BCNE News
The latest news from our network of New England churches. Looking for our New England Perspectives Articles? Click here.
Bible illiteracy - it’s an epidemic
Did you know, in the average church:
⅓ of members read the Bible once or a few times per week
⅓ read their Bible rarely if ever
Only ⅓ read their Bibles daily!
(Approximate Statistics from Lifeway)
The good shepherd
Throughout Scripture, the metaphor of sheep and shepherd are used to paint a vivid picture of God and His people. Psalm 23 begins with the line, “The Lord is my Shepherd,” and Jesus affirms this in John 10. While few of us today know the intricacies of agrarian labor, we have read stories, watched films, and driven past enough farms that the realities of these statements are within the realm of imaginative meditation. Let us dust off the redeemed imagination so that the goodness may hit us afresh, so that we may ingest the treasures of truth to be found within the living Word.
Do you pastor a historic church?
Here in New England, we have the richest ecclesiastical heritage in the country. Church history permeates our BCNE landscape: the pilgrims of Plymouth colony, Jonathan Edwards’ hometown of Northampton, George Whitefield’s crypt in Newburyport, D. L. Moody’s estate in East Northfield and the wharf of Adoniram Judson in Salem are all within driving distance. Your local church may have been the fruit of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, flourished under the First Great Awakening or a supporter of the Modern Missions movement. There are some wonderful advantages to pastoring a church with a long and rich history.
Dr. and Mrs. James Wideman: A lifetime of service, prayer, and generosity
James (Jim) Wideman, a native of Texas, and his wife Sandy, a native of Florida, invested much of lives in New England, first moving to the region in 1970. After dating at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas, in the summer of 1970, they were assigned as short term missionaries to Screven Memorial Baptist Church (now called Seacoast Community Church) in Portsmouth, N.H. Jim later returned to Texas to finish his seminary studies but in 1979, a growing sense of call to New England led them back to Portsmouth where Jim became pastor of that church.
Leaving a legacy: Lessons from Tychicus
Do you ever skim past verses in the Bible where Paul sends greetings to or from fellow Christians who are all but forgotten in our day and age? Although it’s easy to pass by verses like this in favor of Scriptures that are more easily applicable to our daily lives, all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable. Let’s take a closer look at one such verse.
Quanto tempo vai durar o que você lidera?
Este foi o tema de uma conferência apresentada pelo Pr. Josué Campanhã para pastores e líderes da Grande Boston. Devido ao atual momento de pandemia que estamos vivendo, o evento ocorreu de forma on-line, com a presença aproximadamente de 50 participantes. O encontro durou 2 horas, onde todos puderam ouvir, refletir e participar, de forma objetiva, sobre este tema tão relevante em nossos dias: A qualidade da liderança em nossas igrejas. A conferência foi tão encorajadora que alguns pastores e líderes já estão se mobilizando para promoverem encontros on-line com o Pr. Josué Campanhã, visando um aprimoramento dos temas apresentados para os seus respectivos ministérios.
Sacred space
Every day. Every day God has a plan for my life. Every day He wants to guide, teach, and use my life for his purposes. To abide in Him (John 15). Every day I decide to follow or go my own way. For years I taught a retreat curriculum that referenced the phrase, “If Satan can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy.”
Prideful pastors
". . . All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble." (1 Peter 5:5)
Far beyond any rival, it was the most glaring example of pastoral pride I had ever seen. A pastor invited me to attend a special service to celebrate his ministry anniversary. He invited a long list of community and denominational leaders. Even the mayor and his entourage showed up.
Boston church and its network make largest ever donation to BCNE
In celebration of the 40th anniversary since its founding, the Berkland Baptist Church network of churches (including Antioch Baptist Church in Cambridge, MA) has made a special gift to the Baptist Convention of New England in the amount of $1 million. This donation represents the single largest gift ever received by the BCNE and will be used to fund church planting, church revitalization, and collegiate ministry.
Family of nine uproot, make a new ministry home 1,000 miles north
STOWE, Vt. (BP) – Gerald Hunt was a Georgia kid with an interest in Vermont, a land way above the Mason-Dixon line where hockey is more popular than college football and bread stuffing replaces cornbread dressing on holiday dinner tables.
Christians should “bother” each other more often
May I encourage us to consider removing a phrase from our Christian vernacular. After more than twenty-five years of walking with Jesus, it is a phrase I have uttered on more than one occasion and have been on the receiving end as well. Even when the phrase wasn’t uttered, the attitude behind it was often communicated. While the intent of this phrase is usually one of grace and compassion, the results many times are either mediocrity or hurt. Much like the vintage ads for morphine of the late 19th century, this phrase promises health but brings disease.
Seven pivots for the church revitalizer in the new year
Every new year brings its challenges and pivots. I have been challenged to pause in the many pivots I have had to make as a church revitalizer and reflect on how God wanted me to lead. The pivots that we have faced in recent months have taught us many essential lessons for future revitalization.
How do you keep score?
Professionals like to list their accomplishments on their resumes. In fact, LinkedIn is a professional social media platform designed for professionals to continuously update and publicize their list of accomplishments for the world to see.
Keep asking
Several years ago, I was speaking at a conference to church planters. At the end of the session, one of the attenders came up to me and said sarcastically, “I heard you are a hot shot church planter. What do you think has made you successful?” I thought about his question and answered seriously and yet simply, “I didn’t give up.”
What the Lord has given us is enough
I weaved the colored lights in, through, and around the branches of our 20 year old store bought tree with enthusiasm. Of course, we had tested all of the lights beforehand. Miraculously, they all still worked, and I had been told confidently that there were five whole strands to work with. But then I asked the children to hand me the last strand of lights to complete the tree.
Making a list and checking it twice
Hey moms! I see you trying to create magical Christmas memories for your family. You are working through your shopping list, decorating the house, and planning special activities. You are baking cookies, planning parties, and searching for matching Christmas pajamas. You are thinking of ways to make Advent more meaningful for your family and looking for ways you can serve your neighbors and community. If you are like me, you’ve created in your mind a list of all of the “essential” things needed for the “perfect” holiday. I don’t know where exactly my list came from.
Rediscover the feeling of Christmas
When we first moved to New England there was already snow on the ground. It was only a few weeks until Christmas and the small village in Vermont that we moved to looked like a Norman Rockwell painting. We were busy revitalizing a historic church that has considered closing just a few weeks before we arrived. During those first few weeks as Christmas approached, we did a lot of “Christmas” things we had never done before.
Advent is for the weary
In New England, the season of Advent creeps into the literal darkness of December. As the days shorten, the holiday season ramps up, it’s frenzied and bright. The loudest messages speak of exuberance and abundance and assume a constant state of exhaustive cheer. And while joy is central to the coming of Christ, the season of Advent also presses back with a counter-cultural invitation into a stillness of soul as we watch for the coming light.
Hope for a dying church
Troubled times for America: We had never been more divided politically. Battles raged over conflicting visions of freedom and justice. The country was on the brink of civil war. Business had been booming, but there were signs of impending economic collapse. Even more troubling, American Christians were in a spiritual malaise: discouraged and disillusioned. Many were falling away from the faith and checking out of church. The light of the world seemed to be fading…
God is a God of new beginnings
God is a God of new beginnings, second chances, restoration, new chapters. Nowhere in the biblical narrative do we see God saying to his people, after a losing battle: "That's it, there's no way around it, there's no point in trying again, defeat is certain, there is no possibility of restoration." On the contrary, when God's people were enslaved by great nations, He promised deliverance; when the people fell into sin, He promised forgiveness; when Jesus' disciples forsook Him, He stretched out His hand.