After sending you a reminder this morning, Dan Walter and I have consulted and decided it best to CANCEL        the Ministry Community luncheon for tomorrow Jan 20^th.  Forecasts of significant snow along with weather and travel advisories and likely school closings have led us to decide to cancel early.  Some participants were coming in from mid-state and it is easiest to make and communicate this decision even before the first flakes have come down in St. Louis.  Hopefully, Puxsutawny Phil won’t see his shadow and we’ll have an early Spring for our next Ministry Community lunch on March 17^th. 

Richard Schumacher
Regional Associate Superintendent
Church Planting Missionary
EFCA Central District
P.O. Box 848, Manchester, MO  63011-1148
(636) 527-4432 Phone
(314) 640-4560 Cell
www.efcamoar.org

Dear Colleagues,

 The regular bi-monthly Ministry Community luncheon will take place Thursday January 20^th from 12:00pm to 1:30 pm at St. Paul’s Evangelical Church, 9801 Olive Blvd., St. Louis MO 63141.  This is a gathering of pastors, church planters, ministry leaders and seminarians interested in the EFCA.  An RSVP would be helpful as St. Paul’s will be ordering pizza for lunch.  As always, a $5 donation would be appreciated to cover costs (seminary students and church planters eat free!)

 This month’s Ministry Community lunch falls on a date when the EFCA Theology Conference takes place in Austin, TX (Jan 19-21 at First EFC Austin) (http://www.efca.org/church-health/pastoral-care-staff-benefits/efca-theology-conference).   These conferences are great opportunities to reflect on theological issues and to network with EFCA pastors from around the county.  This year’s speaker will be Dr. Walt Kaiser. 

 Since we know that many of you will not be able to travel to Austin for the conference, we want to go ahead with the luncheon.  Again your RSVP would be helpful so we can get a count.

Richard Schumacher
Regional Associate Superintendent
Church Planting Missionary
EFCA Central District
P.O. Box 848, Manchester, MO  63011-1148

Join World Impact for our Hearts for the City Benefit Concert and Silent Auction! The proceeds will help repair damage done to our urban ministry center from recent thefts and help save our summer programs!  Don’t miss this fun evening featuring music artist Mark Roach and the chance to bid on many fantastic silent auction items for you and your family!  Tickets are $5 at the door; doors will open at 6:15pm so you can start your bidding early!

For more information please visit www.worldimpactstl.org

Contact Dick Dowdy (rpdowdy@aol.com) if you are interested or let me know and I’ll put you in touch.

Dear Colleagues in Ministry,

 The OT scholar and theologian, and President Emeritus of Gordon Conwell Seminary, Dr. Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., will be in town this next weekend. His speaking schedule is as follows:

Friday, Sept. 24 – 10:00 a.m.: Chapel at Covenant Seminary

Saturday, Sept. 25 (St. Paul’s)
11:00 a.m.: Beit Tefilah Service
1:00 p.m.: Torah Study

Sunday, Sept. 26 (St. Paul’s)
8:30 a.m.: St. Paul’s Traditional Service
9:45 a.m.: Informal Lecture: “Introduction to Isaiah: Preparing the Bible Study Fellowship Notes on Isaiah”
11:00 a.m.: St. Paul’s Contemporary Service

You are all welcome to any and all of these events. If you would like to have lunch with Dr. Kaiser on Friday, let me know and I will see if we can work you in.
Blessings to all!

Mark Friz
St. Paul’s Evangelical Church

This is a reminder that the St. Louis/Eastern Missouri Ministry Community will have its bi-monthly networking and equipping event on Thursday September 16th from 10:00 am – 1:30 pm.

PLEASE NOTE THE LOCATION – This month’s luncheon will be hosted by Community Fellowship Church at the Youth Learning Center (YLC), 4471 Olive St., St. Louis 63108. Community Fellowship had an instrumental role in establishing this center to benefit the community. It is adjacent to the church building and shares a parking lot. To get to YLC take I-64/US40 east and exit at Kingshighway. Go north to Lindell and turn right. Continue east on Lindell to Taylor (2nd light). Go left on Taylor and proceed north to Olive. The church is on the northeast corner and the YLC just to the east. You can park on the street or pull into the YLC lot.

The tentative program is as follows:
10:00 – 10:30 am Gathering and Networking – coffee available
10:30 – 11:30 am Dante Upshaw – Director of African American Ministries for the EFCA
11:30 – Break for Lunch
12:00 – 1:00 pm Multi-Ethnic Reports
• Pastor Willie Kent & Bill Kent, YLC Director – Community Fellowship Church
• Pastors Al Frank & Tommie Pierson – Calvary Church St. Charles
• Luis Martinez – Multi-Ethnic Ministries Director – EFCA Central District
• Introductions and brief interviews – Richard Schumacher
1:00 – 1:30 pm Pray for one another

During the time of introductions I hope you will have a chance to hear from Jubilee Community Church, Truth & Grace Church and to meet current and potential multi-ethnic church planters in Missouri and Arkansas.

This should be a great time to connect with fellow pastors and get exposed to the growing number of multi-ethnic works in our District, and particularly in Missouri. Pastors, you should feel free to bring your missions staff or lay leaders along if possible.

AS ALWAYS, A RSVP WOULD BE HELPFUL TO GIVE US A HEADCOUNT FOR THE LUNCH THAT WILL BE PROVIDED.

Regards,
Richard Schumacher
Regional Associate Superintendent
Church Planting Missionary
EFCA Central District
P.O. Box 848, Manchester, MO 63011-1148
(636) 527-4432 Phone
(314) 640-4560 Cell
www.efcamoar.org

For more information about the conference and pre-work see the attached brochure.
2010 Workshop On Biblical Exposition