Report of the
Board of Church Extension
The Board of Church Extension has continued to serve the Lord and the BFC through a commitment to planting churches to the glory of God in obedience to the Lord’s Great Commission.
We find great encouragement in Christ’s promise to build His church and are humbled to be a part of this glorious work.
The Board has met regularly to oversee the planting of new churches, to monitor the development of existing missions and churches, and to develop policies and strategies to more effectively accomplish our mission.
“A Plan to Plant” has been developed and presented to the BFCes to serve as the vision to guide our activities and further this work in the next several years.
The Board is grateful to God for the leadership provided through David Gundrum, Executive Director. This has marked his first full conference year of ministry in this position. He has been tireless in representing the work of church planting among the churches and overseeing the men in the Department. His vision for church planting is clear and his enthusiasm is contagious. Ruth Richards has been invaluable in the office overseeing the daily administrative affairs of the ministry. Carol Snyder, Project Coor-dinator; John Pello, Outreach Assistant; and Chris Merrick, Ministry and Work Team Coordinator; provide valuable support to the team. The Board is grateful for all those who are partners in this work through prayer, financial support, and volunteer service in the missions and churches.
Church planting is hard work with times of joy intermingled with those of discouragement, frustration, and even loneliness. We honor the men who are presently in the trenches. Continue to pray for these men and their families, that the Lord would encourage them and strengthen them for the task. We invite you to visit the churches and missions to get a first hand glimpse of the life of the church planter and what God is doing through these men.
This year we rejoiced in the establishment of new missions in Hellertown, PA, and in Lewes/Rehoboth, DE. Stephen Mann and Kenneth Barber were called to serve as organizing church planters in these missions, respectively. Organizing elders have been appointed in each of these missions.
We are grateful to the Board of Directors of the BFC for its cooperative effort to develop guidelines for the use and oversight of the Fund to Promote Church Extension. The Board fully supports the recommendations of the Board of Directors in formulating these guidelines. We also express appreciation to those churches that once again graciously gave one percent of their offerings toward replenishing this fund. The Board continues to develop guidelines for a “Daniel G. Ziegler Legacy Fund.”
Organizing boards of elders along with assessment committees continue to provide invaluable oversight and evaluation in each of our missions and churches. We appreciate those men who serve in these positions. We are pleased that church planter, Willis I. Dowling, Chesapeake, VA, is recommended for ordination at the one hundred nineteenth Annual Conference.
The Property Committee of the Board this year provided oversight, along with the Board of Directors, in the sale of the Somers Point, NJ, and Staten Island, NY, properties.
We praise the Lord for the provision of a strategic tract of land adjacent to the church in Newark, NJ. Rev. Bert Baker and these dear saints have prayed and waited patiently upon the Lord for this provision.
We are deeply grateful to God for His unfailing faithfulness toward His work of church planting. The words of encouragement and support and expressions of confidence by many are deeply appreciated. Continue to pray for our Lord to raise up church planters in the BFC.
The Board welcomes your input and covets your prayers for this work. A monthly prayer calendar is available for distribution in your churches.
The following is a list of men who are presently serving in the Department of Church Extension:
Aberdeen, NJ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .John C. Vandegriff, Jr.
Brooklyn, NY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ralph E. Ritter
Chesapeake, VA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Willis I. Dowling
Hellertown, PA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stephen C. Mann
Las Cruces, NM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jack Becker
Lewes/Rehoboth, DE. . . . . . . . . . . . .Kenneth F. Barber
Newark, NJ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Delbert R. Baker, II
Tom’s River, NJ (Ocean County). . .Dean A. Stortz
Scranton, PA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Roger L. Reitz
South Allentown, PA. . . . . . . . . . . . Elliot H. Ramos
Thompson, CT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dennis W. Spinney
Walnutport, PA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jonathan P. Tait
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; Dennis M. Cahill, Robert W. Davies, John C. Elias, Clyde W. Snyder, Bryon Widger, Robert H. Zentz