Bishop Endorses Lay Witness Mission

Frank Billman

bishop_lwm Bishop Peggy Johnson serves the Philadelphia Area which encompasses the Eastern Pennsylvania and Peninsula-Delaware annual conferences. In a meeting with representatives of the Eastern Pennsylvania Renewal Fellowship she shared about her personal experience with Lay Witness Missions.

In 1975 my home church had a Lay Witness Mission and it renewed the church in a powerful way. After that weekend I began volunteering on Lay Witness Mission teams and found it to be an enormous spiritual blessing. Two years later I found myself beginning a seminary degree at Asbury Theological Seminary and I met quite a few fellow students who had been nurtured in their faith through this Lay Witness Mission movement. It is still alive and well today and it can energize your church through small group lay evangelism. The power of making disciples for Jesus Christ comes through the Holy Spirit working through the human, everyday faith stories of faith. If more Christians would tell others about what God is doing in their life, our churches would see tremendous growth (numerically and spiritually).

At the ARM office we have endorsements of the Lay Witness Mission by two District Superintendents on CD and DVD that you can have to share about Lay Witness Mission with pastors and others.

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ARM Church Partners

ARM Church Partnership is a mutual relationship of prayer, participation, promotion and provision renewed annually. Financial support from the local church helps resource life-giving, transformational ministry to individuals and churches across the United States. ARM gratefully reciprocates by providing registration discounts, complimentary resources and praying for your church. For more information on this exciting new program click on ARM Church Partner.

Pastor’s Retreat Scheduled at the ARC

Focusing on themes of Returning, Reclaiming, Recalibrating, Redefining and Reigniting, a retreat for pastors and those in ministry leadership is scheduled for September 17-19, 2012. Whether single or married, this event is designed for clergy and ministry leaders to be spiritually refreshed through worship, fellowship and exhortation from seasoned ministry leaders who have both passion for God and a heart to encourage those serving in ministry. Registration for the event will be $99 and includes two nights hotel stay. Save the date and be looking for promotional materials in the fall of 2011.

Regional Affiliates

In several annual conferences across the country, ARM has established Regional Affiliate Renewal Fellowships that work within an annual conference to spread the work of ARM and work for renewal. They encourage local churches to host our Local Church Renewal Events like Lay Witness Mission, Lord Teach Us To Pray and Life in the Spirit Seminars. They often have an annual one day or weekend retreat. Some sponsor events at their annual conference session. Many provide an ARM display in the exhibit section of their annual conference.

If you would be interested in more information on forming a Regional Affiliate Renewal Fellowship in your annual conference, please contact Mary Bolton . If you are interested in staffing an ARM display at your annual conference session, contact the ARM office at 1-877-857-9372.

Help Us Keep You Informed!

If you already receive email communication from us, thank you! If not, and you have an active email account, won’t you help us save costs by providing your email for communications from Aldersgate Renewal Ministries? By doing so you help us stretch our resources. Just send a current email here to have that added to our database. Please note that if you don’t have an email address you will still receive our mailings via USPS mail.

Is Your Minister and Spouse Ready for A Break?

Recently ARM hosted our 14th Minister and Spouse Retreat. Scheduled the week immediately following Easter, this mid-week event is designed for ministers and spouses to return to their first love, rekindle the flame in their marriage and to reclaim the power to serve. Led by couples seasoned in balancing the unique challenges of life and ministry, this retreat is a spiritually safe place for clergy and spouses to take time to rest and receive. The $199 registration fee includes three nights at a hotel, catered meals and a special “evening out.”

Mark your calendars now and plan to send your minister and spouse to the 15th Minister and Spouse Retreat to be held Tuesday through Friday, April 10-13, 2012. This event would be a special gift that your church can give to bless your pastor and spouse!