The Fundamental Top 500

 June ArticleIseminger Family Ministries, December 2004 

 

Isemingers Announce Change in Ministry Structure

 

Dear Friends,

 

I am writing you concerning a change we are making in the way we operate.  As of January 1, 2005 we will no longer be operating under the umbrella of Shepherd’s Staff World Baptist Missions but will simply operate as a ministry of our home church, Lincoln Ave. Baptist Church in Ionia, MI. This is not a decision that we have entered into lightly nor is it one that our pastor, Dr. Darren Tharp has suggested or asked us to do. We have however counseled with him about this and he fully agrees with and supports our decision. I have also spoken to Dr. Chaney about our concerns and he completely understands and supports our move.

Why make a move like this after nine years with the same organization? I will do my best to explain our thinking. The biggest reason is one of simplicity. As I mentioned in our last prayer letter, we are doing our best to simplify things. One of the things that draw the most comments from people is that we have GA plates on our vehicles, a PA mailing address and MI Church membership. To further complicate things, while we operate out of a church in MI, Dr. Chaney operates out of a church in GA and Shepherd’s Staff has a mailing address in OH. It is not wonder that we receive so many comments about where we are from. In an effort to simplify things we are taking steps to center everything in Ionia, MI, which seems to be the logical place to locate everything. As of November we have MI plates on our trailer and on our next trip to MI we will be switching our truck, drivers licenses and rent a PO Box making the move complete.

The other reason is that of authority. I have always been strong on local church authority and the older I get the stronger that conviction gets. I am in constant contact with my pastor and I make no decision without his council. Since we do not operate on a foreign field that requires mission board affiliation, nor do we need a board with a contingency plan to evacuate us from a volatile third world country it just makes sense to simplify the lines of authority and make our primary authority (our church) our only earthly authority.

We hope this will not be an inconvenience for you or your treasurer. If you have any questions please feel free to call me at
(814) 777-4231 or call our Pastor at (616) 527-0970. We thank you for your support both prayerfully and financially.


Because of Calvary,

David Iseminger

Romans 10:13-15