September 2010

The Clarion The Clarion Volume 43 Issue 9

Inland Empire Baptist Association

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Bruce Hitchcock Church Growth Strategist

Martin Leach Church Growth Consultant

Multi-Ethnic Consultant Claudio Medina

SUNDAY SCHOOL PREPARATION AND TRAINING CONFERENCE

As we head into the fall, it’s a good time to get some training and inspiration. This event will provide an opportunity for all of your workers to renew their commitment to reaching and teaching people through the Sunday School ministry. We will have classes for all age group workers: preschool, children, students, adults and pastors/general officers. The same material will be offered at both conferences.

ADIESTRADOS PARA LA EXCELENCIA

This is our eleventh annual Hispanic training event. A publicity packet for this event has been mailed to all of our His-panic churches. If you did not received one, or need another, please call the office. You can also check out our web site

at www.adiestradosparalaexcelencia.org. It has all of the same information as the packet. You can also register online. In addition to all of the age-graded Sunday School conferences, we are proud to have Hugo Campos with us. He will be presenting his great discipleship course on Being a Doer of the Word. Also, Danny Beteta will be teaching on How to Witness to People of Other Religions. These are only two of the 17 conferences being offered this year. In order to help you, we have not raised the price of this conference in many years. There is a $5.00 discount if you pre-register on or before September 20th.

TRANSFORMED CONFERENCE

This conference will change your life. If you are longing for a deeper walk with God, this is for you! Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron will be among the speakers. Invite the entire church to this free event scheduled for Saturday, November 13. It begins at 8:30 a.m. and concludes at 12:30 p.m. We will meet at the Immanuel Baptist Church in Highland. It is free but you must register online at www.livingwaters.com be-ginning October 1. If you would like some flyers or posters just give us a call. You can also download publicity pieces at the Living Waters web site.

ASSOCIATIONAL ANNUAL MEETING

This will be totally different than anything you have seen before. It will be very practical and provide you with some great ideas for ministry. It will be on Saturday, October 16th at Magnolia Avenue Baptist Church. Watch for more details next month.

Before reading my article you should turn to page 4 of this month’s Clarion and read the EBI Seminary arti-cle. Below is the list of the classes now being offered in the Inland Empire. You can sign up by calling the Association (951.784.2655) or by coming to the Association office on August 30 & 31st from 9:00 a.m. to 3 p.m. or from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Classes are $50 a unit, and each class offered is 2 units. Be sure to sign up soon as the classes start on the week of August 30th.

Biblical Overview: Monday, 6-8 p.m. (Bilingual) Instructor: Dr. Daniel Beteta , Location: Riverside

Spiritual Leadership: Monday, 8-10 p.m. (Bilingual) Instructor: Dr. Daniel Beteta, Location: Riverside

Old Testament Survey: Tuesday, 6-8 p.m. (English) Instructor: Dr. Deryl Lackey, Location: Riverside

Biblical Overview: Tuesday, 8-10 p.m. (English) Instructor: Dr. Deryl Lackey, Location: Riverside

Biblical Overview: Wednesday, 6-8 p.m. (Bilingual) Instructor: Dr. Daniel Beteta, Location: Grand Terrace

Spiritual Leadership: Wednesday, 8-10 p.m. (Bilingual) Instructor: Dr. Daniel Beteta, Location: Grand Terrace

Titus 1:7 “For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain,” (NASB) 1 Corinthians 4:2 “Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.” (NKJV) Several churches have discovered recently that their constitutions require the church provide an audit or at least a reconciliation of funds to the congregation each year. Whether or not your church has that requirement, it is a good idea to conduct an audit. It is not necessary to hire an outside auditing firm to accomplish this task. In most cases an internal audit is sufficient. The church and its leadership have a stewardship responsibility to see that the resources made avail-able are used in the service of Christ and in the manner designated by the church leadership and the membership. This responsibility also extends to managing special gifts which may be restricted by the

donor, and thus are available only for a specific purpose. A properly functioning Audit Committee will help the church to fulfill its stewardship responsibility by helping to assure that resources have been used in the proper fashion. To receive more information on this important topic email: bruce@iesba.org.

Classes Offered Now:

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Shadow Mountain - Equip Biblical Institute

Equip Biblical Institute is coming to Inland Empire! EBI, a ministry of Shadow Mountain Community Church with Dr. David Jeremiah, provides college-level training to local churches in the areas of starting churches and equipping leaders for existing churches through its Church Planting and Leadership Training Centers. Courses are offered in English and Spanish.

EBI’s Mission: To bring glory to God by assisting local churches to equip believers of various cultures and languages to live and minister biblically based on the inerrant Word of God. This equipping includes building biblical knowledge, Christian character, and ministry skills.

EBI’s Vision: To equip church planters, pastors, and church leaders for ef-fective servant ministry by making Bible college and seminary level courses available to local churches by providing EBI Church Planting and Leadership Training Centers to local churches and associations—each Training Center is self-supporting. Students pay an honorarium of $100 to their instruc-tors for each 14-week course. All other costs are covered by donations from churches and individuals committed to developing community and church leaders. Over 700 church planters, pastors, leaders, teachers, and Bible students have attended EBI Leadership Training Centers in the United States and Mexico. Student-leaders are trained in transformational leadership, church planting, the disciple-making process, relationship building, Bible interpretation, Sunday School teaching, expository preaching, church growth, servant leadership, small group coaching, team leadership, conflict resolu-tion, church administration, prayer ministry, biblical marriage, worship, fel-lowship, discipleship, community ministry, evangelism, and missions. Student-leaders learn how to start churches, develop leaders, equip mem-bers, organize small groups, maximize ministry, impact communities, and transform lives through local-church computer-enhanced student-centered learning. Courses are transferable to the Southern California Seminary Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies program.

EBI degree tracks: Diploma of Biblical Studies in Leadership Associate of Biblical Studies in Leadership

Courses are developed in collaboration with Southern California Seminary and the California Southern Baptist Convention utilizing computer-supported, student-centered learning. Students meet for two-to-four hours per week for fourteen weeks and create portfolios of action plans, reflections, projects, group work, and presentations that demonstrate real-life learning and application. The EBI curriculum guides each pastor, leader, and student in assembling a virtual leadership team. Transfer credit is accepted from Contextualized Leadership Development and Seminary Extension into the Associate degree.

For more information, or to see the schedule of courses offered and locations, please visit http://shadowmountain.org/ebi and click on Training Centers.

Dr. Gary C. Woods, Director of Equip Biblical Institute

tikunkel@gmail.com.

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We have now added a mission trip link to our web-

site. Here we will list all of the mission trips that our

churches plan to participate in over the next year, with a

column for churches to attend, and a column for those

needing prayer. We want this to be a way to connect our

churches and allow us to reach the World for Christ. To

look up the mission trips go to www.iesba.org. To have

your church added to the list call the Association office

and ask for Angie.

MISSIONARY SPEAKER

AVAILABLE

John & Iracema Kunkel, church planter

missionaries to Paraguay, are currently on

furlough and living in the Inland Em-

pire. They are available to speak at your

church. You can contact John at

(909) 425-8441, or by e-mail at:

Foster care is the main form of government assistance provided to underprivileged children in

the U.S. who cannot remain in their own homes because of abuse or neglect. On average, foster

children experience three different foster care placements; however it is not uncommon to hear

of children who have been placed in multiple homes. More than 20,000 children each year exit

the system having never found a permanent home or family. The leading cause of death in chil-

dren under the age of 4 in the U.S. is abuse and neglect. Children even here in Riverside need

homes. Here are some recent statistics:

-Riverside Department of Public Social Services reports that there are "approximately 5,000 children" in the foster care system in Riverside County.

-25% of children who "age out" of foster care end up with mental health issues, incarcerated, or homeless within 4 years of their emancipation.

-Foster parenting is a ministry of prevention in light of that last statistic.

- Nationally, if 0.5% of church attendees would become foster parents, all the children in the foster system would have families.

However abuse and neglect don’t have to be the final words in these children’s lives. There is hope and Child S.H.A.R.E. is a solution. Established in

1985, Child S.H.A.R.E. grew from the vision of Dr. Mary Rotzien, a woman whose strong commitment to her faith led her to develop a program to

address the lack of stable, loving housing for abused and neglected children. Dr. Rotzien’s unique approach to the challenges faced by foster families

gave life to Child S.H.A.R.E. Today, Dr. Rotzien’s vision continues to grow as Child S.H.A.R.E. partners with families, individuals and volunteers,

primarily from local faith communities, to recruit, train and support foster families. To date, Child S.H.A.R.E. has successfully recruited over 900 fami-

lies to provide foster homes, providing stability to over 2,700 children.

Child S.H.A.R.E. supports and encourages families and individuals as they provide foster care. On-going services are free of charge and include:

Support for Families

Works with families and individuals to provide understanding of the overarching picture of the foster care system.

Hope for Children

Primary reason for doing this work is for the children themselves.

Advocacy in the Community

Established an organic partnership between church, state, families and communities that has successfully created an environment of stability and perma-

nency for children seeking a “Forever Family.”

Resources for Churches

Engaging churches in finding and supporting homes for foster children makes sense.

Churches are already established in providing supportive networks for members of their

communities. Programs specifically designed to help churches respond to the needs of

children in foster care can unlock hidden potential within the church.

Encouragement for All

Child S.H.A.R.E. encourages all to become a part of the solution to the foster care crisis.

For more information about Child S.H.A.R.E. or to get connected, you can find them on

facebook, youtube, twitter, flickr, and vimeo.

They have office locations in: Los Angeles County, Orange County, and Riverside County.

For more information about getting your church involved with ministry to foster children

or becoming a foster/adoptive parent, please contact Dustin Smetona at (951) 571.9571.

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Navajo Mission Trip A team of 34 people from 9 churches throughout the Inland Empire and Los An-geles Associations joined together for the week of July 9-17 to travel to the Navajo Nation. They ministered to the families in the Burnt Corn Valley near Pinon, AZ. This trip has been happening for 18 years now and it is led by Pastor Tom Stricklin and his wife Elaine from First Baptist Church, Glen-dora. This year a team of 11 people from Eleventh Street Baptist Church, Upland joined the team. This is the 4th year Elev-enth Street Baptist has participated. Over the years a relationship has been built amongst the Navajo and the team from Southern California. Each morning a Vacation Bible School was held for all ages from babies to senior adults. This year we had the highest atten-dance the team has seen in the past 18 years (and it is reported to be the largest VBS in the area) of 167. About half of these were teenagers and adults that desperately need to hear of the hope and grace of Je-sus Christ. Many of the families do not have

transportation to take them across the dirt roads of the valley so the team drives 7 trucks and SUVs around

to pick up many of the families. The VBS has all the traditional pieces: crafts, recrea-tion, Bible study, snacks and worship com-plete with puppets. Everyone on the team has a job to do and even though they come from so many churches and often do not know each other prior to the trip they func-tion like the Body of Christ with all of their servant attitudes. Because of the ministry through VBS we were able to see 27 people begin their journey with Christ and their lives have been changed for eternity. After taking the families home the team would meet together over lunch to discuss the work projects each day. Throughout the week we repaired roofs, doors, screens, installed a new floor in the local church, weeded the famiy’s corn fields, installed electrical outlets and a washer and dryer (including reworking the plumbing and elec-trical wiring to make it work). One afternoon was free to do some sightseeing in the beautiful Canyon de Chelly. The team that went was blessed to be in God’s beauty, see the people He loves so much, and see God work in mighty ways in the lives of the Navajo and our own. If you would like to join the team next year you can contact Tom Stricklin at First Baptist Church, Glendora (626) 914-3897. You can also participate by praying for the following needs: 1. Pray for those who have become Chris-tians (both this year and in previous years) because of the distance many are unable to

attend church on a regular basis. Pray that they can find other Christians who will help disciple these new believers. 2. Many families have been torn apart and need to experience forgiveness, healing and grace. 3. We have been asked to begin another VBS at the other end of the valley and we would need a larger team with more leaders to be able to make this happen. Please pray for God to provide for what He desires to be done whether it is 1 or 2 VBS teams in 2011.

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Visit our website @ www.iesba.org

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

FOR THESE DATES!!

Clarion (UPS 044-370) Inland Empire Southern Baptist Association of

California

6857 Indiana Avenue, Riverside, CA 92506

Telephone: (951) 784-2655

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POSTMASTER; Send address changes to:

Inland Empire Southern Baptist Association of Califor-

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Periodicals Postage

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Sept. 11 S.S. Prep and Training Conference– Hemet

Sept. 18 S.S. Prep and Training Conference– Rialto

Sept. 24-25 Women’s Retreat

October 2 Adiestrados para la Excelencia

November 13 Transformed Conference

November 30 Pastors and Staff Christmas Dinner

Clarion

Inland Empire Association Staff

Deryl Lackey Director of Missions

deryl@iesba.org

Claudio Medina Multi-Ethnic Consultant

claudio@iesba.org

Bruce Hitchcock Church Growth Strategist

bruce@iesba.org

Martin Leach Church Growth Consultant

marty@iesba.org

Bobbie Brooks Office Manager

bobbie@iesba.org

Brenda Lackey Bookkeeper

brenda@iesba.org

Angela Mantzey Graphics Specialist

angie@iesba.org

(951) 784-2655 • Fax (951) 784-2656