It was so inspiring as leaders from all over New England met together to encourage, be encouraged and to share all that God is doing. Doug Arthur opened it up with a time of sharing of good news from around New England. He shared about a new brother that was just baptized in the Metro region of the Boston Church.
He wore two shirts to his baptism. It was curious, and Doug almost asked him if he wanted to take off the outer shirt. Immediately after coming up out of the waters of baptism, he took off the outer shirt. The shirt beneath it boldly proclaimed the words, "Under New Management." Next, the Schachinger's shared about the Southern Connecticut church. They have had their best year ever, baptizing over 25 so far this year, and were especially excited to see five married couples baptized together. Then we had a special visitor; Terry Folker joined us via Skype to share about Berlin.
They have had many people visiting the church, but he spoke specifically about a 'power lunch' they are doing. They have had 30 visitors out to it and have seen two baptisms so far. One of the most encouraging events for the Berlin Church was to see the teen daughter of one of the original team members of the Berlin planting get baptized. Glen Petruzzi shared about the Portland planting. They have seen 25 conversions so far this year and have 3 "self supported" interns who are working for the church. They are hoping to see God perform many more miracles before the end of the year. The Caswells shared about Worcester. They had a teen come to church recently, and because of her enthusiasm her mom came as well, to "check out" the church. Her mom is now one of our sisters in Christ!
Ken Lowey shared about all the good work that is being done for the Poor and Needy. The Hope Golf Tournament was held this past Monday and raised over $30K for HOPE worldwide. He shared about Phil Arsenault, who wanted to do something to contribute. Phil started 'Hoops for Hope' and now hundreds are engaged, including teens, and they have now raised over $200K. Ken also shared about the upcoming conference that will be hosted by HOPE worldwide in Boston this fall aimed at raising awareness for the poor and needy and helping everyone in their efforts to help the poor.
Val Koha then got up and shared about the International Missions Society of which all the NE churches share leadership. He gave a report about how our church plantings are doing and helped us understand the plan and strategy we are following in NE. He also spoke about how we are going to fund our plantings in the future, and how encouraging it is to see the recently planted Storrs and Portland churches doing so well.
Chip Mitchell gave us a lesson on "Leadership that Inspires." He encouraged all of us to have the kind of godly lives and character that inspires those that we lead. After a lunch break we had breakout meetings by Campus and other ministries. One of the most encouraging things to see is the youth in this meeting. A few years ago there were very few engaged in Campus Ministry leadership. Now we have over 25 involved and growing. There is a refreshing spirit of young people wanting to make a difference for God and it adds a buzz to these staff meetings that is so good to see and hear. We came back together and introduced all these new young leaders, and they shared what God was doing in all their campus ministries around NE.
