Ministry Update
Scott and Marti Owen
Church Facilitation Director with a Conciliation and ITM Emphasis
Wellman, IA
March/April 2024
Dear Praying Friends,
Thanks again for your prayers that are impacting the health of churches! Our Sundays have been tied up helping a church just an hour from our home. God has supplied safety for the short trip and many blessings as we have seen the church grow during the pastoral transition.
Scott still meets with multiple pastors online for church facilitation and has many interactions with churches without pastors. However, we still get on the road some. The past two months have included trips to Chicago (Men for Christ Rally), Grimes, Iowa to report to a supporting church, Omaha (Nebraska Association of Regular Baptist Churches), Clear Lake, Iowa (Iowa Association of Regular Baptist Churches) and Clear Lake, Iowa again for the Camp Counselor Training at IRBC.
We also had our Spring Council meetings for BCP in March. However, this time Scott’s verbal report was recorded on video, and the meetings were live by video with Microsoft Teams. We missed being in person with the rest of the team, but did not miss the long trip out to Grafton, Ohio. Our September meeting will be in person, so we still get to make the drive.
Marti is finishing up the two Grove Bible Studies that she has been leading since last fall. It is great timing as this will free up more time for her to work on the garden and the yard work she enjoys.
Ellie, our 8th grandchild was born this past month which brings us to six boys and two girls (book ends). Ellie lives with her brother and parents in Ankeny, Iowa (just 2 hours away), so she hasn’t met her Colorado cousins yet.
We’ve been attempting to reach people in our small town through Pickle ball at the YMCA and other events. We have a list of names of people God brings into our pathway. We pray for them and look for opportunities to build friendships with them. Scott was attempting to team up with a local Baptist pastor (not our church) that was building good connects with people in our small town. Sadly, his last Sunday is in May as he is moving to Minnesota. The small church has already reached out to Scott for counsel on their pastoral search.
A year ago, Scott took a course on large group conciliation through the ministry that certifies him for Christian Conciliation. This led to his being part of a conciliation team for a church in Kansas City this summer. Nothing helps the training make sense like hands on experience! His hope is that these tools will help our Baptist churches remove barriers to their disciplemaking.
The Book of Titus is one of the sermon series that Scott uses when assisting churches in transition. He is just a few messages into that with the church we have been helping. The goal of this series is to guide the church to see the importance of seeking a pastor that will help them pursue Godliness. Too often churches are looking for a pastor to do the work of the ministry, rather than one to equip them for the work of the ministry. The most recent sermon (Titus 1:9-16) was on the importance of being equipped with the Word of God. Not only should a pastor be a good preacher, he needs to be good at entrusting the Word into the lives of the people, so that they can share the Word with others. Please pray with us that God will continue to raise up pastors that equip and that He will give churches the desire to be equipped.
We appreciate your prayers:
• Our weekend ministry to a church without a pastor
• The multiple connections with churches around the country
• The churches that have been in our Leadership Journey and Grove studies as they recruit their next group of leaders
• BCP’s overall plan to help churches multiply
• Preparation for the six fall Leadership Rretreats
• Scott’s mediation work with a church in Kansas City
Serving by His Grace,
Scott and Marti Owen
