Please let us know what you think of this form and how we can make the newsletter better.
I had the opportunity to attend the free church midwinter ministerial in Albuquerque. As I visited with the other guys from our district who attended the conference, my question to them was, "What is your takeaway from this conference?" For me four things stood out that have impacted how I read my Bible, how I look at ministry, and what I am teaching. The first of those is the concept of orthodoxy and orthopraxy, correct teaching/beliefs and correct practice. Orthodoxy and orthopraxy cannot be separated; right practice ought to flow out of right beliefs, and right beliefs should move us to right practice. When we would divide the two we get in trouble.
Second, was the concept of contending earnestly for the faith balanced with contextualizing our faith. Jude wrote, " I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints." As evangelical believers it is absolutely essential that we are contending earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. As we communicate the gospel to a fallen world, however, it is also absolutely important that we contextualize the faith.
The Apostle Paul wrote in 1Corinthians 9:22, "I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some." Our tendency is to do one or the other of these two things. We either contextualize in order to reach others with the gospel, but in so doing we tend to leave the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Or, we build our holy huddles guarding carefully the faith that we have embraced, but we neglect to ever connect with the world we're supposed to reach.
My other two takeaways had to do with categories of change and categories of conformity. I may write about those another time, but for now my biggest challenge is keeping my faith and my actions connected, and balancing contending with contextualizing. Perhaps you have the same problem. My prayer is that we would better learn how to communicate the unchanging gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and constantly changing world.
By His Grace,
Rick Weinert |
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Who's Who an interview with District Pastors
an interview with Pastor Chris Blackmore of Bozeman Evangelical Free Church
'We hope you enjoy worshiping with us. If you are new to our church we have a hand made coffee mug in the foyer for you along with a packet of information about our church'.
This is a taste of the warm feelings you will get from this congregation at the Bozeman EFree church. Pastor Chris Blackmore states "We love one another and don't fight over the small stuff. The E-Free statement, 'In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, charity; in all things, Jesus Christ', pretty much sums up our congregation."
The Evangelical Free Church of Bozeman emphasizes basic doctrinal issues, such as the need for personal salvation and spiritual growth. The large congregation is made up of persons with Calvinists or Armenians backgrounds; and backgrounds in many denominations all seeking a personal and practical relationship with Jesus Christ. They want to know what life and eternity is all about.
The Bozeman E Free church is located near the University of Montana in the Gallatin Valley, which looks north to the Bidger Mt. In the state of Montana the Gallatin Valley is the fastest growing location, about 3% per year, above that of Flat Head or the Bitterroot Valley regions. The church has just finished a new building project which tripled their size, adding an office and educational wing. This helps with the ministry opportunities. Bozeman was responsible for the church plant in Belgrade, MT.
Senior Pastor, Chris Blackmore grew up on a farm in Illinois. He received Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord through the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ at the University of Illinois. He met his wife, Judy, when they jointly sponsored a Youth for Christ club while both were students at the university. After graduating from U of I. and finishing his Masters of Divinity from Asbury Seminary, Chris and Judy joined the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ in 1970. They were assigned to Montana State University. In January of 1972 they were reassigned to open Campus Crusade's work at the University of Montana. In the fall of 1973, Chris and Judy started the church in Bozeman where they have served ever since. Chris completed his Doctorate of Ministry from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 1982. Chris enjoys sports, music, nature, people, but most of all teaching the Bible. Chris and Judy have four children and four grandchildren.
Associate Pastor Brett La Shelle was born in Los Angeles, California in 1959. Brett came to faith in Christ at age 17 and was highly involved in the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ at Boise State University. After finishing his Masters of Biblical Studies and Ministry in 1988, he came to Bozeman as the Evangelical Free Church's first full-time Youth and Family pastor. In 1996 Brett was offered a one-year sabbatical where he ministered in Manila, The Philippines working with a new church plant. Brett is now our Associate Pastor working in a number of different ministries in our church. Brett and Roberta have four girls; Lindsay, Amanda, Camille and Emily.
Assistant Pastor Glenn Lehrer -retiring Pastor Lehrer was born in Hawaii and raised in Southern California. He received Christ as his Lord as a teenager, but was a worldly Christian until 1975 when in Alaska he asked Christ to fill him with His Holy Spirit and take total control of his life. Glenn graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1960 with a degree in engineering and served 20 years until retirement in the US Army Corps of Engineers. In 1980 he began work as a professor in the Civil Engineering Department at Montana State University and served 20 years as Director/Coordinator of construction programs. Glenn has been Assistant Pastor at E-Free since August 2000. He and Lyla have been married 41 years and have three children and ten grandchildren. Lyla has been a partner with Glenn in his marriage and Stephen Ministries. Glenn is a scuba diver, fly fisherman, and avid upland game bird hunter with Wirehaired Pointing Griffon versatile hunting dogs.
Youth pastor Tyd Rogers grew up in Montana and attended M.S.U. at Bozeman, where he accepted Jesus Christ into his heart his freshman year. He received his degree in Sports Medicine. He was married to Trang in 1995 and they moved to Chicago. While in Chicago, Tyd received his masters from Moody Bible Institute and found a job being the Pastor of Student Ministries at the Evangelical Free Church of Wauconda. While in Wauconda, Trang and Tyd, received three wonderful gifts from the Lord, whom they call their three Mighty Mountain Men, Tal, Tayt & Trent. After 8 years of serving in Wauconda, the T's packed up their gear and moved to Bozeman. Tyd enjoys Almighty God, mountain biking, road biking, hiking, refereeing wrestling, playing with his Mighty men and going on a weekly date with his wife.
Dir of Children's Ministries, Kenje Fehlberg, Kenje was raised in Billings, skiing on the slopes of Red Lodge. She attended MSU, married in 1981 and graduated Speech and Communications, PR Option in 1982. After graduation, she lived in the southwest including Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico, while her husband served in the Air Force. Her first child, Kelcy was born in Oklahoma. She moved back to Bozeman in 1990 and her son Keanon was born in 1991. They began attending Peace Lutheran Church and Kenje taught kindergarten Sunday school. Seeing the children's excitement as they learned about God's unconditional love for them she realized her own need for God's love. God's timing was perfect as shortly after accepting Jesus, in 1997, she faced an unwanted divorce. Knowing God's forgiveness of her sins, allowed her to forgive and move on. She and the kids began attending EFree in 1998. In March of 2007 she received the opportunity to serve as Director of Children's Ministry at EFree. Kenje is excited to continue her growth in the Lord, serving Him, and working with the wonderful children and families of EFree.
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EFCA UPDATE SPECIAL BROADCAST
Introducing a New Wineskin for Ministry
January 4, 2008
Over the past year, EFCA leadership has been in the process of organizing for maximum ministry effectiveness and synergy. We want nothing to impede our mission to "glorify God by multiplying healthy churches among all people." This missional desire has culminated in the need to create a "new wineskin"-a new structure to increase our ability to achieve our mission to reach "all people."
Beginning January 1, 2008, we are excited to introduce ReachNational - a new department that combines the vision, passion and strengths of the former Urban & Intercultural Mission (UIM) and National Ministries' (NM) teams. This new department will focus the "all people" commitment into African-American ministries, Church Health, Church Planting, EFCA ENCORE, Family and Children's Ministries, GATEWAY Theological Institute, Hispanic Ministries, Student Ministries, Urban and Wholistic Ministries, and Women's Ministries. Fritz Dale, who sits on the EFCA Directional Team, will serve as the Executive Director of ReachNational.
The second part of the "new wineskin." As of January 1, 2008 Alvin Sanders assumed the new role as the EFCA's first Director of Reconciliation. The term "reconciliation" encompasses combating all cultural additions to the Gospel that weaken the centrality of Christ. Alvin's dream is that the EFCA would truly live out Galatians 3:26-29. Because Alvin will report to the President and sit on the EFCA Directional Team, he will have the influence of the President behind his work. Alvin will be tasked to influence every ministry of the EFCA, including our districts and churches. Alvin will meet monthly with all senior directional leaders and will be able to help develop movement-wide initiatives to address "all people."
EFCA leadership has been in prayer and dialogue about this "new wineskin" for over one year. In September2007 the EFCA Board of Directors made the final decision to approve both parts of the "new wineskin."
Rejoice with me as we start this new year with a new energy, passion and commitment to "glorifying God by multiplying healthy churches among all people."
Serving Him with Joy,
Bill Hamel, EFCA President
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