Thursday, March 14, 2013

Funeral Arrangements for Sister Lorene Spears

Lorene Frances Spears 87 of Westmoreland TN
passed away Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Funeral services for Mrs. Spears will be held Saturday, March 16, 2013 at 1:00 PM from Lakeside Church of God with Bro. Leon Graves, Bro. Ronnie Spears and Bro. Mike Creasy officiating.

Interment will follow in Sumner Memorial Gardens. Pallbearers will be Jeff Graves, Stacey Graves, Scott Graves, Josh Graves, Spence Creasy and Chad Fields. Honorary pallbearers will be be Angela Spears, Tyler Graves, Caleigh Graves, Taylor Graves, Alec Creasy and Connor Graves.

Visitation will be: Thursday, March 14, 2013 from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM at Woodard Funeral Home and Friday, March 15, 2013 from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM at Woodard Funeral Home and Saturday, March 16, 2013 from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM at Lakeside Church of God.

Mrs. Spears was a member of Lakeside Church of God of Prophecy.

She was preceded in death by
Father - Jesse Andrews
Mother - Zelma Key Andrews
Daughter - Linda Meador
Brother - Wilfred Andrew
Brother - Herman Lee Andrews

She is survived by
Husband of nearly 70 years- Odie Spears, Westmoreland, TN
Daughter - Faye & (Leon) Graves, Westmoreland, TN
Daughter - Edith & (Gerald) Graves, Bethpage, TN
Daughter - Joyce & (Mike) Creasy, Murfreesboro, TN
Son - Ronnie & (Kathy) Spears, Murfreesboro, TN
Grand Child - Jeff Graves
Grand Child - Stacey Graves
Grand Child - Scott Graves
Grand Child - Josh Graves
Grand Child - Spence Creasy
Grand Child - Angela Spears
10 Great-Grandchildren
Spiritual Grand Child - Lashell Spears
Sister - Aline & (Willard) Stephens, Westmoreland, TN
Sister - Elva Mae & (Billy) Frye, Westmoreland, TN








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Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Death Notice - Lorene Spears

I just learned a few-moments-ago about the passing of Sister Lorene Spears at the age of 87.

Sister Spears is the mother of Fay Graves, wife of Nashville District Presbyter and Pastor of the Lakeside Church in Westmoreland, Tennessee.

More information will be posted, including visitation and funeral time. Please join me in prayer for this entire family and church.


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Sunday, October 14, 2012

Death Notice - Hubert Alexander

I am saddened to report the passing of one of our great Tennessee Deacons. Brother Hubert Alexander went home to be with The Lord at about 4:30 a.m. this morning..

Brother Alexander's son, Pastor Vernon Alexander serves as Senior Pastor of our Union City Church in West Tennessee. Please join me in prayer for this precious family during this difficult time.

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Sunday, August 26, 2012

Stewardship Ministries Transition

The Stewardship Ministries/Ministerial Services Director will no longer be an appointed position, nor a stand alone department effective September 1, 2012. However, stewardship will continue at all levels in the Church of God of Prophecy. The General Presbyters will fervently be modeling, promoting, and teaching stewardship. The Caribbean General Presbyter has already made stewardship one of the core values in his area.

The Center for Biblical Leadership team will be teaching stewardship to pastors and leaders in the forty nine scheduled Schools of Practical Arts and Science.

Much seed has been sown in stewardship over the last fifteen years. This seed fell on good ground and will produce a many-fold return.

The 403(b) Retirement Plan will continue as well. The American Funds are outpacing the market and are proven sound investments for long term perspectives such as retirement funds. Our Agent of Record is Kelly Miller. She is a properly credentialed financial consultant with years of experience in guiding people through good and bad financial times. Kelly can be reached at 800.477.2344 or 770.319.1700. Her email address is kmiller@resourcehorizons.com.

Kelly has always proven to be very helpful. She has participated in numerous General Assemblies by making her expertise available at the Stewardship Ministries Booth. I encourage you to make use of her skills and knowledge. There is no separate charge for her services.

The 403(b) Retirement Plan is a win, win situation—no Income or Social Security Tax on the minister’s contribution. Taxes on withdrawals taken after age 59 ½ can be offset as housing allowance. American Funds are out-performing the market. Retirement has its own challenges, but being prepared financially eases the transition. It is a scriptural principle to save during the fat years for the lean years.

Direct your 403(b) operational questions to Chief Accountant, Paulette Wilbanks at 423.559.5113. Paulette is knowledgeable on tax issues as well.

Stewardship questions should be directed to the Financial Director, Bishop Paul Holt.

This has been a fulfilling, blessed fifteen years for Milton and me. We are very grateful for the opportunity to have moved from the business world to ministry, where our work has eternal significance.

Jan Couch
Stewardship Ministries/Ministerial Services Director



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Transition of International Stewardship Ministries

Stewardship Ministries Transition

The Stewardship Ministries/Ministerial Services Director will no longer be an appointed position, nor a stand alone department effective September 1, 2012. However, stewardship will continue at all levels in the Church of God of Prophecy. The General Presbyters will fervently be modeling, promoting, and teaching stewardship. The Caribbean General Presbyter has already made stewardship one of the core values in his area.

The Center for Biblical Leadership team will be teaching stewardship to pastors and leaders in the forty nine scheduled Schools of Practical Arts and Science.

Much seed has been sown in stewardship over the last fifteen years. This seed fell on good ground and will produce a many-fold return.

The 403(b) Retirement Plan will continue as well. The American Funds are outpacing the market and are proven sound investments for long term perspectives such as retirement funds. Our Agent of Record is Kelly Miller. She is a properly credentialed financial consultant with years of experience in guiding people through good and bad financial times. Kelly can be reached at 800.477.2344 or 770.319.1700. Her email address is kmiller@resourcehorizons.com.

Kelly has always proven to be very helpful. She has participated in numerous General Assemblies by making her expertise available at the Stewardship Ministries Booth. I encourage you to make use of her skills and knowledge. There is no separate charge for her services.

The 403(b) Retirement Plan is a win, win situation—no Income or Social Security Tax on the minister’s contribution. Taxes on withdrawals taken after age 59 ½ can be offset as housing allowance. American Funds are out-performing the market. Retirement has its own challenges, but being prepared financially eases the transition. It is a scriptural principle to save during the fat years for the lean years.

Direct your 403(b) operational questions to Chief Accountant, Paulette Wilbanks at 423.559.5113. Paulette is knowledgeable on tax issues as well.

Stewardship questions should be directed to the Financial Director, Bishop Paul Holt.

This has been a fulfilling, blessed fifteen years for Milton and me. We are very grateful for the opportunity to have moved from the business world to ministry, where our work has eternal significance.

Jan Couch
Stewardship Ministries/Ministerial Services Director



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Saturday, August 11, 2012

Sorting and Organizing Data

Now that you have gathered data from your local church/state or regional records, it is important to sort and organize the data.  For those of you who are familiar with Microsoft Excel, this is very simple, as is Apple Numbers or any other spreadsheet program.  If you are not familiar with these, regular paper spreadsheets are available from your local office supply store.  If you are going to benchmark several areas, I would recommend you obtain a spreadsheet with enough columns to properly organize your data.

The process is the same, whether paper or electronic for this next step.  Here is an example for your benefit:

Year Tithe Offerings Sunday School Morning  Church Baptisms Conversions
Attendance Worship Membership
Attendance
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011


Begin by entering the information you collected in the appropriate place:

Example:  For the year 2000, enter the total tithe in the column with that heading, do the same for Offerings, etc.  (Don't worry about doing anything else until you have entered all of your data).

Finally, as you can see, this is ONLY a method of ORGANIZING your data.  Future posts will cover how to determine averages.  I hope this is helpful.  God bless

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Gather Information

You might wonder why I posted an entry featuring one of our Senior Saints in my last blog entry.  The reason is quite simple; these people have left us a starting point.  In some cases, you may be in a new church plant but in most, you are in a church that has been established for some time.  The next step is critical as we begin to cast vision in our local church; understand your past.

WHAT IS OUR HISTORY

I will readily admit that there are some who do not see the importance of this step, but I personally believe it to be vital to success.  Too often, we have such a desire to look forward that we don't realize the need to look back.  I like to say, "it's okay to look back, but don't stare."  Ask a few questions that will help you determine and find the proper place to gather your data from.

  1. Church minutes are an excellent source to turn to in this step.  When did the local church start?  Where was the first congregation meeting?  Were there any special circumstances surrounding the plant of the church.  Who were the charter members?
  2. Long-time members of the local church are an invaluable asset.  Quite often, they will be able to tell you how and why the local church was established in your city.  Was it the result of a church split?  Unfortunately this has been the starting point of many local congregations, and in my personal opinion, is NOT the best way.  Too often the seed of discontent and discord are sown into the DNA of the local church.  Most of the time, the local church was started because someone had a burden for a particular city or town, or there was a genuine push to expand the church into unreached areas.  To this day, we still celebrate when the Church of God of Prophecy has reached a new nation of the world by highlighting it in our biennial International Assemblies.  Long-time church members should be interviewed, and it would be a great idea to make a video recording of their memories.  This is a great tool for celebrating later.
  3. State/National records.  Make an appointment to meet with your state/national overseer to see if there is something in the records that might help you in your quest.
Be sure to keep good records from the present time forward.  As mentioned before, interview the members who have been affiliated with your church from the beginning (or as close as you can get to it) to understand the impetus for the church plant.  In the next post, we will discuss the SWOT process a little more, followed by information on the development and implementation of your MISSION and VISION statements.  

God bless!