Epistle of the 191st Annual Meeting of Evangelical Friends Church - Eastern Region July 19-22, 2003

It is in the name of Jesus Christ that we greet Friends cordially around the world from our gathering in Canton, Ohio.

Our tradition of beginning our Yearly Meeting with two identical missionary banquet sessions (to accommodate what would otherwise be an overflow crowd) continued in 2003. Approximately 500 people greeted about 25 active and retired missionaries gathered at Malone College, representing mission fields in Guatemala, Haiti, Hispanics in the U.S., Jamaica, Mexico, Nepal, India, Taiwan, Ireland, England, Hong Kong, Philippines, Romania, Hungary, Russia and the Ukraine, and China. Hillary Harrison, a registered nurse recently returned from India and Nepal, reported on her medical, social and spiritual outreach to people of remote villages of both countries. Jacelyn Jones, returning from her first full year of ministry in Hong Kong, updated us on the Filipino Church there which serves women from the Philippines who are domestic servants in Hong Kong. Evangelical Friends Missions Executive Director Chuck Mylander challenged the gathering to assist Friends missionaries around the world to help bring people to "The Lamb who is on the throne." Attendees were serenaded by a strolling chorus of over 100 Spanish-speaking members of Hispanic Friends churches from Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, New York, and Toronto.

The Sunday evening worship service at host church Canton First Friends culminated with a message by General Superintendent Dr. John Williams, Jr. Speaking on the conference theme "People of Purpose in a Broken World," Williams spoke from the conversion and discipleship of Paul (as recorded in the book of Acts) to demonstrate how we can live out God's purpose when life is unfair: "By God's grace we can choose to live out God's purpose, in spite of the difficult circumstances which might enter our lives."

Monday morning a two-hour "concert of worship, praise and prayer" anchored the approach of business in an attitude of worship and thanksgiving. Dr. Williams provided his annual report to the delegates with special thanksgiving for the signs of growth in the Yearly Meeting during the past decade. These include a 33% increase in Sunday morning worshipers; four new church plants serving nearly 1,000 attendees; addition of nine new Hispanic and five Haitian congregations to the Yearly Meeting; the welcoming of a Taiwanese congregation from Boston Heights, Ohio just this year; and over 80 new churches formed under the leadership of Eastern Region missionaries around the world. He announced "Ministry Fund 2006," an effort to support ministries and growth in future decades. The three-year capital campaign seeks to raise $1 million (of which $250,000 is already in hand) to fund capital needs in our one Yearly Meeting camp and two district camps; Friends world missions; and to support Malone College's proposed purchase of a neighboring church facility (a portion of which would serve as the college's first chapel). Any excess donations will be used for church planting efforts.

Leadership at our Yearly Meeting camp (Camp Gideon) was thankful that we will set a new record this summer with over 500 children/youth attending. By mid-summer nearly 20 kids had made professions of faith to Christ.

The Friends Action Board reported that VISA credit card company has blocked the used of its credit card to buy child pornography and other select genres of obscenity off the Internet. We have sent a letter of thanks to VISA for their helpful and courageous action. The legislature of the State of Ohio has once again blocked efforts to bring casino-style gambling into the state.

The Friends Disaster Service reported the volunteer ministry assisted tornado victims in central Indiana, Van Wert, OH, Carbon Hill, AL, and flood victims in Ft. Wayne. The Van Wert effort included building four new houses and restructuring several others.

Our Monday evening presentation featured Steven James' program "Keeping the Joy of Purpose." James, an inspirational storyteller from Eastern Tennessee with a Masters Degree in Storytelling, delighted the delegates and guests with characters, stories, and lessons to highlight our theme's encouragement to keep meaning and purpose alive during difficult times. "My passion lies in creatively communicating the gospel to the next generation," he said. "I just want to be faithful in using my interests and gifts to honor the One who gave them to me."

President Ron Johnson of Malone College presented exciting news with the announcement of a capital campaign to facilitate the construction of a new Wellness Center, an addition to Mitchell Hall for the School of Nursing, and the possible purchase of a large church facility adjacent to campus, which will permit, among other uses, a permanent chapel for the college.

The Christian Education Board continued its annual tradition of providing significant amounts of materials to EFC-ER congregations to support their Sunday school and educational efforts. The "Power Notebook" project (Plenty Of Wonderful Educational Resources) gives each church an incredible resource collection of practical tips, ideas for outreach, communication tools for CE elders to their classroom teachers, game ideas, and Christian holiday celebration ideas.

The Ministerial Accreditation Board presented a large class of eight persons to be recorded as ministers of the gospel: Jim Belt, Jason Bruce, Manuel Chavaria, Lynn Faw, Michael Gillett, Lee Jackson, Walt Scheiman, and Vance Weeks. A strawberry social in their honor followed the Tuesday evening recording service.

The Communication Board continues to promote and develop new ways for our churches to communicate Good News. Their special effort during Yearly Meeting was a "Technology Fair," a special room with displays of hands-on-demonstrations of the most recent technology tools available to church ministry. These included examples of flexible lighting, sound equipment for all size churches, special effects for drama, computer networking options, computer software and Power Point options. Two EFC-ER high school winners of the EFI 2002 essay contest were announced: Rachel Grimm, Damascus Friends and Leah Webb, East Richland Friends.

The Evangelistic, Pastoral and Extension Board reported on growth in church plants at Morningstar in Chardon, OH and Living Hope in Sandston, VA. EFC-ER now has eight Hispanic congregations with over 700 in weekly attendance. A Hispanic leadership conference was provided for over 125 Spanish-speaking attendees at Yearly Meeting. Our five Haitian churches have grown to over 550 weekly attendance, and a new Taiwanese church in Boston Heights, OH was welcomed to affiliation with EFC-ER. Completed or planned building projects were reported by seven Eastern Region churches.

The Youth Board reported Yearly-Meeting wide youth events this year included "Youth Explosion," hosted by Willoughby Hills (OH) Friends; a mid-winter youth retreat, hosed by Trinity Van Wert (OH) Friends; and "S.O.Y." (Sponsors of Youth), a retreat for youth workers from throughout EFC-ER. The Yearly Meeting experiences for youth this year included "Challenge Camp" for junior highs (at Camp Gideon), and "Real Ministry: Motivation Turned into Action," a servant leadership training event for senior highs.

In Christ's Service,
Wayne Ickes, Presiding Clerk