June 2006

After nearly a week’s delay which included an airline going bankrupt, the unexpected stranding of a team in Mexico City, and much more, the Operation Barnabas International team has finally arrived in Brazil, almost a week later than intended. Here is a portion of their message this noon: “Welcome to Brazil, OBI! After nearly a […]

Executive Pastor Tom Abbitt (pictured) reports that Warsaw (IN) Community Grace Brethren Church celebrated its 50th anniversary this past week with a full week of service projects. Members of the church went into all facets of the local community with their sleeves rolled up, ready to do whatever they could. (Kevin Lilly photo) Activities began

Research results being released for the first time in the July/August edition of Facts & Trends magazine show most people who attend a Protestant church are using Christian media–magazines, websites, television, radio, movies, and music–but Christian media is only a fraction of the media churchgoers use. Protestant clergy, on the other hand, are much heavier

The Association of Grace Brethren Ministers (AGBM) has been circulating a document with significant changes to the bylaws which will be discussed and acted upon at the upcoming AGBM meetings during Celebrate06 in California. The proposed documents are available on www.agbm.org under “document archive.” The Mid-Atlantic District (MAD) ministerium, chaired by Doug Courter and Jay

Pastor Jim Franklin of the Flora, Indiana, Grace Brethren Church, has sent notice of the death of Harold “Pappy” Stayer, a member of the Flora church for more than 40 years and a significant figure in the founding and development of the Grace Brethren Boys ministry. J. Harold “Pappy” Stayer, 87, of Flora, died at

As they re-direct their ministry from the Waynesboro, PA, Grace Brethren Church, to the Vicksburg Grace Brethren Church, Roger and Lou Ann Myers send the following information. Please update your FGBC Handbook. As you might imagine the past three months have flown past and it hardly seems that it is time for us to move.

Dr. Kary Oberbrunner, a member of the pastoral staff of the Powell, Ohio, Grace Brethren Church and a key leader in the steering committee that has founded and directed the DRIVEN conferences for young adults the last two years, gave a powerful concluding message to this year’s participants this morning. Oberbrunner, using examples such as

As did the Israelites in the Old Testament, today’s young adults participating in DRIVEN06 were asked to place a stone, or brick, in a public place (at the foot of a cross, in this case) to make public record of something God did or accomplished in their lives today. Each young adult who made a

These “marker bricks” will be returning today to homes and offices with dozens of young adults who made commitments in this morning’s service to be part of a group that impacts its generation for Jesus Christ.

An authentic Hebrew first-century communion service was led this afternoon by Dr. Randy Smith, who lived and studied in Israel for many years. After experiencing various Hebrew customs of ritual cleansing, blessing, and more, participants ate the Love Feast in a manner typical of what Jesus and his disciples experienced in the Upper Room. A