Epistle

EVANGELICAL FRIENDS CHURCH – EASTERN REGION (EFC-ER)
2008 YEARLY MEETING
EPISTLE

JULY 19 - 22, 2008


    The 196th Yearly Meeting of EFC-ER was held July 19-22 in the beautiful Johnson Center for Worship and the Fine Arts on the campus of Malone College in Canton, Ohio. The theme for this year’s meeting was “Moving from Duty to Delight.”
Once again the missionary banquet on Saturday night opened the activities (in the Brehme Centennial Center) with two identical sessions attracting about 600 people. Arun and Shobha Massey, Friends missionaries in southwestern India, and Ana Marian, Friends missionary to Romania, were keynote speakers. Other current and retired missionaries attending were from Burundi, Bolivia,  Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, Jamaica, Taiwan, Hungary and Eastern Europe, and Hispanic outreach in the U.S. A large contingent from various Hispanic congregations in Eastern Region participated in the Saturday night events. Special musical guest for Saturday and Sunday evenings was Heather Williams, from Morningside Friends Church in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
    Sunday morning, delegates worshiped in local churches throughout Northeast Ohio. The delegates and family members  of various Hispanic congregation gathered for a combined Hispanic service.
 General Superintendent Dr. John Williams, Jr. spoke at the Sunday evening worship service on the Yearly Meeting theme. He used Jesus’ invitation for us to be “yoked” to Him. Our relationship with Christ in the yoke provides us His strength and the balance we need to manage the challenges and burdens of life.
     A Barclay College reception was held after the Sunday evening service for all interested in alumni fellowship and a campus update.
    The tradition of a two-hour “Concert of Praise and Prayer” preceded the first business session on Monday morning, followed by the annual address by the General Superintendent. Dr. Williams borrowed from this year’s theme and spoke on the topic “Delight,” from scripture meaning “intense joy and pleasure” in the Lord. Featuring six delights that define the people of God, he elaborated on the many delights in EFC-ER this year. Included among “Delight in Growth” was an increase in Sunday morning worship over the past few years from 12,000 to 17,000, and growth in giving from about $10 million to $23 million. “Delight in New Beginnings” featured a restart of the church in Tecumseh, Mich., a new congregation at the Kent (Ohio) Chinese Friends Church, and the service of Jeremiah Kutz as a new part time Youth Specialist for EFC-ER.
    Monday board and committee report highlights included:
• Friends Action Board – provided grants to Springdale (OH), Hughesville (PA), Gilead (OH), Canton First, and Goshen Friends churches for local ministry outreach projects.  
• Friends Disaster Service – homes were constructed to replaced a burned house in Winona, OH and a house lost in a tornado near Haviland, KS. Work was completed on three new homes in Lafitte, LA, where 220 volunteers from five states pitched in. In the past 2 _ years FDS has built five new houses and rebuilt 24 in Mississippi and Louisiana.
• Missions Board – Written updates were received from missionaries associated with EFC-ER in China, Haiti, Hong Kong, Eastern Europe, India, and Jamaica.
• Evangelical Friends Mission Director Chuck Mylander was present to update EFM mission efforts in Bangladesh, Mexico, Ireland, Rwanda, Bhutan, Philippines, India, Nepal, and to Muslims in the U.S., Germany, and England. He also provided a matrix of 13 EFM mission countries who are now providing mission outreach to people in 18 other nations.
• Camp Gideon – camper registrations this summer have been strong, and a  new “Perry Pavilion” was constructed on the grounds.
A Monday afternoon “Pastor’s Think Tank” gathered EFC-ER congregational leaders to address the
topic “Reaching Across Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Differences in Ministry.”
    David Harriman, a leader in outreach to Hispanic cultures throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, and within the U.S., was the Monday evening keynote speaker. Son of missionary parents and growing up in South America, the Barclay College graduate served 12 years with wife Karol in Argentina. He continues in church planting and evangelism throughout Latin American. He reported on the great movement to Christ today across Spanish-speaking nations. “One estimate is that about 8,000 people in these countries are coming to Christ every day. Our hope might be that some of the immigrants to the U.S. from these nations will spark a revival in America.”+
    The Malone College Alumni Association sponsored the Monday evening time of ice cream social and fellowship.
    A memorial service for pastors, missionaries and board chairmen who had been “promoted to Glory” since the 2007 Yearly Meeting was held Tuesday morning. Those remembered were Glenn Althouse, Virgil Cobbs, Lawrence Cox, Ovidio Ipina, Charles Kernodle, Robert Malick, Byrd and Grace Puffenbarger, Elizabeth Robinson, Lillian Mangrum, Harry Perry, Dorcas Seawell, Catherine Smith, James Tatsch, Sr., and Paul Williams.
    New Malone College President Dr. Gary Streit presented his first report to Yearly Meeting delegates. He highlighted the growth and accomplishments of the 2,400-student Friends college. These included construction of a new dormitory to open in January, negotiations for the purchase of 19 acres of property and buildings adjacent to the campus (currently owned by a Jewish congregation), and the plans to become Malone University in October 2008.
    Tuesday board and committee reports included:
• Christian Education Board – providing “Power Perks” each quarter this year, including folders of encouragement and ideas to C.E. elders and coordinators, with a major resource in each packet. VBS offerings this year will be used for mission efforts in Bhutan. Last year’s offerings of $4,860 went to missions in Northern India.
• Communication Board – the EFC-ER website has been converted to a Content Management System to allow for in-house updating, and it has a new look. EFI has discontinued the 15-year run of the annual essay contest for junior high and high school students.
• Evangelistic, Pastoral, and Extension (EP&E) Board – Two church plants continue in Richmond, VA (Living Hope, planted by Hanover), and Columbus, OH (Water of Life replant, assisted by Gilead). The church plant in Wooster, OH was closed in the spring. The Kent (OH) Chinese Friends Church has affiliated with our yearly meeting. Two new Hispanic churches in North Carolina have shown interest in affiliating with EFC-ER, to join our other 11 Hispanic churches, and six Haitian churches.
• Youth Board – This year’s SOY retreat in Morgantown, WV saw 51 youth workers learn of ways to minister in Christ’s name to at-risk teens and teens with substance abuse issues. Senior high students at this Yearly Meeting are working at the Total Living Center, helping with general ministry needs and remodeling their hair salon. A one-week youth mission trip to a Navajo Nation reservation this summer will include constructing an addition to a church building.
Tuesday evening featured a recording service for new pastors in Eastern Region, with Friends
missionary in Nepal Bob Adhikary as speaker. Recorded were: Jeremiah Kutz, Candice Porotosky, and Gary Tesmer. The final event for the 196th session was a reception for both newly recorded and retiring pastors Lin Hairfield and Wallace White.

Sincerely,
Wayne Ickes, Presiding Clerk
Evangelical Friends Church – Eastern Region
5350 Broadmoor Circle
Canton, OH   44718