Two of our high school seniors, Amos and Gideon Vreeman, will playing in the 3A Boy’s State Championship this month. Amos and Gideon play for Heritage Christian School, a small school that has done consistently well against some of the largest schools in the state. Heritage has been undefeated in conference play this year (you can follow stats through Alaska School Activities Association).
If you would like to see some great basketball, and support Amos and Gideon in their final year of high school basketball, Heritage’s first game is Monday, March 15th at 8:30pm, at the Sullivan Arena [map].
Please consider coming out to support Amos and Gideon and the Heritage Christian School team on Monday.
Speareo Stephens is currently in Fairbanks working on his ice sculpture for the World Ice Art Championship. You will notice from the list of competitors that artists from all over the world have converged on Fairbanks (China, Ukraine, Japan, Portugal, France, etc.).
The organizers have aimed a webcam right at Speareo’s ice so that you can watch it transform; he would love to hear that you visited his installation!
Rev. Doug Clawson
Our friends at Grace OPC in Wasilla have invited Rev. Douglas Clawson to speak at their annual Family Camp. Rev. Clawson is the Associate General Secretary of the Foreign Missions Committee of the OPC and travels regularly to various mission fields all over the world. The dates for the camp are July 25-27 at the LaVerne Griffin Youth Recreation Camp in Wasilla. Plan on rest and relaxation, and a glorious report about the work of the gospel throughout the world. Visit Grace OPC for the latest news.
Jeff and Caleb (Photo: Anchorage Daily News)
A special welcome to Jeff Wood as he returned from Afghanistan on Wednesday, January 21. Jeff and other Guardsmen from the 144th Airlift Squadron, 176th Wing were welcomed by their families yesterday, which included a very happy Audra, Caleb, and Sam. You can see more photos at the photostream published by the Anchorage Daily News.
The foreign missions sending agency of our denomination, Mission to the World (MTW) has made an appeal for help with relief efforts in Haiti. The Disaster Response Ministry of MTW is working with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and Pastors Etienne and Amicy to provide much needed aid. You can keep updated through the MTW Facebook page and make donations anytime here.
During my Sunday (Jan. 20) presbytery report, I mentioned that the church plants of our presbytery are doing well. Where are these church plants and how do you learn more?
Here is a list:
- All Souls Church of Seattle | West Seattle, Washington
- Hope Seattle | Queen Anne, Seattle, Washington (a CrossPoint Churches plant)
- Christ Church Bellingham | Bellingham, Washington
- Resurrection Presbyterian Church | Puyallup, Washington
- Redeemer Redmond | Redmond, Washington
- Exile Presbyterian Church | Woodinville, Washington
- Ascension Presbyterian Church | Lynnwood, Washington (a CrossPoint Churches plant)
- Hope Portland | Portland, Oregon
- Ascension Presbyterian Church | Beaverton, Oregon
- Chehalem Valley Presbyterian Church | Newberg, Oregon
There is a new organization in Fairbanks called Reformed Evangelical Ministries. This body is founded by PCA pastor Ben Shoemaker and his wife, Jana, as a vehicle to teach Reformed theology in an area with next-to-no Reformed influence whatsoever. The Shoemakers have a great heart for the glory of Christ and the city of Fairbanks. Perhaps, by God’s grace, REM will draw large enough crowds to serve as a catalyst for a Reformed mission church.
If you are in Fairbanks, give Ben a call. Pray for them, check out the website, and drop an encouraging note.
Faith Presbyterian Church supports Chris and Zhenya Bear (and their two boys!) in their church planting efforts in the Surrey Docks area of London (see links below). They are currently involved with Canada Water Church and have planted a church nearby (Surrey Docks Church).
Please read their latest newsletter [PDF] and view their England page on this site.
About this part of London: Google map of the area, Surrey Docks Completion Booklet (an overview), Royal Docks history, Docklands Past & Present, Canada Water Regeneration, London Development Agency (Thames Gateway), London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games
Last weekend Rev. Jack Phelps and Covenant Bible Church hosted their annual Reformation Day Church History Conference in Chugiak. Their special guest was Dr. Lyle Bierma (bio), professor of systematic theology at Calvin Theological Seminary.
Dr. Bierma’s talks opened with a beautiful rationale for the usefulness of historic confessions in the life of the church. In short, he helps us understand that when a congregation confesses what they believe, (a) the people are united to one another and to fellow Christians throughout the history of the church, (b) they have a way to instruct one another in the truths of Scripture, (c) they learn how to recognize counterfeit teaching, and (c) they have a testimony to proclaim to those examining the Christian life.
Of course, Dr. Bierma says all of this better than I! Since this talk was not recorded, I asked him if he has published the talk elsewhere. He emailed a PDF copy of Calvin Theological Seminary Forum, a publication of the seminary, in which he authored, “Why Be a Confessional Church?” This is a very clear and helpful guide. You can find more Forum articles in PDF, but as a gift to Faith PCA, Dr. Bierma offered to mail some hard copies of his article. Please contact me if you would like a copy.
While we’re talking about it, you should know that Faith PCA is a confessional church. You can learn about what we believe, or you can plan to attend our next Introduction to Faith seminar in the Spring.
Just a reminder, on Tuesday November 10, the regularly-scheduled Bible study in Romans will not be meeting. Please refer to the calendar for the latest.
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