Ministry Update
Steve and Kristen Wynn
Associate Church Revitalizers, Smyrna, NY
March 2025
Hello Prayer Partners!
I (Steve) love talking about church membership. Church membership is a wonderful, intentional gift of God! Often there are misconceptions on the topic due to how we use the word “membership” in other contexts. For example, we think membership is like Sam’s Club or Costco – it means we get special pricing. Or being a member is an exclusive privilege, like being a member of an elite club who gets VIP access. However, in 1 Corinthians 12, we see how Christ views church membership:
1 Corinthians 12:12
- we’re all the same – we all belong to Christ.
- we’re all unique – each part of the body looks different and has varying talents and abilities.
- we’re all valuable and have purpose – each part of the body is needed! It’s only together that the body, “joined and held together” by Christ is able to grow and build itself up in love (Ephesians 2:16).
I know of many Christians who have not joined a local church. They are missing out on God’s wonderful, intentional gift for them – and their local church is missing out, too! It is God’s design that the whole body work together for His glory and to further His kingdom.
If you know someone who is currently not a member, I encourage you to share 1 Corinthians 12 with them and encourage them to join – for their good, and the good of their local church! And if you’re currently a member but you’ve been sitting on the bench for too long, I encourage you to get involved. Church membership is a wonderful, intentional gift of God!
What’s in progress?
The church family enjoyed cheering for our teens at a number of basketball games in our local school. Hank preached on the qualifications of deacons. Our Sunday school classes and junior church ministry are thriving! We’re grateful for our kids inviting their friends to church.
We’re one month into our revitalization plan at West Smyrna Baptist Church. Join us in praising the Lord for all He is accomplishing in His church:
- We’ve wrapped up our Pastoral Search Portfolio (see cover below) and will begin sharing it soon.
- We’re kicking off our Foundations Study this Sunday. So far, over 30 folks have signed up for the study and we have 12 teachers ready to go. Our teen Sunday school class will be walking through the study, too!
- We’re witnessing multiple examples of peacemaking occurring in the church.
- We’ve completed our child safety policy and the teachers have provided their feedback.
- We’re continuing to iron out the church’s standard operating procedures.
- We’re working on plans to invite fellow BCP missionaries Marty & Susan Basinger to join us in May to launch a Celebration of Prayer initiative!
- The parsonage remodel is progressing well thanks to our trustees.
- We’re continuing to see visitors attend our worship services each week.
We will spend the month of August evaluating all aspects of ministry in the church and develop action plans for the last leg of the partnership. The plan includes a gray-scale exit. Depending on where the church is a year from now will determine how our family will conclude ministry and prepare for our next placement.
Praise the Lord, the church family voted in favor of continuing forward in partnership! So we begin our revitalization plan on March 1. We are excited and grateful for the opportunity to be with this loving church family for another year.
Steve, Ginny Sebok, and Jon Jenks (BCP) have been continuing their work on the Discipling Teachers module (see cover above) and other discipleship resources for churches. The BCP Council met in March via video conferencing. We rejoice at all the Lord is doing in our churches and our mission!
Steve has been partnering with Pastor Josh Rathmall to coordinate the upcoming Northeast Fellowship Camp ReCharge teen event at Camp Bayouca. We’re grateful for all of our guest speakers and for how the Lord is working out the details for the event!
Our FBT youth group has a number of exciting new endeavors!
- For those teens who are new or young in the faith, we’re walking through the book of John with the Word One-to-One as their weekly devotional. This resource is great because it comes in physical book form, you can get the app, or you can download it for free as a PDF.
- The rest of our teens are continuing in our Foundations: Old Testament devotional, using the H.E.A.R. method to study God’s Word each day.
- Our teen praise band did an excellent job leading worship during our talent show. They’re continuing to prepare for Camp ReCharge, where they will lead worship for two of the three main sessions.
- We welcomed a new teen leader, Liza, from West Smyrna! We’re so grateful to see both churches partnering together in reaching our teens for Christ!
Keep praying for our youth group. We consistently have above 30 teens each week and we’re endeavoring to be intentional with each one in discipleship!
We’re rejoicing at Faith Baptist Tabernacle – our church family voted unanimously to call Patrick & Hannah Ashcraft as our first Timothy Initiative couple! Already they are busy meeting with J. and Erin, along with the deacons, working on onboarding details. The Ashcraft family will join FBT beginning in May.
Everyone did an excellent job in our fourth talent show! London and her friends performed Tim Hawkins’ Delilah song. Steve was able to spend time catching up with the FBT deacons. Our family attended a monster truck show in Syracuse. Often after church, Steve and Kristen are held up in meetings. So what do the kids do? They pull up a table and play Uno with their friends! London was overjoyed with the snow/hail that blew in unexpectedly. Calvin loved our science experiment on oxidation and copper!
Over 30 people have signed up for our upcoming Foundations study and we’re praying for more to sign up this week. Incredibly grateful for our 12 teachers who will be leading the study. The FBT youth praise band has been improving as they prepare for Camp ReCharge. They led worship during the FBT talent show. Pictured here is Steve and the deacons during communion at WSBC.
Praise & Prayer Request List
Praises
- Praise God for our ministry at West Smyrna Baptist Church.
- Praise God for our youth group and for providing another youth leader.
- Praise God for FBT’s new associate pastor as a part of the Timothy Initiative – Patrick Ashcraft!
Prayer Requests
- West Smyrna Baptist Church: Pray for the church family as they work through the revitalization plan and begin their pastoral search.
- NFIBC: Pray for Steve as he partners with Pastor Josh Rathmall in planning the upcoming teen event Camp ReCharge.
- Constantia Center Baptist Church: We continue to pray for God to provide their next pastor! If you know of a potential pastor, I encourage you to view and share CCBC’s pastoral portfolio (click here to view a PDF copy).
- BCP: Pray for Steve as he collaborates with BCP leaders to develop discipleship resources for churches.
Schedule
- April 1 – Calvin’s Birthday!
- April 6 – WSBC Foundations SS Study Begins
- April 12 – Wynn Family Spring Break Vacation
- April 28 – CCBC Advisory Committee Mtg
- April 30 – WSBC Steering Committee Mtg
- May 2-3 – NFIBC Camp ReCharge
- May 3-7 – Marty & Susan Basinger visit WSBC
- May 5-7 – Basics Conference
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.
