E-Tidings May 2003
In this issue:- News from Around Our Great District
- Easter Attendance 2003 Sets Record
- Campground to Welcome New Caretaker
- Easter At the Eastside Mission
- Past and Present, NYC Provides a Dynamic Spiritual Path for Youth
- Thumb Zone Organizes Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit
- 2003 Camp Dates
- Gibson Center Rooms For Family Camp
- Rv Lots Available
- Interim Maintenance Director At Camp
- Donation Spotlight For May: Metal Bedframes
- Reminder On Recent Campground Address Change
- Volunteers Needed to Remove Old Office at District Center
- PrimeTime Update from Rev. Charles Bledsoe
- Detroit First to Host Dove Award Nominee Dean-o in Concert For Kids
- About E-Tidings
News from Around Our Great District
Congratulations to Rev. Dan Wine, pastor of Williams Lake Church on the extension of his call through April of 2007.Rev. Rob Prince, pastor of Richfield Church reports that over 1,300 people attended a Monday night concert to benefit the Flint Eastside Mission. FFH and the Paul Coleman Trio were the featured artists. Over $14,000. was raised for the Eastside Mission. Thanks Pastor Prince and Richfield for your efforts to feed and clothe the poor of our area.
Monroe Church will begin moving into their new facility on Saturday, May 17.
Rev. Art Crawford of Beulah Church has been hospitalized. More details to follow.
Please continue to pray for Dr. Neil Strait, DS of the Michigan District and his wife Ina. Dr. Strait is undergoing radiation treatment for bone cancer.
This past Sunday Dr. & Mrs. Anthony traveled to Sandusky Church in the morning for the installation of their new pastor, Rev. Vern Hazzard (see picture). 
Pastor Hazzard, wife Debi and sons Bill and Mike have moved from Escanaba, Michigan where they were pastoring.
Sunday evening Dr. & Mrs. Anthony were at Merritt Road Church in Ypsilanti for the installation of Pastor Eric Spohr (see picture). Rev. Spohr is coming from Adrian First Church. A good contingent of his family and folks from Adrian 1st joined us for the installation. His pastor, Rev. Larry Betz also joined us and prayed the installation prayer.
Rev. Ron Sharp has accepted a call to the Flint East Church and will begin June 1st. Ron grew up on the EMD at Howell Church. He previously pastored Adrian Madison and Merritt Road Churches.
Dr. Anthony received a call from Ken Apple who along with his wife and daughter travel out of Nashville and are Southern Gospel style singers He will be in the Michigan area in late May and June and has some dates available. You can reach him on his cell phone at 615-429-6970.
Campground to Welcome New Caretaker
The Campground has called Rev. Robert Flowers to be the new Camp Caretaker beginning June 1, 2003. Rev. Flowers and wife Pam along with their three children have served in churches in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. They are coming to the Camp from an associate pastor position in Delta, Colorado. Robert is an ordained elder while wife Pam is an ordained deacon, specializing in children's ministry.Easter Attendance 2003 Sets Record
Easter Attendance was our best ever with over 16,000 in Easter Services across our district. Seventeen Churches had over 300 in Easter attendance. They were:- Flint Central 1802
- Richfield 1158
- Warren Woods 1080
- Detroit 1st 958
- Howell 896
- Brighton 533
- Adrian 1st 506
- Williams Lake 492
- Flint East 468
- Metropolitan 449
- West Flint 425
- Plymouth 404
- Bethel 402
- Tecumseh 380
- Union Lake 325
- Swartz Creek 318
- Flushing 311
Easter At the Eastside Mission
The Eastside Mission wants to thank all who helped make the Easter Celebration a wonderful day in the Lord. 300 + dinners were served and the same amount of Easter Baskets were given to each child who came for them. Many smiles on the kids faces and a few tears on some of the parents faces. We also handed out 200+ stuffed animals. Thanks again to you who made this all possible. Jesus is making a difference on the Eastside of Flint because of you.Bill and Barb Burdine and The Eastside Neighborhood.
Past and Present, NYC Provides a Dynamic Spiritual Path for Youth
Houston-The year was 1958. A group of handpicked Nazarene youth came together for the first 'International Institute' in Estes Park, Colorado. United by the vision of Nazarene Young People's Society (NYPS) leaders including Executive Director Ponder Gilliland and NYPS General Council member Paul Skiles, youth were challenged to engage in serious personal spiritual formation. They were asked to consider listening carefully to God's call on their life, to experience an expanded view of their church, and to participate significantly in a variety of worship experiences.
Now known as Nazarene Youth Conference (NYC) and held in every region of the world, this core vision, re-imaged and re-cast for each subsequent generation and culture, has continued to be the premiere discipleship and leadership event for Nazarene youth.
On July 22-27, 2003, Houston, Texas, will host NYC '03 for USA/Canada NYI. With "Discipleship" as its focus, participants will again be challenged to live a life far deeper than the passive Christianity with which many have become comfortable. Nearly 10,000 participants converged on Toronto, Ontario for NYC '99, a number which is expected to be topped this summer.
Every aspect of this event has an intentional spiritual dynamic. Organized around daily themes such as Covenant, Contemplation, Communication, Community and Compassion, each day will begin with a Bible study in which teaching, music, and drama are intertwined. Lunch will provide an organized time of processing and testimony as each participant's own NYI leadership lead discussions pertaining to the daily theme. Following lunch, participants will attend two seminars, led by some of the top youth workers in the denomination. The afternoon will include some free time to walk through the prayer path, visit the Recreation Hall, check E-mail in the Cyber Café, or ponder future plans in the Exhibit Hall. After dinner, participants will attend the evening service for a dramatic time of community worship. The night will end with a concert featuring a contemporary Christian artist or an opportunity to again participate in structured free time activities.
Beyond these daily activities, each student will participate in a Ministry To Others (MTO) project. These projects, organized in conjunction with Houston's Urban Link, an inner-city rejuvenation ministry, will allow students to live out their walk with Jesus Christ. By 'ministering to others', students learn to incorporate a compassionate worldview into the patterns of their daily life. Please remember the youth, the NYC '03 event, and it's leaders in your prayers. For more information on NYC '03, visit http://nyi.nazarene.org/nyc on the web.A video segment, featuring the prayer emphasis utilized to prepare for this once-in-a-lifetime event, can currently be seen in the video news section of www.ncnnews.org.
--NYI
Thumb Zone Organizes Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit
The Thumb Zone pastors have arranged a trip to view the Dead Sea Scrolls in Grand Rapids. They will be leaving from Flint and have several seats available. The bus will be Leaving West Flint Church of the Nazarene at 7:30 a.m. on May 23, 2003. They will be returning approximately 6:00 p.m. Cost is only $26.00 per person and includes admission to the museum, admission to the planetarium show, bus fare and a stop at Baker book house if time permits. Also bring money for lunch and shopping.INTERIM MAINTENANCE DIRECTOR AT CAMP
Rev. Kendall Deford, from the East Flint Church, has been appointed as interim maintenance director (a.k.a. caretaker), while the camp continues to seek God's will for a permanent person for the position. Kendall Deford has been working hard helping to get the campgrounds ready for Summer and we are grateful for his willingness to help step in to this key role of ministry at the camp.DONATION SPOTLIGHT FOR MAY: METAL BEDFRAMES
Upgrading one of your basic bedframe systems this Spring? Have an old metal frame that is still in good shape that you would like to do something with? Your Eastern Michigan Nazarene Camp is in need of some basic metal bed frames (without head board or foot board) that can be adjusted to fit double size mattresses. These will be used in the Gibson Center to replace damaged ones. Anyone who would like to make a donation of used ones in good shape please contact the campground office. Special thanks to The Taubman Company for the donation of a paper shredder, which was the featured need in April, and to Bryan Williams of the Metropolitan Church (who works for Taubman)for helping us find out about the possibility of this donation. Please see our donation page of our website for a listing of all current needs. You may even sign up on the webpage to be notified when changes are made to this list.
REMINDER ON RECENT CAMPGROUND ADDRESS CHANGE
As the time of the year approaches where more people send mail to the district campground, please double check the address you have on record. The 2002 Eastern Michigan District Journal shows a Burkhart Road address which is no longer correct and will result in a delay in campers or the office receiving mail. Please use the address listed below under contact information.District Center Contact Information
Rev. Alan Stokes, Camp Manager
4171 Woodland Drive
Howell, MI 48855
Email: CampDirector@christianemail.com
Web: www.emdnaz.org/camp_home.php
Office Phone: (517) 546-9683
Fax: (517)546-3332
Manager's Cell Phone: (517) 861-0356
PrimeTime Update from Rev. Charles Bledsoe
"Enlarging our Vision! Expanding our Witness! Exalting our Lord!" These statements contain the purpose and thrust for our Work & Witness adventure to Florianopolis, Brazil. Due to a conflict in some scheduling, we have changed the dates for this ministry event to: October 24-November 6, 2003. Nothing else has changed. We now have 19 cutting-edge, mature, excited PrimeTimers who have accepted the challenge of our district's first PrimeTime Ministries Work & Witness experience.
Our team members are: Earl & Priscilla Mann (Highland); William & Mary Crawford (Ridgeway); Rev. Robert McFarlane & Kenneth Moore (Allen Park); Jean Cook, Rev. Earl & Nancy Hardyman, Skip & Linda Holt, Judy Lucas, Elizabeth Garvey (Howell); Lawrence & Leona Cavanaugh (Madison Heights); Francis & Bertha Andrews (Hudson, NH), Auda Damron (Bethel); and Rev. Charles Bledsoe (Union Lake). It looks like we will reach our goal of 20, however we can take 25 to Brazil.
If you, or someone you know, is interested in this trip, please contact Rev. Charles Bledsoe (ULNazarene@AOL.com or 248-684-9457) as soon as possible. If you are a PrimeTimer and have always wanted to experience Work & Witness and you felt your time for Work & Witness has passed, then rest assured-this trip is for YOU! Take advantage of this incredible ministry event. Your Life Will Never Be The Same!