Lilly Grant to Help Launch Ministry Resource Center at Emmanuel (Plus News Briefs)

Milligan College’s Emmanuel Christian Seminary will establish a Ministry Resource Center thanks to a $999,863 grant from Lilly Endowment’s Thriving in Ministry initiative, which supports religious organizations as they create or strengthen programs that help pastors build relationships with more experienced ministers. The goal is for the experienced ministers to serve as mentors and guide their counterparts through key leadership challenges in congregational ministry.

Emmanuel’s Ministry Resource Center will have state-of-the-art tools for placing and supporting its graduates in ministry positions.

A placement program is planned that will work with congregations to ensure that an incoming pastor’s gifts and skills align with the needs of the congregation. The center also will offer tools to both new and veteran ministers during times of transition.

Also planned is a mentoring program that connects recent seminary graduates with seasoned ministers, providing them with access to counsel and a larger support system for their first three to five years of ministry.

Emmanuel also expects to provide a series of annual retreats that offer a time of renewal for established ministers.

“More than ever before, churches need effective ministers,” said Dr. Rollin Ramsaran, academic dean of the seminary. “As one of the premier seminaries for the Christian churches, Emmanuel is well positioned to help its congregations meet this need.”

Emmanuel has prepared men and women to serve the independent Christian churches for more than 50 years. Since 2015, Emmanuel has been part of Milligan College, a college which dates to 1866.

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Broadway Christian Church, which meets in a building constructed in 1871 in downtown Fort Wayne, IN, is raising money to install an elevator in the four-story structure.

According to a story in the News-Sentinel, Broadway moved into the building in 1974 when the structure was more than 100 years, thereby bucking the trend of church bodies heading for the suburbs. Broadway Christian is now a church of about 350.

“The only room on the property that is fully accessible to individuals with physical limitations is the sanctuary,” pastor Ryan Cochran told the newspaper. “Many in our congregation and community who would like to participate in our ministries are not able to do so.”

So far, the church has raised about two-thirds of the $850,000 needed for the project, which will also help improve and enhance Broadway’s outreach and ministry.

A concert featuring the Unclouded Day quartet and a band comprised of professional and amateur musicians will take place at 4 p.m. this Sunday to help raise funds for the project. A freewill offering will be collected.

When it was built, the Gothic Revival structure was occupied by the Wayne Street Methodist Episcopal Church. The church sat empty for less than a year before Broadway moved in. Retired minister Bob Yawberg shares his memories of moving into the building in the News-Sentinel story.

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Student callers at Ozark Christian College raised $54,792 during the school’s Alumni Phonathon earlier this month. The proceeds will help fund the expansion of OCC’s Missions Building. All told, the college has raised more than $330,000 of the $458,000 expansion project. The school plans to add an elevator to the building to make it ADA compliant.

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Owensboro Christian Church in Kentucky recently hosted a pickleball tournament to raise money for Fresh Start for Women—a local organization that provides transitional housing for women and children.

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First Christian Church in Brook, Ind., will host a community Thanksgiving Dinner Nov. 22. The church is taking donations for the Brook Needy Family Fund.

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Matt Cooper has been named the new student ministry pastor at Northland Christian Church in Topeka, Kan. Cooper is a graduate of Mid-Atlantic Christian University and has served in youth ministry for four years.

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