Detroit Church of Christ - Articles

Great Lakes Churches Update

By Allan Aubert 11/27/2005

 

The Great Lakes Region (GLR) churches have entered a new era of unity and fellowship in 2005. Some in our churches may not be aware of the bonds of love and fellowship that have been built between the leadership groups in the Great Lakes. For the past two years, representatives of the church leadership groups of the ICC churches in Grand Rapids, Lansing, Detroit and Toledo have met quarterly for fellowship, Bible study, prayer, and times to help each other with local church needs, and to coordinate our calendars to provide region-wide events. A great slate of events is planned for 2006. The church in Fort Wayne, Indiana is also making plans to participate in many of these events.

 

Leadership oriented fellowship and discipling has been strengthened by Joel Nagel in Lansing, Ryan Painter in Toledo, and David Ekhaguere of Grand Rapids regularly making the lengthy drive to attend Detroit church weekly staff meetings. Brian Perkins of Detroit and Ryan Painter of Toledo have further established discipling relationships with Mike Fontenot, the tremendously capable and experienced Elder / Evangelist of the Hampton Roads, Virginia church. Detroit and Grand Rapids also have strong relationship ties with leaders of the Chicago Church of Christ, and other Midwest churches including many of the former ACR group and Indianapolis. So, although the former ICC churches are no longer connected by the formal structure of evangelist relationships, we remain committed to cross church fellowship and discipling relationships among our leaders.

 

Our first ever 2005 Great Lakes Regional Conference, this year hosted by Detroit, was a tremendous encouragement and opportunity for our congregations to share a great time of fellowship, teaching and worship. Our unity was built, along with our commitment to grow strong churches in each of our cities and to evangelize the rest of the Great Lakes Region. The Detroit church has made plans to host this conference again in the summer of 2007.

 

In the Sunday, November 20^th GLR meeting, there was tremendous vision and hope for the coming year as each of the churches signed up to host singles, campus, marrieds, children’s, women’s and men’s events open to everyone in the GLR. Please pray for the vision, spearheaded by the Lansing church, to establish a new group in the Flint / Bay City / Saginaw area that, God willing, will eventually become a cooperative GLR church planting. The group was further encouraged as Guy Berndt of Chicago, who is a candidate for the open ministry position in Grand Rapids, attended and met those in attendance.

 

The Grand Rapids leaders were tremendously encouraged as they met with leaders from Detroit to discuss the finances and process of hiring a full time ministry staff, and as Detroit committed to providing the $10,000 collected in the 2005 Detroit Missions Contribution for Grand Rapids, and even more in the future. Re-establishment of full time ministry leadership in Grand Rapids and at least one more church planting by 2007 are two of the many goals agreed to in a recent meeting of the Detroit church ministry leadership group (MLG). These and many other visions and plans are scheduled to be presented to the Detroit church membership and other GLR churches at the Detroit church Jubilee on January 5-6, 2006.

 

Please be praying for God to do great things through us in 2006!