July/August 2019

Dr. Ronald J. Blake District Superintendent

District Office:

2055 E. Hadley Rd. Plainfield, IN 46168

317.856.3715 (phone) 317.856.4633 (fax) www.indydistrict.org

rblake@indydistrict.org office@indydistirct.org

Upcoming Events:

• Aug 15 Dr. Blake’s Birth-day

• Sept. 28 SALT Ladies Night Out

• Oct 3 ONU Prime Time/Grandparents’ Day

• Oct 19 Board of Ministry

• Nov. 26 Rev. Susanne Blake’s Birthday

• Dec 2 District Leadership Christmas Dinner

• Dec 6 Pastor/Spouse Christmas Banquet

• Jan 10-11 Skill School

• Jan 24-26 Marriage Retreat

• Feb 29 Board of Ministry

• Feb 29 End of Church Year

The Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:14,”For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.” The word “compels” appears in some translations as “controls,” “rules,” or “constrains.” All of the words, with per-haps the exception of “constrains,” are positive words. Compels means to force or drive. Constrain means also to force or oblige and it can mean to confine forcibly by bounds. Paul is saying that Christ’s love has become so real in our lives that it is a force and compelling force that we order our lives by and it is to control our thoughts and ac-tions. The word constrain, though often seen as something restraining or constricting, is actually a word of boundary. In essence the Love of Christ sets the boundaries for my life! Why do we have this compelling love in our lives? What does the compelling, con-straining love of Christ accomplish in our lives? If you are convinced that Christ died for you, that He loved you with that kind of love, you cannot do less than submit to His rule and Lordship of your life. The Love of Christ accomplishes many things in our lives. I am reminded of a story I read a few years ago that describes three things that happen when the love of Christ compels us. Rev. Alan Stibbs, a one-time lecturer in New Testament at Oakhill College, had been a missionary with the China Inland Mission. He described the course of the Yangtze River at one point in its eastward trek. On either bank there were high, solid rocks that "constrained" the river in three ways. First, these rocks gave the river unusual depth, since the flow of the water was held in and dug deeply into the riverbed. Second, be-cause the river was constrained by the rocks and was so deep, it had significant drive. Today, this drive is harnessed for the production of hydro-electric power. Third, the em-bankment created by the rocks guided the river giving it direction. As Stibbs pointed out, believers need depth, drive, and direction in our lives. The love of Christ should motivate us in these ways as it did the apostle Paul.

• Depth. Christ’s compelling love will give us depth. You could never plumb the depths of Christ’s love. It frees us to love others as He has loved us.

• Drive. Christ’s love is the empowerment we need to motivate and direct us. It gives us a reason to love others and live for Him.

• Direction. Our direction is dictated by the love of Christ. Because He loves us we can trust Him. Even when the way does not seem promising or clear to us, we trust His love and follow His direction.

What is the driving factor in your life? I want my life to more and more be identified by the Love of Christ. May my decisions be marinated in the love of Christ. May I be driven not so much by ambi-tion but the driving power of His love. I want to dive deeply into His love and love others in the way that a Christ-follower must follow the example of our Lord. Yes, Paul has reminded us of a great truth. Christ’s love does truly compel us!

Mrs. Martha Bean , President 4146 Gambel Rd., Indianapolis, IN 46221 marthabean63@gmail.com 317-413-2921

Rev Ryan Garner, President 5847 Glen Haven Blvd., Plainfield, IN 46168 rdgarner79@gmail.com

WOW! What a time we had in Phoenix at Nazarene Youth Conference. There were roughly 9,000 youth and sponsors gathered together for worship in music and hearing from God’s word. We had such a great time. God is on the move! We were challenged to Love God, Love Others, and Live Love. Thank you for all of your financial and prayer support for our stu-dents. Your investment will not return void. I encour-age you to continue your prayers for our youth who attended. Ask them how God spoke to them while they were there. It is time for school to start up again. Our students face challenges in their lives that never even crossed our minds. As you look to this coming school year, how can you be an encouragement to the youth in your life? Take a moment and ask the youth in your life how you can be praying for them. Take a moment and pray over them and follow up as the year pro-gresses. Your walking with them on their journey will have a profound impact on how they experience God’s presence. Thank you for your continued sup-port of the youth of our district.

Family Fun Day – Everyone Invited!

Remember LINKS Missionaries in August

LINKS and Christmas allocations are due in August.

Thank you! Details online: indynmi.info/links

Rev. Danny Goddard, SDMI Chairman 1727 Grand Ave., New Castle, IN 47362 dgoddard@ncfirstnazarene.org

Challenge From the Chair . . . Summer is on and that means we have to think creatively to get people to Sunday School and church. Summertime is always a good time for …

• Vacation Bible School. Check with The Foundary to see what might be available in terms of curriculum. Don’t just make it a VBS for your church kids, but make it a huge outreach event.

• What about a fish fry for a Sunday School class party? Guests will attend a party before they’ll attend a class or a church service.

• Have a “Neighbor Night” on a Sunday afternoon with blow-up toys, a classic car show, oldies music, and of course, plenty of free food!

Even though it’s vacation time for everyone, find ways to get them into church and Sunday School! My church recently gave Sandie and me a six-week sabbatical. Among other things during my study time, I watched seven webi-nars on evangelism from thediscipleplace.com. That’s a part of our Global Church of the Nazarene. Go there and look to see what’s available for you and your Sunday School teachers and workers. My pastor of many years ago used to talk about “the summer slump,” three months of lower attendances. Let’s fight that and find new and innovative ways to get them in! And whatever you did this summer, it always begins with Sunday School!

% AM Resp. % AM Resp.2019 2018 + / -- Wrshp 2019 2018 + / -- Wrshp List

Centerville 25 24 1 4% 57 71 Franklin 34 33 1 3% 46 114College Corner 11 11 0 0% 15 38 GateWay Cowboy 6 NR N/A N/A 17 20Connersville First 37 30 7 23% 42 81 The Point 38 31 7 23% 62 NRConnersville Gortner 40 30 10 33% 44 74 Indpls. Restoration Pt N/A 8 N/A N/A 21 39Hagerstown 87 70 17 24% 49 89 Indpls. Southside 92 79 13 16% 154 274Liberty 27 32 -5 -16% 53 117 Indpls. Southwest 123 NR N/A N/A 131 269Richmond First 73 77 -4 -5% 79 98 Life Pointe 61 NR N/A N/A 98 191Richmond New Life 5 7 -2 -29% 28 20 Martinsville First 114 100 14 14% 149 320Richmond Southview 20 20 0 0% 35 88 Martinsville Trinity N/A NR N/A N/A 15 NRWilliamsburg 28 25 3 12% 53 84 Matu N/A NR N/A N/A 145 N/AWhosoever 11 12 -1 -8% 24 39 Monrovia 12 11 1 9% 33 29 ZONE TOTALS 364 338 26 8% 479 799 Southport 124 119 5 4% 184 310

Willow Grove 13 13 N/A N/A 12 85Indpls. Castleton 76 81 -5 -6% 93 127 ZONE TOTALS 617 394 223 57% 1,067 1,651Fishers Point 30 20 10 50% 47 170Fortville 99 125 -26 -21% 166 217 Greensboro 33 23 10 43% 66 98Greenfield First 30 21 9 43% 49 92 New Castle First 131 153 -22 -14% 179 457Indpls. First 269 289 -20 -7% 410 800 New Castle So.side 45 NR N/A N/A 71 114Morristown 3 6 -3 -50% 13 NR New Castle W.view 16 20 -4 -20% 27 130New Hope 10 23 -13 -57% 13 NR Rushville 21 NR N/A N/A 71 107Victorious Life 48 38 10 26% 50 175 Shirley 20 27 -7 -26% 19 68 ZONE TOTALS 565 603 -38 -6% 841 1,581 Spiceland NR 82 N/A N/A 77 123

Warrington 19 14 5 36% 43 68Avon Parkside 63 70 -7 -10% 99 150 ZONE TOTALS 285 319 -34 -11% 553 1165Brownsburg 17 19 -2 -11% 30 52Clermont 99 77 22 29% 73 75 Edinburgh 32 22 10 45% 42 79Indpls. Grace Pointe 266 277 -11 -4% 314 405 Greensburg 40 39 1 3% 70 400Indpls. Westside 436 331 105 32% 496 886 Madison 17 17 0 0% 28 50Second Chance 13 55 -42 -76% 129 238 North Vernon 124 88 36 41% 191 201Velocity Church NR 44 N/A N/A 35 NR Rising Sun N/A NR N/A N/A 18 NR ZONE TOTALS 894 873 21 2% 1,176 1,806 Shelbyville First 134 127 7 6% 170 345

ZONE TOTALS 347 293 54 18% 519 1,075Indpls, Cornerstone NR 37 N/A N/A NR NRIndpls, Cross-way NR 10 N/A N/A NR NRIndpls. Friendly NR 17 N/A N/A NR NR SDMI Avg Total 03/19 **SDMI Avg. Worship Avg. Responsib.ListBesserat Evangelical NR NR N/A N/A NR NR 3072 Current 2,816 4,635 8,077Shepherd Comm. NR 189 N/A N/A NR NR Last Year 2,686 4,738 8,145Living Mission NR 11 N/A N/A NR NR # Gain / Loss 130 -103 -68ICC Int. Community NR 9 N/A N/A NR NR % Gain / Loss 5% -2% -1%

ZONE TOTALS 0 273 -273 -100% 0 0

Indpls. Westside 436 North Vernon 124 Fishers Point 50% Warrington 36%Indpls. First 269 Southport 124 Edinburgh 45% Connersville Gortner 33%Grace Pointe 266 Indpls. Southwest 123 Greensboro 43% Indpls. Westside 32%Shelbyville First 134 Martinsville First 114 Greenfield First 43% Clarmont 29%New Castle First 131 Fortville 99 North Vernon 41% Victorious Life 26%

Urban Zone Diana Petty reporting

Southeast Zone Rev. Jim Hudson reporting

TOP TEN ATTENDANCE TOP TEN % GAIN

INDIANAPOLIS DISTRICT SDMI MONTHLY REPORT FOR JULY 2019 SDMI

+ or -SDMI

+ or -ListRichmond Zone Rev. Aaron Chester reporting South Zone Rev. Jeff Floyd reporting

Indpls. Northeast Zone Rev. Phil Edwards reporting

New Castle Zone Rev. Randy Perry reporting

Indpls. Northwest Zone Rev. Tim Kellerman reporting

Annual Ministers and Mates Retreat September 12-14, 2019

Farmstead Inn & Conference Center

370 S. Buren St. Shipshewana, IN 46565

Cost: $350 per couple $300 per single

(Price includes lodging & 3 meals.) Dr. David Busic, Guest Speaker

General Superintendent

10th Annual

Becoming One Marriage Enrichment Retreat January 24-26, 2010

Indy SDMI Marriage Retreat Register at: www.becomingonemarriaginistries.org

For questions contact: Lisa Bailey, Director

becomingonemarriageministries@gmail.com

Church Board/Pastor Review The following churches and pastors experienced very favorable reviews in the recent months: Indianapolis Grace Pointe, Rev. Tim Kellerman; Centerville, Rev. Tre-vor Stanley. We praise God for these pastors and con-gregations.

Welcome New Pastor Richmond First - Rev. David Warren has accepted the call to become the new pastor at the Richmond First Church of the Nazarene. Rev. Warren and his wife, Becky, begin their ministry at Richmond First on August 18. The Warrens come to us from the Southwest Indiana District.

August 1, 2019WEF P&B ONU UMF

Avon Parkside 5,396 2,209 2,210 5,395Besserat Evangelical 0 0 0 0Bethlehem Matu Christian 0 0 0 0Brownsburg 1,455 604 594 1,550Centerville 7,326 1,293 1,020 2,456Clermont 3,023 522 522 1,362College Corner 0 0 0 0Connersville First 0 357 0 0Connersville Gortner Memorial 902 357 357 873Cross-Way Community 0 0 0 0Edinburgh 1,467 559 559 1,367Fishers Point Community 1,876 776 777 1,899Fortville 10,449 3,786 3,786 9,254Franklin 2,008 769 769 1,881Gateway Cowboy 0 0 2,500 0Greenfield First 2,419 760 760 1,780Greenfield New Hope 1,301 409 409 1,023Greensboro 1,692 600 600 1,468Greensburg Community 3,189 1,377 1,045 2,554Hagerstown 1,066 254 498 1,215Indianapolis Castleton 6,125 2,506 2,506 6,125Indianapolis Cornerstone 2,346 832 832 2,033Indianapolis First 18,120 7,411 59 18,261Indianapolis Friendly 719 229 170 415Indianapolis Grace Pointe 11,452 4,539 4,660 11,096Indianapolis Shepherd Community 1,390 569 569 1,517Indianapolis South Side 4,017 1,555 3,318 3,798Indianapolis Southwest 8,134 3,548 3,963 10,041Indianapolis Westside 23,802 9,796 2,342 23,448Intersection Community 583 238 300 799Liberty 1,065 418 418 1,021Life Pointe Community 3,453 1,242 1,313 3,209Madison First 696 288 213 521Martinsville First 3,930 1,608 1,608 3,930Martinsville Trinity 0 0 0 0Monrovia 0 0 0 0Morristown 0 0 0 0New Castle First 10,355 4,078 5,314 12,989New Castle South Side 5,230 1,087 1,310 3,203New Castle Westview 0 0 0 0North Vernon 5,036 2,270 2,547 6,226Richmond First 1,989 738 738 1,803Richmond New Life 625 256 310 758Richmond Southview 982 319 319 850Rising Sun 701 287 249 609Rushville 849 366 270 661Second Chance 650 0 0 0Shelbyville First 4,110 1,635 1,635 3,990Shirley 1,049 429 467 1,142Southport 6,340 2,629 2,633 6,436Spiceland 2,238 868 572 1,474The Point 0 0 0 0Velocity 0 0 0 0Victorious Life 312 223 510 510Warrington 145 61 47 125Williamsburg 1,024 442 442 1,080Willow Grove 750 248 248 591

Total: 171,786 65,344 56,286 162,737