AGBM, BMH Announce Partnership for Communication and Office Services
The Association of Grace Brethren Ministers has formed an agreement with Brethren Missionary Herald Co. of Winona Lake, IN, for web and print communication services and to provide an office “home” for the association, according to AGBM president Tim Boal.
Boal, who is pastor of the Penn Valley Grace Brethren Church in Telford, PA, recently led a three-day meeting of the AGBM officers and leadership at which long-range plans for expanding and broadening services to members was discussed.
The Association, which includes all licensed and ordained ministers in the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, also intends to broaden its services to include other church and church/school staff members, widows of pastors, and more, according to Boal.
The Brethren Missionary Herald Co. (BMH), which publishes the Fellowship’s news organ FGBC World and operates BMH Books, the denominational publishing house, was the logical choice for contracted communication services, according to Boal.
“We are very excited about BMH’s role in helping the AGBM move forward in ministry,” said Boal, in announcing the arrangement. The new AGBM website at www.agbm.net will go “live” in a few weeks, and BMH will be responsible for keeping the site’s content updated.
In addition, quarterly printed newsletters will be created and mailed to the AGBM mailing list of more than 600 individuals. The AGBM’s permanent mailing address will be P.O. Box 694, Winona Lake, Indiana, 46590, and office services and document archiving and storage will be provided by BMH at its headquarters building on Kings Highway in Winona Lake.
Much of the new direction and expanded services for AGBM is issuing from reports and recommendations made by Dr. Jerry Young, recently-retired long-term pastor of the Lititz, PA, Grace Brethren Church, who has been on contract this past year to work in research and development for AGBM. Young has traveled throughout the Fellowship, meeting with pastors, assessing current strengths and weaknesses, and formulating recommendations for future direction.
The AGBM leadership team, in addition to Young and Boal, includes Dan White of York, PA; Joel Richards of Modesto, CA; Buddy Olzewski of Rittman, OH; Ken Bickel of Goshen, IN; and Randy Weekley of Pinellas Park, FL. Lee Dice, of Wooster, OH, continues to provide administrative and financial services support to the AGBM membership.
