On May 23, 1973, Gene Smith was having some fun playing piano duets with his cousin who was a musician for a traveling evangelist. Gene, a young married man with two children, was a gifted church organist, but in a church that did not make the gospel of Jesus Christ Read more…
What do you do when you feel angry, bitter, sad, or offended? Most people, including church planters, go into masking and medicating mode. They deny or cut off their emotion and distract themselves with something else. The “something” may not be a bad thing in itself like watching a movie Read more…
What does a church do when the struggles they are facing are forcing them to consider closing? Churches in this predicament feel as though they are stuck in quicksand. Before the quicksand of closing unexpectedly swallows them whole, they have to consider three options: Preparing for Closing The first option Read more…
As the part-time Director of the BFC’s Hispanic Ministries, I’ve been praying—a lot! Many things are changing for many people around my community and me, even in our home countries. As Director David Gundrum reminds us, these challenges are opportunities to advance the Gospel. New Church Planting Works On February Read more…
Each church plant has its own unique story in regards to its beginning, its church planter, and its process, but there is a general outline for church planting that Church Extension Ministries (CEM) follows to make sure that we’ve prayerfully thought through every aspect to give a Mission Church a Read more…
Is any church an accident? The men who got together to start what is today called the Bible Fellowship Church did not intend to start churches. They simply wanted to share the gospel, to evangelize their neighbors. Organization and church buildings were not part of their thinking. They were farmers, Read more…
The term “graduation” conjures up an image of a sea of students in long robes and mortarboards thrown in the air with tassels trailing behind like kite tails. But in the Bible Fellowship Church a graduation is when a church plant is ready to come out from under the oversight Read more…
When Shawn Rohrbach and his wife Erin were looking for a house to buy in Topton, their realtor showed them half of a twin house. “The man who lives in the other half of the twin is a pastor who is starting a new church in town,” the realtor said. Read more…
“I wish I had this when I was planting was my recurring thought during my boot camp experience,” said Tim Zuck, Mentoring Assistant and former church planter. On November 7-9, Pastor Tim Zuck (from Forks Community Church in Forks Township, PA) and Christian Lefko (Church Planting in Residence at New Life BFC, Oley) Read more…
Christian Lefko is the new Church Planter in Residence at New Life BFC in Oley. Although he has only been at the church since September 1, the Lord has been working on his heart for many years to lead him to this point. Christian grew up in a home with Read more…