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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