In September, Community Baptist Church (CBC) in Ankeny, Iowa, held their much-anticipated groundbreaking ceremony for their new church building, which will be located on the north edge of Ankeny. Since the church was planted in October 2006, CBC has been meeting in a local elementary school. In April 2013, Pastor Shon Lundberg was called to be the first full-time pastor of Community Baptist Church. Congratulations to CBC and praise the Lord for his provision!
The following is an update on Micah from Pastor Ben. Please be in prayer for their family.
An Ordination Council for Pastor Chris Humburg will be held on October 14th, beginning at 9:00 AM, at Altoona Regular Baptist Church. Should the candidate pass the examination, a service is planned for Sunday afternoon at 3:00 PM, at the church. Pastor Bob Fields and Pastor Gary Gonerman will be speaking, and a meal will follow. Guests are welcome to attend. Please help us prepare by contacting us at 515-967-2434 or church@altoonarbc.org.
Dear Pastor,
Greetings from Faith Baptist Theological Seminary where another academic year has started!
Once again, we are preparing for the annual Thanksgiving food shower for our seminary students. Many churches have participated in past years, and our students were blessed by the generous donations of food and grocery store gift cards.
We would like to invite your church to participate this year. This is a wonderful opportunity to encourage our students and help provide for their needs, especially around the holidays. Our seminary students and their families make great sacrifices in order to train for ministry, and they are very grateful for the tangible way you show your love and support through participation in the food giveaway.
The Faith Women’s Fellowship (FWF), led by Mary Jo Brown, spearheads this event. FWF meets regularly during the school year for fellowship, training, and prayer. It is designed to be an encouragement to the spouses of seminarians and ladies attending seminary. Please let us know if your church will help. We need your church to bring non-perishable food items (or gift cards) to the new seminary building, Shipp Hall, by November 14. We will give the items away to our students on November 16, after the Faith Women’s Fellowship meeting. We would love to have you partner with us in this endeavor!
Please contact our administrative assistant, Joan Tillotson, (tillotsonjl@faith.edu 515-964-0601 ext. 278) if you can participate in the Thanksgiving food shower or if you have any questions.
In Christ,
Douglas Brown
Dean of FBTS
Dear IARBC family,
Sandy & I are comfortably sitting in our camper on a bluff overlooking Lake Superior. It has rained throughout the night. There is a small craft advisory out for the lake that kicks in when the wind speed exceeds 25 knots and the swells reach 3 to 5 feet. The lake is rough today, but we are safe and sound far above the crashing waves below.
For the past several years, we have been able to enjoy a nice fall trip to the North Shore of Lake Superior. We had been planning to take our current week-long trip for the past year, but little did we know how much we would need this break. August through September is always a busier than usual time of ministry for us, but this year has stretched us further. God has given us incredible opportunities to serve Him. Many of them were planned, and some were not on our radar. We have been in several churches to fill the pulpit, teach the John Studies, and to encourage these church families in any way we can. The IARBC Men’s Retreat and Women’s Renew Conference were well-attended and well-received. Our other ministries have included speaking at an installation service, attending a send-off for a new missionary couple, doing several Pulpit Committee Workshops, meeting with our State Youth Committee, meeting with a young man and a couple who are ready to pursue pastoral ministry, meeting with our IARBC Council of 10, attending an area pastors’ fellowship meeting, having lunch with an attorney friend (a member of one of our churches who makes himself available to our churches), touching base with a non-IARBC church that I have been working with who recently called a pastor, participating in the FBBC Fall Board Meetings , and participating in many Homecoming events. In addition to these, Sandy has been serving as the Interim Dean of Women (and loving the opportunities to disciple these students).
Recordings of messages from the men’s and women’s retreats are now available here.
(Due to the sensitive nature of the content, the men’s retreat Friday night messages were not recorded.)
