Incredible that we’ve arrived in October already! The air is chilly most days. The leaves are turning colors and falling all around. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been serving for over a year in full-time ministry. Now that we’re past the hustle and bustle of getting fall ministries launched, it’s been good to reflect upon all the Lord has done in our midst and to prayerfully anticipate all He will do in the coming months.

Unfortunately, we have upsetting news regarding the pastoral applicant for Constantia Center Baptist Church. A few days after our last newsletter, he met with myself and our search committee chairperson to let us know he was not desiring to accept the church’s offer to be a pastoral candidate. We appreciated his honesty and thanked him for considering us up to this point. Understandably, this have been a hard hit for the church family. It’s disappointing that we’ve arrived at this conclusion after almost six months of effort with this applicant. However, we cling to the hope we have in Christ. CCBC is His church. He is the head of the church. He is the Good Shepherd. Or, as the author of Hebrews writes, He is our GREAT Shepherd. “Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Hebrews 13:20-21 ESV) We know that the promise found here is true, even in the midst of this disappointing moment. Jesus will equip His church with everything good so that we may do His will. While we are sad at this “no,” we look forward to the upcoming “yes.” We must remain diligent in our faith, continuing to please Him and thank Him for all He is doing and has done in our midst. The right man of God is out there and it will only be a little while before he comes to be the next under-shepherd of our flock at CCBC. Below I’ve included some items to pray for as the church takes the next steps forward.

Pastor J. Fischer and I held a vision meeting at Faith Baptist Tabernacle on October 15. We laid out a vision for our church and how we can remain faithful to the mission given to us by Christ over the next 25 years. It was a great evening and I am excited about what this means for our home church moving forward. We’re desiring to have a part in equipping future pastors and missionaries to send out to bless other churches – both near and far.

Homeschool is going very well! I’ve included a number of pictures below showing some of the highlights of what we have been up to this past month. With Kristen carrying the majority of the teaching load, this means that I (Steve) am back in the driver’s seat with our newsletter. Apologies in advance for the lack of Kristen’s warmth! She seems to add that extra element to the newsletter that I can’t quite replicate!

London is celebrating her 12th birthday today (October 19)! So grateful for our little (well – not so little any more) girl and how the Lord is working in her life. She is so sweet, gentle, and has a hunger to learn and grow. It’s been a pleasure doing devotions together each morning and seeing her read the Word and apply it to her life.

We were blessed to be able to visit our dear friends, Bob and Kathy Grossman, in PA as we presented at their church. They were such generous hosts! London and Calvin are already asking when they can return in order to do more fishing and eat more delicious donuts from a local bakery. We had a local church cancel our visit this month and are seeking to reschedule with them. I am communicating with more pastors in order to line up future visits, looking into 2024. I am also reconnecting with churches we have previously visited to see if their church families are considering partnership with us. As of now, our extension agreement with CCBC will be complete at the end of January and our commitment at FBT will conclude by the end of July. It is still not definitive that these deadlines are hard and fast – a lot of collaboration between Baptist Church Planters, CCBC, and FBT will occur in the upcoming weeks/months to lay out the next steps. Many have asked me, “Whenever you’re done at CCBC… what comes next?” The answer to that is complicated, of course, but tentatively BCP leadership is already in preliminary discussions with three potential churches who could use revitalization help. All three of these churches are within driving distance of our home in Smyrna. Of course, we’re in no rush to leave CCBC – the Lord is still using us there! But, whenever the time comes (in His timing), we will transition to the next church to continue revitalization efforts. Additionally, we will spend more concerted time reaching 100% partnership support. Praise the Lord, we’ve banked a good bit of support. This means even if we are not at 100% when it comes to August 2024, our family’s needs will still be set for a few more months. The clock is ticking! There’s always the need for faith as we serve in ministry, and I’m grateful that the source of our faith is God. He’s never given us any reason not to trust Him! He is so faithful to us! Praise Him for His miraculous work in His church!

• We ran out of our original prayer cards! We were grateful that our new order came before our trip to PA. Praise the Lord! We were able to create an updated design for our new cards.
• Our family visited two museums – one in Cazenovia, another in Philadelphia – to enhance our homeschooling. We looked at multiple Egyptian exhibits, along with other historical exhibits that correlate with our curriculum. The kids (and, to be honest, Steve and Kristen, too!) loved the experiences – especially how the exhibits aligned with our Bible and History lessons.
• Kristen and the kids have been studying plants in Science – included is a picture of London and Calvin collecting leaves in order to identify the trees.
• Over the month of October, we’ve had four special guest speakers at Constantia Center. Each speaker has contributed to an overall theme of the church – God’s design for pastors, deacons, and church members. Steve will conclude the month-long series on October 29. Our guest speakers included three men from Faith Baptist Tabernacle – J. Fischer, Mike Rodriguez, and Neil Shupp, along with Brian King from the Northeast Fellowship. You can listen to the messages on CCBC’s Facebook page.
• Steve was able to preach at FBT earlier in the month, continuing Pastor J.’s sermon series in the book of Romans.
• Our family was invited to join West Smyrna Baptist Church’s Fall Harvest Party. Steve spoke and gave a devotional. London and Calvin were able to participate in a wide range of activities – including horseback riding!