District Superintendent's Report 2008

District Assembly

New England District Church of the Nazarene

 District Superintendent’s Accountability Report 

“Serving in the best district in the whole wide world!” May 29, 2008 

“Becoming Missional =Being Missional = Living Missional Means HavingHOLY FIRE! 

Greeting in the Precious Name of our Lord and Savior to each of you! Dr. Cunningham, Mrs. Cunningham, it is always a great honor to have you on district! President McGee, Rev. McLain, and all of our distinguished guests, and to each one of you, whether delegate or attendee, I would like to warmly welcome you to this assembly.  To God be the Glory! Great things He will surely do here this weekend! We have truly prayed and fasted for this unique gathering of the saints!  My prayer is that this Assembly will be a time of blessing, a time of renewal, a time of change, a time of challenge for all of us as we celebrate our 101st year of coming together as a Body of Believers by serving on “the best district in the whole wide world.”  We have a Holy Fire on this district!  We continue to be a part of a great movement!  We continue to be that movement!  We give Him praise tonight! It is indeed an honor and a privilege to present to you my fifth accountability report to this great assembly of saints.  It is indeed an honor to share and talk about “the best district in the whole wide world.” I continue to be amazed by what God is doing in His Kingdom! I continue to be amazed at the faith journey that God is taking the New England District on!  I can only give Him Praise and glory as it says in His Holy Word in Psalm 113:1-6: Praise the Lord!Praise him, you servants of the Lord;Praise the name of the Lord,The Lord’s names should be praised now and forever.The Lord’s name should be praised from where the sun rises to where it sets.The Lord is supreme over all the nations;His glory reaches to the skies.NO one is like the Lord our God,who rules from heaven,who bends down to lookat the skies and the earth. Our God has brought us a mighty long way.   It has indeed been an incredible year of anointed times with the Lord and His people. Even with the Northeast Region being in a recession and with our low job and housing economy! It is great to be a part of the greatest district in the whole wide world!  This district is so unique and special.  It is a blending of people groups of all different cultures, languages, styles, and colors.  Our district reminds me of a slice of heaven, when it says in the Word, “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. We are indeed a part of God’s plan to advance the Kingdom of God. We continue this year with the theme of Becoming Missional means Being Missional means Living Missional means having Holy Fire! Part III. It has been my prayer throughout the year that as you come to this Assembly, that you will be excited and anticipating great things happening in this sacred sanctuary.  It is with great excitement and anticipation that I have come to this gathering!  This assembly has been prayed for and fasted over and we have asked as a district, that God would honor our requests to allow us to be refreshed and renewed in HIM! We are in the process of celebrating 101 years of faithfully coming together as a Body of Believers!  I praise our Heavenly Father for allowing us this opportunity to once again come into His glorious and anointed house.  I continue to get goose bumps just thinking about all that has gone on before us and how God is continually going ahead of us!  He has promised that He would be with us and that He would never forsake!  I live and stand on those promises. As He has said in Isaiah 52:12b, “for the Lord will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard.” The Lord has gone before the New England District, Dr. Cunningham and we continue to seek to do His Will in New England! As part of our last year’s Centennial challenge as we sat in this exact same sanctuary and we talked about working together and being united as the Body of Christ.  We have worked together in His Will!  We do have the HOLY FIRE deep down in our bones! We have been interlocking & interconnected as a team of believers:   Interlocking together to affect change in the world for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ in our local communities and around the world. As Christ has called us and chosen us to help to build HIS Church…. We are working together on a common goal to continue to build a wall of faith! The state of our Churches in the year 2008 are similar to last year, some of our churches are in a revival status and some of our churches are still just barely hanging on.  Some of our churches are preaching holiness messages faithfully each and every week….. Some of our churches must again recapture the flame that once was in that great church. Last year we also shared and talked about being a holy people! A people belonging to God! H-     We talked about holiness Holy Fire! Holy Anointed Fire and those Flames continue today because we stand on the shoulders of some spiritual giants! H- Holiness- the message is clear- We are to be a holiness people- O-    Obedience to the Word- to live our lives according to His good book.  – That we are not to compromises our principles and our stance.            L-      Love That we include and are inclusive of everyone at the banqueting table.                                               Y-     Yearning to seek His Ways and to tell others about the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Yearning to make a change in the way life’s business is being conducted.HOLY FIRE! F-     Faithful – To be faithfully committed to believing in miracles.  Do you still believe in miracles even in these difficult times?   I-        Initiative – To invite people to come to church. R- Revival- To see and sense the revival in our heart and souls!                                                       E- Excitement- To experience enthusiasm and excitement in our walk, our stance!    

Personal Testimony

 This past fall I had to have foot surgery and was forced to slow down for a few moments, and had the wonderful opportunity to read some really good books and to have a number of God moments.  One book that I read was, Practicing Greatness by Reggie McNeal, which addresses seven disciplines of a spiritual leader.  One of the disciplines in the book addresses the subject of self-awareness and how a leader should have an intentional quest for self-understanding.  By knowing “who we are” as we journey on our faith journey, hopefully, we are better able to know God, even with all “the stuff” that we have experienced in our lives.  I learned a great deal about myself and God showed me how much He loves me and how much I need Him.  I seek and submit to His Will for my life and hunger for those God moments! Another book that I felt led by the Holy Spirit to read for the second time was “Too Busy Not to Pray!  When I first purchased the book a number of years ago, I read through it very quickly. I was too Busy! This time around, I pondered several of the messages in the book.  I was drawn to it and my heart has been feasting on “Authentic Christianity is not learning a set of doctrines and then stepping in cadence with people all marching the same way.  It is not simply humanitarian service to the less fortunate.  It is a walk—a supernatural walk with a living, dynamic, communicating God.  Thus the heart and soul of the Christian life is learning to hear God’s voice and developing the courage to do what He tells us to do.” Authentic Christians are persons who stand apart from others, even other Christians, as though listening to a different drummer.  Their character seems deeper, their ideas fresher, their spirit softer, their courage greater, their leadership stronger, their concerns wider, their compassion more genuine, their convictions more concrete. They are joyful in spite of difficult circumstances and show wisdom beyond their years.” This was a God Moment for me!  I loved reading this book…  My sisters and brothers, I desire with all my heart, soul, body, and mind to be an authentic Christian. Another God moment for me was recently when one of my pastors in a meeting said, “you share with your pastors about your relationship with God and the movement of the Holy Spirit in your life; I have listened to you talk about the Holy Spirit and that He tells you things….. He then said to me, my people would like for me to do that more, I hear things from God, but how do you know? How do you know when God is speaking to you?  How do you truly know that it is the Holy Spirit? What a God moment for me and hopefully for him…… I shared with him how God speaks to me and in what way, He shared…… It was a powerful, powerful time in our relationship as believers in Christ…. I believe walls came down and even more effective ministry will be done. To Make Christlike Disciples in all the Nations  We must continually have the mission statement before us until it becomes second nature to us.  “To make Christlike disciples in the nations”.... Please say it with me... these seven words.. Turn around and say them to your partner around you....  in whatever we are doing at that moment!  Helping to grow the Kingdom of God!  I seek to do that in my assignment that HE has given me to do today!  We only have today and I seek to fulfill the mission statement of our great church with all my heart, soul, and mind! Partnerships with Kingdom Folks We continue to be blessed by our partnership with ENC and Dr. McGee, I would like to say that I am sorry that we did not make our allocation goals this year.  I want to personally thank you for allowing the district office to share space at the Old Colony campus.  It is a very convenient and central location for us to hold our district-wide meetings. The space is ideal for our needs and we are in the center of much activity.  We are grateful to Dr. McGee and her staff for all of their assistance and extending the right hand of fellowship to us.  We are also grateful to our sister churches, Wollaston, Pastor Fred and Community Chapel Nashua, Pastor Geoff for hosting a number of our district events and activities. I know at times it must be inconvenient for them and their scheduling, but they have always been accommodating to us and extending the right hand of fellowship! The District Office District Team I continue to serve with the best team this side of the “Mississippi River” and in “the whole wide world” in the district office. The staff is dedicated, committed and sold out to Jesus and devoted to be about the King’s Business. Vince Crouse, continues to have a great deal of energy and enthusiasm in this ministry assignment, and serves faithfully in the role of District Treasurer and Assistant District Superintendent.  He strives daily to advance the Missional goals of the district and he continues to be a hardworking brother at my side for Jesus! Karen Fullerton continues to be a very supportive assistant in helping us in a variety of tasks in and out of the office.  Her assistance with reports, reviews, and coordination of food preparation for the district office continues to be invaluable. Lisa Reid continues to help out in the district office even on a part-time bases.  She has just recently given birth to Victoria and is still extremely helpful in special projects.  Even Victoria has been helpful by allowing her mom to finish some critical projects for us. Dan Whitney, our Executive Director of Windsor Hills Camp & Retreat Center, continues to be an extremely gifted and creative leader.  Dan has continued to work hard in accomplishing so many goals for the camp.  He has been faithful to the tasks of the camp and he has been obedient and listened to the call that God has placed on his life.  He has been led by the anointing of the Holy Spirit to start a new work in Henniker, New Hampshire. We are excited about the things that God is doing in this new work! To God be the glory!  Great things He continues to do in the great state of New Hampshire. God has been with this new start every step of the way! Kim Richardson, our District Missional Strategy Coordinator continues to travel around the district asking every pastor to put their plan on paper.  He and I are still waiting for your one page report!  His purpose and mission is to come alongside our pastors and our churches to assist in developing and fine-tuning Missional plans. We are appreciative of all of Kim’s leadership in working with our church planters on the district.  He will continue to meet with pastors and to mentor our young church planters on the district for this next church year. Department Heads and Advisory Board – I have the wonderful pleasure of working with some of the finest leaders again, “this side of the Mississippi River.” Our department heads are all hard working individuals, who are providing creative and effective leadership for God’s Kingdom in each of their respective areas.  They have been faithful to the duties and responsibilities of their positions. Dale Mingledorff is our new Sunday School Director and he has a passion for Sunday school!  He and his Sunday School Council have already begun to change the culture of this district!  Dale is committed to impacting our local churches in discipleship training and learning new ways to approach subjects that will be more meaningful and exciting to our folks! Vicki Clark and the Council of NYI are excited and sold out to Jesus! The NYI Convention was a true reflection of our district and it was exciting to see the leadership of so many young people participating in service projects in Nashua. It is indeed an exciting time to be on the New England District.  It was truly a thrill to see such a large group of young people from so many different churches at the recent convention. Next year, the NYI Convention will be happening concurrent with District Assembly.  We will have the pleasure of seeing more and more of our young people around these great walls of faith. The Advisory Board - consisting of Rev. Miriam Mouzon, Rev. Pierre Zephir, Rev. Fred Klittich, Rev. Wendy Ambrefe, Angela Neves, Dale Mingledorff, Bob Turcott and Russ Bedard – are truly anointed leaders on this district!  The Advisory board continues to be a united group of believers and at each meeting the Lord was truly present!  We have worked as a united team on some very difficult, challenging, and tough issues this past year. I can truly say that each order business was baked in deep prayer.  We are blessed to have such a great team of leaders. They know and live the Mission of Jesus Christ!  Every member of the Advisory board has given sacrificially of themselves, of their time and effort to do Kingdom’s Work! The advisory board members continue to be visionary and Missional leaders for this great district!  They have given up on occasion their Sunday worship time with their families to be with me in churches whom have been in crisis mode.  District Secretary – When Lucy Bollinger stepped down from the role of district secretary, I kept saying to myself “where oh where are we going to find another Lucy?” Where are we going to find someone who would be as devoted and dedicated to both the big and the little details? It is truly in the little things that can get us into trouble.  Do you know that God does hear and answer prayers?  Melissa Andrew is equally dedicated and committed to the tasks of this great office.  She has worked many, many hours to ensure that everything is handled correctly. It is a joy to work with her.  Melissa is also the editor of our district newsletter and doesn’t she do a great job with it!  She is continually making changes and it is continually evolving into something better! Reynolds Institute – We have had a change in leadership roles this year and Lisa Morrison was elected Executive Director and I believe that she will continue to expand and grow the institute. The Assessment Center, under the superb direction of John White, continues to run efficiently and effectively.  John and his staff are to be commended for all of their wonderful efforts.  John continues to refine the assessment process and we are truly is committed to this endeavor.  We have a number of folks coming from other great districts to view our approach to assessing candidates! Area Directors – Each area directors is dedicated and committed and have been faithful to their tasks and have greatly assisted the district in Kingdom Work!  Each state is working hard to achieve the goal of “making Christlike disciples in all the states within the New England region.” I am appreciative of all of hard work each area director has completed throughout the course of this great church year!

Pastors and their Families

 I am continually appreciative of every pastoral family on this district!  As I have traveled to many of the churches and have talked with you, I want to thank every pastor and their families for all that they do for the Kingdom!  I appreciate and know the tasks that you have before you every day! I have not had an opportunity to come to each church this year due to a number of unique situations facing the district. I want to express from the bottom of my heart, that you are appreciated, loved, and prayed for everyday.   My Family I am blessed to be married to a great man of God! Tom and I celebrated our thirtieth anniversary this past January and we had a great time in Aruba.  He continues to supportive in all ministry activities and travels with me whenever he can! I thank God for both of my daughters.  They are both serving the Lord and are living very active lives. Melissa has just graduated from Northeastern University Law School and is at this time studying for the Bar exam.  It seems just yesterday she was only two years of age.  Jennifer has moved to New York City and has already become a native New Yorker! She is pursing her music career full time! At this time would like to present the New England Servant Award: New England Servant Award- This is the award that is given to person or persons who have toiled in the land and no one saw or maybe even heard them as they were working.  These individuals have been in the struggle. They have been faithful to the charge.  . The recipients of the New England Servant Award for 2008 are the following individuals:  They did not seek any glory or acknowledgement.   Pastor Tom Heim—Lakeville Church of the Nazarenes - Handling and working with Oil spill on the church property. Pastor Flick  – Rockville Church of Nazarene-Working diligently with Preston church and with Wakefield, RI! Pastor Vinny Aliotta – Haverhill & Burlington, VT working day after day faithfully wanting to be of a service to His Kingdom. Pastor Sally Miller - Faithful to the task of helping in the healing process of the Fitchburg Church.  The church body has gone through a very difficult time over the past several months and she has stood in the gap with them. New England Divine Servant Award- NMI President - Gerry Perry has been a gifted and anointed leader to our NMI movement! She is a prayer warrior!  She has been faithful to the challenges of the assignment. She is a true partner in ministry. She is gracious, kind, and considerate.  I am truly appreciative of her spirit and love for the ministry that God has given her and she will be truly missed in her role on the district! Tonight, we will give a second Divine Servant Award Pastor/Dean Larry Ogden– - He has served his church well.   He has always assisted in advancing the preparation of our students who have the call of ministry on their lives. Larry has, provides outstanding and creative leadership in our Reynolds Institute as well as chairperson of the Credential’s board.  I am grateful for all of the time, energy, and effort he expends on these endeavors to also teaching several courses year and also be available to give wisdom, advice, and a helping hand in numerous ventures on this great district!  

ACCOUNTABILITY OF THE MISSION

 As I travel around the district, I am continually looking for new and expanded definitions of Being Missional.  I like how Dan Kimball defines Being Missional in “They Like Jesus But Not the Church.” ·         Being Missional means that the church sees itself as being missionaries, rather than having a missions department and that we see ourselves as missionaries right where we live. ·         Being Missional means that we see ourselves as representatives of Jesus “sent” into our communities, and that the church aligns everything it does with the (Mission of God). ·         Being Missional means we see the church not as a place we go only on Sunday, but as something we are throughout the week. ·         Being Missional means that we understand we don’t “bring Jesus” to people but that we realize Jesus is active in culture and we join Him in what He is doing. ·         Being Missional means we are very much in the world and engaged in culture but are not conforming to the world. ·         Being Missional means we serve our communities, and that we build relationships with the people in them, rather than seeing them as evangelistic targets. ·         Being Missional means being all the more dependent on Jesus and the Spirit through prayer, the Scriptures, and each other in community.  The early church understood what it meant to be Missional and sought to be a representative of Christ in the world and remembered that He was already there….. We just needed to join Him! The accountability of the mission has been ever before us and we are humbled by the privilege to be able to serve in this role at this time of the faith journey! In the second district assembly held in New England, the District Superintendent, Rev. Riggs said “Thank God, holiness in old New England has come to stay and is growing vigorously.  We have some of the Puritan spirit left and it will conquer if we keep humble and obedient and walk in the light.”  I understand that we are going through a recession and looking at gasoline prices that are sky high.  We never in our wildest dreams imagine that we would be facing four dollars for gas.  We never thought that we would see five dollars for diesel and that it would translate to higher food prices on the shelves in our supermarkets.  If we looked at our stats and just reflect on them, we would say that we did not have such a great year.  I don’t view it like that...... We are in the Kingdom Business and God expects for us to be looking at His spiritual counts..... It is what counts with HIM and have we answered the call and completed the task that He had for us to complete! Prayer/Fasting Times  I am happy and blessed to report to you this evening, Dr. Cunningham, that we continue to pray together as a district. Several times throughout this church year, we have prayed together as a district.  These were truly anointed times in the Lord!  This convention has been prayed for by you and it is my prayer that people’s lives will be changed, transformed, and restored. Thank you again saints for praying together as a united team.  Expansion of the District Throughout this church year, we have been looking and praying that the territories within and without will continue to grow, expand, and multiply by His Grace and Mercy! We are starting new works in Peabody, Taunton, and Rhode Island and everywhere on this great district!  We must continue to expand our churches, our bible studies, our discipleship groups. I am mindful of God’s promise that He made to Abraham in Genesis 15:18 that the promised territory would be “all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River.  Given these boundaries, Israel would have stretched from North Africa eastward across the Sinai Peninsula to the other side of Mesopotamia that bordered ancient Babylon (or modern Iraq), an area of roughly 300,000 square miles, or twice the size of California or Japan.  Israel never conquered the land to that extent, and modern Israel is smaller even than the kingdom ruled by David and Solomon--- only about the size of New Jersey or Belize (8,800 square miles) God goes before us, we have much territory and region to expand!  To God be the Glory!  We have much work to do! Reading the Bible in 90 Days In January of this year, a number of saints and churches again joined me on a faith journey to read the entire Bible in 90 days!  Oh what a great journey!  God met with us everyday!  I am spiritually renewed in my soul by reading the scriptures in 90 days.... What thrills my heart is hearing that so many more people are journeying with me this on this faith and reading journey.  More and more folks are reading His Word daily! As I travel throughout the district, and conduct meetings at our churches, people are talking about their journey of reading the Bible in 90 days!  What is so exciting in these discussions is that they say that it is too fast for them, because they want to learn more or stop along the road and study more about a certain area in the scriptures........ This thrills my heart!  They are making connections with the Word that perhaps they had never done before......   The Gathering of the Saints We held our fourth Gathering of the Saints in March of this year! One of the most critical goals continues to be that this district comes together to worship and praise the Holy Name of our Lord and Savior.  It was truly a powerful movement of God to see such different churches and culture groups participating in worship and being encouraged in worship with one another! New Mentoring Taskforce Committee  The district is continually looking for ways in which to better serve our churches and our pastors.  Under the direction of Geoff DeFranca and a unique team of pastors, they were asked to review and study the needs of a more formalized mentoring program for the New England District.  We seek on to find more ways to assist and help every pastor on this district be more successful in their ministry endeavors.  We are currently reviewing the findings and suggestions of this great team of pastors.  We have found that our pastors both new and older in the ministry need to have mentors and folks that they can discuss their ideas and concepts.  We are in the process of change a culture on this great district. The Reading Project Dr. Bill Dyment has informed me that he is just about finished with this great venture. Amazing work has been completed! There are many, many great stories that Bill can share about how God has moved and opened so many door of witnessing opportunities. We will be using this facility both the house and the church to create and start new ministries.   Inactive/Disorganized Churches In action taken by the District Advisory Board, the North Attleboro church was disorganized this year!  We thank God for the ministry opportunities in this particular area of our district!   Our Heavenly Father will show us where to plant and grow new seeds for expansion of His Kingdom. Satellite Church- Waterville, VT Dr. Cunningham and saints, several months ago, I went to Pastor Al Lamos and asked him and his board to pray and fast about taking on a new assignment! To come alongside a sister church who was experiencing some struggles and difficulties! We will be working alongside of our brothers and sisters to assist in this great venture of God!  I believe the Holy Spirit will move mighty in the North Country! A New Church Organized on the our District Strafford Church of the Nazarene was organized in March of this year and we celebrate the birth of this great church.  The saints are ready to take back the community of Strafford for the Lord!  Please pray for them as they seek to do the Will of God in their territory and find ways to assist in Kingdom’s Work! Clergy Retreats Again we held two twenty-four hour retreats at Windsor Hills for our pastors this year! They were anointed and timely retreats for our pastor! We are experiencing a time when more and more of our pastors are seeing the need to get away and have some reflective time with the Lord!  To be able to have some great fellowship with the Body of Christ!  More and more of our pastors are becoming bi-vocational and have little time to take for retreats.  We were blessed by the presence of a number of pastors this past retreat!  To God be the glory! Regional & Denominational committees As part of my role and responsibilities, I have been blessed, privileged, and honored to be elected to the General Board of the Church of the Nazarene. A double blessing was to be elected to serve in the role of vice-chair of the General Board.  It has also been an amazing opportunity to serve as a team member of the Board of General Superintendent’s Thought Partners.  It has been a wonderful experience to see, to know, and to view the global Church of the Nazarene.  It is has been indeed an honor and privileged to serve my church.  This year, I have had the privileged of working with district superintendents from our sister denominations and with our brothers in several Baptist conventions.  We are working together under the anointing of the Holy Spirit and learning that we can do more effective work for the Kingdom if we do it together. LAST YEAR’S ASSEMBLY- CHALLENGE   As I shared in last year’s district superintendent’s report, some of our churches are in a revival status ….. Some of our churches must again recapture the flame that once was in that great church. Last year we shared and talked about holiness Holy Fire! Holy Fire – The Holy Spirit will not let me get away from this theme!   
  1. SINCERE  & SIMPLE FAITH
  2. SURRENDER
  3. SACRIFICE
  4. STRENGTH
  5. SPIRIT & POWER
             Bible- Last year you were each given a bible to give away to someone.            Pin- You were each given a pin in the shape of a mustard seed- to have faith-if we have the faith of a mustard seed we can move mountains!              Lego-  You were given A Lego -by itself cannot do anything- but if it is joined together, it can truly build a wall of faith-  I don’t know if you know it or not, but it was our children who came out of nowhere and built and made the extensions to the wall of faithTonight, we will continue with this great service, we are a community of believers, we will continue to build community; we will continue to build unity in the Body of Christ!  We continue to impact this land for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!  I would like to share a couple of stories that I read in the papers about how one person can affect change. We are to be about the mission of Change for our Lord & Savior: The first story is about the primaries – I know that you are all probably tired of hearing about the elections and primaries but this one had significance to us as believers.  In Massachusetts and in other states, there are a number of voting booths are in schools and churches.  It has been this way for years..... Someone was scheduled to go and vote in the primary and the voting booth for this individual was in a church, he found the cross to be offensive and wanted them to be covered up when everyone went to vote– this is 2008- and the Attorney General responded quickly and said, “The crosses would not have to be covered.” So we say that it was a victory...... I was in New York the very next week and happened to be there for their primary and went into the church and saw the cross covered.  We are in the midst of a battlefield!  I don’t know the battles that you have fought this year!  But I know that we can make changes, through the anointing of the Holy Spirit!  One person can make changes. Can you just imagine what an entire army of saints can do? It is important for us:  Pause – to see – to reflect on what we are doing as a Body of Believers -  We need to look and see if we are following the direction and anointing of the Holy Spirit in each and everyone of our churches-  We must, look, reflect and see: Passion – Do we still have the passion to do what we have been commissioned to do on this earth as believers in the Body? The second story is about a lady named Ethel! Do you know who Ethel Percy Andrus is?  Many of you are in the same membership club with her!  You perhaps don’t know her name, but she is the founder of AARP.  Sixty years ago, she went to visit a retired teacher.  When she arrived at the woman’s house, someone else was living there.  The person that Ethel was looking for lived out back..... In an old chicken coop.  She had no money and no medical insurance.  Ethel had passion.  She could not believe that anyone who had dedicated her life to teaching children was forced to live in such conditions.  She got organized.  She also got others involved and started a campaign to get affordable health insurance for retired teachers.  Did it happen right away?  No.  Well over 40 companies turned her down, but she persevered and succeeded.  Eventually, she decided to help other older Americans as well and AARP was born.  Today, there are millions in membership.  She had passion and would not allow anything to get her off-course. We have a tendency to get discouraged when we are turned down from our invitation to come to church and we give up to easily! We need to look at our purpose! Purpose- To make Christlike disciples in the Nations” - Our mission is clear!  - We are to move forward with the mission of making Christlike disciples in the nation. Last January, as I was reading my daily Soul Care New Every day- I came across an illustration from C.E. McCartney which said “The horse and wagon, the automobile, the bicycle, the locomotive, the speedboat, and the great battleship - all can come to a standstill without danger, and they can all reverse their engines, or their power, and go back.  But there is no reverse about the engine of an airplane. It cannot back up.  It dare not stand still.  If it loses its momentum and forward-drives, then it crashes.  The only safety for the airplane is in its forward and upward motion.  The only safe direction for the Christian believer is to take is forward and upward.  If he or she stops, or if they begin to slip and go backward, it is at that moment, he or she is in danger.” We must understand our purpose. Pruning – As we look over the land that God has given- there is a time for evaluation of the purpose and making changes, but not to stop the mission of winning souls for Jesus Christ!  We are in the process of looking at some of our new starts and some of our churches to see their effectiveness for the Kingdom!  What changes do we need to be made for impacting the Kingdom of God!  We cannot continue to operate the way we currently operate! Perception - How do we see ourselves?  Do we see ourselves as having the ability to change the world that we know? Do we really believe that we can change the world that we know! I believe with all my heart that we can Promises of God – There are so many promises- We have so many in the scriptures. Saints we need to start to claim and believe in the promises of God! Prayer – We are to continually seek HIM and HIS Plan for our lives  Personal sacrifice - it will take courage- it will take commitment!  It requires total commitment – not partial but total commitment! Position - Where do we place ourselves before HIM? God desires that our bodies are to be emissaries’ of communicating His love to the world!Our feet are to carry His Message.Our hands are to break His Bread.Our minds are to hold His Vision.Our hearts are to beat His Compassion Power - The anointing of the Holy Spirit THE HOLY SPIRIT WATCHES OVER US- GOD KNEW WE NEEDED THE HELP: 1.      THE HOLY SPIRIT LIVES IN US- THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT LIVES IN ALL BELIEVERS;  THE PURPOSE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TO HELP US GROW IN OUR NEW NATURE.2.      THE HOLY SPIRIT FILLS US. EPH 5: 18 SAYS BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT- THE FILLING DOES NOT MEAN THAT WE AS A BELIEVER GET MORE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT- BUT RATHER THE HOLY SPIRIT GETS MORE OF US-3.      THE HOLY SPIRIT SANTIFIES US- ROMANS 15:164.      THE HOLY SPIRIT PRODUCES FRUIT IN THE LIFE OF US AS BELIEVERS-LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS-GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS-GENTLENESS, & SELF-CONTROL- GALATIANS 5:22-235.      THE HOLY SPIRIT IMPARTS GIFT TO US: ROM 12:6-8 TO GLORIFY GOD & TO EDIFY THE BODY OF CHRIST.6.      THE HOLY SPIRIT TEACHES US- IN SO MANY WAYS- PETER TAUGHT IN HIS SECOND MESSAGE REPENT/ TURN TO GOD- CLEANSE FROM SIN- TIME OF REFRESHMENT-JESUS AGAIN Your 2008 Bags - Reminders Bibles - To give it away to someone. I want to hear reports around the district about people receiving  Tee-shirt – To remind you that you are part of a divine team! A part of the Best district in the Whole Wide World! Salt & Lights- Matthew 5:13 -14 says, “You are the salt of the earth.  But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?  It is good for nothing, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.  Salt has always been used to flavor and preserve food.  In the Old Testament, salt was also used in certain ceremonies to remind God’s people of their promises to Him.  Elisha used salt to miraculously purify a water supply.  Jesus referenced salt here to emphasize the need for believers to remain holy; by compromising, they would, we would cease to further the Kingdom of God by positively influencing our society. (Salt shakers are a reminder to us that we are not to compromise on the message or what we believe in HIM.) You are the light of the world.  A city on a high cannot be hidden- We have the Light inside of us! Flashlights Holy Fire Bands – Reminder of the Power that Lives inside of us – Holy Fire! Stones – Living Stones - I Peter 2: 4 -9 4As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For in Scripture it says:  “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”7Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,     “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,8and, “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.”They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.  One of the best books that I have read this year was “In a pit with a Lion on Snowy Day” it is a book about courage!  That we have to step out in faith and courage and believe that we can everything that He has commanded for us to do on this earth. Hebrews 11:40 “God has planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made prefect.” Exodus 17:15 says Moses built an altar and called it the Lord is my Banner!  Is He your banner tonight? Last year at the assembly we set out ten Missional objectives for the year 2007-2008.  They were listed as follows: 1.      Each church devoted to prayer. It is wonderful to see our church growing in prayer and altar time for the Kingdom! I have seen the fruits of prayer by saints seeking to know HIM! Prayer infuses the vision of the church and enables us to see what God wants the church to do. 2.      Each Nazarene Committed to Growing in the Word. Many more of our churches have taken up the challenge and are committed to daily reading of their Bibles. I have been receiving many different types of Bible reading plans from a number of churches. 3.      A spreading presence of revival. The Anointing of the Holy Spirit continues to be upon our people and people are being Lights in the World –to seek and save those who do not know HIM! 4.      A growing sense of team unity. I continue to see us working as a team and growing together within our Missional areas and structures!  5.      A mission strategy for each church. More and more of our church continue to catch the flame of the FIRE!  To seek and save those who are lost! Kim Richardson is continuing to help a number of our churches develop strategic plans for growth.  6.      Increase in Baptisms on this District. We continue to increase our number of baptisms on this great district and individuals are seeking to acknowledge and proclaim Him Lord of lords and King of kings! 7.      Newly Organized church. We were blessed to have organized one church this year!  We must by HIS grace and mercy continue to advance in spirit and pick up the PACE of moving forward in Kingdom’s Work.  8.      10 New Territories started. We continue to search the land for new territories for potential ministry!  We must continue to work in the Harvest that is ripe for the picking! 9.      A church planting endowment. We continue to seek God’s wisdom and direction in how HE would like for us to implement and develop this ministry effort. 10.  Multi-cultural leadership development. Our Lord and Savior is continuing to raise up leaders in our churches in our local churches to assist and help shape the future of our great movement!  STATISTICAL ACCOUNTABILITY 
 04/0505/0606/0707/08
Pastor Reviews 6105
Preaching Services 485049
Pastor Changes and Appointments108614
Installation Services98614
Special Services118733
Church Board Meetings56816884
District Board & Committee Meetings23304948
Individual Meetings & Conferences with Pastors145125150206
Regional & General Church Meetings         15102526
Miles Traveled by car    25,27626,40422,09019,805
  

OBJECTIVES FOR 2008-2009

As you see in your Becoming Missional means Being Missional means Living Missional flyer, we will continue to advance the same Missional Objectives for this next Church year.  Read them over carefully, pray about them, keep each of them in front of you and continue to work together to accomplish these goals.  Those goals are: 1.            Each church devoted to prayer2.            Each Nazarene committed to growing in the Word3.            A spreading presence of revival4.            A growing sense of team unity5.            A mission strategy for each church6.            Increase in Baptisms on this district7.            Two newly organized churches8.            New territories started and planted9.            A church planting endowment10.        Multi-cultural leadership development  I would like to thank each and every one of you for allowing me the privilege of serving HIM!  BECOMING MISSIONAL = BEING MISSIONAL  = LIVING MISSIONAL by HOLY FIRE! We must as a district continue to set the pace and be on HOLY FIRE! Respectfully submitted,Dr. Jossie E. OwensDistrict Superintendent  

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District Staff

District Staff

Dr. Rev. Jossie E. Owens
District Superintendent

Vince Crouse
Assistant District Superintendent

Melissa Andrew
District Secretary

Office Staff
Karen Fullerton
Michelle Morris

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