The Ohio Independent Baptist, April 1991

_ The Newsletter of the Ohio Association of Regular Baptist Churches Vol. 64 No. 3 April I 991 Ministering in the Small Church astors representing ruraJ , small town, suburban and big city areas met together at Pleasant Hill Daptisl Church of Smi thv ille Jvf.arcb 11 - 12. \Vbat brought these men, n1ore than 40 of U1em. together, was the oppor tunity to learn n1ore about U1e exciting task of pastoring the smaller church. Pleasant Hill, a country church i n a di stinctJ y rural setting, hosted U.1e OARBC se1n i nar, " Ministering in Ule Small Cburcb." State Representative Larry Fetzer l ed the group i n U1inki ng about the special pl ace of the sn1alJ church i n the work of God. Speaki ng out of t11eir own experience, workshop leaders Steve Olsen (Pleasant Hill), Dennis Henderson (Shawnee Hills) and Cal Sear les (Camden), shared such Lopics as "Turni ng Your Burdens Into Bi es - i ngs," " Teachi ng Ille Sn1aJJChurch to Evangeli ze," and "Using Hospi tality to R.each People for Chri st. " " There are a nu1nber of excellent church growtJ.1 seminars around," noted State Representative Fetzer, " but some– times pastors of smal l churches need sometJ1ing n1ore tailored to their unique si tuations. Since at least one-hal f of our OARBC churches fi t into lhe small In This Issue • Rebinding Bibles is John Green's hobby. Page 2 • Like Southern gospel music? Head for Cedarville May 3. Page 3 • Greenville couple receives AWANA award. Page 3 • Seven Oh io chu rches welcome new pastors. Pages 4-5 • Ohio women announce fall retreat. Page 6 • Church planting, growth and leadersh ip conference set. Page 7 • Basketball reaches c ity kids- and their parents. Page 8 church category , we decided to gi ve them speci alized, practical help and encourage– rnen t. The work hop leaders were all men \.vho have been n1inisleri ng fai l.bfu11y i n sn1a.ll chur ches and have seen God bl ess and produce significant growU1. " Said one pastor who auended the conference, " It gave n1c many tlt ings to prayerfull y consider," and ano t11er, ''IL stressed the in1ponance of tJ1e sn1aJI church and renewed son1r of the lost pride in being a pastor i11 a snul.11 church." This was tJ1e first i n ,t series of sern inars on topics of special interest to OARD pastors.