The Mainstream
News of Ministry and Mission
American Baptist Churches of the Great Rivers Region
March 2009 No. 1 Email: grrabc@abcgrr.org web: www.abcgrr.org
Area Meetings
2009 Theme -Plant the Harvest
2009 Theme - Plant the Harvest
Meetings’ Details & Registration Forms:
Meetings’ Details & Registration Forms:
www.abcgrr.org/areas/annualmeetings.htm
Area I
FBC Ottawa, IL Sunday, March 22, 2009
Area II
FBC Jacksonville, IL Sunday, March 15, 2009
Area V Area III
North Bridge Baptist Church Normal, IL Sunday, March 22, 2009
Area IV
FBC, Benton, IL Saturday, March 21,
FBC Edwardsville, IL
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Also in this issue: Meet our new Lake Springfield Camp Managers, find out who has been ordained, what’s happening at Bethel Neighborhood House of Kansas City, Missions Conference 2009, and much more...
Antioch Baptist Church of Reynolds, IL, ordained Jack Smith on January 18. Jack has served as pastor and interim pastor for churches in the GRR for over 34 years. He is the Area 1 Coordinator for the ABM Disaster Relief Team. He also serves on the Board of the Murrow Indian Children’s Home. Jack was one of the first graduates of the Certified Lay Minister Program - a forerunner to our current Alternative Ministerial Education Program.
Jack had served a few years
GRR Missions Conference
April 24 - 25, 2009
Cherry Hills Baptist Church Springfield, IL
A Conference Designed for People with a Heart for MISSIONS
Meet Lake Springfield Baptist Camp’s New Managers
Doug and Jennifer Brady expect to be moved in by the middle of March. Doug has been a professional ath
and this time when the church became open they voted to call Jack as pastor and then voted to ordain him. Rev. Brian Fischer, Rev Bob Ziebarth and Dr. Cheryl Henson participated in the Ordination Service.
Rev. Smith is bringing a new energy and renewed focus for outreach to the church as they partner together. He is mentoring several within the congregation to participate in lay ministry.
Jack’s spouse Hilda is his lifelong partner in ministry and is active in American Baptist Women. She has encouraged the women of the church to begin a Dorcas Circle in which they knit scarves and mittens for those in need. A number of the scarves and mittens have already been donated to the Karen refugee families in the Moline area. It is never too late to serve the Lord.
lete, working with the Chicago White Sox organization (1991-97), the Lotte Giants (1998) in South Korea, and the Atlantic City Surf (1999) in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He is presently assistant head baseball coach at MacMurray College.
Jennifer’s college training is in early childhood development.
She and Doug have been married since 2000.
youth have taken on positions of leadership for the after school “Lanterns” Club. Each of the three youth have been a part of Bethel’s programs for several years. Miranda and Patricia are high school seniors and Edgar is a freshman. Because all three have demonstrated leadership qualities, we decided to help them gain more experience by making them part of our program staff. Both Miranda and Patricia have been hired to work with the kindergarten through 3rd graders in the Lantern Club which meets each Monday and Tuesday. Edgar has been added to the program staff as a volunteer with the same club.
All three are participants in our expanded Bethel youth program which meets each Wednesday afternoon during early release from high school. Among their peers, these three also are well respected and continue as leaders. We are proud of these youth who are faithful in their work at Bethel and contribute to our planning process in program staff meetings.
Both Patricia and Miranda plan to attend college after graduation from high school this spring.
For information about Bethel visit us at www.bethelcenter.org, or call us at 913-371-8218.
Ed Baxter Interim Executive Director
y
Being Church for All Generations... A Seminar for Church Leaders and Pastors
Seminar Leader: Dr. Eddie Hammett
Senior Coach for Lake Hickory Learning Communities & Valwood Christian Leadership Coaching, and a founding partner of the Columbia 
Date: Thursday, May 28, 2009
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Location: First Baptist Church 2502 E College Ave Bloomington, IL 61704
Cost: $30.00 - Includes lunch, notebook, and one copy of Hammett’s book for the Pastor, and 3 lay leaders (Additional people from a church will be charged $5.00 each for lunch)
Clergy Spouse Retreat
April 17-18, 2009
Lake Springfield Baptist Camp Theme: Choose Joy Retreat Leader: Ruth Shipman
2009 Theme -Plant the Harvest
2009 Theme - Plant the Harvest
March
March
21 -Area IV Annual Meeting
21 - Area IV Annual Meeting
First Baptist Church, Benton IL
First Baptist Church, Benton IL
22 -Area I Annual Meeting
22 - Area I Annual Meeting
First Baptist Church, Ottawa IL
First Baptist Church, Ottawa IL
22 -Area III Annual Meeting
22 - Area III Annual Meeting
April
April
Lake Springfield Camp
Lake Springfield Camp
2424 -25 -GRR Missions Conference- 25 - GRR Missions Conference
Cherry Hills Baptist
Cherry Hills Baptist
Church, Springfield, IL
Church, Springfield, IL
May
May
2 -Blackhawk Baptist Camp Cleanup
2 - Blackhawk Baptist Camp Cleanup
5 -Boundaries Course -GRR
5 - Boundaries Course - GRR
Resource Center, Springfield, I
Resource Center, Springfield, I
16 & 23 -Lake Springfield Baptist
16 & 23 - Lake Springfield Baptist
Camp Cleanup
Camp Cleanup
28 -28 -Church for All GenerationsChurch for All Generations
with Edward H. Hammett
with Edward H. Hammett
FBC Bloomington, IL
FBC Bloomington, IL
Our Great Rivers Region Family Is Growing!
University Baptist Church, Champaign, IL Welcomes: Chia-Yu (Josie) Kung, James McElveen, Jung Woo (Jakin) Han, Jordan Meiss, Emmanuel Leroy, Emma Strohbusch, and Joshua Rule
First Baptist Church, Paris, IL Welcomes: Ben Roush Steve Johnson III
New Hope Baptist Church, Roxana, IL Welcomes:
Gail Pruiett
First Baptist Church, Sparland, IL Welcomes: Robin Moreland, Miranda Shofner, Savanna Strong, and Myriah Hunt.
Mainstream Contact Information
Send your stories of mission and ministry. Please also send the names of new members (fruit of this mission and ministry) to:
Linda Ricks 232 Devron Circle East Peoria, IL 61611
E-Mail: Ricks4Lr@comcast.net
The Mainstream is a twice-monthly publication of the American Baptist Churches of the Great Rivers Region, 3940 Pintail Drive, Springfield IL 62711 Telephone: (217) 726-7366 Fax: (217) 726-7566 Email: grrabc@abcgrr.org Web: www.abcgrr.org