“We’re entering uncharted territory, aren’t we?” quipped Conference Chairman William G. Schlonecker on Tuesday afternoon at the 126th Annual Conference of the Bible Fellowship Church.
He was right, of course. We were. And we will be, likely for quite some time.
This year, Annual Conference – to be known in the future as “BFC Conference” (how’s that for change?) – adopted a “something old, something new” posture.
In what was the final action of our 150th anniversary year, the BFC’s sesquicentennial was celebrated via a series of video vignettes that looked back at our often unusual, sometimes quirky, but always interesting past.
But in the same year we looked back, we also looked ahead. This was the year when, by Second Reading approval, we adopted an Executive Board structure while also approving a new position, that of Executive Director.
In addition to our new Annual – er, BFC – Conference name, we’ll also have a new title for the man who occupies the position at the podium for what is normally three long days of important-but-grueling business. In the future, he’ll be known as “BFC Conference Moderator.”
Got all that? It may take some time to figure out things like the effect of a two percent church assessment and the impact the new structure will have on our denomination. But for a denomination that has changed several times over the course of its history, may we look forward with hope to what the Lord will do in the BFC in coming years.
“About every generation or so, we reinvent ourselves, at least organizationally,” noted Randall Grossman, who will serve for the next three years as President of our next Executive Board. Brother Grossman asked for our prayers as he takes on new responsibilities while still attending to his primary calling as senior pastor of Grace BFC, Reading.
While we’re on the subject of “new” things, Annual Conference had a new ending this year – on Tuesday night, of all things. With all our business concluded, we adjourned early. No, that isn’t a misprint. For the first time in our history, Annual Conference was concluded in two days – not three, or five.
Not everything was new, of course. Some things were downright familiar in the manner of a comfortable sweater. There was R.C. Reichenbach, for instance, standing at the microphone and imploring pastors to send in their beneficiary society dues…just as he has for, well, no one seems to know exactly how long.
And there was the usual camaraderie between brothers from different churches. A lot of work gets done, but we laugh a lot, too, and Annual Conference is always a reminder that the Bible Fellowship Church is, in many ways, an extended family.
Also familiar this year was the commitment of men to hear the proclamation of the Word of God. Each day opened with a call to worship, serving to remind us that what we’re doing isn’t mere business; it’s far more important than that.
Each morning’s message followed a 150th anniversary theme, that of “Growing the Future.”
On Monday, Brother Schlonecker proclaimed that we are to be a people who are “Growing in the Word.” With 2 Peter 1 serving as his text, he described the three legs of what a commitment to the Scriptures looks like:
1. The Word of God is all-sufficient, resulting in dependence.
2. The Word of God is ever-effective, resulting in godliness.
3. The Word of God is fathomless, resulting in humility.
The final World Series call of late Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas served as an apt segue to Brother Schlonecker’s final point. After Kalas passed away, Phillies President David Montgomery said, “We have lost our voice.” But the BFC, Schlonecker said, is fully anchored to the preaching and teaching of the timeless truths of the Bible. “Our only voice has been and must remain the Word of God,” he concluded.
On Tuesday, John Studenroth reminded pastors and delegates that we have a mandate to continue to proclaim the Gospel in a message entitled “Growing Out By the Spirit.” Brother Studenroth reminded us that part of our responsibility as an “expanding fellowship of churches” is that we take the Gospel everywhere, not just to places that are convenient and non-threatening. Studenroth cited his own ministry example: “I want to reach an unreached people group – professors,” he noted.
Citing B.B. Warfield, Brother Studenroth reminded us that we have a calling, as followers of Christ, to go and make disciples even if doing so costs us something. “Self-sacrifice brought Christ into the world,” Warfield said. “And self-sacrifice will lead us, His followers, not away from but into the midst of men.”
Wednesday’s message, “Growing Up Into the Head, Christ,” was supposed to be delivered by Ralph Ritter, was entitled “Growing Up Into the Head, Christ.” Brother Ritter graciously agreed to preach Wednesday’s message…on Tuesday night, in conjunction with the service of ordination.
Brother Ritter’s text, Ephesians 4:11-16, served to remind us about the holiness of the body of Christ. We are to “grow up” – to grow up in our faith. To grow in our holiness. And it is not something that is intended to be done alone. “This is a body project,” he said. “This is something we’re supposed to be doing together.”
In addition to the preaching of the Word and God-honoring musical worship as led by Pastors Carl Cassel and LeRoy Heller, Annual Conference highlights focused on people obeying God’s calling on their lives.
On Monday, for instance, Church Extension Director David Gundrum introduced “the new corps of BFC church planters,” four men who have been called to exciting church plant ministry.
Each of the four – Mark Barninger of Freedom BFC, Hanover Twp., PA; Aaron Susek of BFC of Adams Co., PA; Dan Williams of New Beginnings BFC, Woodbury Heights, NJ; and Tim Zuck of Saucon Community BFC, Hellertown, PA – shared his passion and calling.
“Church planting was not on my horizon,” Brother Williams admitted, echoing the stories of most of the others. But God is using each man in his new setting.
Monday night also featured an update on the Tanzania Project, which is designed to bring the glorious Gospel to six previously-unreached people groups in Tanzania, East Africa.
Matt and Sukey Lynskey, who hope to be on the field in Tanzania this summer, shared their new ministry, which will utilize a three-year plan to bring the Gospel to one of those six people groups. “The glorious message of the Gospel…is that one truth will expand to all people groups,” Matt explained.
Especially touching was Calvin Reed’s prayer for the Lynskeys, his own daughter and son-in-law. “Their lives are to be yours….Faith is a gift, whether it’s at home or in the most remote parts of the world,” he prayed.
Tuesday evening’s ordination service provided a fitting conclusion for our 126th Annual Conference. This year we celebrated our past…but we also set aside new men for future Gospel ministry as David E. Brandt, Steven J. DelDuco, Frank E. Lenahan and Daniel L. Williams were ordained and the previous ordination of Kurt P. Francis was recognized.
Brother Williams, pointing to his fellow ordinands, reminded them that the central focus, even in an ordination service, is on God, the author of salvation.
“Tonight’s not about us,” he said. “It’s about that sweet song of salvation that has been sung for hundreds of years.”
Respectfully submitted,
Ronald L. Kohl
Conference Reporter
126th Annual Conference