On April 27, 2026, the evening session of BFC Conference was dedicated to the Mission Church graduations. After a time of musical worship led by Jeremy Harkins from Ebenezer BFC in Bethlehem PA and an address on “A Biblical Mandate to Church Plant” by Sean Cooper from Global Serve International, David Gundrum introduced the two Mission Churches being presented to the Conference for graduation from Church Extension Ministries.
Hope Church Graduation Presentation
First, Church Planter Josh Dupiche gave an overview of Hope Church in Milford DE. He mentioned the small group who connected with Church Extension and grew overtime to fill the small building in the town of Milford –all before Josh and Juli moved from Philadelphia to Milford. Once the Dupiche family moved to Milford (and Josh, the city boy, adjusted to having a lawn to mow and having a llama next door), the Lord raised up many leaders including Bryce Evans who stepped up to be the musical leader after Josh tried to lead worship himself. Bryce came up to Josh after the service and said, “No, brother. I’ve got this.”
Josh also recounted how the Lord provided a building for the church that had every feature the group had been praying for including a playground for kids. Josh gave thanks to the Lord for the many leaders who have stepped up at Hope Church. Josh’s wife Juli and their three children were in attendance as well as Al Hester, one of the elder candidates for the church, and Bryce and Brianna Evans and their children.
Grace Community Church Graduation Presentation
Next, Church Planter James Reff presented Grace Community Church in Chestertown MD. It’s been ten years since James and his wife Mindy began church planting with the BFC. James’s first introduction to the BFC was through Pastor Aaron Susek who, at the time, was church planting in Gettysburg, PA. (Aaron is now the pastor at Grace BFC Wallingford.) About a year after that first meeting, Ray Bertolet became aware of a church in Chestertown that needed revitalization after a church split. The church was down to 12 members. After some more conversation, a connection was made and James and his family moved from Westminster MD to church plant in Chestertown. In 2022, Trace Haines and his wife, Renee, moved to Chestertown so that Trace could serve as Assistant Church Planter. James noted that Trace has never met a stranger which is a great help for making connections in the community.
After some more remarks, James played a video highlighting what God has done through the years and included highlight photos from fun youth events like real-life Hungry, Hungry Hippo games and Nerf wars and basketball tournament outreaches. Grace Community has also engaged their community for Christ in other ways including gospel presentations during the town’s Tea Party festivals. Now they have grown to the point of being able to graduate as a Particular Church in the BFC denomination. Mindy Reff and their children were in attendance as well as Renee Haines and elder candidate Lamar Stoltzfus.
Graduation Celebration
After the presentations, there was a reception with cake and lots of greetings from the BFC pastors and elders in attendance. It was a joyous celebration marking the faithfulness of the Lord to each of these church plants. In May, both Grace Community and Hope Church will have chartering services to celebrate locally their graduation.