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Body Builder
October 15, 2022
Mid-American Baptist Churches of Iowa and Minnesota
strive to work together to build up the Body of Christ.
Many churches will recognize October as Pastor Appreciation Month.
Take some time this month and let your pastor know how much they are appreciated
for their leadership and service to your congregation.
MABC Region News:
We are Definitely Better Together!
Just a few Biennial Gathering photos - more can be found on our website
https://www.mid-abc.org/2022-biennial-gathering
   
   
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First Baptist Church, Indianola
participating in the 2022 Warren County Historical Society Log Cabin Day parade in September.
This year's event theme was "Faith" in Warren County.
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A word from Pastor Dave SchwechelJust wanted to share what we are doing in Iowa Falls.
During the Biennial, Missionary Toya Richards shared how so many live on $1.90 a day and asked what can we get for $1.90?
So we are challenging congregation to come up with a meal for $1.90.
(I know in theory it needs to be 3 meals for the entire day) – but it is starting conversations and provoking thought
Here is one example
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First Baptist Church, Jefferson, Iowa
Greetings,
This message is to announce the installation of Pastor Daniel Cunningham to ministry at
First Baptist Church-Jefferson, IA.
Official installation will occur during regular morning worship on
Sunday, October 16, 2022 at 10:00 am.
A reception will be held from 2:00 - 3:00 pm on the same day.
Mid-American Region Family are all invited to attend.
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Visit RainbowAcres.com to learn more about the ministry!
Contact Jan Grogan (jangrogan@aol.com) or Kathryn Houser (houserkm@gmail.com)
for Mission Trip information.
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What's your church up to these days?
Send us photos with a brief explanation so that we can share them with the MABC Family in an upcoming edition of the BodyBuilder.
Our Regional Youth Event (aka RYE)
is right around the corner....
Dear church leaders - we have an amazing opportunity for your junior and senior high students to grow spiritually, connect with other teens from around the region, and learn hands-on ways to become Christian leaders in their church and community.
The Region Youth Event (RYE) is three short weeks away, and runs November 4-6 at The Church on Northland in Cedar Rapids. We are finalizing plans for an amazing weekend with a powerful keynote speaker, inspiring music, and games and activities that will build up your students.
Please pass this email on to your youth leader, and if you have any questions, call the Region Office asap - 515-278-1411 - office@mid-abc.org.
Registration forms are attached to this email. We are excited to journey with your youth as they help grow the Kingdom of God.
They have a story to share, and we want to help them learn how to tell it.
Additional information can be found our region website
https://www.mid-abc.org/mabc-region-youth
In the love of Christ,
Your Region Youth Team
Information Letter to Pastors and Leaders can be found HERE
RYE 2022 Information flyer can be found HERE
Registration form can be found HERE
Covid-19 Waiver can be found HERE
All of this information can also be found on our website HERE
Click below to view a printable copy of the registration form.
Prayers for churches in our region in search of pastoral leadership
CLICK HERE
News from ABC Life
We invite you to view our newly published 2021 Annual Summary. This publication provides a glimpse into the work of the American Baptist Churches USA Office of the General Secretary during the previous year. We are excited to share a look at the ministries and role of the Office of the General Secretary. Learn more about how we serve our congregations and partners through gathering the denomination, supporting congregations, regions and national organizations, and creating spaces for local and global issues.
Latest newsletter can be found HERE
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Please pray for the people of Puerto Rico who are experiencing the most dramatic flooding on the island since Hurricane Maria. The 2022 Hurricane Fiona has dumped over 25 inches of rain and caused massive flooding.
Executive Minister Rev. Edgardo Caraballo lamented, “Currently most of the Island is without electricity service. Since Sunday we activated our Disaster Response Committee. We are taking an inventory of losses and needs among our pastoral families and congregations. We do not have much information yet because communications have been affected and the waters have not yet receded in many communities. But so far we have identified six families in three different churches who lost everything because of the floods.”
Persons who wish to give to relief efforts may do so through the One Great Hour of Sharing offering. You can use your church mission support form. Checks and contributions should be labelled “OGHS PR 2022 Hurricane” in the memo line
Relief efforts will be coordinated through the American Baptist Home Mission Societies. “We are so grateful for ABHMS that serves as the principle channel for distribution of relief funds in the U.S.,” said General Secretary Dr. C. Jeff Woods. “ABHMS has organized a constant flow of volunteers to Puerto Rico since Hurricane Maria struck in 2017. Please pray, give, and volunteer as you are able to help our Puerto Rico residents recover from this disaster.”
Dr. C. Jeff Woods
General Secretary
American Baptist Churches USA
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If you would like to read the most recent update to the ABCUSA search for a new General Secretary,
you can click here to read the current update along with an archive of previous updates.
Please keep this search process in your prayers.
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Interpreting the Impact of Covid-19 on Congregations
Task Force Invites Survey Responses
VALLEY FORGE, PA (9/21/22)—American Baptists are invited to respond to a survey from the Interpreting the Impact of Covid-19 on Congregations task force.
The deadline for survey responses is Friday, October 21. Take the survey here.
“All our lives have been changed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The way we look at the world, the way we engage with one another and even the way we encounter the God we serve has been impacted by this challenging foe that we can’t even see. In an attempt to understand the varied ways this pandemic has affected the life and ministry of American Baptists, the Office of the General Secretary and the Board of General Ministries created the Interpreting the Impact of Covid-19 on Congregations task force, made up of leaders from across our Baptist family.
“Out of our conversations and in a desire to discover the myriad of ways this pandemic has impacted the life of American Baptists, the task force has created a brief survey. As you’ll see, we’re not looking to create another set of statistics, but rather our heart’s desire is to get below the surface and learn the ways God is working in the life of the Church through the pain and promise of these last two years. We hope you will prayerfully consider the questions that follow and share the survey with others so we can have the richest results possible for the furthering of God’s Work in our midst. To that end, thank you in advance for the gift of your time, and for the ways you and your church family are advancing the work of the Kingdom in the places and spaces under your care.”
The purpose of the Interpreting the Impact of Covid-19 on Congregations task force is to gather and share information regarding ways that ABC congregations can adjust to new realities created by the global pandemic so that they can become all that God intends them to be.
September 21, 2022 Newsletter HERE
October 5, 2022 Newsletter HERE
Click on the logo below to find out most up to date information related to Covid-19 and other health concerns as of October 14, 2022.
For more event information, visit www.abwomensministries.org/events.
For a listing of important dates to remember of ABWM events - click HERE
2021 - 2023 Ministry Focus: Let the Walls Fall Down
Midwestern Section: Tuesday, October 25, 2022, at 8:30 PM EDT
ABWM Regions: Central (Arkansas, Kansas, & Oklahoma), Great Rivers Region (Illinois & Missouri), Indiana, Michigan, MId-America (Iowa, & Minnesota), Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin
Click here for more information and to register!
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Join us for our Fall Wellness Retreat Event:
Stop and smell the roses,” they say. As if you didn’t have eighty-eight thousand tasks, as if you didn’t have deadlines or drama. In our rapid-fire, tech-oriented society, who has the luxury of stopping to sit in nature like a bohemian free spirit? In the modern art world, flowers are considered frivolous subjects to paint – flowers make no social critique, flowers don’t say shocking things, so flowers are not “serious art.” Yet, Jesus invites us to consider wildflowers (Matt. 6:28). Have we dismissed flower-admiring as frivolous, unimportant to our “serious” lives? If we never stop to actually look at wildflowers, Jesus’ words will be a bit lost on us.
Slow Down, Look Up, Give Thanks.
Ladies, it’s time to reTREAT yourself!
Join us, and others from sister Mid-ABC churches, November 11th and 12th for a weekend in Cedar Rapids, IA for a time of bible study devotions, pampering, chair massages, activities, laughs, worship, and prayer. Use this time to focus on self care, rest, and thanksgiving before the busyness of the holidays.
Our inaugural Women's Wellness Weekend was back in 2019 and it was a very well received good time. Please consider joining us this November!
Talk to the ladies in your churches and invite a friend to come too.
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