Kingdom Ministries Network Resource Session

KMN will hold a training/resources session on November 12th. The meeting will be held at Pastor Allen Powell's church ( Holy Trinity Worship Center). The church is located at 3511 Tejon Dr. Laurel MD 20724. The keynote speaker is Dr. Anthony Headley. Dr Headley is a licensed psychologist and a professor at Asbury Theological Seminary. He is also a compelling speaker. Dr. Headley conducts seminars for pastors and other para-churches groups in the US and abroad.

Work Team Needed for South 9th St FMC

Al Sones is working on gathering a team to work on the sanctuary of the S. 9th St. FMC. There's a great deal of work to be done and a special need for carpenters and plumbers, but any help will be gladly accepted. The work will be done in a Friday and Saturday on the month of November, 2011. If you would like to help, please contact Al Sones at alsones@aol.com.

J-Term 2012

J-Term offers two weeks of intensive classes to help ministers fulfill their educational requirements for ordination. It is available to anyone actively pursuing ordination in the Free Methodist Church or to those who have already been ordained and would like to earn Continuing Education credit (CEUs).

Dates for J-Term 2012:

Week 1 – January 9-14, 2012

Week 2 – January 16-21, 2012

Click here for complete Information and Registration form.

New Pastors Orientation

The New Pastors Orientation is coming up. It will be on November 1st and it is a great opportunity for new pastors in the conference to learn how things work in the Acts 12:24 Churches Conference. For more information, please call the Acts 12:24 Churches Conference Office (410) 297 8017 or just reply this post with your questions.

2011 Conference Board Retreat

The BOA and MEG Board met on Sept 23, 24 for the annual meeting. The BOA worked on the priorities and money allocation for rapid kingdom expansion. On the MEG Board side, the work was on empowering the MEG Clusters to function with effective autonomy while working from the same philosophy and basic practices rooted in the priority of creating a culture of rapid kingdom expansion.

High-Tech Web Sites Affordable for FM Local Churches

Light & Life Communications and Sharefaith have formed a partnership that allows each Free Methodist Church - USA congregation to have a local church website for only $99.33 a year, a 23 percent discount from the price Sharefaith typically charges local churches. The deal includes access to Sharefaith's 38,000 church graphic templates. See full article by clicking here

FMC History and Polity Classes - Starts Sept 23rd

There is still time to register for FMC History and Polity classes. Willie Kirchhofer, pastor at Crossroads, will be teaching FM History and Polity Class. FM History and Polity is a requirement for every ministry candidate on the path to ordinance.

The course will help the student understand the origins, development, government and organization of the Free Methodist Church. These understandings will empower the student to lead renewal in the local church context. The course is conducted over three weekends beginning Fridays at 7pm - 9pm and continuing Saturdays 9am - 3pm. The weekends are: September 23rd and 24th; October 21st and 22nd; December 2nd and 3rd.

The classes will be held at Crossroads Church in Clifton, NJ. Please share with your members, leaders and potential ministry candidates. Click here to download the syllabus.

2011 Conference Board Retreat

Our Annual Board Retreat will be held in September 23 and 24. Members of the board will meet, pray and work on administrative and personnel matters of the conference. By now, members of the board have received a memo and confirmed presence. Pray for God's guidance and anointing in this meeting.

Leadership Event in Allentown

A leadership event will be held in Allentown PA. The Soulshift training will offer a powerful and practical approach to spiritual transformation. Learn seven key shifts that God's Spirit causes in the hearts, minds, and behaviors of Christians that will empower and unite your church for growth and ministry.

Registration is $29 for the first attendee and $5 for each for additional attendee from the same church (up to 3 additional attendees).

For registration, please click here

Links For Free Material

In 2009 we had a post on our blog about Free Resources for Church Leaders. Recently we had some links shared by pastors that we would like to make available to all of you. To see the previous post click here and below are the new links.

Here is a link sent by Joe Gandia for free Bible Class material. http://www.bibleclassbooks.com/index.html

Several churches already use the Calvary Chapel free Children's Curriculum http://children.calvarychapel.com/site/curriculum.htm. These lessons are available in English and Spanish

Here is a link that JR gave us several years ago for free conference calls. www.freeconferencecall.com

Yancey Brown appointed to Horton Brook

Yancey Brown has been appointed to serve as the pastor of the Horton Brook, NY Church. Yancey has many years experience in music ministry and has ministered in hundreds of churches, both in music and in preaching. Yancey has been a lay member of the Horton Brook Church for the past two years. Please pray for Yancey and his family as they make this transition into the role of church pastor.

Internship Opportunity

Valley Chapel Church is currently looking for Interns to join their full time staff team. The church is located at Warsaw, NY and is offering this great opportunity beginning September 2011. Please pass the information along your leaders and members. Please click here for complete information.

Speaker for Multiplication Training Event Announced

Rev. J. Michael Hilson, senior pastor of La Plata New Life Wesleyan Church will be our speaker at this years Multiplication Training Event. Mike was appointed to his church in 1999 when the church reported 74 in primary worship attendance. This year New Life Network will report well in excess of 2,000 in church. New Life Network has seen a number of converts, three church plants, significant community involvement, international influence, and more. Mike is an excellent preacher and relates well to pastors.

Each year we seek to bring speakers who have proven their ability to lead churches to multiplication to come to our event to tell their story and share their skills. Bring your ministry leaders to hear Mike's story and gain valuable skills in multiplying the Kingdom of God.

Next year's Multiplication Training Event will be held on Thursday, March 29, 2012 from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. at Chesapeake Bay Golf Club in Rising Sun, MD. Save the date!

2011 Yearbook Orders Deadline

August 12 is the last day to order the FMC Yearbook. Each Church is responsible for its own Yearbook order and payment. We just want to remember you that the orders are made directly to the Wesleyan Publishing House. The Yearbook comes in Spiral Bound, Perfect Bound and CD format. Please click here to download the order form.

Free Methodist History and Polity Class

Willie Kirchhofer, pastor at Crossroads will be teaching FM History and Polity Class. FM History and Polity is a requirement for every ministry candidate on the path to ordinance.

The course will help the student understand the origins, development, government and organization of the Free Methodist Church. These understandings will empower the student to lead renewal in the local church context. The course is conducted over three weekends beginning Fridays at 7pm - 9pm and continuing Saturdays 9am - 3pm. The weekends are: September 23rd and 24th; October 21st and 22nd; December 2nd and 3rd.

The classes will be held at Crossroads Church in Clifton, NJ. Please share with your members, leaders and potential ministry candidates. Click here to download the syllabus.

Connection Conference

Acts 12:24 Churches gathered for their annual Connections Conference in Mt. Bethel, PA on June 12-14. The purpose of Connections Conference is to celebrate our connections to God and each other, and to be able to connect with people we don’t know well but who may have like passions for ministry. Our goal was to help build relationships that would enable global kingdom expansion. This year’s event was emceed by Jamison Nesta and the music was directed by Rev. Ken Platt. The conference had both business sessions and breakout skill training sessions. Eight people were ordained elder in the Sunday evening service, and the conference heard reports from six church planters that are planting new churches in the conference. The superintendent reported in his “State of the Work” report that the conference has grown by 61% over the last ten years.

General Conference

The Free Methodist Church in the United States has just concluded it General Conference and the sesquicentennial celebration of the founding of the Free Methodist Church. During General Conference, which meets once every four years, representatives from the Free Methodist Church across the country, along with guests from numerous other countries gather to do business and consider the future of the church. The theme of the Conference was “The whole gospel for the whole world and the whole person.” All three of our current bishops, David Kendall, Matt Thomas, and David Roller, were re-elected for another four year term.

Lisa Fiddermon completes Doctor of Ministry Degree

Rev. Lisa Fiddermon who co-pastors New Vision in the City church in Washington DC with her husband Darrel, has recently completed her Doctor of Ministry Degree. Lisa’s thesis was entitled: “To Marry or Not to Marry: Addressing Ambivalence in Counseling Cohabitating Couples.” You can keep up with Lisa and Darrel’s work at New Vision in the City at www.nvitcchurch.org.

Kingdom Ministries Network Equipping Session

The Kingdom Ministries Network (KMN) held a free resource and equipping session for pastors and leaders on Saturday, May 14, 2011. The event focused on:

- Church Administration;

- How to work together on a church board toward a common goal;

- How to reach new people for Christ;

- How to communicate effectively and;

- How to develop leaders.

The session was hosted by New Vision Fellowship in Forestville, MD and over 40 attendees representing nine churches of various denominations were served a hearty breakfast and lunch, participated in high praise and worship, and motivated concerning “Going Deeper Into the Assimilation Process” by our presenter, Rev. Euline Jackson, KMN’s Systems Administrator.

Rev. Jackson’s dynamic and challenging presentation provided valuable insights into the components of assimilation that consist of transformation, discipleship and ministry. In addition, Pastor Ronnie & Elsie Hampton who just moved to the area from Shreveport, LA shared and showed a video regarding the ministry they’re getting ready to launch, “Takin’ it to the Streets;” and KMN Overseer Pastor Kenny Martin was encouraged by the turnout and excited about “doing Kingdom Business for theKingdom of God through partnering and networking.”

General Conference is near too!

General Conference is getting close too. In July 13-17 Free Methodists from all over the country will meet to seek God's guidance for the year to come. The vision statement for the GC11 is:" The whole Gospel for the the Whole person in the Whole World". The Bishops are encouraging not only pastors and delegates, but church leaders to attend it. This year the conference will have a different format. Committees will not only be acting on solutions, but also will be in discussing and praying for God's guidance through the Conference. For more information visit GC11 website: http://www.gc11.org/

Connection Conference Coming up!

The Connection Conference is coming in less than 4 weeks. By now every pastor should have received the forms by snail mail. We are making available a copy of the conference registration form in PDF format for download. Extra forms will be needed for delegates registration. To download it, please click here. Please send all forms by May 25th, 2011

Kingdom Ministries Resource Session

The next KMN resource session will be May 14th from 9 am to 2 pm. . The KMN resource session will be held at New Vision Fellowship, 2020 Ritchie RD, Forestville,MD. The Presenter for May 14th will be Rev. Euline Jackson, the KMN systems administrator. The presentation will be on assimilation (moving members into Leaders). This presentation will provide practical teaching that you can use right away to assist your church to be fruitful for the Kingdom. You don't want to miss this one!

Feel free to invite other Pastors and leaders, but if you are planning to attend, please contact Kenny Martin for planning purposes. Lunch will be included.

Pam Edwards is appointed Baltimore District Leader

Pam Edwards Serves as co-pastor at Baltimore First Free Methodist Church. The Baltimore District consists of Baltimore First FMC, Dundalk FMC, Baltimore Brazilian FMC, Vida Santa FMC, Alesia FMC and Edgemere FMC. The meetings are held in the fellowship hall at Baltimore First FMC.

Forwarding from Human Resources FMC

This is an urgent, time-sensitive communication. If you are paying insurance for your pastor(s) and staff, you may be eligible for a tax credit from the Federal Government. Please be sure to read through the note below from the FMCNA and the attached .pdf document that explains this unique opportunity. Please also be sure to follow the link below to view the attached video for further very important, essential information on this opportunity:

http://blog.yourchurch.net/2011/04/a_tax_credit_for_churches_1.html

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Some of you may be wondering about the implications of applying for this tax credit. It involves completing the worksheet 8941 and then completing a section of the 990-T for 2010 and submitting it by the May 15th deadline.

- You've never completed a 990-T for the church before. Is this something I should have been doing all along? No . . . generally churches are exempt from completing Form 990-T unless they are involved in for-profit activities. Form 990-T, in this case, is required to access the potential tax credit.

- Will completing a Form 990-T this time make it a future requirement? Not necessarily. Nothing in the IRS code or the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit code would imply that. This tax credit will be available at a rate of up to 25% of qualified health care premiums for churches of up to 25 full-time equivalent employees through 2013. For 2014 and 2015, the rate will increase to 35%. Beyond that time frame, it is unclear what tax credit, if any, will be available. This form will be required only if you intend to apply the for the tax credit.

- What do we need to do? Complete the worksheet Form 8941, and then, if you are eligible (per the worksheet), complete Form 990-T, line 44F. If you are filing Form 990-T only to request the credit (most likely case), you must write across the top of the Form 990-T "Request for 45R credit only". Form 990-T must be filed by May 15, 2011. The worksheet 8941 is not required to be filed.

- How is it that we could qualify for this tax credit? We haven't actually paid any income tax. This tax credit was designed to be paid to small employers (including churches) that pay at least 50% of the employees' health care coverage. The tax credit is paid in cash whether or not the church has paid any income tax.

Eurold Principale appointed to Brooklyn First Haitian Church.

Eurold Principale has been appointed as the senior pastor to Brooklyn First Haitian Church, replacing Jean Francois Monnier. Jean Francios Monnier planted this church about 18 years ago. Eurold Principale was a pastor in the Free Methodist Church in Haiti before moving to the United States several years ago and received his training for ministry from the Bible School in Haiti.

Al Wachter Completes his Doctor of Ministry Degree.

Al Wachter, who has led the revitalization at the Horton Brook Church has completed his Dcotor of Minsitry degree at George Fox Seminary in Oregon. The title of his dissertation was "BEYOND CHANGE- OVERCOMING THE BARRIERS TO SMALL RURAL CHURCH REVITALIZATION." His advisor was Cliff Berger and his primary instructor was Len Sweet. Al has recently completed his first book based on his D.Min. studies, a book about overcoming resistance to change in churches entitled "Dance of the Bees." Al is currently continuing his work as a vetinarian and college professor.

Sergio Faria to lead a break out group at MINE

Pastor Sergio Faria of our Bridgeport, CT Brazilian church will be leading one of four breakout groups at MINE this year. Pastor Sergio will be talking about how to start small groups and how to keep them healthy. Be sure that you have registered for MINE.

Allentown Central Spanish FMC Network

The Allentown Central Spanish Free Methodist Church, led by pastor Constantino Gonzalez, is building a great network of churches in Pennsylvania. The Network has groups in Hazleton, Quakertown and Philadelphia. Pray for this Network growth!

Vida Santa FMC Network

The Vida Santa Network started a new church in Silver Spring MD. Pastor Fernando Gonzalez with his wife and lay leaders from the Baltimore Spanish Church are investing time and energy in this new church plant. They meet at the Layhill Free Methodist Church Building and pastor's Fernando goal is to plant many other churches in the Maryland, DC, Pennsylvania and Delaware Region. Pray that God will pour out his blessing on this project.

Acts 12:24 Churches on Facebook

The Acts 12:24 Churches Conference has now its Facebook page. The goal is to keep you updated with events to come and news of our conference. If you have a Facebook account "Like" us and share with your church and friends.

Click here to go to the Acts 12:24 Churches Page

Save the Date

The Connection Conference is getting close. It will be held at the Tuscarora Inn and Conference Center in Mt. Bethel, PA on June 12-14, 2011. So, save it on your calendar and get ready for it! God is going to do great things!

Live Town Hall Meetings- From the Board of Bishops

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

We greet you in the name of Jesus, crucified, risen and reigning Lord of all!

As you know, our plans for General Conference 2011 are now in high gear. Our focus has been set: "The whole gospel for the whole world and person." A carefully conceived process has been formulated for exploring the meaning and missional implications of the whole gospel for earnest Christians today-so that when we gather as a Conference in July we may together discern what the Holy Spirit is directing the Free Methodist Church to do over the next several years. Everywhere we go we are encountering mounting anticipation that the Lord will make our gathering a powerful and catalytic event.

From the very beginning we have sought the participation of the whole church in this historic gathering. Not only official delegates, but all who have heart and passion for the mission of Jesus have been encouraged to attend and contribute to the process. Of course, this requires careful planning and deliberate preparation. To that end, we are hosting a live Town Hall Meeting, a first for our church, via simulcast on April 13, 2011. During the meeting we will share again the vision God has given us for the conference and more about the path we will walk toward fulfilling this vision. We are asking you to help us invite members and friends of every local Free Methodist Church to join us for the meeting.

Please direct your pastors and local lay leaders to http://llcomm.org/2011/03/30/lets-talk/ for information about the event and how to participate, as well as downloadable promotional resources.

MINE 2011 - April 26-28

MINE 2011 is coming up soon! This year speaker is Edward Waken. Ed is a lover of people and is passionate about helping them know Jesus. Ed has served with Church Multiplication Associates since 1994. Ed teaches, trains, mentors and consults in both evangelism and organic church principles across America and around the world bringing experience and insights that benefit many. Ed and Debbie live in Phoenix, Arizona and have three grown children and two grandchildren along with helping lead a network of organic churches.

For price, schedule and early registration discount information,go to http://minefmc.org/

Same Fund, New Improved Name!

The Board of Bishops announces the renaming of the Bishops’ Famine and Relief Fund to the Bishops’ Crisis Response Fund. In recent years, the fund has evolved into a first-line of rapid-response for Free Methodists impacted by earthquakes, mudslides, tsunamis, persecution, and hurricanes, in addition to famine.

The Bishops’ Crisis Response Fund will continue to be a vehicle for immediate and focused assistance by the U.S. church maximizing the church’s international and missions infrastructure. We thank you for the trust placed in the administration of this fund in times of crisis and believe that this change in name will help us to more accurately reflect the church’s desire to respond in Jesus’ name as crises arise around the world.

REMINDER - MTE

MTE is close! This year, our guest speaker is Dr. David Earley. He is a very down-to-earth pastor who led a team of 12 people to plant a church that grew to 2000 and planted five other churches. David Earley is one of God's servants with an everyone everywhere anointing. Click here to download the flyer and registration form that provide complete information about MTE on March 24, 2011 in Rising Sun, MD. A limited number of scholarships are available upon request.

Action Steps: Register to come to MTE. Also register some of the key leaders in your church to come with you.

Note: Change of Status

Pastor's change of status should be reported within 30 days of the change. These changes include: first-time pastoral appointment, church or conference transfer, discontinued appointment, retirement, leave of absence, housing and/or salary changes, address changes, and marital status changes. It does not take long to do it since it is done on the internet.

To change your status go to http://hr.freemethodistchurch.org/forms/pension_change_of_status.php

Annual Reports Due

We wanted to remind you all that the deadline for Annual Reports is January 31. Please submit your reports online or if you are having trouble email us your stats and we will put them online for you. You can submit your change of status online by clicking here.

If you have any questions, please call us at 410-297-8017 or by e-mail on doc@midatlanticfmc.org

Multiplication Training Event

MTE is close! This year, our guest speaker is Dr. David Earley. He is a very down-to-earth pastor who led a team of 12 people to plant a church that grew to 2000 and planted five other churches. David Earley is one of God's servants with an everyone everywhere anointing. Click here to download the flyer and registration form that provide complete information about MTE on March 24, 2011 in Rising Sun, MD. A limited number of scholarships are available upon request.

Action Steps: Register to come to MTE. Also register some of the key leaders in your church to come with you.