Please Note: The 3rd Tuesday of May, our normal time for the Ministers Conference, Kevin and the Cleveland vision team will be in Cleveland and Maine exploring future missions partnerships between those places and the Santee Association! Instead of meeting together, we ask that you would pray for their trip and for our association. Even better, what if we each set aside that hour (10:30-11:30) on May 16 a time of prayer for the Santee Association, the Cleveland vision team, and the future impact through our churches?
April Ministers Conference Update:
For our April Ministers Conference, we had a full house, a delicious breakfast, and some special guests. We had the pleasure of having a round-table discussion with these key community leaders:
- Joe McElveen (Mayor of Sumter)
- Anthony Dennis (Sumter County Sheriff)
- Allen Dailey (Major, Sumter County Sheriff’s Dept)
- Ken Bell (Public Info Officer, Sumter County Sheriff’s Dept)
- Mark Champaign (Director, Sumter United Ministries)
We asked the panel two questions. Their answers are the bullet points that follow.
1) What’s going well in Sumter?
- People are drawn to a city for three reasons: Public Safety, Health Care, and Education. Sumter is really doing well in the first 2.
- Sumter is also doing extremely well in communication between races, and between government departments (city/county, etc)
- Revitalization of downtown has been critical to Sumter’s growth and the attraction of new business.
- Economy is on the rise. Ex: Some of the homeless people in the United Ministry homeless shelter are starting to find jobs and places to live
- The Fatherhood Initiative is having great success
2) What would a successful partnership with the churches look like? (what are the needs)
- Bring youth back to Sumter after they graduate from college or tech school.
- Public School System… Need male role models. Need adults in the classrooms. Many of our school children eat their only meals at school.
- Tuesdays @ United Ministries is their med clinic day. They would love to have people pray with and minister to the folks as they go through the clinic (much like we do on mission trips).
- Mayor’s thought… can we connect with College graduates and attract them to Sumter? What if the churches would gather their graduates… have some free food, good music, and then ask if they’d give the city reps 30 minutes to promote Sumter?
- United Ministries is beginning a program called Education Assistance Ministry, helping single moms get a college education financially, and partnering with the churches to come alongside of them spiritually.
One big comment that kept coming up (key phrase) was “fingerprint”… what was each church’s fingerprint… what is each church gifted at doing, and how could that be used in the community?
Honestly, the really cool stuff happened after the meeting. People were gathered in small groups, just spontaneously talking and brainstorming on ideas. I believe we’ll see a lot roll out of this meeting as people have a chance to pray and process this information. So… pray and process!
Press on! Dan Nichols
Pastor, Heritage Fellowship
March Minister’s Conference Recap: March 21st we had our first Minister’s Conference with our new Associational Missionary, Kevin Litchfield. Most of you have had a chance to connect with Kevin (based on the number of breakfast, coffee, lunch, and dinner appointments he said he’s had!), but if you haven’t I encourage you to connect with him. He has a heart for Christ and a passion for seeing God at work in and through this community! This was the largest Minister’s Conference I can remember, with many of our churches being represented. Kevin gave out a free book for everyone who came, shared his heart and vision, and gave everyone access to an incredible tool to use to gain insight into your church’s community, to better assist you in how to minister to them. Joyce and Nancy provided a delicious home-cooked breakfast again! We recognize that some of our pastors are bi-vocational, or otherwise may not have been able to attend. But we’d like for everyone to gain access to these resources. So please contact Kevin to get these fantastic resources!
UPCOMING!!!
April 18th Minister’s Conference:
Question: What do the Mayor, the Sheriff, and the Director of United Ministries have in common?
Answer: They’re all planning to be at our next Minister’s Conference in April!
That’s right, they’re coming to engage in a round table with the pastors of our Association, to help us gain insight into the needs of the community, so we’ll be better able to serve and assist! Please mark your calendars now, and plan to attend!
Tuesday (the day after Easter Monday) April 18th
Breakfast @ 10:00 AM
Minister’s Conference @10:30 AM
With the Mayor, the Sheriff, and the Director of United Ministries
Press on! Dan
FEBRUARY MINISTER’S CONFERENCHE HIGHLIGHTS
Impacting On February 21, we kicked off the 2017 Minister’s Conference season with a home-cooked brunch (courtesy of Joyce and Nancy), and a Large Church vs. Small Church panel discussion. The purpose of the panel discussion was to “identify the elephants”, dispel myths, and create unity, commonality and understanding as we move forward together to advance the Gospel!
Here are some of the questions we asked the panel: What are the top myths of a larger / smaller church ministry? The culture often thinks bigger is better. How does that drive your thinking concerning your worthiness in ministry? What could the larger churches do to support the smaller churches and vice versa? All who were there were blessed by the discussion, the unity and love among the brothers in the room, the prayer at the end, and the delicious food! There is a tangible excitement and anticipation concerning the Lord’s upcoming work in and through the Association!
MARCH MINISTER’S CONFERENCE PREVIEW
Kevin Litchfield, our new Associational Missionary, will be “on the ground”, and ready to meet with the pastors! The plan is for all the pastors in the Association to have a round table time with Kevin. We’ll also plan to have food at the next meeting as well! So mark your calendars! Office
Details: March 21
10am – Fellowship and food / 10:30am-11:30am – Round Table with Kevin.
If possible this month, try to connect with 3-4 fellow pastors in the association and invite and remind them to come!
Press on!
Dan Nichols
Pastor, Heritage Fellowship
