New Wine Anglican Mission has been
released from the affiliation oversight of the Anglican Mission in
America. AMIA itself has undergone organizational changes and is now
officially a mission society. Along with other AMIA churches in
Michigan we have decided to come under the new Anglican province
called the "Anglican Church of North America" or ACNA. We
have applied for reception under Bishop Roger Ames and the Anglican
Diocese of the Great Lakes. This has been affirmed informally and we
are awaiting official notification.
Practically this means we will be
joining a diocese which will grow from 20 to 40 some congregations
primarily in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky. We will still
maintain a mission spirit reaching out to our communities via a
ministry that carries a sacramental, evangelical and charismatic
balance. Last month several of our clergy leaders in Michigan spent
the day with Bishop Roger. It was a great time of sharing our
stories and getting to know each other, but most memorable for me was
a time when the Bishop prayed for each of us asking for a continued
blessing and guidance in each of our lives. This gathering took
place in our home which under our new cell model of doing ministry
continues to be a haven of rest and a great instrument out of which
to do ministry. And for this we are both grateful and blessed.
In this past month we also witnessed
the ordination of three men whom the Lord allowed us to help raise
up. The first was Micah Chisholm who finished seminary and is
serving as an assistant priest in Springfield, MO. in an ACNA parish.
As I have gotten to know Micah over the years, I know we have
raised up a teacher and preacher who has a heart for the lost and a
living faith in the One who calls him. The other two happened on
short notice. Samuel Makuach was ordained a transitional deacon as
he has been called to serve a small Sudanese congregation in Lansing.
Mike Cupp was quickly ordained priest as he and his family begin a
new work in Grand Rapids. Both these men I have come to know and see
the Lord's mighty hand on them. They love Jesus and are making great
sacrifices in order to heed the call. As I have tried to pour my
support and time into these three men and as New Wine has sponsored
two of them in their discernment process, we feel great joy in
witnessing these ordinations!
September 6,7 & 8, Fawn Glassford
and I joined some 70 "missionaries" in an
inter-denominational outreach called "Engage Flint". For
three days we went door to door praying over the city and praying for
the people we met. On several occasions teams of two or three were
able to share the good news of Christ and give away New Testaments.
We prayed for many people for healing, to overcome discouragement and
asked the Lord to help turn our city around. This often allowed us
to introduce neighbors to each other, like two pastor's wives who did
not know about the other young mom feeling alone who lived one street
over. We followed up already with two women who are very interested
in regular Bible study. I am meeting with a third gentleman for
coffee next week. This reminded me how much people are looking for
the real thing when it comes to Jesus. We just need to make
ourselves more available to be used to listen and to pray with them.
Our first grandson is due in the next
few weeks and will mark another life transition for the Kulchar
family. Pray for Sarah, Asa & Josh. Join with us also in
praying for "spiritual and numerical growth" at New Wine
this fall.
