Great Lakes Conference Gathers in Person!

It’s been a year in which we’ve all had to learn to pivot and adapt and do things in different ways from what we were accustomed to before the pandemic. One of the major changes over the past 15 months was the way our local regional conferences gathered – most of the annual conference meetings have been held in some type of digital format. This past weekend, the Great Lakes Conference gathered together in person at the Wharton First Church of God in Wharton, OH. I think the brothers and sisters who were able to be there were elated to be able to gather together (they also provided a live stream of the event for those who were unable to attend in person). 

The theme was From Surviving to Thriving! It was a timely theme after the past 15 months. It was a wonderful two days with Friday set aside for pastors and their spouses and Saturday being the annual conference sessions. The CGGC directors of Latino Ministries, Caleb and Christina Acosta, were the keynote speakers and offered a couple of breakout sessions over the two days of conference. Their presentations focused on two major themes. The first was to share the story of what God has done through the work of Latino Ministries starting in the U.S. and then expanding across Central and South America over the past 15 years. It’s a remarkable story of God’s grace and redeeming work, expanding from one congregation to nearly 30 today in seven different countries! Latino Ministries is certainly one of the areas of ministry that is thriving today! 

The second theme focused on helping local congregations recognize ways to engage in meaningful ministry with the Latino people in their local communities and areas. The Latino population is projected to be the fastest growing people group in the U.S. population over the next 25 years. There are more and more opportunities for existing congregations to begin ministry outreaches to the Spanish speaking people who live next door. This can take on several shapes, from launching ministry efforts from an already existing congregation to sharing facilities with a Spanish speaking church plant. We’ve had several congregations across the CGGC who have done this over the years: Parkwood (Midwest Region), York West Poplar Street (Eastern Region), Middletown (Eastern Region), Columbia (Eastern Region), and Parkway (Eastern Region) are just a few of those who have shared their facilities with Spanish speaking congregations in recent years. Caleb and Christina Acosta are available to help local congregations assess the needs of Latino populations and strategize ways to offer effective ministry to your Latino neighbors. 

Are there many Spanish speaking people in your local zip code? Are there Spanish speaking congregations in your area? Are there steps you could take to learn more about the opportunities for ministry that exist in your own backyard with the Spanish speaking people of your community? 

It was a wonderful two days of fellowship, encouragement and learning together. I’m looking forward to being able to regather with all the regions in the months to come! It was good to be together again. 

The sessions were recorded and will be available soon on the Great Lakes Conference website (https://glc.cggc.org/). I’d encourage you to check out the Acosta’s break out session on discovering ways to minister to the Latinos in your community – it’s was very helpful and offers a lot of good information and starting points for taking a first step. Maybe your congregation needs to explore what it would look like to reach out to the Latino neighbors in your local community? 

Christ’s Peace,
Lance

CGGC eNews—Vol. 15, No. 24

Enews