Report of the
Board of Church Extension
The Board of Church Extension has the distinct privilege and responsibility of promoting and helping the Bible Fellowship Church to carry out the Great Commission by planting churches to the glory of God. The Lord has demonstrated His perfect faithfulness through another year of ministry within the Department. This was a year of transition. David E. Gundrum became the Executive Director on May 1st, 2000. He has brought his own unique and excellent gifts and personality to the tasks of leadership. David has been enthusiastically representing the work of church planting to churches and visiting with each church planter for evaluation and encouragement. The Board is grateful to God for Daniel G. Ziegler’s leadership of the Department for thirty-two years. It was a great joy to host a “Retirement Dinner” for Daniel and his wife, Jaquelene, at Fellowship Manor. Many enjoyed the evening of remembering God’s faithfulness over the years. Recognition and appreciation were also extended to Carol Snyder, who has retired as the Director of Development. A highlight of the evening was the announcement of the “Daniel G. Ziegler Legacy Fund” to be designated for planting new churches. The Board is pleased to establish this fund as an ongoing tribute to Dan’s untiring devotion to church planting and encourages each church to consider a contribution. The office personnel also changed. In light of Rachel Kistler’s retirement, Linette Smith and more recently, Ruth Richards, have continued to provide excellent administrative support in the office.
The work of church planting has its joys and sorrows. With joy, this year the Board appointed an Assessment Committee for the Lighthouse Bible Fellowship Church in South Allentown, PA, and the Brooklyn, NY, Mission. Each has steadily progressed and is rapidly moving toward recognition as a Particular Church. The Pleasant Valley, NY, Bible Fellowship Church has “graduated” from the oversight of the Department. Many of the missions are showing steady, if not rapid, development and growth. The Board is grateful for those elders in the Bible Fellowship Church who, though not members of the Board, are willing to serve on Surrogate Boards of Elders for missions and churches of the Department, providing essential leadership and guidance in their formative years.
With sadness, this year the Board made the difficult decision to close the Staten Island and Beacon, NY, Missions. The Board remains committed to inner city church planting and remains open to a future work in Staten Island as the Lord may direct. We thank the Lord for each man that has served in this place over many years and for the eternal fruit that God has brought forth over the years. W. Robert Buckwalter will not seek re-election to the Board after years of faithful and dedicated service to the Lord. His work on the Property Committee has been invaluable. Also, the Board remains encouraged with the progress made in plans for a joint effort with the Board of Missions to more effectively carry out Christ’s Great Commission.
We enter another year of ministry with great expectations regarding the potential of new church plants. The Board has assumed oversight of the Hellertown, PA, church plant, which was birthed out of Calvary Bible Fellowship Church, Coopersburg, PA, along with interest and support from our Quakertown and Bethlehem churches. The time appears ripe for a church plant in the Delmarva Peninsula region. These expectations are sourced in a great God Whose desire is to build His church. However, they are at times tempered by the reality of limited financial resources available for these new church planting efforts. New church plants are absolutely essential to the future health and growth of our denomination to God’s glory.
A special word of thanks is extended to all of those who faithfully support the ministry of planting Bible Fellowship churches through their prayers, gifts, and participation in work projects. These are true partners in the ministry. The Board communicates its sincere appreciation and gratitude for the commitment of those churches that gave one percent of their offerings to the Fund to Promote Church Extension as recommended by the Board of Directors. This has been a source of great encouragement. Also, the Board thanks the Lord for the fine men who are serving “in the trenches.” Church planting is not an easy task. There are times of great loneliness, frustration, and discouragement mixed with the times of great joy. Please continue to pray for and support each of these men and their families. We invite you to visit the missions and churches of the Church Extension Department to encourage them and to see firsthand the results of your partnership. The Board continues to pray that God would work in such a way that it is unmistakably a work of His.
The following is a list of the men who are presently serving in the Department of Church Extension:
Aberdeen, NJ (Bayshore)John C. Vandegriff
Atlantic County, NJ. . . . . . . . . .Unassigned
Brooklyn, NY. . . . . . . . . . . . Ralph E. Ritter
Chesapeake, VA. . . . . . . . . Willis I. Dowling
Hellertown, PA. . . . . . . . . . . . . .Unassigned
Las Cruces, NM. . . . . . . . . . . . .Jack Becker
Newark, NJ. . . . . . . . . .Delbert R. Baker, II
Tom’s River, NJ (Ocean County)Dean A. Stortz
Scranton, PA. . . . . . . . . . . . . Roger L. Reitz
South Allentown, PA. . . . . . .Eliot H. Ramos
Thompson, CT. . . . . . . . .Dennis W. Spinney
Walnutport, PA. . . . . . . . . .Jonathan P. Tait
The Board of Church Extension recommends the following resolution be adopted by the 118th Annual Conference of the Bible Fellowship Church:
Whereas, the Board of Church Extension is of the opinion that the New Community Mission, Brooklyn, New York, meets the qualifications of a Particular Church as specified in Article 18 of the Articles of Faith of the Bible Fellowship Church, therefore, be it
Resolved, that the New Community Mission, Brooklyn, New York, be recognized as a Particular Church, and that its delegate be received into membership of the 118th Annual Conference of the Bible Fellowship Church.
Board of Church Extension: Richard E. Taylor, Chairman; David W. Armstrong, Vice Chairman; William R. Singletary, Treasurer; William G. Schlonecker, Secretary; David E. Gundrum, Executive Director; W. Robert Buckwalter, Dennis M. Cahill, John C. Elias, Clyde W. Snyder, Byron Widger, Robert H. Zentz