Congrats to The Journey North on 33 baptisms
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Register for Exponential West
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Converge Pre-Con at Exponential West is coming up October 3-6, Los Angeles, California. Limited tickets are available for just $99 and include the closed pre-con for Converge church planters and a kick-off dinner.
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Converge responds to Louisiana and Texas flooding
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With 13 people killed and $30 million in damage to more than 40,000 homes, Louisiana is struggling to recover from historic flooding. Likewise, when the powerful storm switched direction, it hit hard in the Greater Houston, Texas, area. Hundreds of families will need help to repair their homes.
If you or your church would like to respond to these natural disasters, Converge recommends two reputable evangelical organizations. Both are accepting financial donations and volunteer work teams. Read more.
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Laurel Bunker, Chelsea Kimball and Bob Stromberg featured at ‘Pursue’
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Converge North Central women are in for a great Fall Refreshment Women’s Retreat, September 23-25, at Trout Lake Camps, Pine River, Minnesota. The theme: “Pursue.†Headlining are:
- Laurel Bunker, Bethel University’s dean of Campus Ministries and campus pastor
- Chelsea Kimball, Minneapolis worship leader, songwriter/recording artist
- Bob Stromberg, dinner show entertainer for this retreat, very funny comedian, coauthor of megahit Triple Expresso
“Pursue†is a cooperative event planned and directed by Converge North Central and Trout Lake Camps. Learn more and register at www.troutlakecamps.org/retreats.
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13 assessed for church planting
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Heartland Church, Indianapolis, Indiana, hosted a Church Planting Assessment Center, August 15-18. Six couples and one individual were evaluated for their capacity to launch a church and lead a church planting team. Candidates came from MidAmerica and MidAtlantic districts.
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Chaplains graduate from Army and Navy leadership courses
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Chaplains 1st Lt. Josiah Hoagland and 2nd Lt. Hickory Smith (chaplain candidate) graduated from the Army Chaplain Basic Officer Leadership Course August 19. Pictured at the graduation banquet are (l. to r.) chaplain Hoagland and his wife Lisa, chaplain candidate Smith, Converge chaplain endorser George Paul and his wife Valerie and Converge chaplain (Lt. Col.) Linda Norlien and her husband Norv.
1st Lt. Hoagland serves in the Minnesota National Guard and pastors New Journey Church, Fosston, Minnesota. A recent Bethel Seminary graduate, 2nd Lt. Smith serves in the Minnesota National Guard and is enrolled in a one-year Clinical Pastoral Education program. Chaplain Norlien is on staff at the Army Chaplain Center and School, Columbia, South Carolina, and Norv serves as an interim pastor at First Baptist Church, Allendale, South Carolina.
Lt. John Knipp is our newest Navy active duty chaplain. He graduated from the Basic Leadership Course at the Navy Chaplain School, Columbia, South Carolina, August 17. He has reported to the School of Infantry East, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Converge has 24 chaplains on active duty and 27 serving in the Reserves/National Guard.
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Church Planting 101 coming to Chicago September 14-15
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Crosswinds Church will host two days of practical training in which you’ll learn the basics of church planting, led by Converge’s team of successful church planters. This training is a great tool if you are interested in church planting, starting a church or learning how to start a new campus of an existing church or if your church wants to improve how it ministers to its community.
You will learn how to:
- Recruit and equip your launch team
- Build a financial structure that creates sustainability
- Maximize the guest experience
- Design a weekend experience that connects with your community
- Become a legal entity
- Develop an effective marketing plan
You’ll also meet and build relationships with other church planters on the same journey.
Who should attend? Pastors who desire to understand the world of church planting, church planters who desire to sharpen their skills, coaches who want to know what’s new in church planting, pastors looking to restart a church and build a new foundation, launch team members who want to be a strategic partner in the start of a new church.
Cost: $200 per individual, $250 per couple, $150 per team member
Reserve your seat.
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Missionary Assessment Center coming in November
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The next Missionary Assessment Center is scheduled for November 8-11 at the Converge Orlando, Florida, office. The MAC is designed to help potential missionary candidates explore and refine God’s calling in their life. Candidates participate in four rigorous days of evaluation in 15 areas related to their calling to and readiness for cross-cultural mission service. At the close, each will be assigned the status Recommended, Deferred with Next Steps or Not Recommended. All candidates are given specific pathways to follow in the field.
If someone in your church is pursuing missionary service, the MAC is the best tool to evaluate their readiness. Ask them to contact Jessica Pentz, jessicap@converge.org.
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IN MEMORIAM
C. Lal Rema, 91, died August 3. He earned degrees from St Paul’s College (India), Calcutta University, Bethel Seminary and International Graduate School of Theology. He married Hrang Kungi in May 1955 and served in a high position in the Indian government. He left generous pay and benefits to serve as BGC India field coordinator of the North Bank Baptist mission in Assam Province 1969-96.
During this time he oversaw planting 400 churches, many the first churches in Arunachal Pradesh. He vigorously defended the persecuted churches in Arunachal. He also oversaw medical work in Assam, raising over $1 million from Europe to upgrade the medical hospital in Tezpur. And he assisted his wife in starting literacy classes for women and children in Assam. After retirement, he founded a ministry for unreached Assamese Hindus and Muslims and the Good News Society.
William W. MacKinney, 81, died July 30. He earned degrees from Bethel College and Bethel Seminary. In December 1964 he married Karin Carlson, and with her he served as part-time director of Christian Education and Youth in Minneapolis (Edgewater Baptist) and as associate pastor of the BGC church in Cambridge, Minnesota. They went on to pastor additional BGC churches in Circle Pines, Minnesota; Joliet, Illinois; Muskegon, Michigan (Lakeside Baptist); Eau Claire, Wisconsin; and Cottage Grove (interim) and New Brighton, Minnesota (associate pastor). He also served on the executive committees of Great Lakes and Michigan districts and the Christian education boards of Midwest and Minnesota districts.
Alvera Mickelsen, 97, died July 12. She earned degrees from Wheaton College and Northwestern University. She married A. Berkeley Mickelson in 1962 and taught journalism at Bethel College 1968-1986. She edited and co-wrote books and articles with her husband, a Bethel Seminary professor who died in 1990. A fierce advocate for women’s rights and leadership in the evangelical community, she was the first board chair of Christians for Biblical Equality.
Louis C. Suter Jr., 73, died July 22. He earned degrees from Moody Bible Institute, Houghton College and Dallas Seminary. He married Patricia Feldman in June 1968, and they pastored three churches, including the BGC church in Pelican Rapids, Minnesota, 1989-2012.
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