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This year, National Back to Church Sunday kicks off on
September 18th, 2011. National Back to Church Sunday is a special day set aside each year on the third Sunday of September when thousands of people who do not regularly attend church are invited and welcomed to a church near them. On that day, thousands of churches will open their doors and welcome everyone who would like to rediscover church.
more information
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 Free resources at this website for Pastors, worship leaders, youth leaders, children leaders, small groups leaders and more. Articles, blogs videos and more. All free. You might want to check it out. www.churchleaders.com |
More Free
Resources 80,000 ministry leaders and pastors from 50,000 churches in 100 countries have taken advantage of this resource. 
Pastor Greg Groeschel and Life Church with 14 multisite locations in five states want to share their resources with others. Go to lifechurch.tv. |
Lessons from
Small Churches
In his 35-plus years of research and experience with small church ministry, Elmer Towns has uncovered six specific and transferable principles churches of all sizes can adapt in their own unique context. read the article
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Pastor Fellowship
Groups Start in September
Wednesday, Sept 7
12:00 -1:30
Sunrise Church
Jay Pankratz leading
Thursday, Sept 8
10:00 -12:00 Noon
First Baptist, Oceanside
Jim Smith leading Tuesday, Sept 20
10:00 - 2:30
Whittier Hills Baptist
Robert Bishop leading
($50 per month) Thursday, Sept 22
10:30 - 2:30
La Jolla Christian Fellowship
Tom Mercer leading
(TM/CB Pastors) |
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In the Long Run, Sometimes Paying the Extra is Worth it
I don't like spending money. Ask my kids--just water at restaurants, jeans from Walmart, and store brand groceries. There are a few exceptions, like Nestle chocolate chips over a no-brand. They just taste better. However, most of the time, I am looking for bargains. While in San Francisco last month for three days, I didn't want to pay the $30 per night parking
 | | where's my minivan? |
fee, so I figured out that I if I moved my van every two hours during the day, and found an evening free metered parking spot for overnight, I could park for free in SF for three days. It worked out well the first day and evening, but with every change of location, I risked my chances of parking somewhere wrong. On the second day, in the afternoon, after three changes already, I walked around the corner and my van was gone! Towed...no parking after 3 pm. When I parked there at 2 pm, it looked fine. My son and I walked a mile to retrieve the van and I had to drop $400 to get it back. Paying the $30 per night now looked much better and more convenient. Looking for bargains is still the way to go, but there are times that paying the extra amount may be worth it in the long run. Church sound systems, web sites, salaries, giving your tithe in the offering, and...well, you'll have to decide.
Jim Smith
Executive Director
CB Southern California |
| FALL RETREATS AT PINE SUMMIT | | | Men and Women's Retreats, Spanish and English
Men's Retreat
October 14-16
Both our English and Spanish Men's Retreats are on the same weekend. Robert Bishop, Lead Pastor at Whittier Hills Baptist, will be speaking at our four main sessions. Hugo Garcia will be speaking at the Spanish retreat. Call our office at 909.944.5900 to register and to book your spots. See your church representative to sign up, or sign up online at www.cbasc.com.
Women's RetreatsSeptember 23-25 English September 30 - October 2 English October 7-9 Spanish There is still a little room for the first English retreat. Contact ashleydurso@gmail.com to get signed up. For the Spanish Retreat, contact Oralia Cuellar
Teléfono: (909) 374-8533 femenilcbsc@msn.com or Fanny Arriaza (562) 716-7868 Vicki Smith will be speaking at the English Retreats and Lucy Olalde will be the guest speaker at the Spanish Retreat. |
| JAPAN RELIEF TEAM SET | |
Seventeen People Going
From October 21 to November 1, 17 people from CB Southern California churches will be visiting and helping some of our CB Japan churches as they continue to recover from the earthquake and tsunami disaster in March. The team will meet twice this fall for orientation meetings before heading over to Japan. John Houlette and Phil Waters, both missionaries from Japan, will be helping with orientation. Jim and Vicki Smith will also be going on this trip, and will then lead a Family Conference and speak at our CB churches in Guam and Hawaii, as well as in Nanning, China around attending the CB Global conference near Hong Kong in November. |
| PASTOR DOUG STORY RECOVERING FROM CANCER | |  At 30, fighting Carcinoma Doug Story is the campus pastor of Sunrise East Valley Church in Beaumont. He had surgery on Wednesday, August 3, after a bothersome blister on his lower lip was found to be cancerous. Early diagnosis revealed this could severely affect Doug's ability to speak. However, after removing the cancer from his lower lip and part of his chin, his doctor believes his speech will be fully restored. Doug is not speaking at all for four to six weeks as he recovers. Sunrise East Valley is a church plant of Sunrise Rialto and has grown in the last 17 months to over 200 people. Art Valadez, Associate Pastor at Rialto, will be filling in while Doug recovers. Please pray for Doug and his recovery. Read more current updates on Doug's blog. |
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SMALL CHURCH BIG IMPACT | |
Grace Church, Santee, CA 
Near San Diego, Pastor Steve Lamm's church meets in an office complex. They are nearing the maximum capacity of 160 that the city will allow. Soon he will see if they can get the city's permission to move some walls. Steve also takes his baptismal services to CB's Mapleview Baptist in nearby Lakeside twice a year on a Sunday evening.
Steve is preparing to travel in Belarus, where Grace Church is the primary supporter of a church planter. Steve will travel there on September 20-30 to preach and hold a Leadership Couples Retreat. Grace Church not only pays for Steve to lead this retreat, but they pay for each couple to attend the conference, total support: $12K. Grace also has a ministry with a church in Thailand where they are completing a water project and assisting with other needs. |
| RAISING MONEY FOR WELLS IN ETHIOPIA | |
Liquidate for Living Water
Community Baptist in Rancho Cucamonga joined with Pastor Ed Carey and Hope International Bible Fellowship in Hollywood to raise money to build fresh water wells in the villages of Geschi and Omo Nada in Ethiopia. They based their project on Denny & Leesa Bellesi's ministry with World Vision, Liquidate for Living Water, in which funds are raised by selling some personal items through yard sales, Craigslist, Facebook, Ebay, etc. Commitments were made by 475 people from CBC to raise money for safe drinkable water. They had a celebration weekend in August where they all brought their donations and collected over $53,000 during a special time during their worship service. The Bellesi's were there to share their vision for this ministry. Pastor Rob Acker of CBC said, "It was so inspiring last weekend to see so many walk forward with their special gifts. Thank you again. To God be the glory." |
| MOUNTAIN VIEW ALPINE FINDS PASTOR | |
 Neil Schultz Accepts New PositionOn Sunday, August 21, 2011, Mountain View Bible Church in Alpine, CA voted to call Neil Schultz as their Senior Pastor. Neil recently served as a church planter and teaching Elder at Wellspring Church near Boise, Idaho. Neil, with his wife and four kids, has now moved to Alpine. He is a Dallas Theological Seminary graduate and an Air National Guard Chaplain. In the late 90's, Neil served briefly as the Youth and Music Pastor at Mapleview Baptist Church in Lakeside, having grown up in Southern California. We congratulate the search team at Mountain View for their swift work in finding their next Pastor. |
| ALMOST 1,000 WOMEN ATTEND | |
"Fun in the Son" at Sunrise
On Friday, August 26, almost 1,000 women gathered for an evening of fun, teaching, dance, video clips of Priscilla Shriver, fellowship, dessert and prayer. Approximately 30 came forward to receive Christ at the end of the two-hour event. Cathy Hurtado, Women's Director for Sunrise Church in Rialto, organized this event and says, "We are committed to motivating women to pursue a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, to grow towards maturity in Him, to fellowship with women of all ages, and to stimulate one another to love and good works, reaching out to the lost." Fun in the Son demonstrated that commitment. |
| TONY PEZZOTTA IN DENVER AREA | |
Tony and Zita all Moved In
On Monday, August 29, Jim and Vicki had a chance to visit with Tony and Zita Pezzotta at their apartment in Lone Pine, CO, just south of Denver. Zita is the full-time caregiver for Tony, although they have help for two hours every morning. Their son, Daniel, and family help Tony to church most Sundays, which is their only day out of the apartment. Tony is not in pain, but has little to no feeling in his legs and arms. They were pleased to have Jim and Vicki visit and graciously accepted a financial gift to them from CB Southern California. Continue to pray for both of them. |
| STEPHEN LEBAR VOTED IN AS PASTOR | |  Enjoying Life in Grand Rapids MI Area
Former Executive Director of CBAmerica Stephen LeBar has been, for the past year, the interim Senior Pastor of Jenison Bible Church in Hudsonville, MI, just outside of Grand Rapids, MI. Recently, 98.4% of the church voted to call Steve as the Senior Pastor, and he accepted the call. The vote brings confidence and freedom to lead. Steve and Cathy were both humbled and affirmed by the strong show of support. This position marks the beginning of a new chapter in the book of ministry for the LeBars. Steve thanks those who have been praying for Cathy and him over the last two years as they waited to discover the place the Lord had for them. |
| HANS FINZEL LEAVING WORLDVENTURE | |  Search for New Leadership Starts Hans Finzel has asked the Board of Directors to begin a succession plan for the office of the President. After 31 years with this ministry, and 18 years as President, he has decided that the time is now for new leadership in these challenging days ahead. In both unity and prayer, the Board of Directors, the leadership team of WorldVenture, and Hans Finzel have begun a journey to seek the next President of WorldVenture. read more |
| GOOGLE+ FOR CHURCH LEADERS | |  Church Leaders May Benefit Google+ is the latest entry in the ocean of social media. As a church leader, you need to know the potential this has for your leadership and church. Why is the Circles feature so important to you as a church leader? Because it streamlines who you communicate with and the way you do it. Instead of choosing between an e-mail, a blog post, or a tweet, you now have one place to communicate and an easy way to get the word out. The following has been observed: read more |
| AMERICANS LIKE CHRISTIANS | |  Baptists Favorable over Evangelicals Christianity Today had a cover article written by Bradley Wright entitled, "They Like You." "In a 2008 Gallup study that asked Americans how they viewed a wide range of religious groups (see chart), amongst the general population, about 25 percent had a negative view of evangelicals. Among non-Christians, 50 percent had a negative view. But only 11 percent of the general population viewed Baptists negatively, as did only 26 percent of non-Christians. Here's the catch: The great majority of Baptists are evangelicals.
Ultimately, evangelical Christians might do well not to spend too much time worrying about what others think of us. Christians in general, and evangelical Christians in particular (depending on how you ask the question), are well-regarded in this country. If nothing else, there's little we can do to change other people's opinions anyway. Telling ourselves over and over that others don't like us is not only inaccurate, it also potentially hinders the very faith that we seek to advance.'
read the whole article |
| FAMILY VBS IN BIG BEAR | |  Wednesday Nights Only
Up in the mountains this summer, Cornerstone Community Church, our small CB church under the leadership of Pastor Barry Stever, did VBS a bit differently. They held VBS on successive Wednesday nights in July and August called "Family Fun Fellowship."
Everyone came home from work, grabbed their family and headed to Church. They had a round-table (literally) Family Style Meal, followed by a Devotional Style lesson from their workbook, followed by a craft, which was done at the table --- all designed to keep the Family Unit and the Church Family tied together. Response from the community was interesting, as everyone wanted the little ones to attend VBS, but were a bit surprised about total family involvement. They even had three young women from the Domestic Violence Shelter with their young ones. Cornerstone was blessed to see these young ladies respond to a positive family influence and decide, also, to attend Sunday Morning Service. |
| DEVELOPING A CHURCH SAFETY TEAM | | |
Free Download Available |
 powerful and practical download which helps church's assess their risk areas, address them, and helps them develop a strong and effective safety & security team. Learn why your church needs a safety and security plan. Use checklists to address key safety areas. Through an assessment, discover if you are keeping your church safe and secure. Also included are briefs from law experts on the issue of church safety and security. Includes:
OVERVIEW
Does Our Church Really Need a Safety and Security Team? Yes, and here's why.
ASSESSMENT
Are You Keeping Your Church Safe and Secure? Use this assessment to find out.
HOW TO
Create a Strong Church Safety Team. Follow these steps to get the team you need.
THE LEGAL SIDE
Is Your Ministry at Legal Risk? What you don't know can hurt you. Here's what the legal experts say.
BIBLE STUDY
What the Bible Says About Church Safety. Devotionals to guide your church.
IT'S TRUE
Deliver Us from Evil. A bomb shattered the silence of Sunday prayer. How would your church cope?
LEADER'S GUIDE
Resource Center. Quick Tips and Recommended resources.
Church Safety Download |
| INCREASED GIVING | | Dave Ramsey's Course Could Help You r Church
At Immanuel Baptist Church in Gurnee, IL, more than 800 people have taken the Financial Peace University course since the church started offering it three years ago, and at least 250 of them do not attend Immanuel. In those meetings, the Administrative Pastor Dick Giesler heard the stories of mounting debt and seen struggles with budgeting. But despite the personal challenges, for the third year in a row, giving to the church is up more than 5 percent, placing Immanuel among the minority of congregations that have seen giving rise since the economic downturn.
"I can't attribute it to anything specifically other than Financial Peace University," Giesler said, "and obedience to the Lord's principles about handling money."
read the whole Christianity Today article |
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Thanks again for reading our newsletter. While this is being sent to you, I will be with the other Regional Executive Directors (RED's) in Colorado Springs for our CBAmerica Board meetings.
Sincerely,
Jim Smith
CB Southern California
909-944-5900
cbministries@cbasc.com
www.cbasc.com |
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