North Star Update A PUBLICATION OF THE MINNESOTA BAPTIST ASSOCIATION Inside This Issue:
Volume V, Issue 5
Fellowship Foundations
2
State Men’s 1st Person
2
Grace Owatonna Remodel
2
Count It All Joy
3
Flash News
3
Lighthouse Family Camp
3
Calendar October 1: SW Association Ladies Meeting, see the poster inside the Update October 22: 11:30 a.m., Twin City Association Ladies’ Fall Luncheon at Normandale Baptist
September 21, 2011
2011 State Men’s Fellowship By: Greg The 2011 Men’s Fellowship provided an enjoyable time of enrichment and encouragement for all who came. Thirteen different MBA churches were represented in the attendance for the weekend event. Several men reported how they appreciated the sessions presented by Chuck Hervas. Friday’s session, “Jesus is My Attorney,” drew on his perspective as a trial lawyer, helping us understand how Christ serves as an advocate before the Father on our behalf. Another session presented his personal testimony of how God used a pastor from Bemidji (Jim Heinz) to bring Chuck to saving faith. “(Chuck’s sessions) … were heartfelt, theologically on
January 23: 10:00 a.m., MBA Executive Committee
track, and spiritually encouraging,” observed Pastor Tim Barr of Adrian. Many also remarked how they benefitted from the presence of the missionaries in attendance. Ron Caasi, serving in Java, Indonesia, shared the triumphs and challenges he experiences as the pastor of a small independent Baptist churches on an island of over 135 million people. Troy Manning, chief language consultant with Bibles International, shared the needs of people around the world to have the Scriptures in their own
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language. Roberto Coelho, ministering in Sao Paolo, Brazil, took the time to reflect on the impact that believers from Minnesota had on his spiritual development. The singing, corporate prayer, and fellowship filled out a refreshing experience for all who came. Please mark your calendars for next year. Dr. David Doran of Inter-City Baptist Church and Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary, Allen Park, MI, has been scheduled to speak on September 14-15, 2012. His ministry will be a blessing to you!
1:00 p.m., Full Board January 27-28: Parent-Teen Conference at First Calvary Baptist April 20-21: MBA Ladies Retreat at Camp Friendship June 22-23: MBA Annual Meeting in New Prague
LRCS Starts a New School year The new school year has begun at Lake Region Christian School. The school is a ministry of First Baptist Church, Baxter, and under the direct leadership of Steve Ogren, Principal. As we watched the eager children report for class on September 6th, it brought back so many memories of our first days in school! Remember the anticipation,
wondering what things were going to be like, the new shoes and desks to get used to? The teachers were ready and happy to welcome the students in to this new phase. Men from the church were ready with tools to adjust the desks to accommodate the summer growth spurt. This year the school is looking forward to the challenge
of new hand bells. They are the result of a major fund raising project that ended in the spring. This year there will also be a Middle School band. We are enjoying the expanded music program and hope that the students are able to use these skills for ministry outside of school. Continued page 4
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North Star Update
Fellowship Foundations By: Rev. Robert I concluded my last Update report by including remarks about a family trip to Indiana. Upon our return trip we took occasion to visit the campus of Maranatha Baptist Bible College. One of our granddaughters who is a graduate of that school, Emily Haynes, is employed by the School all year. That was a great side-light to our trip as she took us on an extensive tour of Watertown, and that general area of Wisconsin. Another granddaughter, Megan Haynes, is in her 2nd year there. During the summer our activities in behalf of our congregations in Minnesota Baptist Association have been minimal. What we were able to do, we
enjoyed completely! August 21 – Rhoda and I made a special visit to Adrian First Baptist, very ably pastored by Tim Barr (Elayna). The enthusiasm of the folks at that church is always infectious, and they were receptive to my reports on MBA happenings along with the update on current progress toward the sale of the Pillsbury College campus. I thank the pastor for allowing me time to make those reports. Pastor Tim and Elayna demonstrated for us a new way (new for us, anyway) to eat corn on the cob. If you want to know, you will have to ask them. September 4 – At the invitation of Pastor Bart Goetz (Carol), I was privileged to act
Fuller, Sr. ISM
as pulpit supply at Calvary Baptist, Pengilly. Pastor was away on family errands and I was able to minister in Sunday School and Morning Worship, and report on current progress of the MBA resulting from the Annual Meeting held at St. Francis. Also, I gave an update as I knew it on the progress of the current activities regarding the sale of Pillsbury College campus. As is always delightful, the church served a buffet luncheon. Due to family and personal circumstances I was not able to attend The State Men’s Fellowship this year. If I can be of service or help to you or your congregation, please let me know.
State Men’s First Person Report I was privileged to attend the Men’s Fellowship this year with two young men from my church. We all attended last year. We were blessed by the experience - the beautiful lake setting and coziness of the cabins - and we highly anticipated returning this year. We were not disappointed. The speaker was Chuck Hervas, a Christian lawyer from Illinois. It was refreshing to hear his insights about Jesus, our Advocate. He spoke with conviction in opening God’s Word to us and humility in
sharing his personal testimony. There were a number of other highlights that were personally uplifting. One was the singing. We didn’t have a piano player, so we sang a cappella. It was a beautiful and joyful sound that came from this men’s choir! A second highlight was the rich fellowship. Not only did I connect with the men from my church as well as fellow pastors, but I also saw two former seminary classmates who are
By: Shad Vork
Continued page 4
Grace Owatonna Remodeling The Grace Baptist Church of Owatonna is updating the entire interior of their building except for the auditorium. The auditorium will be done at a later date. Nearly every wall and ceiling has been painted and 23,000 square feet of new carpet has been installed. New
triple pane windows (59 of them) will be installed. We will also remodel the restrooms. The exterior will receive a makeover as well with the rock board facing being replaced with steel siding. The total dollars being spent will be around $125,000. Last summer
the parking lot was resurfaced for about the same amount of money. It was exciting to see the large work crew show up to work for the three weeks it took to get the building ready for new carpet. Please pray as the church continues its search for a new pastor.
Volume V, Issue 5
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Flash! News Fall Help at PBBC Campus The Update has heard that there are a lot of tasks that local churches could help with on the campus of Pillsbury College. If individuals or groups from your church could help, contact Stephen Seidler at 507.413.3334 or email him at pbbc.seidler@gmail.com.
Meetings at St. James, Highland Park Baptist October 2 - 6, 2011, Highland Park Baptist will hold meetings with Ev. Brian Clay. The meetings will begin Sunday, 9:30, 10:30, 6:00; nightly at 6:00 pm, Monday through Thursday. The church is located at 1300 10th Ave. N, St. James, MN. Phone: 507.375.4025 or 507.640.1531.
Pulpit Supply Churches in need of pulpit supply may contact Rev. Tobe Bolles at 25011 Mail Route Road, Brainerd, MN. 56401. His phone numbers are 320.692.5812 or 218.208.8186
Parent-Teen Conference First Calvary Baptist Church will be hosting the 6th annual Parent-Teen Conference on January 27-28, 2012. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Les Ollila, Chancellor of Northland International University. He will be speaking to teens and their parents on the theme "Adding to Your Faith...� The conference will include a meal, book package, quartet music (provided by Maranatha Baptist Bible College), and much more. Registration information can be obtained by contacting Pastor Chris Juvinall at 651-451-6487, cjuvinall@1stcalvary.com, or www.1stcalvary.com. .
Lighthouse Baptist Family Camp 2011 Lighthouse Baptist Church is rejoicing over such a wonderful family camp August 11-13. We enjoyed the fellowship of the saints, the challenging messages from area pastors and itinerant missionaries, and the fellowship of all ages. We set up tents around the grounds on Thursday afternoon and then officially began with dinner. We were surprised to have 65 people for dinner (only 28 preregistered). After feeding everyone we enjoyed a singspiration praising God together be-
fore the Scripture challenge. There were so many opportunities we had while together. Nancy Palm provided a Christian book table to update our Christian resource centers at home and church. Missionary Doug Bachorik made instrumental music and congregational singing a real ministry as he led us in the worship of our Savior. We viewed the new Unusual Films movie: Milltown Pride. Thursday and Friday nights everyone found out
whether their family tent could withstand rain and lightening. Almost everyone stayed dry. (Some folk retreated to the solid foundation of home.) We all enjoyed great weather for afternoon and evening activities. We opened the Bounce Castle and 10 foot blow-up water slide and slip and slide while the sun was up. Then in the evening we played some Wiffle Ball and capture the flag. The congregation of LightContinued on Page 4
A PUBLICATION OF THE MINNESOTA BAPTIST ASSOCIATION PO Box 527 Willmar, MN 56201-0527
We’re on the web! http:www.mbaoc.org
MBA Contacts Minnesota Baptist Association Rev. Gerald Stephens, President Community Baptist Church PO Box 212 New Prague, MN 56071 (952) 758-3287 pastor@npcbc.org Interim State Missionary Rev. Robert Fuller, Sr. 1549 118th Lane NW Coon Rapids, MN 55448 (763) 568-4078 rjfsr4@juno.com MBA Office contact@mbaoc.org
Family Camp page 3
State Men’s First Person page 2
house Baptist Church rejoiced on Friday as Assistant Pastor Jason Nicholson and his wife Sherri were able to purchase a home in the area. We moved up the final service of camp so everyone could help them clean the home and get it ready to move in. Lighthouse Baptist Church looks forward to Family Camp 2012. We invite you to come join us.
now on the mission field. Additionally, there were men from other churches who I had met at previous meetings, and we had opportunity to catch up on what the Lord is doing in our lives. A third highlight was the Friday night prayer time. After the message, pastors and missionaries shared prayer requests, and then we dispersed to our cabins to pray. Our cabin consisted of men from St. Francis and Stillwater. I was desig-
Minnesota Baptist Association
nated to pray after everyone else had finished. What a rich season before the throne of grace as man after man lifted his voice to the Lord. There seemed to be no hurry - just genuine devotion and patient, heartfelt petition, adoration, and thanksgiving. In my opinion, the Men’s Fellowship was well worth the time and cost considering the tremendous spiritual refreshment it provided.
PO Box 527 Willmar, MN 56201-0527 Send Contributions to: Mr. Brian Veth, MBA Treasurer c/o Coon Rapids Baptist Church 11164 Hanson Blvd. Coon Rapids, MN 55433 Send Update Articles and Pictures to: drjfjr@comcast.net North Star Update Editor 315 S. Payne St. New Ulm, MN 56073 (507) 354-3323
Lake Region Christian School, New Year page 1 We always begin the school year with Leadership Camp for the 11th and 12th graders. This is a time to challenge them to step up to the plate in their responsibility as
positive leaders in the school. There are great challenges for our youth these days and we take the ministry of a Christian school as a serious and committed responsibility.
Please pray for our Christian Schools in Minnesota that they will make a positive impact on the students and bring honor and glory to God.