Associate Church Revitalizers, Sherburne, NY

July & August 2024

We echo the words of Psalm 66, “Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of His name; give to Him glorious praise… Come and see what God has done!” Our last three years contain account after account of His faithfulness. We have seen Him work mightily in His church: saving the lost, causing babes in Christ to mature, providing for His flock – so we pause to give all praise to our Lord!

As I (Steve) reflect back – it often seems like yesterday that I was asking Pastor J. and the deacons of Faith Baptist Tabernacle (FBT) what they thought about me aspiring to full-time ministry. Or remembering vividly the car ride with J. and Erin to visit Baptist Church Planters’ (BCP) headquarters. Or my first time walking into the church building of Constantia Center Baptist Church (CCBC) for their revitalization weekend. It is humbling to be in ministry, serving our Lord in His church!

I reflect back on how His word shaped our desire to go into ministry, especially Colossians 1:28-29. We leaned heavily on this passage, and others, to write our ministry focus.

Our mission statement: Through the grace of God and His word, the redemptive works of Christ, and the sanctifying efforts of the Holy Spirit, we encourage and equip the body of Christ in order to ensure its members, both near and far, are enduring in the lifelong work of glorifying God and discipling faithful men and women who will be entrusted to continue this work until our Lord and Savior returns.

We are passionate for the local church. We desire to see churches disciple their members to grow in adoring Him, loving one another, sharing the hope of the gospel, and living transformed lives.

What’s next?

Now that we have officially completed our partner raising, and Steve is no longer Associate Pastor at Faith Baptist Tabernacle, what’s next? This is probably the most popular question we’ve been asked recently.

To help with this, I created the following visual aid:

As we consider our revitalization ministry, most people often think primarily about the public stages – 2 and 3. However, much was going on behind the scenes months prior to becoming Constantia Center Baptist Church’s missionary pastor. We initially began by providing pulpit supply, teaching a SENT class, and building relationships with the church members.

At this time we are accomplishing the work of stage one. We have a number of churches we are working with that may move on to stage two, but we cannot make that information public yet. We respect a local church’s autonomy, so until they vote to move onto stage two, we will keep that information confidential. We are grateful for our partners praying diligently for us at this time, especially as we meet with pastors and church leaders having important conversations.

During stage one, a number of projects are ongoing. Additionally, Steve and our family will be accomplishing some new projects that are wider/broader than in-person missionary/pastoral revitalization efforts but are still accomplishing our mission – to encourage and equip local churches to disciple members who will endure in the faith and entrust it to faithful men and women. These efforts include:

• Ongoing encouragement and support for CCBC.
• Conducting ongoing discipleship, including SENT studies, Leadership Journey, and more, at FBT and other local churches, with a key focus of investing in men and women who will become multipliers in their churches.
• Helping onboard local churches into partnership relationships with BCP.
• Running logistics for New York-based Leadership Journey retreats.
• Developing a BCP teacher training module in collaboration with Jon Jenks (BCP President), other missionaries, and local church leaders.
• Developing and implementing short-term studies/resources on evangelism and other topics.
• Onboarding with BCP’s council. Steve was recently elected to serve a three-year term as a council member that begins in March 2025. He will attend the council meetings in early September.
• Participating in ongoing training and mentoring with seasoned pastors and missionaries, and more!

Many of these projects will continue even after our family begins a formal revitalization ministry at a local church (or churches).

We are incredibly grateful for you joining us along the way! Your texts, phone calls, emails, cards, encouraging hugs and words make such a profound impact on us. We serve the Lord in joy knowing we do not serve alone. Thank you!

• It was a blessing to be back together with the CCBC church family on June 30. Steve preached his last message in their “Lessons from Corinth” sermon series. Afterwards, Dave and Bitzy Roeder invited our family, along with our former small group with the Wallace and Waite families, to a pool party and meal.
• July 4 was Hawaiian shirt day for many! Steve and J. wore their matching shirts for the Hamilton parade. That evening, the FBT church family gathered together for a potluck meal, games, and fireworks. Praise the Lord – we had a lot of community members in attendance.
• Not to be left out, Mark Carhart and John Bensley joined Steve in wearing a Hawaiian shirt. Pray for them both as they will be getting baptized on August 18!
• Special guests Jeff and Vicky Witzigman from CCBC joined us for the celebrations – it was wonderful spending time with them.

• FBT and West Smyrna Baptist Church joined together for a combined community worship service in downtown Sherburne at Gaines Park. It was a beautiful day of worship in song, prayer, fellowship, and preaching of the Word. Steve was asked to be the speaker for the service, and preached from 1 Timothy 6:3-21, “Continue the Good Fight.”
• We gather together on Wednesdays for “Dog Days of Summer” at FBT. We have a time of prayer, a children’s story corner, a segment on memorizing Paul’s prayers in Ephesians 1:16-21 and 3:14-21, and we’ve been working through each chapter in Alistair Begg’s book “Pray Big.”

Saturday ended up being a beautiful day for a wedding! It was an honor to officiate Ryan and Sarah’s ceremony (Steve’s first wedding).

• Of course, summer means lots of fun times with family and friends! Our family was able to get away for a week’s vacation in Pennsylvania. The kids enjoy any time they’re in water. Calvin’s community soccer team went undefeated. London enjoyed a week at Camp Bayouca. We had a day trip to Cooperstown with Steve’s parents and sister to visit the Farmers’ Museum and Fly Creek Cider Mill.

“Our ministry is unique in that we do not simply provide consultation or programs. BCP places a significant emphasis on relationships because they are critical to the multiplication process, so we provide training by building relationships.”

Wanting to learn more about Baptist Church Planters? Check out their publication Connect for regular updates on the Lord’s work in local churches.

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