Kenneth Cosgrove went home to be with the Lord on October 20, 2022. Kenn pastored as several Charis Fellowship churches in Iowa, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. He was a member of Inspire Charis Pastors Network and served a mentor in the Charis Fellowship North Atlantic District. Read Kenn’s full obituary here.

Jan Bell

Jan Bell went home to be with the Lord on October 24, 2022. Jan and her husband, Jay, dedicated their lives to spreading the Gospel near and far. Read Jan’s full obituary here.

The post Home with Jesus first appeared on Charis Fellowship.

As the East Focus Retreat drew to a close on Wednesday morning, Charis Fellowship Executive Director Phil Sparling shared his view of interdependence. Phil is in his last year of serving in this role and he reflected on how he has seen interdependence play out among the Charis Fellowship churches and ministries over the past four years.

Phil shared some parting words of wisdom on how to pursue interdependence: trust one another because we are all wearing the same jersey, assume the best in others, and prepare yourself to shepherd the world.

During each session Ryan Ritchey, director of worship and discipleship at Martinsburg Grace Brethren Church in Martinsburg, Pa., led a time of musical worship. Each of the eight Charis Fellowship national ministries had opportunity to share their mission, vision, and future plans during sessions as well. Dayne Carraway, church planter in Towson, Md., and Wade Rininger, church planter in St. Petersburg, Fla., led the group in pre-session activities.

Monday night Dr. Augustin Hibaile, the director of the CIDEL organization in the Central African Republic, shared his global view of interdependence. Dr. Hibaile works with national leaders and politicians in the CAR, providing ethics and moral training. He shared four things that global interdependence requires: 1) A better understanding of different cultures; 2) Mutual respect; 3) A sharing of different gifts for the common good of the Body of Christ; and, 4) Encouraging and supporting each other.

Tuesday morning retreat attendees participated in small group discussions over 2 Corinthians 8–9, looking at the how interdependence is shown through unity, equality, and generosity. Scott Feather, lead pastor at Gateway Church in Parkesburg, Pa., further led the discussion by examining oneness vs. unity.

“When we realize we are one because Christ has made us one, unity can flow out of that,” he said.

Tuesday afternoon attendees had the chance to explore the area by walking along the boardwalk or seeing wild horses at the nearby Assateague National Seashore. The retreat concluded Wednesday morning with Phil’s message.

Nearly 80 people attended the East Focus Retreat in Ocean City, Md. The group included pastors, spouses, and families from the region as well as national and cooperating ministry leaders and representatives.

See more photos from the retreat here.

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“Dr. Flamm has proven himself as a servant-hearted leader with a genuine passion for Christian higher education over the past nine years he’s been at Grace,” said Dan Renner, chair of the Grace Board of Trustees. “He brings a fantastic blend of business acumen, skillful leadership, and higher education experience to the role, and I’m excited to see how his unique talents shape the next chapter at Grace College & Theological Seminary. November 4 will be a special day to honor him and pray for him and his family as they assume a critical role.”

A number of civic, community, church, and academic leaders will participate in the ceremony with some welcoming remarks. Then, Dr. David Dockery, a highly esteemed leader in higher education who currently serves as president of the International Alliance for Christian Education and interim president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, will deliver a challenge for Dr. Flamm as he assumes this new role of leadership. Dr. Flamm will be formally installed as president by Dan Renner, and the ceremony will conclude with an inaugural address from Dr. Flamm himself.

Dr. Flamm began serving as president on July 1, 2022. In his first months in office, he has hit the ground running as a president who is highly involved with faculty, staff, students, and the greater Warsaw/Winona Lake community. He is grateful for the opportunity to lead the institution into the next chapter of the Grace story.

“I am humbled to follow in the rich legacy of leadership at Grace College & Theological Seminary, honored to serve students, faculty, and staff, and hopeful for the future as we continue to know Christ and make Him known,” said Dr. Flamm. “As a product of Christian higher education myself, I know the transformative effect it had on my faith and my life. I pray that the Christ-centered education at Grace will have the same effect on countless students in the years to come.”

An accomplished, well-rounded senior administrator, Dr. Flamm is gifted in the areas of strategic planning, relationship building, and vision casting. He has an impressive track record of securing significant financial support to advance the mission of Grace. Under Dr. Flamm’s leadership as executive vice president, and now president, Grace has achieved the largest undergraduate enrollment in its history in fall 2022.

Dr. Flamm has more than 16 years of higher education experience at multiple colleges. He has served at Grace since 2013, most recently as the school’s executive vice president and before that as vice president of advancement. He and his wife, Stephanie, live in Winona Lake with their three sons.

Find more information about the inauguration ceremony here.

A version of this story originally appeared in a press release from Grace College. Find more information about the school on their website here.

The post Grace College Celebrates Inauguration of Seventh President, Dr. Drew Flamm first appeared on Charis Fellowship.

Timothy Kurtaneck (TK) was the Travel Team (formerly Operation Barnabas) director for several years and worked closely with Sherilyn. TK said, “Sherilyn has always been a dedicated worker —for CE National, Momentum Ministry Partners, and the Kingdom. She is so talented and dedicated to her work—her favorite day of the year was the day students arrived for Operation Barnabas orientation! A gifted writer, a vocalist, great attention to detail, excellent teacher—and FUN! I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Sherilyn, and [her husband] Dave, for so many years…some of the best of the best!” 

The new Travel Team Director, Tim Lansing, has also enjoyed working with Sherilyn and learning the ropes from her. Tim added, “While I have known Sherilyn for many years, I have only had the chance to work with Sherilyn directly for the past year or so. Sherilyn has such a wealth of knowledge and wisdom, especially when it comes to all things Travel Teams. She has seen the ups and downs of ministry and ministry teams and I am super grateful she has helped us through all the recent Momentum transitions. She is a champ, has a true servant’s heart, always goes above and beyond in getting things done, and is such a joy to serve alongside. I will miss her greatly because of her character, love for Jesus and others, and her friendship. I know our entire team and staff are going to miss her as well!” 

As Sherilyn prepares to finish her time at the end of October, we asked her some questions about herself, her time at Momentum, what she has learned in ministry, and what her future holds. We hope you learn a little more about this incredible woman and join us in thanking her for a job well done!  

Read the full interview and learn more about Sherilyn’s story here.

A version of this story originally appeared in a newsletter from Momentum Ministry Partners. Find out more about the ministry on their website here.

The post 29 Years and 2,000 Students first appeared on Charis Fellowship.

Dr. John Teevan, veteran Charis Fellowship pastor and professor at Grace College, closed out the Central Focus Retreat by sharing his view of interdependence. While sharing his life story and ministry experiences, he stated that he always wanted to have a brother and that he is grateful for the connectivity across our Fellowship that creates familial bonds. He emphasized that if we strive to do things alone, we will end up like a feral cat; instead, we should strive for reconciliation. “We must not take the feral route; we must take the route of reconciliation,” he said.

During sessions, each of the eight national ministries had the opportunity to share their mission, vision, and future plans. Several cooperating ministries, such as Destiny Rescue, also had the opportunity to share. Freddy Cardoza, dean of Grace Theological Seminary, presented information on the Charis Collective Center for Thriving Leaders and highlighted some upcoming tools for training and equipping.

Tim Sprankle, pastor at Leesburg Grace Church in Leesburg, Ind., and Jeremy Wike, senior pastor at Community of Hope Grace Brethren Church in Columbia City, Ind., presented on the Charis Symposium topic of gender and sexual identity. The Charis Symposium is a gracious place for thoughtful, theological dialogue. The Symposium takes three years to dive into a specific topic with the end goal of producing content for Charis churches. During year one they study what the Bible says on the topic, during year two they get into the theology of the topic, and during year three they produce content to put what they learned into practice. They are wrapping up year three of gender and sexual identity and will begin the topic of women in ministry next.

Scott Feather, lead pastor at Gateway Church in Parkesburg, Pa., spoke on having a theology of we. He emphasized the idea of, “until we all.” He discussed the concepts of unity and oneness, noting how they are similar yet different. “Oneness was His decision, unity is ours,” he said. He gave four categories for creating unity: project, cooperation, collaboration, and integration.

A special highlight of the retreat was hearing from Dr. Augustin Hibaile, the director of the CIDEL organization in the Central African Republic. Dr. Hibaile works with national leaders and politicians, providing ethics training. He spoke on our global interdependence and the Fellowship’s ministry in Africa since James Gribble’s arrival more than 100 years ago. Today there are more than 3,000 Charis Alliance churches across the continent.

Worship was led by Isaac Murrell and others from Marysville Grace Brethren Church in Marysville, Ohio.

Retreat attendees had ample time for fellowship. During one session small groups spent time working through a Bible passage and discussing the model of interdependence seen in Paul’s ministry with the Corinthian church. Tuesday afternoon many attendees participating in golf sponsored by Inspire Charis Pastors Network and hiking in Mohican State Forest.

The retreat was held at Mohican Lodge & Conference Center in Perrysville, Ohio, on October 3–5. The more than 75 attendees represented national and cooperating ministries, pastors, worship leaders, missionaries, and spouses.

See more photos from the retreat here.

The post Until We All first appeared on Charis Fellowship.

What if there was a practical way for you to deliver the Hope of Jesus and serve others this Christmas season? Momentum Urban Centers are providing an incredible opportunity for you to do just that!  Momentum is inviting you and your family OR a group from your church to come join us for our CHRISTMAS HOPE Weekends 2022 in Philadelphia and Los Angeles.  

At Momentum we aim to make Jesus make sense to others. We are providing our CHRISTMAS HOPE Weekends as a way for believers to give hope by meeting practical needs of those in the urban city. Each of our weekends will include ministry to the homeless and an opportunity to engage with people in the city. Gather up your family, your small group, your student ministry, your young adult group OR even your student leadership team and come join us for one of our 6 weekends of CHRISTMAS HOPE in the city. 

CHRISTMAS HOPE Weekends: 

• Nov 25–27
• Dec 2–4
• Dec 9–11
• Dec 16–18
• Dec 28–30
• Dec 30–Jan 1

If you and your church are interested in bringing a group to a CHRISTMAS HOPE weekend and want more information about cost, schedule, and how to register, email for Philadelphia here or Los Angeles here. 

The post Giving Hope by Meeting Practical Needs first appeared on Charis Fellowship.

You can help by:

Praying – Pray for the safety of those who have started the huge work of clearing the widespread impacts of Hurricane Ian, and that many will be willing to join in the work. Pray for the spiritual conversations and seeds that are being sown by believers to bear much fruit!

Giving – All donations made to Encompass’ Storm Relief fund during the month of October will go toward helping those impacted by Hurricane Ian through our Charis Fellowship efforts.

Going – If you or your church have interest in going, you can register your team here. For more information, email the disaster response team here. We will direct you/your team to a place where you can make a difference, serving as only the Church can! 

Flood Buckets – A tangible way to provide urgently needed cleaning supplies in the first few weeks (no later than October 10) is to assemble and deliver Flood Buckets! Find instructions for the flood buckets here. These will be used on the ground by our people as well as ministry give-a-ways to homeowners in the community. The need is ASAP.  Contact the disaster response team here if you are intending to bring Flood Buckets by the cutoff date so we can coordinate how to get them where they are most needed. 

Photograph: A Nasa Earth Observatory satellite image shows Hurricane Ian approaching Florida. Courtesy Nasa Earth Observatory

The post Hurricane Ian Response first appeared on Charis Fellowship.

It’s time for high-school students to start applying for Momentum Travel Teams! These traveling ministry-training teams provide an intensive opportunity to equip participants to make a difference in their local churches and communities by focusing on:  

• Training in a biblical framework to positively impact a changing culture.  
• Developing positive character qualities of a Christian leader. 
• Mobilizing participants to learn through practical experiences and continuing to use what they’ve learned when they go home.

The following four Travel Teams are being planned for 2023: 

1. Ministry Experience Travel Team – Tentative Dates: Tuesday, June 13–Wednesday, July 5, 2023 – Location – Southern California. This Travel Team will experience some of the best ministry that Southern California has to offer. Students will be equipped and have hands on ministry experience in all areas of local church ministry. 

2. Worship Ministry Travel Team – Tentative Dates: Thursday, June 29–July 23, 2023 – Location – Midwest. This Travel Team will learn from some of the best worship and creative arts ministries while touring through Ohio and Indiana, and ending at Momentum Youth Conference, July 18–23. Additional training includes worship leading, song selection, music production, recording, and specialized coaching. A video audition will be part of the final selection process. 

3. Worship Tech Travel Team – Tentative Dates: Thursday, June 29–July 23, 2023 – Location – Midwest. This Travel Team will learn from some of the best worship and creative arts ministries while touring through Ohio and Indiana, and ending at Momentum Youth Conference, July 18–23. Training includes setting a stage, use of audio, video, and lighting equipment for use in a ministry setting. Students will also gain valuable recording, editing, and software skills to learn how technology seamlessly interacts with a worship experience.  

4. Sports Ministry Travel Team – Tentative Dates: Thursday, June 29–July 23, 2023 – Location – Midwest. This Travel Team will experience all aspects of sports ministry from some of the best churches and organizations, while touring through Ohio and Indiana, and ending at Momentum Youth Conference, July 18–23. Additional training includes policies and procedures for working with children, local outreach and evangelism, and running sports tournaments and camps. 

General information regarding Travel Teams can be found on Momentum’s website here. 

The post Momentum Travel Teams Registration Now Open first appeared on Charis Fellowship.

Selina Saing was born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital city, which is still on the mend from Khmer Rouge, a communist regime that targeted the educated middle class, wiped out a quarter of Cambodia’s population, and devastated the country. Now enrolled as a freshman studying English education at Grace, Selina plans to return to her country after graduation to help revive the education system and bring proper education to children who remain in the shadow of the devastation. 

Selina’s father was six years old during Cambodia’s communist rule. He tragically lost several family members in the war, but successfully escaped to a province where his surviving family built a new life. At this time, the Buddhist family began listening to a Christian radio station, through which they heard and received the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Today, her father is a full-time pastor and leader of Shalom Mission Cambodia, a network with churches spread all across Cambodia — a place where just 30 years ago, Christians were meeting in secret.

Because of her father’s radical conversion story, Selina and her three younger siblings have been able to attend a Christian school and learn English — an opportunity many in the country cannot afford. 

“The country is still facing a lot of poverty,” said Selina. “Since Cambodia is in the healing phase of the war, the education system is down. There are good schools, but they are exclusively for first-class people.” 

As Selina began to think about her future, and the impact she could make with a college education, she became more and more interested in the idea of going to college abroad. She first learned of Grace College through John Hayden, a Grace alumnus who had visited her father early on as a church planter. Hayden and her father kept in touch through the years, and Hayden even hosted Selina’s father during one of his seminary visits to the states. He planted the seed that Selina should attend Grace.

“When I began researching Grace my sophomore year, I knew I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else,” said Saing. 

Choosing an English education major was easy for Selina. Only around 22 percent of Cambodians know English, and according to Selina, increasing English education is key to fighting poverty.   

“If you know English in Cambodia, you are considered smart, and you can find good job opportunities with good pay,” said Selina. “I want to bring what I learn at Grace back to Cambodia and provide good education at a lower price so that all children can do what they want to do,” 

Selina specifically plans to work in the rural part of the country where the need for education is the greatest. 

“I’ve been on missions with my dad to these provinces, on which I learned that so many children really want to go to school, but they don’t have enough money,” said Selina. “Since I’ve seen it with my own eyes, I have this passion for helping them. Our country has grown a lot after the war, but I would like to make it better.”

Eventually, Selina hopes to become a teacher of the teachers and to train educators how to administer proper English education. In a country where 65 percent of the population is under 30 years old, many see her generation as a new hope for Cambodia, and Selina is doing everything in her power to be just that.

A version of this story originally appeared in a press release from Grace College. Find out more about Grace on their website here.

The post Grace College Freshman Plans to Use Her Degree to Help Cambodia Heal From War first appeared on Charis Fellowship.

Eric Miller, executive director of ministry at Momentum, wrote the following paragraph in a recent newsletter from Momentum:

While Ed has retired from our organization, we want to continue to celebrate his legacy for sharing the Gospel and raising up ministry leaders. Therefore, we also announced at Youth Conference the new Ed Lewis Scholarship Fund. This fund was formed thanks to the generous gifts of many who knew and wanted to honor Ed. We will use those funds to give students hands-on ministry experiences that they financially would not be able to encounter otherwise. The Ed Lewis Scholarship Fund will provide program scholarships and paid internships so students can explore ministry callings without financial barriers. You can honor Ed, and support future ministry leaders, by contributing to the Ed Lewis Scholarship Fund here.

To learn more about the rich history Ed Lewis had with Momentum as well how he is spending his retirement days, check out these articles:  
Living on Mission
On Mission in Hawaii

Some content from this story originally appeared in a newsletter from Momentum Ministry Partners. Find out more information about Momentum on their website here.

The post Momentum Announces Ed Lewis Scholarship Fund first appeared on Charis Fellowship.