| a ministry of southwest cba |
March 2012 |
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CONNECTION Links
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Pastoral Search
Remember to keep our churches that are searching for new pastors in your prayers. Click on a link below to see their website or to get an email for more information.
Calvary Baptist, Tempe
FBC Arivaca
FBC Benson, Youth Associate
FBC Mammoth
Summit Ridge Church
p/t worship pastor
Trinity Baptist, Mesa
to invest in the
ministry of SWCC |
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Dr. Bert Downs
Regional Director |
While the Annual Growth Conference is history, its impact isn't. The community theme lives on in the various video and written articles populating this month's CM. Yes, the Jesus community does work (the conference theme) as this month's contributors demonstrate.
Palm Valley's lead pastor Greg Rohlinger set the trajectory, not just for our conference, but for the year in his keynote presentation, "The Church as Mission Community." If you can make only one stop in this month's CM, make it the video of his opening address . . . and be prepared to have your life and ministry changed. Also, growing out of the annual conference is Steve Doerksen's video article on the Inside-Out Community . . . a must see if your looking for higher impact in your sphere of influence.
Want to know some "cool" things happening in our family of churches? Check out the "Spotlight" features where you'll also get a glimpse of a cabin rebuild going on at Prescott Pines. Several congregations in our family of churches have been blessed by the unique work of Dwight Hunt . . . he's now part of our team and available to extend that blessing to other congregations throughout the region. Our mission is built on a foundation of values . . . in this CM Dr. Ron Rushing will explore one of those key values, the centrality of the Gospel.
Are you getting a sense that things are on the move in the region? My article on our collective mission will introduce even more developments along with opportunities for congregations and individuals. 2012 is off to an energetic and exciting season of ministry throughout our partnering congregations . . . don't miss the chance the Lord has for you to be involved.
Bert
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Rohlinger Keynote Envisions Church as Mission Community
An AGC attendee described his response to the Greg Rohlinger keynote this way, "It opened my eyes to the reality that I'd closed my eyes to the lost . . . it restored a burden I had quit feeling a long time ago . . . a burden for people without Jesus." Those who experienced the talk first hand have discovered lines that continue to speak weeks later: "If you're not concerned for the plight of the lost, you clearly don't realize what's at stake." "We're not called to keep Christians happy - we're called to keep them on point, on mission." "The mission is too important not to engage the battle." "As a community on mission, we're called to lead the culture, not just keep up." "The lost and new believers are the life blood of a healthy church."
Intrigued? You should be. In the keynote video, you'll experience an unfolding of the Luke 5 story of the paralytic and his friends that will change how you see your role in God's kingdom. You'll learn why countering our tendency to become inward focused is so critical and how you can conquer that tendency. You'll see in the story a compelling compassion that will stir you to action. And you'll learn why it's important for a church to be both attractional and missional. Mostly, you'll be moved to make sure those in your sphere of influence are experiencing opportunities to get in the presence of Jesus.
 | | Greg Rohlinger SWCC AGC 2012 |
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The Inside-Out Community
Jesus says in Acts 1:8 that the church WILL be His witnesses in Jerusalem and then moving outward from there to the ends of the earth. Mountain Vista Community Church is one result of the Spirit's work to fulfill Jesus' words. Now we must decide if we want to join in and participate in this mandate. In this video, church planter and pastor Steve Doerksen shares how beginning with 11 adults, Mountain Vista has lived the inside-out community in Buckeye, AZ. Watch, enjoy, learn, share. . .
 | | Inside Out Church - Steve Doerksen |
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 The Gospel - Our Central Focus
Author: Ronald Rushing, Th.D, Senior Teaching Pastor,
El Camino Baptist Church
Where should churches focus their primary attention? What is a central focus of the Southwest Church Connection (the church arm of SWCBA)? Books and articles debate this subject in a never ending fashion. In my opinion, churches always end up focusing on ministry that looks upward, outward, and/or inward. The upward focused church sees Worship as the focal point of ministry. The inward focused church prioritizes discipleship and nurturing of believers. The outward focused church directs attention at reaching the lost, evangelism.
If we are truly honest with ourselves, we have to conclude that balance must be maintained between these three elements. The church should conduct stimulating worship times, be equipping the saints, and reaching the lost. When a church gets out of balance by ignoring one of these, it gets spiritually anemic and loses it vitality. For instance, if we don't maintain vibrant worship, we lose sight of the relational and experiential aspect of day to day communion with God. Church becomes a ritual and not a vital relationship with the Living God. Additionally, if we aren't discipling believers, then we never develop spiritual maturity and discernment. We become a group of people who are tossed about by every wind of doctrine that comes along. Finally, if we neglect evangelism, we cease to love the world and the people for whom Jesus died. In essence, we become short sighted. This makes for a spiritually unhealthy church that is totally inwardly focused. Ultimately a church that does this dies (although it may be a lingering death) because it ceases to meet one of its primary goals given to us by Jesus.
One key element that holds the Southwest Church Connection together is our mutual desire to share the good news of Jesus with people locally and globally. The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20 was given to the disciples who in turn have committed it to the Church and to us as individuals. In essence, the Great Commission is and must become MY Commission (the responsibility of every believer to share Jesus with a dying world). I believe that the Bible teaches that every Christian is accountable to God to share Jesus with those whom they encounter in life. Not everyone will share with millions like Billy Graham or have a ministry that brings people to hear them publically share the gospel. But each of us has the opportunity to tell our circle of family, friends, and acquaintances that we have a personal relationship with a God named Jesus who loves us and forgives us. MORE
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Ministry Opportunities, Resources Spur Change
 A "veteran" church in an aging community, not long ago only a couple of hands full of people, now echoes with new life welcoming new visitors and members regularly. A church in another community seeks help hoping to make a similar journey to newness. A new church plant executing a "soft launch" has 50 attendees at its first service, and is scrambling to line up all the things that go with its pending launch of weekly meetings that's rapidly approaching. Another church plant, set back by strings of unexplainable and unreasonable circumstances, begins to get new energy and growth, face new opportunities and demands. A Native American church with a long, good history of ministry seeks to bring utilities to its meeting place for the first time. And a pastor who has led a renewal in his congregation calls for help in reaching young adults in his area who are inconsistent at best in their spiritual walk and development.
The opportunity list is long . . . and sometimes it represents desperation to reach new opportunities . . . and sometimes desperation to survive, to live again. In response to those needs and opportunities that are at the heart of this mission, your regional team continues to make internal adjustments to more fully capture those "gifts" from the Lord. Those adjustments include a unified business office that has radically reduced costs for that key service and has freed up funds for direct ministry. It also involves utilizing more part time specialists to increase our ministry coverage in the region, minimizing our administrative and office needs and examining every aspect of the ministry to be sure that the emphasis moves increasingly to the congregational level . . . aging churches becoming new again . . . new churches being planted in areas of significant need . . . investments in pastoral and elder/deacon leadership so we stay sharp and in step with the Lord's leading. And then there are all those needs . . . in a region, a ministry that is surely awakening as we return to "doing the deeds we did at first."
How far can we go? As far as the Lord calls us, our faith carries us and our partners join us . . . it's a together deal . . . ministries of the heart. What can you do? The first thing is that you can fully engage in your local church's ministries. Beyond that, the world's waiting . . . help at our camp . . . join in bringing utilities to that reservation church . . . be a missionary to a developing congregation or a developing nation . . . give yourself to a congregation that can't feed you, but that you can feed . . . pray . . . and if you can, give to your local church, to a mission close to your heart and to your region . . . it's easy to start and God can multiply whatever you give. With SWCBA and its ministries through the SW Church Connection and Prescott Pines it's as easy as a click on the "Donate Here" button in this newsletter to make a ministry investment. Whatever you decide to do, don't stand on the sidelines for one more day. |
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Communication Scheduling Reflects Growing Mission Demands
As the association experiences new energy, constant adjustments have become a way of life in seeking the margin necessary to respond to growing opportunities. One of the changes you'll experience immediately is in our communication schedule. To continue the growing and highly valued communication of Connection Magazine and the weekly CONNECT for senior leaders, we'll be making some schedule adjustments.
Connection Magazine will be published every other month beginning with this publication. You'll now receive CM six times per year. The weekly CONNECT will continue as is for its audience. While making these adjustments, we also want to be sure we keep you connected and up to date on various events and happenings in the region. To accomplish that, we'll be introducing "The Spotlight" as an every-other-month publication beginning in April. Rather than serving as a feature in CM, The Spotlight will now keep us all connected to the many events that fill our calendars and provide opportunities for outreach and ministry during those months CM isn't published. As always, we'll depend on you to keep our information fresh and relevant and our readers aware of what the Lord is doing in and through your ministries.
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Transition Pastor Joins SWCC Team
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Dwight & Marilyn Hunt |
Ask the folks in Salome or Sierra Vista if they know Dwight Hunt, and they'll tell you . . . they not only know him, but they love and respect him. Why? Because he led them as congregations and individuals through the most significant transitions those churches have experienced in years if ever. And he did so with grace, truth . . . and success.
Dr. Dwight Hunt is first and foremost a follower of Jesus and then a family man. Marilyn and Dwight have been married almost 39 years. They have three grown kids and two grandchildren, one of whom is already with the Lord. They are long time residents of Arizona where Dwight earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from Phoenix Seminary, and where he and Marilyn have served several congregations including our Camp Verde church where he served as senior pastor until leaving for a senior role in Greenville, Texas in 2000. Since their return to Arizona in 2005, Dwight has served in four transitional roles, two of which were for SWCBA. Pastor Hunt who is also a trained Titus Ministries interim currently coaches four of our pastors, represents us at events and in our churches, and serves congregations in a variety of renewal roles.
It seemed only logical that when we called on someone to help us with our growing church services arm that we would call on Dwight. Dwight will now be serving the Southwest Church Connection two days per week as one of our Connection Consultants. In that role he will serve a specific portfolio of churches helping with transitions, church health, pastoral coaching, growth strategies and ministry resources. What we all love about Dwight is that he's a servant leader, a team player at heart and he gets results. As Pastor Tom Heflin says of Dwight's work in Salome, "Dwight really helped Grace Community through a difficult time after the resignation of the pastor. It was a hard transition. Dwight's approach of having a tender pastor's heart was an important spiritual ingredient in the ongoing healing, stabilizing, and processing how the leadership team and the fellowship would grow forward." And GROW forward they did. That's why Dwight's on the team. Next time you see him, please welcome him on board.
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To put the spotlight on your church, email us at
with your news.
Recovery Ministry, First Baptist Church, Benson AZ: Recovered meth addicts, Randy and  Michelle, hold recovery meetings every Thursday and Sunday for 15 - 20 people from the Benson community. Meetings include prayer, review of a "how-was-your- week" paper, a lesson from the Celebrate Recovery Bible and homework for the next week. House calls are made, and prayer is offered by phone, mail, text or Facebook to stay in touch with the recovery families. A Recovery Wall keeps the church updated on participants and allows church members to be involved through prayer and encouragement. Of the ministry, Michelle says, "God has restored our family and marriage and has really blessed this ministry!"
Outreach to Teachers, Summit Ridge, Las Vegas, NV: Excitement has been growing as Summit  Ridge Church reaches out to the teachers of Quest Academy. Members of SRC currently provide lunches for the teachers every other month and have service hours with the teachers to help them with their duties. SRC also developed an "angel tree" by taking the teachers' wish lists for their classrooms and fulfilling their requests for items like paper, pencils/pens, projectors, coffee makers and the like. Perhaps most important, they get prayer requests from the teachers and make them a priority aspect of the SRC outreach ministries.
Reaching Area Kids, First Baptist Church, Gila Bend, AZ: They make as many as three trips with  their 15-passenger van, and the leaders bring full carloads each week. About 50 kids in K-5 Club and 20-30 in the youth group make FBC an exciting place each Wednesday evening. FBC offers the only kids ministry in town . . . it's becoming their thing. When Pastor Randy and Janice Tiffany arrived in town four years ago there were 13 kids in the children's and youth ministries. Over those four years Randy estimates that about 150 have come to know the Lord through this mid-week ministry and not all of them were children. "You would think in a small town that these kids would be country kids, but in reality they are more like inner-city kids. Many have lived hard lives in almost every way. We are just trying to be faithful in what the Lord has given us," Pastor Randy says. "I believe if we had more volunteers and resources, we would have many more kids here to hear the message of the Gospel."
Burned Cabin Coming Back to Life, Prescott Pines Camp:
Finally! We have started reconstruction of Hilltop 2. This is the sleeping lodge that burned down (due to a power surge) at the same time that the dining room was damaged in December of 2009. The priority was to complete the work on the dining hall before we started construction of this building. It will be ready for use by May 15...just in time for summer!
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