Published September 27, 2016
Calvary Baptist Church of Alford, Alford, Pennsylvania
Clarks Summit University, South Abington Twp., Pennsylvania
Jared
Ministry Highlights
Internship is complete! It has been a great experience, and I am very grateful to now be finished. Here is the overview: I was interim pastor at Calvary Baptist Church of Alford for just over a year, and as of May, the church called their next full-time pastor. Also, as part of the internship, I was able to design and teach an undergrad online class for the Schoology LMS here at CSU (Theology II) and co-teach an on-campus class (Genesis). These have all been great experiences. This past month did not have any formal internship responsibilities, but it has been great transitioning back to our home church—Faith Baptist Church of Peckville—and serving there. I am now pursuing my Ph.D. here at BBS full-time.
The theological journal Themelios (published by The Gospel Coalition) just accepted an article I had submitted. My article entitled, “The Messianic Hope of Genesis: Protoevangelium and the Patriarchal Promises” is scheduled to be published in the April 2017 edition. I was super excited to hear that they had accepted it.
Key Prayer Requests
Pray for my wife as she is quite busy with work at BBS, helping coach the women’s soccer team here at CSU and her M.Ed. courses.
Prominent Lessons
My wife and I have been able to transition more fully back to Faith Baptist Church. We are now on a rotating schedule to lead worship every 3rd week. We have also been serving in the Awana ‘T & T’ Group (3rd to 6th graders). We had a great time at the church’s annual Awana campout.
I will be teaching an undergrad theology course online at CSU. The class starts soon, and I am really excited about the opportunity.
Allie and I were able to drive back to Rhode Island to visit my parents one weekend this month. We had not been back to RI since Christmas, and it was a very nice time to visit with family. My grandparents had all the cousins and relatives over for a BBQ – some of whom we had not seen in a long time. It was a very nice event.
Key Goals for the Next Month
My doctoral modules begin this week. I am hoping to get a significant amount of work done for my classes in the next few weeks.
Allie
Ministry Highlights
This past month was very busy. I have the wonderful opportunity to help coach the women’s soccer team at Clarks Summit University. It has been awesome to see the girls grow in their faith and in their athletic abilities on the field. As team chaplain, I have been meeting with the team in small groups during lunch. We are going through the book Habitudes: Images that Form Leadership Habits and Attitudes. This book has challenged me personally in how I view leadership and what a good leader looks like.
We had an awesome time at our Awana campout. It was so exciting to see the kids sing praises to God around the campfire. Their enthusiasm and joy was encouraging!
Key Prayer Requests
Awana ministry at Faith Baptist Church of Peckville. That our T and T kids will accept Jesus Christ as their savior and love God with all of their hearts! That we may be a good example to them.
For Jared and I would continue to be a support to our family and friends even in the busyness of life.
For Jared as he finishes up his two weeks of modules.
Prominent Lessons
This past month, I have been reading through First Samuel. A principle that I have been coming back to is that David respected the position of Paul as the Lord’s anointed. Similarly, I need to respect the people that God has placed in my life. A quote from Habitudes, “It is about personal power as opposed to positional power. You influence others best when you don’t have to leverage your position to do so. Instead, you harness your personal power in the relationships.” In my relationships with others, I have tried to be mindful of personal power and how it comes back to connecting and building relationships with people.
Key Goals for the Next Month
Dwell on Colossians 3:12-17, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Apply the truths of Scripture to my life and reflect on the grace of God.
