NWBC Messengers Set 2023 Ministry Agenda
November 22, 2022
By Cameron Crabtree
Joseph Mhlanga reads scripture as his mother, Judith, prepares to pray during NWBC annual meeting.
Messengers attending the Northwest Baptist Convention’s 75th annual meeting welcomed 14 churches into the three-state network, adopted a $3,900,000 budget for 2023, approved a $150,000 goal for next year’s Northwest Impact Mission Offering and adopted revisions to the NWBC constitution and bylaws.
Convening Nov. 14-16 at the Great Wolf Lodge near Centralia, WA, 297 registered messengers also re-elected its current slate of officers to additional one-year terms: Dan Panter of McKenzie Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA, president; Bryan Bernard of Redemption Church, Corvallis, OR, first vice president; and Chad Harms of Creekside Bible Church, second vice president.
The president chairs the NWBC Executive Board and serves alongside fellow officers on the board’s executive committee.
Church prioritizes community care
November 23, 2022
By Sheila Allen
Members of Baptist Church on Homedale ready meals for families in need.
In an effort to bless their community of Klamath Falls, OR, members of Baptist Church on Homedale continues making strides to meet the needs of those hurting around them. Vern Bland, the church’s executive pastor, is helping lead the charge for community involvement.
“I grew up in Klamath Falls and First Baptist Church, which merged with Suburban Heights Baptist Church to form Baptist Church on Homedale,” said Bland. “I spent years deferring a call to ministry and served over 20 years serving in the military.”
Although he was a regular church attender, life began crashing down around him in 2016 when his marriage began to disintegrate. Bland began interacting with a military chaplain who believed his purpose was to help him.
Church Ministers Through Tutoring
December 15, 2022
By Sheila Allen
With a heart for children and families, Baptist Church on Homedale in Klamath Falls, OR, continues looking for practical ways of ministering to them. In addition to hosting a fall conference focused on building healthy families, the church for the past three years has provided after school tutoring.
“We are not as churched in the Northwest as in other areas, and we want folks to know that we are different than those you might see around you,” said Vern Bland, BCH executive pastor. “We want them to feel seen and that we care about their pain.”
Trust Key to Childhood Trauma Recovery
December 15, 2022
By Sheila Allen
A continual litany of issues afflicts some of today’s children, resulting in anguish for them and those involved in their care, according to two women who’ve seen up close the impact of childhood trauma on families.
A recent short course offered at the CM52 children’s conference sponsored by the Northwest Baptist Convention sought to address healthy relationships with those struggling through significant life issues.
Abby Spence, children’s director at Pathway Church in Gresham, OR, and Megan Logue, a maternity nurse in Portland, OR, joined to inform workshop participants about trust-based relational intervention strategies.
“I have dealt with kids in hard places and after meeting their families I wanted to find ways to step in and help in any way I can,” Spence said. “We based our course on a series called ‘Hope for the Journey,’ a Christian-based conference which we have both gained from and hope to share with others in the church and community.”
Big Brain Theory: Childhood Development
December 15, 2022
By Heather Malm
Have you ever looked at someone and wondered, “What is going on inside their head?” The brain is the most complex part of the human body. This three-pound organ is the seat of intelligence, interpreter of the senses, initiator of body movement, and controller of behavior.
I’m sure we’ve all heard the expression of someone being right brained or left brained but, the brain is actually made up of 5 different portions: the frontal lobe with executive function like memory, decision making, planning, and emotional response; the parietal lobe handling sensory process information like touch, heat, cold, and pain; the occipital lobe being your vision processing center; the temporal lobe with all things verbal as well as controlling your unconscious automatic responses like hunger and thirst; and the cerebellum sometimes referred to as little brain since it’s were you find motor control, fine motor skills and emotional control regulation. Each portion handles different functions of the brain, but they all work together as one unit that makes you, you.
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