winter 2015
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president from the
VOLUME 7 n NUMBER 2 EDITOR Bob Putman
DESIGNER, PRODUCTION MANAGER Pam Nelsen
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Fran Anderson Alllison Hurtado Point (ISSN/1546-3257) is published quarterly (with a special edition in December) by the Baptist General Conference, 2002 S. Arlington Heights Rd., Arlington Heights, IL 60005. Printed in U.S.A. Periodical postage paid at Arlington Heights, Ill., and at additional mailing offices. © 2015 Baptist General Conference.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Point, 2002 S. Arlington Heights Rd., Arlington Heights, IL 60005-4193.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES: Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Our Converge movement is seeing a great work of God in many places, but lately my eye has been on our western states. I continually hear stories of impactful ministry in our PacWest and Northwest districts, under the leadership of David Yetter and Steve Welling, respectively. My wife Lisa and I were privileged to be with executive minister Paul Mitton and our Rocky Mountain team for their district annual meeting. I am encouraged by the collaboration I see between established church pastors and church planters as they attempt to expand the influence of the gospel in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Nebraska. I was inspired as Paul shared his Godsized vision of expanding the district reach by 100 churches in the next 10 years. The Rocky Mountain area has been a difficult place for the gospel, and yet we are seeing breakthroughs everywhere. I ask you to join me in praying God will grant his favor on our team as we move forward to fulfill this vision. Our Southwest district, led by Bruce Sumner, has produced some of our movement’s greatest influencers. In recent years the team has shown a renewed fervor for church planting in Southern California. A burgeoning church planting movement in Arizona in the 1990s resulted in some of our largest and most innovative churches. They continue to grow as well as invest back into Converge through planting new churches, coaching established churches and hosting our outstanding Ignite Church Planting Conference. Yet God is doing a new work these days. While Texas and Texans are known for liking everything “big,” our Converge story begins with a small grassroots movement of trailblazers in this territory. In this edition of Converge Point, you will meet Brad, Troy, Randy, Matt, Michael and others who are evidencing the transforming power of the gospel message. In an area long overlooked by our movement, but in desperate need, we are seeing the opening of Christ-centered, far-reaching, gospel-preaching churches. And while our present work is small, our dreams for the advance of the gospel in Texas are BIG. I invite you to join us in celebrating the gospel revolution in Texas. Your partner in this mission,
REPRINT PERMISSION: Permission is granted to photocopy articles in small quantities for personal, church or school use. Please protect our copyright by writing or typing before copying: “Reproduced from Point by permission.” This permission does not extend to articles reprinted from other publications, reports for another publication or large quantity reproductions. For such purposes, written permission must be obtained from Point or from the original source.
2 n point | winter 2015
Scott Ridout President
ERIC JOHNSON
The gospel revolution
inside features churches — 4 Starting in the nation of Texas BY BOB PUTMAN
14 Meet the president 18 Thank you, Jerry and Dee
4
ALLISON HURTADO INTERVIEWS SCOTT RIDOUT
BY BILL ANKERBERG
14
extras 10
Why my old friend returned to Christ
20
Priming the pump
22
Connection n 21 missionaries deployed n 413 attend Connect 2014 n 52 men attend Gunsmoke n Who leads Converge MidAmerica?
18
on the cover Troy and Jennifer Wolfe planted Movement Church in Rhome, Texas, one of Converge Southwest’s seven Vision Texas church starts. PHOTO: KRISTEN CRITZ
How to reach us n To add/remove your name from our mailing list, call 800.323.4215, M-F, 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. EST n Email us at point@convergeww.org @convergeww Converge Worldwide convergeworldwide.org
winter 2015
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Starting churches —
Texans think big, talk big and dream big. God is doing something big in the Lone Star State. BY BOB PUTMAN
B
Brad Wilkerson, while on staff at Midway Church in
Aubrey, Texas, had known Deke Alexander for years. Deke and Wilkerson’s sister had been classmates, and Wilkerson had done business with Deke at the bank where he worked. In 2008 Deke and his fiancée Samantha asked Wilkerson to perform their wedding. He agreed only if they would work through eight weeks of premarital counseling with him. During those meetings Wilkerson saw trouble brewing. Deke remained committed to the rituals and traditions of his Catholic heritage, but Samantha was a Southern Baptist. Wilkerson spoke to them about the likely future conflict in their marriage. During the counseling, Deke gave his life to Christ, and soon after, Wilkerson continued performed the Alexanders’ wedding.
4 n point | winter 2015
— in the nation of Texas
Texas church planters (l. to r.) Matt Jeffreys, Brad Wilkerson, Troy Wolfe and Randy Moore, with Converge Southwest executive minister Bruce Sumner. winter 2015
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TASHA CHAVE
In 2007 Brad and Sarah Wilkerson (above) kicked off the current wave of Converge church planting in Texas. Deke and Samantha Alexander (below) saw their lives transformed before the Wilkersons’ church even opened.
At the time he was counseling Deke and Samantha, Wilkerson was already planning to leave his current executive pastor position to plant Church of Celebration — Metro in Aubrey, Texas. He asked Deke if he would be interested in a new church that preached the Bible and had great worship and wonderful programs for children. Deke replied, “Man, I’d be interested.” Today Deke, still a banker, serves on COC’s board as its chief financial officer. “He just keeps telling everybody what the Lord has done for him,” Wilkerson explains. Samantha is now Wilkerson’s administrative assistant.
KRISTEN CRITZ
Churches starting churches
Troy and Jennifer Wolfe (above) planted Movement Church in 2011, which now meets in a 9000-square-foot building (top, r.). Randy and Amy Moore (r.) launched Revolution Church last April.
6 n point | winter 2015
This year marks 30 years of Converge church planting in Texas. On Easter 1985, Dan and Lynnea Peterson publicly launched Grace Church in Kingwood, a Houston suburb. Other church starts followed over the next 13 years, and the church planters formed a LEAD Team,* combining their efforts to plant more churches. Distant from any Converge district, the nucleus of Texas churches soldiered on. Then in 2007 God did something new. It began with Josh Barrett, a Vision Arizona church planter in Maricopa, Arizona, talking with his best friend, Wilkerson, about church planting. Barrett and Wilkerson had been Baptist Bible Fellowship colleagues in the past. Now Wilkerson was hearing God tell him the same thing as Barrett: “You need to start a church in Texas.” Wilkerson visited Barrett’s church, COC — Maricopa, for 10 days to pick Barrett’s brain. He and his wife Sarah also participated in Converge’s four-day Church Planters Assessment Center. Soon COC — Maricopa teamed with Converge Southwest district to help coach and fund Brad and Sarah. In 2008 the Wilkersons launched COC — Metro, located in a north Dallas suburb. Deke Alexander is one of hundreds who benefit from the new church. Now six years old, the church has already purchased 13 of 30 acres they have committed to in nearby Prosper, an area slated for construction of approximately 6000 new homes over the next five years. With 750 people calling it their church home, COC — Metro is strategically situated for growth. But Wilkerson’s vision is to multiply COC’s impact through church planting. So at age three, COC — Metro teamed with Converge Southwest to help start Movement Church in Rhome, north of Fort Worth. Troy and Jennifer Wolfe held Movement’s public launch on September 18, 2011, and have seen more than 180 people come to Christ, about 120 experience baptism and 150 work through a discipleship process that requires them to train others. One of those converts was John Chanthanany, who on November 9, 2014, received Christ in response to a sermon he heard at Movement Church. His wife had attended faithfully for two years and serves in the children’s ministries. John hadn’t shown any interest until he agreed to join her that weekend. Movement Church has an attendance of about 250, who worship in two Sunday services. They meet in a 9000-square-foot building on nine acres, which Movement is purchasing. Wilkerson served as Wolfe’s church planting coach.
HANNAH SMITH
Says Wolfe, “When we heard about Converge’s success rate and the Assessment Center, we felt a kinship and like-mindedness in seeing God extend his kingdom through church planting. We said, ‘That’s something we want to be part of.’”
Enter: Vision Texas
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NATALIE PITTS PHOTOGRAPHY
Bruce Sumner, district executive minister of Converge Southwest, hosted a three-day LEAD Team Summit in San Antonio in July 2013. Four Texas church planting couples participated: the Wilkersons, the Wolfes, Randy and Amy Moore and Matt and Sharon Jeffreys. Together they saw that God was developing a remarkable alignment in the Dallas/Fort Worth/San Antonio triangle. The Lord was bringing passionate church planters together in a region experiencing an explosive job market and burgeoning house construction when the rest of the country was doing poorly. What Sumner and the team saw was 1) God’s leading, 2) immense opportunity and 3) an existing network of friends committed to the same mission. Sumner said it reminded him of what he had witnessed with the Vision Arizona LEAD Team. A network of Phoenix and Tempe-area church planters, they recruited, coached, encouraged and financed the birth of a few dozen Converge and nonaffiliated churches in their state. The Texas team set a vision to start five churches in as short a period as possible, calling this effort Vision Texas. Interestingly, like Wilkerson, several Vision Texas members share a common heritage in the Baptist Bible Fellowship. Sumner was saved in a BBF church in Anchorage, Alaska, and graduated from Baptist Bible College. Wolfe is also a BBC grad, as is Randy Moore, the first recruit of the Texas LEAD Team. The Moores relocated from Fairfield, Ohio, to start Revolution Church in McKinney, Texas, on the 380 Corridor north of Fort Worth. With Wilkerson’s coaching and Converge Southwest’s funding, they launched Revolution last April, baptizing 16 people on their opening
‘What’s attractive for pastors and church planters is we want to be part of a movement that God’s behind. God is behind Vision Texas.’ — Randy Moore, Revolution Church
Why Texas?
Why start churches in “the buckle of the Bible Belt”? In the words of church planter Troy Wolfe, “The thing about Texas is we’ve got jobs. And we’ve got affordable housing.” n Hillwood Development Corp., owned by Ross Perot’s son, is building millionsquare-foot buildings and leasing them to major businesses. n Toyota is relocating from California (4000 families), and Amazon operates a huge distribution center. n People are rapidly moving into the area from the East and West Coasts as well as other parts of the nation.
TASHA CHAVE
n Communities of 6000 and 14,000 homes are going up in the Dallas/Fort Worth areas. A school district of 9000 students has been advised to prepare for 27,000 more in the next seven years.
8 n point | winter 2015
Sunday. Since 2013, when they began to develop their core group, they have seen 157 people place their faith in Christ and 72 baptized. “That is amazing organic reproduction,” Sumner says. “This is a God thing.” “God is transforming people like Josh Graziani,” says Moore. Graziani came to Revolution Church not long after its launch. He trusted in Jesus about a month later. Now he gives the announcements, is involved with the church’s RevCafé team, greets and ushers, has served in children’s ministry and assists with equipment setup and teardown every Sunday in their temporary location.
What’s ahead? Matt and Sharon Jeffreys are next in the pipeline, expecting to plant in San Antonio this spring. Sumner also has been in contact with Greg Jones, a Texas native who was serving as a Southern Baptist missionary in Estonia. Providentially, when Sumner joined Converge Nordic Baltic region director Bill Ankerberg on a vision trip there in 2013, Jones was a speaker at a midweek church service. Sumner talked with him then about Jones’ desire to start a church in Texas. Today, Jones serves in an internship under Wilkerson at COC — Metro, overseeing adult spiritual development and community. Greg and Dee Jones expect to plant in 2016. Last September, Wilkerson, Sumner and Sumner’s wife Kym met with Vincent and Joy Silmon, a couple desiring to plant with Converge on the I-35 Corridor in south Denton, Texas. The Silmons were approved at the November 4-7 Church Planters Assessment Center in Seattle and plan to plant some time this year. Texans think big, talk big and dream big. Sumner jokes that when the LEAD Team guys start jawing about Texas being the second-largest state, he replies, “Watch out or Alaska will split into two and make Texas the third-largest.” The funny thing is, Texas represents an Alaska-size opportunity for Converge church planting. Led by God, Vision Texas and Converge Southwest have banded together to reach the Lone Star State. n Bob Putman is Point editor and associate director of Communications. * A LEAD Team is a group of pastors and church planters who meet regularly to Learn, Encourage one another, Achieve and Dream in order to start and strengthen churches in their region.
Brian Holt, family pastor of Church of Celebration – Metro, in Aubrey, baptizes his son, Pierce. winter 2015
| point n 9
M
BY TROY WOLFE
Matt Amrine and I grew up in South Fort Worth, Texas.
Like this story? Got one like it? Share it with us at cvrg.us/yourstory.
I played football with him, power lifted with him and basically we were brothers through four years of high school. Matt walked away from the church when he was a child. His grandfather and father were Baptist pastors. His parents, however, divorced when Matt was in elementary school. Then his dad fathered a child out of wedlock. The apparent falsehood of his family’s faith confused Matt and caused him to walk away from Christ. He rejected what he viewed as a dead religion. We were friends, but conversations about Christ and the church were never on the table between us. I moved away after high school to go to Bible college and then served in several churches around the country. Matt and I stayed in limited contact. But when I moved back to Texas to plant Movement Church, I reached out to him and his wife Jaime. They had recently married and didn’t have any married couples as friends. Jennifer (my wife) and I started double-dating with them and building friendships. One day I asked Matt if he would like me to disciple him. Matt looked me right in the eyes and said, “No.” No explanation, just simply no. I thought, OK, that went badly. Over the next few months he began to ask me questions about marriage and some personal situations. As I spoke more and more truth into his life, Matt began to desire to grow with the Lord. One day he asked me out of the blue if I would disciple him. I answered “No” just as he had answered me months before. Then I told him, “Just kidding. I’d love to.” Since then I have guided him one-on-one by living life together and taking him through our church’s 10-week discipleship system. He has grown with the Lord, and his entire view on life and God has changed. His is one of my favorite life transformation stories. He walked away from Christ because of religious hypocrisy, only to find that Christ's love is real and transforming. n Troy Wolfe is lead pastor of Movement Church, Rhome, Texas.
10 n point | winter 2015
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Lone Star Fort Worth l
San Antonio l
Converge has been starting churches in the Lone Star State since 1985. Meet our Texas churches, new and old. Texas is part of Converge Southwest district. 12 n point | winter 2015
footprint l
Centro Cristiano Spring Branch
dallas
PASTOR: Esteban and Maria Mareno LOCATION: Houston STARTED: 1997 STATUS: established Latino congregation
Church of Celebration — Metro H PASTOR: Brad and Sarah Wilkerson LOCATION: Aubrey STARTED: 2008 STATUS: about 750 call COC — Metro their church home. Brad directs the Vision Texas LEAD Team with Converge Southwest executive minister Bruce Sumner
Iglesia Bautista Melrose l
houston
PASTOR: Oscar and Ana Hall LOCATION: Houston STARTED: 2007 STATUS: serving Houston’s Hispanic community
Movement Church H CHURCH PLANTERS: Troy and Jennifer Wolfe LOCATION: Rhome STARTED: 2011 STATUS: two weekly services and more than 180 decisions for Christ since starting
Revolution Church H CHURCH PLANTERS: Randy and Amy Moore LOCATION: McKinney STARTED: April 2014 Status: more than 157 decisions for Christ since beginning ministry in 2013
RockPoint Church H CHURCH PLANTERS: Matt and Sharon Jeffreys LOCATION: San Antonio PROJECTED START: spring 2015 STATUS: planning to launch in northeast San Antonio Metro
Vietnamese Baptist Church PASTOR: Minh and Tuyet Nguyen LOCATION: Houston STARTED: 1997 STATUS: connects with Converge Vietnamese Ministry Expansion Team
West Oaks Community Church PASTOR: Mike and Dela Huss LOCATION: Houston STARTED: 1993 STATUS: a small outreach group encouraging seniors, the homeless and people in shelters and rehabilitation
Coming soon H CHURCH PLANTERS: Greg and Dee Jones LOCATION: undecided PROJECTED START: sometime in 2016 STATUS: currently an intern at Church of Celebration — Metro
Coming soon H CHURCH PLANTERS: Vincent and Joy Silmon LOCATION: Denton PROJECTED START: sometime in 2015 STATUS: holding preview services at Silver Cinema Theater
H Indicates Vision Texas church plant
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Meet the
president 14 n point | winter 2015
An interview with Scott Ridout BY ALLISON HURTADO
Who is Scott Ridout? I am a loving husband, a passionate father, a grateful follower of Christ. I feel privileged to see what God’s done in my life and is doing these days. I love sports. I love to coach. I love to bring out the best in people and help them excel at whatever their passion is. I am pretty boring. I like routine. Discipline is really important to me. I enjoy people yet get all my strength from my walk with God. Actually, I wasn’t disciplined for years, but crisis forced me to learn discipline. When you’re a busy person you have to decide the priorities in your life and make time for what’s really important to you. For example, I blew out my ankle when I was teenager, but I always had a dream of playing in father-son football games when my boys were in high school. So 10 years ago I gave up certain sports so that I would be able to play in those games. Discipline was a choice that allowed me to achieve my goal. (My team beat my older son Jon’s team. He’s now a college football player. I can’t beat his team anymore.)
Where does Jon play? Scottsdale Community College. They are the Fighting Artichokes. I’m serious. Scottsdale’s mascot has been voted one of the “Top 10 Worst College Mascots,” but they are great. Go ’Chokes!
Why did you leave such a successful ministry? I guess I’m a little crazy (I’ve been told that). So many amazing things are happening at Sun Valley Community Church, Gilbert, Arizona. We’ve had almost 3000 baptisms in the past six years. We’ve been one of the fastest-growing churches in America four of the past seven years. The SVCC team is outstanding. Many of them could be lead pastors at other churches, but they choose to come together to do this. They are like family to me. But I don’t want to look back one day and realize what I did 20 years ago was my greatest day of faith. I want my greatest day of faith to be "today.” So as Lisa, our kids and I talked and prayed over this decision, we chose to take the risk of leaving SVCC and trusting God to make our time leading Converge as our greatest days. I think some leaders are gifted for a church. They are gifted communicators, gifted organizers, gifted leaders that serve one body their whole life. I think my heart and giftedness is for the church, helping many local bodies by coaching leaders and implementing strategy. I think God designed me for something like this [leading Converge]. Lisa and the kids agree. So we took the risk of leaving what we had known for 21 years to trust God for a greater impact. Now we help people meet, know and follow Jesus by starting and strengthening churches worldwide.
ERIC JOHNSON
At first you didn’t want to be nominated. True? I said no in the beginning because I was concerned about my family situation: Two kids — Jon and Ashlyn — just starting college, and David, a high school sophomore. The timing didn't feel right. As a pastor, you always dream your kids will have continuity, and we were trying to provide that for all three of them. When it came down to the decision, our kids showed amazing faith. They felt God was calling and leading us to this opportunity. This was a great confirmation for us.
Will you continue your leadership coaching? Coaching is a part of who I am, not just what I do. Nothing energizes me more than getting with a group of leaders and talking about their preferred future and strategizing how to get there. Converge leadership has encouraged me to continue to coach pastors. Coaching cohorts will become a huge part of the strengthening emphasis we will have as a movement. Right now, Converge National Ministries director Michael Henderson, Eagle Brook Church’s Dale Peterson and I are all working on coaching strategies to move Converge forward.
What kinds of risks do you think Converge needs to take in the future? Converge is a growing movement with potential for greater impact and influence. To reach our God-given potential, we will have to continue to improve and grow. Everything we’ve done in the past was great in its day, but every innovation has an expiration date. So we must risk leaving the good things we have today and embrace the great things God has for us tomorrow. That means the biggest risk for the ordinary person in Converge is to be willing to get uncomfortable for the gospel. And the biggest risk for the church leaders is to get uncomfortable and possibly offend those who want things to stay the same. Our risk is to be courageous followers of Christ and courageous leaders of districts, churches and ministries. If we just listen to God, he will tell us what to do. Here’s a prayer I’ve been praying with my kids for a long time: “God help me know the right thing to do and have the courage to do it.” Now I pray it for the people and leaders of Converge.
Anything you would like to see improved in our Converge churches? We are doing a very good job in some things. We have godly, Christfocused leaders. We’ve always been a God-dependent movement. Our leaders have character and competency, but the largest room in the world is the room for improvement. In this next season we will put extra effort into strengthening churches. I’m following pastor Michael Henderson’s leadership in this area. I think we can be better at church planting — recruit and coach better. So we are going to try to open the Converge front door wider and close the back door to our movement. I love what Ivan Veldhuizen is doing in leading our International Ministries. He is a stellar leader, and he has put together a super team. I would like to see the Intercultural Ministries’ emphasis increased and more strongly resourced. We are working on that. We’ve got a great movement, great leaders, a vision that is engaging. I would love to see our pastors become more bold in inviting others to join Converge. We will do our best to talk about why we are “better together.” And we’ll invite unaffiliated churches to join us.
What do you do to unwind? I exercise. I lift. I am a novice runner. Lisa and I love to go on hikes. And we love to go out with other couples. We love to hear what God is doing in their lives. I date my wife and I date my kids. I read a lot, although I use audio books when I’m on a plane because I don’t fly well. I love to coach sports, especially football and soccer. I’ve done that for about 12 years. I’m a sports junkie — ESPN is my favorite channel.
Do you drink coffee? You would think I do, as hyper as I get sometimes, but no. I’m somewhat of a fitness freak. I drink water and juice and not much else. I figured out a few years ago that by giving up soda I was saving 176,000 calories a year. To stay in shape I gave up soda and candy and ice cream. I want to be here for the long haul. I chose to exercise more and to eat better, but you can tempt me with cake and cookies anytime.
Final thoughts? It’s an honor and a privilege to lead Converge. I ask for your prayers for my family and me. Let’s stay dependent on Christ. I’m humbled by the opportunity, and I’ll do my best to lead in God’s strength and for his honor. n Allison Hurtado is content development specialist for Converge and a Point contributing editor.
winter 2015
| point n 15
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16 n point | winter 2015
aim high! Real high. Investing in the Converge Cornerstone Fund provides a competitive rate of return while helping churches expand their facilities for kingdom growth. n The Fund offers a Demand Investment that you can add to at any time and withdraw from without penalty. n More than 3000 investors already know about Cornerstone’s Term Investments, ranging from 6 months through 5 years. n Ever looked at Cornerstone’s IRAs? We offer Traditional and Roth IRAs with no fees. The interest rate is fixed, adjusting June 30 and December 31 to a rate commensurate with our then current five-year term rates. You can Transfer a like-IRA to an IRA with the Fund or Rollover a qualified plan to a Cornerstone Fund IRA.
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The offer and sale of certificates is limited to persons who are, prior to receipt of the Offering Circular, members of, contributors to, participants in or affiliates of Converge Worldwide (BGC) including any program, activity or organization which constitutes a part of Converge Worldwide (BGC), its district conferences, or its member churches or other persons who are beneficiaries or successors in interest to such persons (“Investors”). n This shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state in which such an offer, solicitation or sale is not authorized. The offering is made solely by the OFFERING CIRCULAR. The offering involves certain risks, which are more fully disclosed in the Offering Circular under the heading “Risk Factors.” These investments are not FDIC or SIPC insured. n In the event the Fund exercises its right to redeem a Certificate prior to maturity and upon 60 days notice to the holder thereof, payment of the outstanding principal and interest will be made to the holder to the date of redemption, rather than to the Certificate’s maturity date.
winter 2015
| point n 17
Thank you, Jerry and Dee One pastor — a former Converge board of overseers chairman — summarizes the Shevelands’ personal and corporate impact during Jerry’s 12 years as Converge president. BY BILL ANKERBERG
I
I had the privilege
of knowing four presidents of our movement of churches. Jerry Sheveland has a special place in my heart. He has been a great president and a faithful friend. We have lived through deep sorrow and great joy. There is no one I respect more. As Steve Smith, Converge Southeast executive minister, noted: “He has guided us in choosing our missional name, Converge Worldwide; relocated our national headquarters to Orlando and led us to achieve an unprecedented period of growth and expansion. He built partnerships among district leaders, aligned us all to pursue one vision and helped us develop a mission that still influences other denominations and planting networks. And he recruited national leaders who shaped our international mission focus to reach unreached people with the gospel.”
A decade of tremendous growth Looking at the numbers alone (at right), you can see Jerry’s impact on our family of believers. He was one of our most successful pastors for decades before he came to the national office. Since he became president in 2002, we have seen significant growth.
Watch a video tribute to president Sheveland at cvrg.us/winter2015.
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It was typical of president Sheveland to preach in different churches 48 weekends a year. His AVERAGE NUMBER OF NUMBER OF strong work ethic, combined with his ability to ATTENDANCE BAPTISMS CHURCHES quickly make decisions, moved us to a higher 193,160 5,109 902 plateau of ministry. According to church planting 2012 researcher and author David Olson, “Converge AVERAGE NUMBER OF NUMBER OF is one of the five fastest-growing denominations ATTENDANCE BAPTISMS CHURCHES in America today.” 271,738 17,824 1,205 President Sheveland has been a great supporter of Bethel University. He represented us on Bethel’s board of trustees for more than 12 years. He has been a tireless advocate for our seminaries and theological distinctives. For our Converge overseers, he provided consistent leadership and encouragement. He kept us all moving forward and did it with grace and patience. He didn’t respond in anger or cynicism, but always with grace and wisdom. His leadership produced years of financial health and stability for Converge, in spite of our nation’s economic upheaval. For our people, Dee and Jerry produced outstanding resources: the three Bible studies Fire & Reign, Salt & Light and Come & Follow and the leadership mentoring book Overcome. Through their writing they have encouraged our movement to grow in prayer and in respect for the scriptures.
2002
Our one difficult day I had only one difficult day with president Sheveland. It happened when I was chairman of our board of overseers. I finished his annual job review and told him he was getting a raise. He said he wouldn’t take it. I had to tell him it was not up to him; it was up to the board, and we were telling him he had to take a raise. He didn’t like it but submitted to the board’s authority. We had to force him to take a raise. What a great servant of God he is. But his greatest gift to me was that while I served at Whittier Area Community Church, he called me his pastor — often preaching for me when I was out of town. We thank you, president Sheveland, for 14 great years of leadership (including two years as vice president of Global Church Enrichment). May God bless you and Dee as you begin your next chapter of life and ministry. To God be the glory. n Bill Ankerberg is Converge’s Nordic-Baltic Region co-director with his wife Arlie. winter 2015
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NUMBERS
twenty-one 94 93 92 91 10010in 90 89 88 Number of churches needed to reach the Converge Church Planting office’s SURGE goal of 351 new churches by the end of March 2015.
Number of Converge missionaries deployed in the past two years, plus seven redeployed to new locations or different strategies.
MARK KRAAKEVIK
Number of churches Converge Rocky Mountain seeks to add in 10 years (currently 57 churches). These will include new church starts, additional campuses of existing churches and churches newly affiliating with Converge.
413
Number of attendees at Connect 2014, the Converge biennial meetings held on October 8-9 at Bethel University’s St. Paul, Minnesota, campus. Keynote speakers Jeffery Johnson and Mark Batterson captivated audiences. Johnson animatedly spoke about uniting the church and becoming one again, despite differences on topics such as baptism and preaching style. “It is time for us to deal with disunity,” Johnson said. “We need to understand God’s design for harmony. He has a desire for harmony and unity in the body of Christ.” Batterson closed the biennial meetings with a message on humility through prayer. He shared his story of being 22 years old and planting a church that failed. He is now pastor of a Washington, D.C., church with seven locations. Obedience is key to seeing success, as is praying regularly and specifically. “I believe in long obedience in the same direction,” Batterson said. “The blessings of God will overtake your life because God is faithful and will come through in a big way.” Newly elected president Scott Ridout (above, center) spoke to close the conference. He described his vision for Converge, which includes asking God for courage: “Courage is doing the right thing in the face of fear. We need to become a people of amazing powerful courage because we know the truth and power of the gospel.”
one hundred & three Record-setting number of new participants enrolled in the Converge Retirement Plan in 2014.
WE CAN GET YOU THERE.
OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE IN CHINA, MONGOLIA, LAOS,VIETNAM, CAMBODIA, MYANMAR OR NORTH KOREA. TEACH ENGLISH TO UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OPEN TO FAMILIES, COUPLES AND SINGLES NO FORMAL LANGUAGE OR TEACHING EXPERIENCE NECESSARY UTP.ELIC.ORG // 888.475.3542 /WeAreELIC
22 n point | winter 2015
@WeAreELIC
@WeAreELIC
JENNI BAYLOR/WORLD VISION
Help for Haiti
Church worships differently every second Sunday Element Church in Hayward, Wisconsin, took to the streets in October to bless others with the love of Jesus. As part of the church’s 2nd Sunday Out events, 25 adults and children participated in raking leaves and cleaning up neighbors’ yards hit by a storm.
In October, Mullery Jean-Pierre, pastor of Beraca Baptist Church, Brooklyn, New York, interviewed U.S. Congressman Hakeem Jefferies at the New York City Movement Day event. Jefferies answered questions on U.S.-Haiti relations and how the church, government and nongovernmental agencies can help Haiti become a self-sustaining country. Jefferies is also co-chair of the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus.
52 men attend Gunsmoke On Saturday, November 8, Church of Celebration — Metro, Aubrey, Texas, held Gunsmoke, a men’s activity for its Men of Valor ministry. The day consisted of enjoying barbecued meats and shooting firearms, but it was rooted in bringing men to Christ. The Men of Valor program meets weekly at the church. However, they held Gunsmoke on acres of land in Muenster, Texas, an easier place to talk freely about the gospel and to pray with the men. Pastor Brad Wilkerson reported: “We had 52 men Saturday morning at Gunsmoke, and I’ll bet we had over 500 guns. We do skeet shooting with clay pigeons and shotguns. We also set up targets on a riverbank. There’s pistol and rifle shooting, and then we eat meat.”
MORE ONLINE... New books from Converge authors
Read online summaries of Our Times & Our Stories, by Truett M. Lawson; Becoming a Follower of Jesus, and Elders and Deacons and Saints, Oh My!, by Jim Kirkland; Living in the Son, by Wade Robinson; Healing the Broken Spirit, by Luis R. Scott Sr.; Authentic Faith, by Bo Lange; Edla’s Destiny, by James Harold Carlson; Mind Estranged, by Bethany Yeiser; Flight From Reason, by Karen S. Yeiser; Increasing Church Capacity, Primer, by Steve Smith; A Good Man Is Hard to Find, by Michael L. Henderson Sr.; Managing the Silence of God, by Mercidieu Phillips; Toxic Church, by Chris Creech.
Who leads Converge MidAmerica?
Gary and Mary Rohrmayer serve Converge MidAmerica’s 213 churches as district executive minister and director of Ministry to Ministry Families, respectively. Previously, Gary served 12 years as CM’s church planting director. Mary grew up attending different churches with her mom and remembers saying a prayer but not understanding it. After attending Stuart Briscoe’s church in Elmbrook, Wisconsin, and going to a Billy Graham Crusade, Mary rededicated her life to Jesus Christ. Gary grew up in a nonchurched home and began attending Elmbrook Church at Mary’s invitation. While attending the 1979 Billy Graham Crusade in Milwaukee, Gary was convicted of his need of the Savior, but he was unwilling to surrender his life. Ten months later Gary was out with a friend doing the bar scene. He says, “The Lord knocked me off the bar stool and said, ‘Quit running from me and surrender your life to Jesus!’” That night Gary told his friend, “I am tired of this life and need to quit running from God and to commit my life to Jesus.” Gary’s friend said, “I don’t understand, but I am going to join you.” Gary’s friend still serves Jesus today. Gary says, “Growing up in a home without the gospel fuels our conviction for church planting and church health. We know firsthand what it means to live a large portion of our life without the hope of Jesus. Jesus is the hope the world, and the church is the vehicle God is using to present him to the world.” By Donna Fagerstrom, staff writer
winter 2015
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Baptist General Conference 2002 S. Arlington Heights Rd. Arlington Heights, IL 60005
One movement. Hundreds of leaders. Powerful takeaways and lasting relationships. Two conferences.
JOIN US.
a networking conference for church leaders
a church planting conference
January 19-22, 2015 Hyatt Regency, Garden Grove, California
March 24-26, 2015 Cornerstone Church, Chandler, Arizona
Transform is a networking event that provides a relaxed atmosphere for everyone working in ministry. Join your peers in discussion and, in our over 25 breakout sessions, set agendas on subjects that matter to you. You’ll also learn from experienced leaders at three different workshops. Let’s celebrate our mission.
Converge’s church planting conference brings together hundreds of leaders to share ideas and grow. At Ignite 2015 we will begin to define and understand our identity. It not only defines who we are; it determines the direction of our lives and ministries. Learn from seasoned leaders the best practices to influence the world through church planting and multiplication.
Conference theme convergeworldwide
convergeww
convergetransform.org 24 n point | winter 2015
convergeCP
convergeCP
convergeignite.com