A December blog post by CMF International spotlighted Will and Ruth Walls for their years of service with the global mission organization.
Will served as a campus minister at Ball State University, Muncie, Ind., from 1972 to 1995, then he and Ruth served as CMF missionaries in England (pastoral care, team training, and development with the church-planting team). Upon returning to the States in 2005, Will served in CMF’s office in Indianapolis. The couple officially retired in October.
“The Walls are examples of lifelong service to the kingdom for all of us,” said CMF executive director Kip Lines. “It is rare that someone is able to serve in ministry with CMF for so long in so many significant roles. It is a testament to both Will and Ruth’s commitment to God’s mission and their love for those who serve as CMF missionaries.”
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News Briefs
Compiled by Jim Nieman
One Body, a quarterly magazine edited by our friend Victor Knowles, has grown to 28 pages per issue with the addition of a 4-page insert that will carry on the work of The Voice of Evangelism, a magazine published from 1946 to 2020.
During its history, VOE had two editors: Donald G. Hunt (editor for 59 years until his death in 2005) and Jerry A. Weller (editor from 2005 until his death this past year). Hunt and Weller both taught Knowles when he was a student at Midwestern School of Evangelism. POEM (Peace On Earth Ministries, publisher of One Body) will honor paid-up subscriptions to The Voice of Evangelism, beginning with the just-published Winter 2021 issue.
The dual purpose of The Voice of Evangelism insert will continue to be “preaching the Word” and “defending the faith.”
“Evangelism and apologetics are still the need of the hour,” Knowles said. “One Body has long been championing Christian unity for the sake of world evangelism, and we believe we will complete one another in this new adventure in Christian journalism.”
Learn more about One Body at www.poeministries.org.
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New Hope Church in Manvel, Texas, is now debt-free. Senior pastor Tim Liston shared that news with the church a week ago.
When COVID-19 occurred last year, and the church had to shut down in-person services twice for extended periods, New Hope’s leadership was worried the church wouldn’t meet its goal of paying off its debt, Liston admitted.
“[But] you guys continued to give,” Liston told the church in a video available on Facebook. “Decreased expenses, plus you guys continuing to give—God took two very different things and worked them together for the good of our church family. Thank you, Lord.”
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This year’s International Conference On Missions is slated for Nov. 18-21 in Richmond, Va. The theme will be “The Call.” Pino Neglia of Lecce (Italy) Christian Mission is the 2021 president.
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Churches of all sizes are encouraged to participate in Christian Standard’s annual survey of Christian churches and churches of Christ. For the past few years, more than 400 churches have participated. We would love to see the number increase to 600 or more.
“This year’s survey has been revised to better reflect the uniqueness of church ministry in 2020 . . . so your participation this year is more important than ever,” said Kent Fillinger, who has been conducting our annual survey for more than a dozen years.
The data we collect will be shared online and in a print issue of the magazine. As an added bonus, participating church leaders will be emailed the survey’s results one month before the print issue is published.
Please click this link to participate.
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Daniel Darling, senior vice president for communication with the National Religious Broadcasters, shared his thoughts on freedom of speech, media censorship, and how Christians should respond to conspiracy theories in the Southeast Outlook this past week.
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The Joplin Globe recently highlighted pipe organs located throughout Jasper County, Mo., and the surrounding area. Two featured organs were the Pilcher Pipe Organ Opus 691 at First Christian Church in Carthage, Mo., and the pipe organ located inside Ozark Christian College’s chapel in Joplin.
The story said FCC’s organ was built in 1910 and cost the church $10,000, with some of the monies raised by selling homemade chicken pot pies. The college’s organ includes 2,700 pipes, dates to 1969, and is the largest in the county.
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On Saturday, Cars of Hope, a 501(c)3 ministry partner of Community Christian Church, Naperville, Ill., gave away a used Honda Odyssey minivan to a local family that has experienced hardship, according to a story in the Daily Herald. The nonprofit gives away four to five vehicles a year but is seeking to boost that figure to 24 annually.
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First Christian Church’s Dollar Club was featured in an article in the News-Enterprise of Elizabethtown, Ky. Last year the church collected $27,000 and used it to help 13 families.
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Thousands of Christians from around the world are starting to make plans to attend the 20th Global Gathering of the World Convention, slated for June 16-19, 2022, in Warsaw, Poland.
Meeting since 1930 (typically every four years), the World Convention is a gathering of Christians who have a common heritage in the Stone-Campbell tradition, which includes a cappella churches of Christ, the Christian churches/churches of Christ, and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). It is the only entity working to connect all streams of the Stone-Campbell movement worldwide, and also the only one that gives our entire movement a seat at the table with other communions globally.
Learn more at www.worldconvention.org.
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Johnson University in Knoxville, Tenn., and Kissimmee, Fla., is delaying the start of spring semester by one week due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Classes are slated to begin this coming Tuesday.
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Send news to [email protected].
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