September Clarion

September 2010

The Clarion The Clarion Volume 43 Issue 9

Inland Empire Baptist Association

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Bruce Hitchcock Church Growth Strategist

Martin Leach Church Growth Consultant

Multi-Ethnic Consultant Claudio Medina

SUNDAY SCHOOL PREPARATION AND TRAINING CONFERENCE

As we head into the fall, its a good time to get some training and inspiration. This event will provide an opportunity for all of your workers to renew their commitment to reaching and teaching people through the Sunday School ministry. We will have classes for all age group workers: preschool, children, students, adults and pastors/general officers. The same material will be offered at both conferences.

ADIESTRADOS PARA LA EXCELENCIA

This is our eleventh annual Hispanic training event. A publicity packet for this event has been mailed to all of our His-panic churches. If you did not received one, or need another, please call the office. You can also check out our web site

at www.adiestradosparalaexcelencia.org. It has all of the same information as the packet. You can also register online. In addition to all of the age-graded Sunday School conferences, we are proud to have Hugo Campos with us. He will be presenting his great discipleship course on Being a Doer of the Word. Also, Danny Beteta will be teaching on How to Witness to People of Other Religions. These are only two of the 17 conferences being offered this year. In order to help you, we have not raised the price of this conference in many years. There is a $5.00 discount if you pre-register on or before September 20th.

TRANSFORMED CONFERENCE

This conference will change your life. If you are longing for a deeper walk with God, this is for you! Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron will be among the speakers. Invite the entire church to this free event scheduled for Saturday, November 13. It begins at 8:30 a.m. and concludes at 12:30 p.m. We will meet at the Immanuel Baptist Church in Highland. It is free but you must register online at www.livingwaters.com be-ginning October 1. If you would like some flyers or posters just give us a call. You can also download publicity pieces at the Living Waters web site.

ASSOCIATIONAL ANNUAL MEETING

This will be totally different than anything you have seen before. It will be very practical and provide you with some great ideas for ministry. It will be on Saturday, October 16th at Magnolia Avenue Baptist Church. Watch for more details next month.

Before reading my article you should turn to page 4 of this months Clarion and read the EBI Seminary arti-cle. Below is the list of the classes now being offered in the Inland Empire. You can sign up by calling the Association (951.784.2655) or by coming to the Association office on August 30 & 31st from 9:00 a.m. to 3 p.m. or from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Classes are $50 a unit, and each class offered is 2 units. Be sure to sign up soon as the classes start on the week of August 30th.

Biblical Overview: Monday, 6-8 p.m. (Bilingual) Instructor: Dr. Daniel Beteta , Location: Riverside

Spiritual Leadership: Monday, 8-10 p.m. (Bilingual) Instructor: Dr. Daniel Beteta, Location: Riverside

Old Testament Survey: Tuesday, 6-8 p.m. (English) Instructor: Dr. Deryl Lackey, Location: Riverside

Biblical Overview: Tuesday, 8-10 p.m. (English) Instructor: Dr. Deryl Lackey, Location: Riverside

Biblical Overview: Wednesday, 6-8 p.m. (Bilingual) Instructor: Dr. Daniel Beteta, Location: Grand Terrace

Spiritual Leadership: Wednesday, 8-10 p.m. (Bilingual) Instructor: Dr. Daniel Beteta, Location: Grand Terrace

Titus 1:7 For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, (NASB) 1 Corinthians 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. (NKJV) Several churches have discovered recently that their constitutions require the church provide an audit or at least a reconciliation of funds to the congregation each year. Whether or not your church has that requirement, it is a good idea to conduct an audit. It is not necessary to hire an outside auditing firm to accomplish this task. In most cases an internal audit is sufficient. The church and its leadership have a stewardship responsibility to see that the resources made avail-able are used in the service of Christ and in the manner designated by the church leadership and the membership. This responsibility also extends to managing special gifts which may be restricted by the

donor, and thus are available only for a specific purpose. A properly functioning Audit Committee will help the church to fulfill its stewardship responsibility by helping to assure that resources have been used in the proper fashion. To receive more information on this important topic email: bruce@iesba.org.

Classes Offered Now:

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Shadow Mountain - Equip Biblical Institute

Equip Biblical Institute is coming to Inland Empire! EBI, a ministry of Shadow Mountain Community Church with Dr. David Jeremiah, provides college-level training to local churches in the areas of starting churches and equipping leaders for existing churches through its Church Planting and Leadership Training Centers. Courses are offered in English and Spanish.

EBIs Mission: To bring glory to God by assisting local churches to equip believers of various cultures and languages to live and minister biblically based on the inerrant Word of God. This equipping includes building biblical knowledge, Christian character, and ministry skills.

EBIs Vision: To equip church planters, pastors, and church leaders for ef-fective servant ministry by making Bible college and seminary level courses available to local churches by providing EBI Church Planting and Leadership Training Centers to local churches and associationseach Training Center is self-supporting. Students pay an honorarium of $100 to their instruc-tors for each 14-week course. All other costs are covered by donations from churches and individuals committed to developing community and church leaders. Over 700 church planters, pastors, leaders, teachers, and Bible students have attended EBI Leadership Training Centers in the United States and Mexico. Student-leaders are trained in transformational leadership, church planting, the disciple-making process, relationship building, Bible interpretation, Sunday School teaching, expository preaching, church growth, servant leadership, small group coaching, team leadership, conflict resolu-tion, church administration, prayer ministry, biblical marriage, worship, fel-lowship, discipleship, community ministry, evangelism, and missions. Student-leaders learn how to start churches, develop leaders, equip mem-bers, organize small groups, maximize ministry, impact communities, and transform lives through local-church computer-enhanced student-centered learning. Courses are transferable to the Southern California Seminary Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies program.

EBI degree tracks: Diploma of Biblical Studies in Leadership Associate of Biblical Studies in Leadership

Courses are developed in collaboration with Southern California Seminary and the California Southern Baptist Convention utilizing computer-supported, student-centered learning. Students meet for two-to-four hours per week for fourteen weeks and create portfolios of action plans, reflections, projects, group work, and presentations that demonstrate real-life learning and application. The EBI curriculum guides each pastor, leader, and student in assembling a virtual leadership team. Transfer credit is accepted from Contextualized Leadership Development and Seminary Extension into the Associate degree.

For more information, or to see the schedule of courses offered and locations, please visit http://shadowmountain.org/ebi and click on Training Centers.

Dr. Gary C. Woods, Director of Equip Biblical Institute

tikunkel@gmail.com.

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We have now added a mission trip link to our web-

site. Here we will list all of the mission trips that our

churches plan to participate in over the next year, with a

column for churches to attend, and a column for those

needing prayer. We want this to be a way to connect our

churches and allow us to reach the World for Christ. To

look up the mission trips go to www.iesba.org. To have

your church added to the list call the Association office

and ask for Angie.

MISSIONARY SPEAKER

AVAILABLE

John & Iracema Kunkel, church planter

missionaries to Paraguay, are currently on

furlough and living in the Inland Em-

pire. They are available to speak at your

church. You can contact John at

(909) 425-8441, or by e-mail at:

Foster care is the main form of government assistance provided to underprivileged children in

the U.S. who cannot remain in their own homes because of abuse or neglect. On average, foster

children experience three different foster care placements; however it is not uncommon to hear

of children who have been placed in multiple homes. More than 20,000 children each year exit

the system having never found a permanent home or family. The leading cause of death in chil-

dren under the age of 4 in the U.S. is abuse and neglect. Children even here in Riverside need

homes. Here are some recent statistics:

-Riverside Department of Public Social Services reports that there are "approximately 5,000 children" in the foster care