Dear Friends,
Welcome! This is the April 2024 edition of Together, the online newsletter of The Fellowship Community.
After all the work and prayer to plan, invite, and celebrate Easter in our churches and ministries, we are now on the "other side" of Resurrection Sunday.
In the shorter ending of the gospel of Mark it says, "The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, and they said nothing to anyone because they were too frightened. Then they briefly reported all this to Peter and his companions. Afterward Jesus himself sent them out from east to west with the sacred and unfailing message of salvation that gives eternal life. Amen." (Mark 16:8 NLT)
This week there are reasons to be "trembling and bewildered" and still we have been gathered together and sent with the "unfailing message of salvation."
The Fellowship Community is a network of churches and leaders called together to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ by growing in Christ’s likeness, living by God’s word, and joining in God’s mission in the world.
We now have about 280 registered for the National Gathering April 23-25, 2024 at First Presbyterian Church of Nashville. Our plenary speakers, Andy, Dwight, and Alycia, will provide challenging, encouraging, and timely messages, and our breakouts, meals, and fellowship time will provide much-needed connections and insights into the next faithful steps in ministry.
Thanks so much for your participation in TFC. Let us know how we can pray for you and support you in your ministry.
In Christ, |
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Mike McClenahan, TFC Board President |
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April 2024 National Gathering |
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Join us April 23-25 in Nashville! In stressful times, it’s restorative and uplifting to remember the big picture of who we are as God’s people in the world. And it’s refreshing to be with friends in faith! Since the earliest days of the Church, Jesus followers have been called to engage the culture around them and to distinguish themselves from the culture, all for the sake of the Gospel. Join the Fellowship Community to talk, pray, and dream together about how we can best live into this biblical vision in our own contexts. (Nashville will be a fun and interesting place to have these conversations, too!)
Our featured speakers include: |
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Andrew Root is the Carrie Olson Baalson Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary, USA. He writes and researches in areas of theology, ministry, culture and younger generations. |
| Dwight Radcliff Is the Academic Dean for the William Pannell Center for Black Church Studies at Fuller Seminary, and Assistant Professor of Mission, Theology and Culture. |
| Alycia Wood has spent over nine years doing full-time apologetics ministry where she travels and speaks on various topics relevant to our culture. She is currently with Apologetics, Inc. in Tampa. |
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Regular registration is $300. Special rates ($100) for spouses and seminary students. Leaders from churches with 100 members or less are welcome to attend at no charge. |
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A Statement from The Fellowship Community Board on OVT-001
The Board of Directors has issued a letter in response to the Olympia Overture OVT-001. Our National Gathering in Nashville April 23-25 could not be more timely for meaningful conversation and dialogue. Our times of worship, fellowship, and learning together will equip us to remain faithful as leaders and churches in gospel ministry. We will have space at one of our lunches to further discuss the content and implications of Overture OVT-001. |
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Regional Connections Opportunities to Connect with TFC and our Partner Organizations |
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Zoom Gathering Third Thursday of each month Next one - April 18 11:00 to 12:00pm eastern |
| Zoom Gathering for DFW area leaders Third Thursday of each month Next one - April 18 2:00 pm central |
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If your region is not listed, we are working on plans for something in your area. If you'd like to help organize a TFC event in your area, please email us at office@fellowship.community. |
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Whew. I’m dragging just a little. It’s a few days after Easter. The season has been full of richness, but I’m a bit tired. I’ve written daily Lenten devotionals, newsletter columns, poems, sermons, Bible studies and planned out special services. I love what I get to do. And...I’m low on internal energy. Perhaps you are there as well, whether from Easter or other things that have sapped some of your vitality. I only get to this place a couple times a year, and I’m always surprised when I do. It took me a number of years, but I finally figured out one thing that helps me–I need to just look at one day. This isn’t a good time for long-range planning, solving major issues or making giant decisions. I need to focus on one day. This day.
TFC Board secretary Dan Baumgartner encourages us to focus on this day. |
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Nashville, we are coming for you! Many of us are descending onto the musical motherland, known as Nashville. In fact, if you are reading this prior to Tuesday April 23rd, it is not too late to join us. For many of us, the opportunity to gather annually serves as a boost in the arm, while for others it serves as the equivalent of a midday siesta. Regardless, for each of us, gathering with a few hundred siblings in the faith, hearing encouraging and challenging teachings from scripture, and being equipped with tools that we can take back home with us will rightly affect the rhythms that we keep. We are better suited to come back to an up-tempo cadence of ministry and life.
TFC Coodinator for Connections and Recruitment Ray Garcia reflects on the power of community and invites you to join us in Nashville. |
Michael Parker’s Through Middle Eastern Eyes: A Life of Kenneth E. Bailey has just been published. Bailey was a Presbyterian missionary for forty years in the Middle East (1955-1995), serving in Egypt, Lebanon, Israel-Palestine, and Cyprus. He was also a distinguished New Testament scholar, who taught us all the need to view the parables and life of Jesus through the lens of Middle Eastern culture. His ground-breaking interpretations can be found in ten books, including such popular titles as The Cross & the Prodigal (1973/2005), Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes (2008), and The Good Shepherd (2014). A lucid and fast-paced narrative, the biography provides the context in which Bailey’s insights were formed and developed through the course of a long and often fraught career. Parker’s book is based on extensive research in the Bailey Papers at the Yale Divinity School library and is now available at Amazon.com.
Michael will be an exhibitor at this year's National Gathering and will have copies of the book (both hard copies and the Kindle version) available for purchase at a discounted rate for conference attendees. |
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Rev. Dr. Ken Bailey spoke at the Fellowship gathering in Minneapolis in 2011. Check out his Bible study presentation on the Costly Demonstration of Unexpected Love, which was met with a standing ovation and remains a relevant message for us today, |
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TFC is committed to helping churches find compatible leaders - and vice versa! To that end, we invite you to check out the "Find a Call" page on our website, where you can see a variety of open positions throughout the country. We have received quite a few new postings recently, so be sure to stay connected!
We are also looking for ways to improve this feature, so please think about how we might serve best in this area and send us any ideas or feedback. |
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Submitted by Jourdan Turner Cornell, author unknown
Lord God, you have willed that we live in peace and harmony. Grant us patience, understanding, and compassion as we strive to resolve conflicts in our families, communities, and the world. May we become channels of Your peace and love. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. |
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Do you have an idea for a future story? Are you involved in a ministry others need to know about? Let us know, and we'll include it in a future month's Together!
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