The Ohio Independent Baptist, May/June 1994

The Newsletter of the Ohio _Association of Regular Baptist Churches Vol.67 No.4 May/June 1994 Church Planting Retreat Stirs Hearts To Prayer In This Issue • Few dying churches recover. First Baptist of Twinsburg plans to be one that does. page 2 • Read about Teen Funtastics and Talents for Christ winners. by State Representative Larry Fetzer he most important ingredient in church planting: PRAYER. On April 11 -12, tbe Church Planting Task Team of Lbe Ohio Association of Regular Baptist Churches sponsored a Church Planting Prayer Retreat at Scioto Hills Baptist Camp, for the purpose of activating an intense flow of prayer toward heaven for our Ohio church planters and for the leading of Lbe Lord regarding church planting in Ohio. Included in the retreat were representa– tives fron1 Cedarville College, Baptist Bible Seminary (including three students interested in church planting), Baptist Church Planters, Baptist Mid-Mis ions, Tlaptist Missionary Builders, Continental Baptist Missions, The Assocation of Baptists for World Evangeli m, the Ohio Women 's Missionary Union, and pastors and assisLants from across the state . In the course of tl1is 24-hour retreat, lour sessions were devoted to prayer, with emphasis on public, small group and individuaJ prayer. Messages were brought by former Ohio State Missionary l~arl Umbaugh; Larry Smill1 of Baptist Mid– M1ssions; rfom I ... odsdon, ontinentaJ Dapu~t Missions; and Larry Fetzer. Ot11ers st1ared testimonies and experi– ences regarding church planting. J>erhaps tJ1e soundest advice cai11e frou1 l::arl (J111baugh, who told us, "Walk close enough to ll1e Lord so as to know what Ile want~ you to do, and then JU~t g<> and de, it. ,. lJrnbaugh shared ho\v prayer w~ the key factor in bis years of church planting in Ohio. He prayed about which groups to work with, when to start, where to meet, bow to finance it, and who should pastor it. The Lord answered the requests, and in his years in office as state mi ionary 68 of the churches in the OARDC today were started . page 3 • Ohio Women announce retreat schedule. page 6 • After many years , we have a clear title to the Camp Patmos property. page 7 Bxhuberant Youth Culture A Challenge For State Youth Committee by Kenneth J. Spink, Chairman, Ohio State Youth Committee Fa ter than a speeding bullcl.. .morc powerful than a locomotive...grcatcr and rnore i111pressive than Clark Kent. .. it is... today 's youll1 culture. While today's youtll culture has excelled in producing shock ,u11ong various adult group , it represent · an ainazing source of energy . L.ike fire, it n1ust be respected and controlled. It ~urely n1ust be utili,cd and not dou~cd. 'J'he exuberance and freshness of teenage 'hrislifu1i1y h tL'i often been U1e kindling of rcvivaJ fires I low n1any Lin,e~ have 1ccn~ hr<>ught tl1e1r fri end~and f,u111l y n,cn1bcr~ t<> "hnst! ·rhc ()hio State Y<>ulll ('on1n1i1tcc wrestle · wi tl1 U1is fiery ytlulh culture 'f'hc hurdcn of reaching teen~ for ("hr1~t and lun1ing U1cir great energy around 10 he used for U1e I .t>rd i~ what dn vc~ l11e Youth ( "on1n1i1Lcc in it s cff<)rl, . l'lus 1, ll1c hc,trt t>f "hrist·~ ron1n11s~1on, for tc,n1<>rrow ·~church lcaocr~n,u , t he evangc li,cd and trained llHJay. ' l'hc devil has given a hi gh pr1or1ty Lo utrgcting youth We n,u~l pray f<lr Lhe1n and f<>r the ()hto State Yl>Ulh ( \ln1n111tee as they l,trgc t ()hi<l'~ teen, anJ J t'\ 1,t' appr<>p11all' plan, l< l harnt·,, Lh1, grl'.ll cncr gy I tlr ( ' hrt ~l