EPNews 2009 10/08
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North Point Launches
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Tabernacle Evangelical Presbyterian Church Celebrates 150 Years
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Presbytery of the West Retreat: Building Connection
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Healthy Small Church Book Blog
North Point Launches
by Jeff Jeremiah
North Point EPC is the latest church plant launch in the EPC. Their first meeting on Sunday, September 13, at the Covenant Christian Academy in Peabody, Massachusetts drew 90 adults and children.
There are 2 unique features of this plant. First, a team of David Cook and Tom and Donna Petter is providing pastoral leadership to this plant. Second, the leadership team is bi-vocational. David is a counselor and Tom and Donna are faculty members of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (GCTS). David, a 2009 graduate of GCTS, was approved for ordination at the September 25-26 meeting of the Presbytery of the East. At the same meeting Tom and Donna came under care of the presbytery. GCTS M.Div. student Scott Larson, a member of Cornerstone EPC in Brighton, Michigan is also working with the pastoral team.
David Cook Tom Petter Donna Petter
Commenting on their team and bi-vocational model of leadership, David Cook wrote, “When you don’t have time to do everything, you have to let go and let other people run with their ideas – even with the really important things. We have had no choice but to lead simply by illuminating scriptural boundaries and letting gifted people exercise their gifts within these boundaries. While they may not have done it the same way we would have, one thing is certain, it has meant that the story of North Point is not the story of one person, or one family, or even one core group. Every day new people are writing themselves in very meaningful ways into the story of North Point. Our prayer is that this multithreaded narrative weaves a bigger picture of God and better equips us all to own the story of Christ’s redemption in our marriages, families, neighborhoods, workplace, city, country and world.”
My first contact with this plant occurred when David Cook sent me the 23 page “Beverly Project” document that was the starting point for North Point. It included topics such as how the church would be missional, ministry philosophy and core leadership development as well as target and demographic information. I had the opportunity to meet with the lay leadership team on North Point on Saturday night, September 26, worship with and welcome the North Point congregation on Sunday morning, and enjoy a meal with the North Point pastoral leadership and Scott Larson that afternoon. I’m very impressed by the energy, excitement and anticipation of this group as they embark on this venture.
Tabernacle Evangelical Presbyterian Church Celebrates 150 Years
In 1859 as Oregon became the 33rd state in the Union and unrest was beginning in the country between the North and South which would turn to Civil War, Tabernacle Church was being birthed. Seventeen Scottish immigrants grew tired of travelling up to 12 miles on horseback to go to church and so as another winter approached, they started their own in a small and then rural town called Youngstown, Ohio. On October 10th, 1859, this group of immigrants held their first official worship service ... and now, 150 years later, we look back at where we have been and move forward anticipating where God will take us by His grace.
Throughout the month of October this historic church will be celebrating God's faithfulness in the past as we strive to serve Him into the future. We will highlight 4 strands that we believe form the fabric of who we are and who God has called us to be. Those strands are church planting, ministry to our community, youth ministry, and sound doctrine. Two special guests throughout the month will be Dr. Robert Stauffer who served as the Senior Pastor of Tabernacle EPC for twelve years and Dr. Jeff Jeremiah who will come as we discuss sound doctrine and celebrate our 26 years as a member of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
Presbytery of the West Retreat: Building Connection
Twenty-three members of the Presbytery of the West met on retreat at Lied Lodge in Nebraska City, Nebraska, September 29-October 1. The retreat was a prelude to the Friday-Saturday (October 2-3) regularly scheduled meeting of the Presbytery of the West at Covenant Presbyterian Church, Omaha, Nebraska.
The Presbytery of the West has held this retreat before its fall meeting for more than 25 years. This year’s retreat featured worship, focused discussion, free time and an update on EPC happenings from Stated Clerk Jeff Jeremiah. It was led by Ministerial Committee Chair Ed Davis, who said, “The fellowship at the retreat was strong, real and transparent, which is a mark of the closeness we enjoy in the presbytery.”
“The Presbytery of the West has a shared relational strength because of our time in retreat when we worship, study, play, talk and eat together,” noted Jeremy Grant, retreat and presbytery meeting host. “It enables us to go into our meetings and into our mission for the advancement of the kingdom with a more united front.” Cooper McWhirter, who pastors Grace Community Church in Phoenix, Arizona and who came a long way, wrote, “The business portion of any meeting of Presbytery must always take precedence; thus requiring our full and undivided attention. However, there is much to be said for the “spirit of camaraderie” which can only evolve from building trust in one another. And trust can only be attained by making ourselves vulnerable enough to care enough for one another. This is why our Pastor's Retreats have proven to be so vitally important. For just as it says, “Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” [Proverbs 27:17].
Healthy Small Church Book Blog
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