VBS, Mission Teams &
Summer Evangelism!
Summer time is always the season for mission teams and outreach events in Upstate New York/Western Mass. The relatively short summer and fall prompts Northeasterners to leave their homes and get outside as often as possible; making it a prime connectional season for our churches and church plants.
Record Vacation Bible School attendance, unique servant evangelism and strategic community outreach opportunities characterized our summer events; with God receiving the glory. It was a great year!
August 2010
2010 Pastors Retreat!
Late June was a brief period of refreshment & revitalization for those Pastors, Staff and their wives who attended the 2 day retreat.
Pastor Danny Sinquefield along with his wife Rhonda from Bartlett, TN spoke, and many enjoyed and learned from his insights into the world of vocational ministry.
Many comments were made afterwards that the time away and light schedule were helpful and much appreciated. Also, many connections and relationships were strengthened as our leaders interacted with others who often face similiar challenges on a regular basis.
August 2010
2009 Baptisms & Missions Giving!
Local HBA churches baptized 127 people, and gave $132,000 to the Cooperative program in 2009. Praise God!
May 2010
Church Plant vs. Zoning Board
Two HBA church plants are currently battling the local zoning authorities in an attempt to obtain more strategic buildings to reach their communites.
Church Planter Brad Jones in South Glens Falls is trying to secure a permanent meeting place for his church plant, Hearland Community Church.
Currently meeting in his town's local community center, Brad says that leasing the facility will provide numerous advantages over their current meeting place; including providing a permanent presence, increased credibility in the community, more classroom space and seating for 100.
May 2010
Leadership Development
As followers of Christ, we are charged to "go and make disciples". We desire to give HBA churches and pastors the best tools available to reach and disciple people in the most effective way possible. The most effective pastors and leaders are those who are continually growing and learning.
Out of that desire, HBA has begun to offer leadership training and development seminars at our group meetings. The first session dealt with handing "Crucial Conversations", and looking at things that we can do to address difficult issues at hand, while also not losing relationships in the process.
May 2010
Church Planter Derek Duncan - ready to "dunk" new believers!
Derek and Dana Duncan, along with their two teenagers (Elizabeth & Jonathan), recently moved to their new home in Poughkeepsie, NY with the intention of planting a church that would reach their community.
Derek and his family are busy reaching out, making friends and gaining credibility in their neighborhood. Because of that, they have earned the right to connect on a spiritual level, and are now meeting in their home for worship services.
March 2010
HBA-wide Haitian Relief Effort
In cooperation with the Baptist Convention of New York and other like-minded organizations, we are promoting Buckets of Hope as one of the primary ways to help the Haitian people see Christ's love. Full Story
March 2010
Iglesia Bautista de Amsterdam Reaches Teens and Children!
Pastor Carlos Schmidt reports a renewed ministry focus in Iglesia Bautista de Amsterdam to reach the youth of Amsterdam. Tuesday night is kids/youth night at the church. They have been averaging around 50 children and youth but recently had a high attendance of 78. A unique aspect of the ministry is the mixing of cultures. 16% of Amsterdam's population is Hispanic, most of whom are from Puerto Rico. As a result, both Spanish and English can be heard every Tuesday night. Recently,
[Full Story]
Two Churches Merge
Two churches, River of Life and Open Door, merged into one congregation in March called River of Life Church. Anthony Foxworth serves as pastor. Vinny Ciccarelli is the executive pastor. Following the merger, their worship service attendance has increased [Full Story]
VBS, Mission Teams & Summer Evangelism!
Summer time is always the season for mission teams and outreach events in Upstate New York/Western Mass. The relatively short summer and fall prompts Northeasterners to leave their homes and get outside as often as possible; making it a prime connectional season for our churches and church plants.
Pastor Daniel McGhee, of Grace Baptist Church in Whitehall experienced record attendance at Vacation Bible School this year, hosting a high of 63 kids with over 100 people (parents included) attending during the last night! Pastor McGhee has plans to remodel their worship center through the winter, effectively doubling their seating capacity and bringing the approximate capacity up to around 170 once everything is completed.
Pastor Robbie Lankford, who leads New Hope Community Church (planted several years ago)in Queensbury,led his church to reach out to their community through several servant evangelism projects in addition to the soccer camp and Sportmans's Dinner they are hosting later this year. The projects included free oil changes for single moms, giving away free water bottles on a local bike trail, free car washes and other community service for the Town. The local TV station and newspaper interviewed them as a result!
Several mission teams also worked at Cross Point Fellowship (started in 2006 by Pastor Pete Shults in Hurley, NY) at the local high school completing multiple construction & renovation projects. These sort of events project God's love in very practical, strategic ways to the community.
August 2010
