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Yearly Meeting 2000 |
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JULY 22 - 26, 2000 Greetings to the Family of Friends around the world! We salute you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and pray that together we may be partners in extending God's Kingdom here on earth. We have just concluded five wonderful days in which children, youth and adults have all been blessed in our sessions together. "Faith to follow; Courage to serve" was the theme taken from the words of Jesus found in John 12:26, "Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me." We were challenged to have a strong faith and to go back to our churches to serve with passionate courage. Our ministry now is through 92 Friends Churches, eleven of whom are extension meetings. This year we scheduled two missionary banquets to accommodate the 800 in attendance. Speakers included Manuel & Brenda Chavarria from Mexico and Hillary Harrison, recently returned from the camp in Hungary where she has ministered to Kosovo and Albanian refugees. It was truly an international gathering with Friends introduced from Jamaica, Romania, Taiwan, Mexico, Burundi, Haiti, and Hungary who briefly described their varied ministries. At our Sunday evening service Supt. John Williams challenged us to note the Old Testament record of Ahab and David. While Ahab trivialized sin and gave into greed, David sought God's forgiveness and became a man "after God's own heart." A concert of prayer preceding our business sessions set a meaningful spiritual tone for the delegates as for two hours we knelt to praise God and to present petitions to Him. We are truly thankful for the growth He has given us and for the vision to expand our witness too other groups. Sharing his vision for EFC-ER, our superintendent challenged us:
The New Life Community Church located in Ridgeway, Virginia was recognized as a full church as Pastor Terry Knighten reported 128 in attendance at morning worship. After two years meeting in rented quarters he shared hopes to build on the 16 acres purchased in 1998. The E P & E Board reported these extension churches have been planted: Morningstar in Chardon, OH and Living Hope Friends Church in Sandston, VA. In addition EFC-ER is enlarging ministry to Hispanics and to Haitians. To accommodate Spanish-speaking Friends, a Sunday morning worship service was held in the World Outreach Center with over 60 praising God in Spanish. Our Hispanic churches are located in Martinsville, VA; Kingston, NY; Baltimore, MD; Boston, MA; Madison, OH, and Toronto, Canada. Ministry to Haitians is in Port St. Lucie, FL; Ft. Pierce, FL; and in Brooklyn, NY. How grateful we are that God has raised up leaders and pastors in these vital ministries. The Finance & Stewardship Board is encouraged that giving has increased. They reported that due to emphasis on stewardship and the challenge to support the Church, giving has increased 94 percent in the last ten years. It is estimated that on a given Sunday morning, there are 15,000 in attendance in our Friends Churches. The Missionary Board asked support for faithful missionaries laboring in 22 countries around the world. In cooperation with Evangelical Friends Mission and Good News of salvation is being shared with countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, North and South America. (Please use the Prayer Directory in praying for specific fields.) Our young people and children are not being ignored. Camp Wakefield in Virginia, Camp Hawthornburg in North Carolina, and Camp Gideon in Ohio all report vital programs for all ages. Bookings are full for every weekend at Camp Gideon this fall as churches and colleges become acquainted with this beautiful facility in God's great out of doors. Friends Action Board urged Friends to help defend marriage and the family in spite of recent actions in Vermont and elsewhere. They emphasized the need to fight pornography and obscenity, to oppose gambling in their destruction of families, and to minister lovingly to homosexuals and abused. The Board strongly opposes the selling of aborted baby parts and urges Friends to join the ranks of Pro-Life in the battle for the life of the unborn. Brian Hackman was introduced and he reported on his involvement in ministry at two women's prisons in Pennsylvania. Their report ended with a display of "We Stand for the Ten Commandments" posters made available after the recent contradictory Adams County, Ohio, decision by the Court. Remember the National Day of Prayer which is held the first Thursday of May each year. Friends Disaster Service has had a busy year -- helping in Honduras after Hurricane Mitch, in Oklahoma after a Category 5 tornado struck, rebuilding the Navajo council house/medical center after a destructive fire, traveling to Cincinnati to help victims of another tornado, and several trips to North Carolina in construction projects after Hurricane Floyd. It is most encouraging to see other Yearly Meetings cooperate by sending workers on these many trips. The annual FDS auction is always the first Saturday after Labor Day. "See you there," says Dean Johnson, "to help finance this vital ministry to victims of disaster." Malone College had a successful year with 2,200 enrolled and a remarkable attitude among students to serve locally and globally. President Ron Johnson reported that 138 students participated in 12 mission outreach efforts, extending as far away as Kenya. "This is life-changing and introduces our students to service opportunities abroad," according to Pastor Randy Heckert who supervises the trips. For example while in Kenya the 15 students performed pantomime and music programs for an estimated 10,000 in the audiences. Their 13 day stay was greatly appreciated. Delegates gave a standing ovation for athletics director, Hal Smith who recently received a liver transplant from a living donor, Sharon Looney. "Thanks for your prayers," said Hal. "I was under sedation for 18 hours while three Cleveland Clinic surgeons performed this new method of transplant. My recovery with no rejection is indeed a miracle." In closing, it was noted that Malone won two national championships this year -- the women's cross country NAIA competition and the men's golf team at the NAIA finals. The Communications Board urged Friends to become acquainted with our website -- the address is www.efcer.org and presently is being used by people all over the world. Information as to who Friends are, where our churches are located (with maps), and current news related to EFC-ER and its many ministries. From Sept. '99 to July '00 there were 17,937 visits to our web site from 23 countries besides the U.S. This project is an example of Quakers using the computer age to promote God's Kingdom. On Monday night, Jamie Parsons from North Carolina shared his personal testimony as a Christian businessman finding victory in spite of the death of his wife. Charles Mylander, Supt. from Friends Church Southwest, spoke Tuesday night on Christians being transformed into God's likeness. What are these qualities of "God likeness"? His answer: Grace, Truth, Love, Power, and Holiness. The transformation is neither easy or accomplished quickly, but by committing ourselves to God, we can become like Him. The concluding service on Wednesday evening was a capstone to the sessions. Eight Friends were recorded as ministers-- Becky Bricker, Todd Larson, Richard Linger, Jim McMillan, Greg Rice, Allan Swinderman, Ed Vinson, and Ed Walsh. Adults and youth together praised God for a year in which we sought to extend God's Kingdom with "Faith to Follow and Courage to Serve." May the year 2001 be an even more fruitful year for Friends around the world. In Christ's service, |
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