Transform MidAtlantic Leadership Conference Recap

Grace Point - Our Host Church

“Transform MidAtlantic”, our Converge MidAtlantic Leadership Conference for 2013 is behind us, but the impact of this gathering will remain for months and years to come!  God’s Spirit moved in very clear and powerful ways at Grace Point in Newtown, PA, June 19-21 as leaders from across our MidAtlantic region gathered together for an incredible experience!

180 pastors and leaders from 55 churches came together.  The weather was beautiful!  The hospitality from Grace Point was over the top!  The worship was powerful and inspirational.  The food and

Converge Cup Golf Event

fellowship was absolutely amazing!  The learning that took place in the Breakouts and Plenary sessions was outstanding! But most importantly, God moved in our midst, and for that we are most grateful.

Seeing powerful stories of transformation was moving and very encouraging; stories of physical and spiritual healing, stories of deliverance from addictions, stories of churches growing rapidly before our very eyes, stories of lives and marriages being transformed on a professional football team.  All of these and more, spoke of God’s

Shane Claiborne "The Simple Way"

power to change lives and communities all around us!

Hearing the proclamation of God’s Word through Dr. Eric Mason as he spoke on how the Gospel is incarnated through our pain and suffering, was very moving.  Hearing Dr. Dwight Perry teach about embracing diversity and the hard work that this involves, was needed and helpful.  Hearing Shane Claiborne, in his simple and disarming style challenge us powerfully to live out the gospel in ways and places where it is countercultural and involves resistance from the status quo, was so motivating and convicting.  Hearing Dr. Tom Nebel, share the

Philadelphia Vietnamese
Christian Fellowship

vision of Converge church planting for “one more day, one more place, one more story” knowing that the deserts in our journey cannot and will not hold back the work of Christ, was so encouraging.  And hearing Pastor Scott Ridout challenge us to live out generosity in concrete ways in our personal lives and as churches, was so timely and helpful.  Yes, through these servants, God spoke and moved in our midst.

Feedback from many of the Breakout sessions was very positive! Nearly 80 leaders traveled into the urban areas of Philadelphia on Friday morning to learn about and experience ministry in very hard and very needy places.  Coz Crosscombe, Eric Mason and his team, and Shane Claiborne at the Simple Way community, all shared how

Traveling to Urban Philadelphia

transformation is happening in these places through God’s Spirit residing in His people.  On-site Breakouts were amazing as well, including Pastor Ron Crawford and Richard Cohen’s session regarding “Homosexuality: Born or Bred”.  Participants were moved to tears and filled with emotion as they were encountered with the challenge to love people in the name of Jesus, and to see again how God transforms people in powerful ways. 

Other sessions that many spoke about included: Pastor Jenkins’ session on “Making Pastoring Personal”, Dan Nold’s session on

A Master Potter
Symbol of Transformation

“Multi-site expansion”, Johnny Parker’s session on “How to Manage the Speed of Your Soul”, Dr. Doug Fagerstrom’s session on “Building Extraordinary Volunteers”, Pastor Chris McCloskey’s session on “Developing Caring Ministries in the church”, Dan and Tonya White’s session on “Missional church”, Dr. Ralph Gustafson’s session on “Reaching Millennials”, to mention but a few.

Three Pre-Conference sessions were also well attended and were very instructive!  Ivan and Susan Veldhuizen interacted with global mission leaders from some of our MidAtlantic churches, resourcing them and providing a venue for these leaders to share best practices together.  Scott Ridout taught for 6 hours on how to build a generosity culture in the local church.  And Tom Nebel offered training on how to effectively coach other leaders, helping them to

succeed and to excel in their leadership and ministries.

Other highlights of God moving in our midst and in our region included:

·        The welcoming of 6 churches into the MidAtlantic network

·        Introducing and praying for 5 new church planting couples who have been sent out this past year

·        The unanimous reaffirmation of our Converge MidAtlantic Executive Minister for an additional 4 year term

·        The public introduction of a new vision for church planting across our region, called “Shaping the Future”, and a report that $162,000 has already been committed toward our goal of $500,000 in new funds for church planting over the next three years!

·        Stories of significant spiritual transformation in Ukraine through 10 plus years of partnering with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters

·        The celebration of God’s provision for Converge MidAtlantic ministries this past year, and the adoption of combined budgets for the coming year totaling $880,000.

·        Opportunities to hear of God working through some of our partners such as Bethel University and Seminary, Cornerstone Fund, and across Converge Worldwide.

In the end, it seems as though God is challenging our leaders and churches to remain open to the work of the Spirit in our midst.  And God is challenging us to continue to find ways to be his vessels to bring about transformation in every community he calls us to serve. I love Paul’s words in II Cor. 3, where he says: “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit”.

Brothers in Christ

May God’s work of transformation continue in each of us in the days ahead!

Warmly in Christ,

Dan Peterson, Executive Minister

Converge MidAtlantic

Spiritual Transformation in Ukraine

My recent trip to Ukraine in mid April of this year was one of the most rewarding trips I can recall in a long long time!  No, I didn’t preach to thousands of people, nor did I have the opportunity to give away a boatload of money to needy churches or orphanages.  It was a relatively uneventful trip with only 3 of us sharing in this journey.  What made the trip rewarding, however, was the picture God gave me of the ministry fruit from our Converge MidAtlantic partnership in Ukraine over the past 10 plus years!  It was absolutely thrilling!

It started out with the special opportunity to preach on a Sunday in April at the Orghiv Church, a larger village outside of the main city of Rivne, Ukraine.  The Orghiv Church is the name of the church that our Old North Church in Canfield, OH has been sistering with for the past 10 plus years.  I saw the beautiful church facility that Old North helped to build.  I saw the young adults leading worship and children’s ministry, leaders that Old North has helped train.  The church was packed on Sunday, mostly young adults and young families.  Old North’s partnership with Pastor Nick and Olga has literally put this church on the map in its community, and it has raised up some solid young leaders for work in God’s harvest!  What a blessing to see!

Mlnyv is the name of the town and the church where Lakewood Baptist in Lakewood, NY has partnered over the past 10 plus years. Lakewood’s involvement has been primarily in leading and more recently in supporting the church’s summer adventure camps with children and youth.  Teams from Lakewood came over every year for the first 6 years, and in recent years, funds and personal encouragement continued for these summer camps.  When Pastor Dan Cook and Youth Pastor Tim Sullivan visited the Mlnyv Church this Spring, they were blown away to see the fruit from these adventure camps.  The kids who were in these camps 8, 9, 10 years ago, are now leaders in the camps that will be held this summer. Dan and Tim were literally in tears as they heard the stories of how these early adventure camps had made such on impact on these kids’ lives. The Mlynv Church is alive and well, due in some measure to the strong partnership with Lakewood Baptist.  How cool!

While I was riding in the van with Ukrainian leader, Michael Ilyuk, I asked him if he could give me his perspective on the fruit from the partnership that First Baptist Church of Glenarden has had with the Dubrovitsa Church, located in a village in northwestern Ukraine.  His eyes and heart lit up! He shared with me how this partnership has helped in the planting of other new churches in nearby villages, as the First Baptist teams have helped them touch these communities through summer evangelism and camps. Michael talked about the spiritual growth in this church, revolving around learning about other cultures and ways of worship.  When I arrived back in the U.S., I spoke with one of the leaders from First Baptist and I learned about more of the results from this partnership. I was reminded that the church facility has been totally upgraded, including construction of restroom facilities, a complete kitchen, provisions for audiovisual equipment, lighting, a baptismal pool, air conditioning, new chairs in the sanctuary, computer equipment, and interior painting!  Of course, I knew about Tania Martin who now serves full time in Ukraine as a Converge missionary, because of this sistering partnership.  Praise God for what He has and is still doing!

Later, after returning home, I also spoke with one leader from our Berean Church in Mansfield, OH which has partnered with Grace Baptist Church in the city of Brovary, Ukraine.  Again, I was blown away!  Over 15 years of partnering together has seen Grace Baptist Church grow from a congregation of 30, mostly older women, to a thriving congregation of 150 with many young families with chirdren & youth. The church facility was a one room church building in '96 and today is a 3 floor, 18 room, and 10,000 square foot sanctuary. In '96 they had one unpaid pastor and now they have 3 pastors. Children’s Adventure Camps have grown from 98 children to 400 children, ages 4-13. In '96 the church did not have any Sunday School and now they have Sunday School for all ages. The church is making meaningful  connections with many older teens, university students, and young professionals outside of the church as a result of the ESL classes that Berean has offered.  In addition to all of this, sistering in Ukraine has greatly impacted the Berean’s view of mission ministry. The church has seen interest and funding grow considerably over these years into other fields for short-term mission work. It has opened people’s eyes to the world and to their own community!  What a thrill to hear of this significant spiritual fruit!

Over the past 12 years, my wife, Sandi, and others, have spearheaded ministry and support for a number of the orphanages in western Ukraine.  We have partnered with one key church (Grace Church of Rivne) in its involvement in trying to disciple kids from some of the orphanages.  Through our Mercy Ministries fund, we have also helped support several “Christian foster homes” for orphans that are booted out of the orphanages when they are 18 years old.  Recently, we heard some of the stories of some of the kids we worked with in these early years.  Several have gone to Bible College and Seminary!  Some are now serving as Pastors in Ukrainian churches.  At least one is a missionary in another country.  What a thrill to see and hear of the fruit from our involvement with these forgotten people!

This trip to Ukraine in April was my 23^rd trip to Ukraine!  At times, I have wondered if the time and energy and money were really worth it.  This trip was one of those special confirmations from God.  Yes, significant spiritual transformation is happening through our partnership and involvement in Ukraine!

Plans are in place to continue the Love Lift Ukraine ministry with a Vision Trip planned for the summer of 2013, and another trip planned for the summer of 2014.  If you are interested in exploring involvement in this ministry, contact our Converge MidAtlantic office anytime!

With gratitude,

Dan Peterson

Converge MidAtlantic

A Christmas Mosaic

I was thinking recently about the meaning of the word Mosaic; the blending together of things that are very different to make something that is very beautiful.  One of our Converge MidAtlantic churches is named Mosaic Church.  It’s a blending together of people from very different cultures and traditions, coming together under the banner of Jesus to form something beautiful for His glory!

When I think of the word Mosaic, I also think of the coming together of things that are broken, and these broken pieces being shaped and formed into something that is beautiful.  I think about broken and bruised lives that are blended together in a spiritual community to become something very beautiful for God!

Christmas, for me, is a lot like this kind of Mosaic.  It celebrates the coming together of things that are broken to form something that is amazingly beautiful.

When I think of the Apostle John’s words in chapter 1, when he says, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”, I think about the miracle of God becoming man. Theologians call it the Incarnation!  I think about the power of the creator of the universe entering into our broken and fallen world.  I think of the amazingly good news of a God who would care enough about our plight that He would literally become one of us. I’m reminded of the words of the writer to the Hebrews when he said: “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet without sin” (Heb 4:15).

That’s what Christmas ultimately means to me.  It means God entering into my humanity.  It means God identifying with my weaknesses.  It means God coming and taking my brokenness, and through His brokenness, making something incredibly beautiful. It means my broken down story being wrapped up in His loving story of redemption and grace, and as a result He writes a new story.  That’s why I feel this amazing sense of HOPE, of JOY, of PEACE during this season.  I’m reminded again of the great STORY of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

A storycomes out of the middle ages and the construction of some of the great cathedrals in western Europe. One of the cathedrals was nearly complete, only needing the beautiful stained glass windows to complete the magnificent structure.  The best artisans of the day were summoned to complete the task.  As the dedication of the edifice approached, the town’s leaders were gravely concerned that the largest and most prominent of the windows was still incomplete. The artisans reassured these worried leaders that all would be complete in time for the great dedication of the cathedral.

On the day of the dedication, the leaders of the city gathered early in the morning for one final inspection of the most prominent stained glass window.  As they looked upward, the reflection of the sun’s light shined through this most prominent window in a manner that was more glorious than they had ever seen. The hues of the color palette were magnificent beyond description.  They were literally awestruck at the beauty of this just completed stained glass window.

In awe and amazement, they inquired of the master artisan about how this window had become the glorious feature that it was?  They inquired too about why the work had been done so late in the game. How could all this be?  The reply was simple yet profound.  They shared with the town’s leaders that they had taken the broken and left over pieces from the other windows and had used them to craft this one remaining, most prominent window.

Yes, Christmas reminds me and it helps me to celebrate the powerful and loving work that God did and continues to do in taking my brokenness, my pain, my weaknesses, and through the Person of Jesus our Savior, makes something quite beautiful, for His glory and praise.

To the entire Converge MidAtlantic family, Sandi and I want to convey our deep gratitude for the privilege of serving Jesus with you.  And we want to offer you our prayers and hopes that YOUR Christmas will also be one of Joy, and Hope, and Peace because of Jesus our Lord and Savior.

Lovingly in Christ,

Dan and Sandi Peterson

Converge MidAtlantic

A Lesson about Faith!

Wednesday, October 31 was an amazing day for me!  God gave me the opportunity to get acquainted with and minister to a 15 month old church plant in urban Philadelphia named the Philadelphia Vietnamese Christian Fellowship.  What a blessing it was to meet these friends in Jesus, and to observe their faith in God!

I was treated to a gourmet Vietnamese luncheon at the home of one of the church leaders!  Pastor Kevin and his wife Cindy (the church’s pastor and wife), a couple of the church leaders, and Pastor Phan, our Vietnamese pastor from Northern Virginia, all joined in on the meal!  Not sure what all they fed me, but it was all very good!  After sharing together about their church and about Converge and what is involved in a church affiliating with Converge, they took me over to a building the church has purchased and will be remodeling in the coming weeks.  Great vision!

Then, we traveled to the house of Pastor Kevin and nail salon where his wife works, and where a basement room has been converted into a temporary worship center for the church. By 8:00 pm that evening, the room was filled with about 50 people of all ages who worshiped the Lord with incredible energy and passion!  I preached with Pastor Phan interpreting, there was a time of prayer, and the service started to wind down around 10:00 pm.  As soon as the service was over, chairs were moved, tables were set up, and another amazing Vietnamese dinner followed!  During the meal, a number of men and women shared their stories of how their lives had been totally transformed through the ministry of this new church. One shared how he had come to Jesus out of a Buddhist family background.  Another shared how Christ had delivered him from demonic oppression.  Pastor Kevin pointed out others who had experienced physical healing as a result of prayers of faith. Some of the people stayed around until 11:00 pm, just talking and sharing, and praying together. Even the children were engaged in worship of Jesus.  What a powerful time of Christian fellowship, worship, and ministry together!

I got to bed around 12:30 am, but my heart was full.  God is moving in really cool ways in groups and in cities in our region.  These folks have a vision to reach the 30,000 Vietnamese people living in metro Philadelphia.  They want to plant several new churches across the city. And, with what seems like limited resources, but with large faith, God is doing a great work.  Lord, help my faith to grow. Truly, let my faith grow!

In Jesus,

Dan Peterson

Converge MidAtlantic

Keeping my Passion for Jesus Alive!

Last week, I hit the pause button on everything I needed to “get done”, and spent a half a day in prayer, reflection, and devotional reading.  It was so hard to “shut down” and “shut out” all of the pressing distractions.  Yet, God broke through my busyness and met with me in a very special way.

One book that helped me in the process was Brennan Manning’s Abba’s Child.  I re-read most of book in one setting. Wow, I needed this special reminder that I am loved by God, regardless of what I do, whether or not my performance for Him or others was satisfactory or not, and regardless of what my own thoughts or feelings may be telling me. Its hard for me to really believe that God honestly loves me as I am.

A few of the ideas and word pictures that Brennan Manning used to help me get reconnected with the Love of my Father were statements like these:

·        “In my experience, self hatred is the dominant malaise crippling Christians and stifling their growth in the Holy Spirit. . . . We learn to be gentle with ourselves by experiencing the intimate, heartfelt compassion of Jesus”.

·        “For many years I hid from my true self through my performance in ministry.  I constructed an identity through sermons, books, and storytelling.  I rationalized that if the majority of Christians thought well of me, there was nothing wrong with me.  The more I invested in ministerial success, the more real the imposter became”. He goes on to write about living by grace, not by performance and not as a people pleaser!

·        “Define yourself radically as one Beloved by God.  God’s love for you and his choice of you constitute your worth.  Accept that, and let it become the most important thing in your life”.

·        “My identity as Abba’s Child is not an abstraction or a tap dance into religiousity.  It is the core truth of my existence.  Living in the wisdom of accepted tenderness profoundly affects my perception of reality, the way I respond to people and their life situations”.

·        Manning writes about the idea “present risenness, and living in the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  He says, “The resurrection of Jesus must be experienced as more than just a past historical event.  In other words, the resurrection needs to be experienced as present risenness”.  He goes on to write, “ The present risenness of Jesus as life giving Spirit means that I can cope with anything.  I am not on my own”.  As Paul writes in Ephesians 1:18-19, “I pray that you may realize . . . how vast are the resources of His Spirit available to us”.

These and other powerful ideas in Manning’s classic work helped to keep my own passion for Jesus alive.  I came again to discover that the Spirit of Jesus is alive in my life.  I was reminded again, that while the enemy seeks to undermine the reality of being “Beloved by God”, that God is able to break through the enemy’s lies.  I came to realize that while all of the work and responsibilities that hang over my head are important, there is still one thing more important, and that is staying connected with the true Source of spiritual life and power.   At the end of my little half day with God, I actually broke down in tears, feeling like a needy helpless child, but a helpless child falling into the arms of a tender, loving Father.  God thank you for loving me with an everlasting love.  For the moment, I’m just resting in that love!

In Jesus love,

Dan Peterson

A fellow traveler

Preaching to myself

Recent weeks have provided me with some pretty cool preaching opportunities in churches across our movement.  What I always find is that God uses these focused times in the Word to speak to me as much as to anyone else!

On Sunday, August 12, I preached at Old North Church in Canfield.  They were in a teaching series through the Book of I Samuel, and I was given the assignment to preach on the story of Saul and the Witch of Endor from I Samuel 28.  Hey, thanks a lot, guys!  As I prayed, and studied, and talked to everybody I know who might offer some insight about what was really going on when this medium evidently brought Samuel back from the dead to speak directly to Saul, I came upon a little known epilogue to the story that really touched my heart.  At the end of this horrific encounter between Saul and Samuel, and following Samuel’s prophetic word that Saul would die in battle the next day, the witch of Endor offered to cook a meal for King Saul before he and his men departed from her home.  Saul declined, but then at the prompting of his men, he agreed to let this woman prepare a final meal for him.

As I studied, and then as I shared in the message at Old North, I came to believe that this little incident was really a veiled reference to the grace of God which is always at work in any situation. Here, in the midst of tragedy, irony, and pathos, the witch of Endor prepares a final meal for the King of Israel . . . . she blesses him, and ministers to his physical need for food.

The lesson I shared with the church is appropriately summarized in the words of one scholar (Ken Boa), as he stated: “what do you when your life story is all broken up . . .  when your story doesn’t turn out the way you planned for it to go?  The answer he writes is: “you wrap up your story in the story of God”.  Wow! What an incredible lesson for me, and I think for all of us! Rarely do our life stories turn out the way we anticipated.  Yet, in the midst of all the brokenness, God through His grace begins to write a new and better story. I needed to be reminded of this.  I found that I was actually preaching to myself that Sunday in Canfield, OH!

This past Sunday, September 2, I had the opportunity to preach at Hillcrest Baptist in Jamestown, NY.  It was Labor Day weekend.  Part of me wished I was with my wife and family.  I wasn’t looking forward to the nearly 3 hour drive from Youngstown, OH. On Monday, we had plans to drive to Michigan to spend some time with my mother in the nursing home near Sturgis, MI.

Yet, as I preached from I Thessalonians 1 on the qualities of Faith, and Love, and Hope, which made the Thessalonican church strong and powerful, I found that the Holy Spirit was speaking to me as much as He was speaking through me.  As I talked about a community of people who are known by love, who live out a servant’s heart in action with one another and within their community, God reminded me that being a servant may just involve going out of my way.  It may involve traveling to Jamestown when I’d rather be with my family.  It may involve the flexibility of serving others when it might be more convenient to only think of myself.  I might involve driving to Sturgis, MI to spend some time with my dear mother who is nearing the end of her life journey.

Yes, it seems like God was speaking through me.  People responded to this message about living by faith, and being known by love, and proclaiming a message of hope.  But, honestly, I was the one that was blessed and challenged by the Word.  It was like I was preaching to myself!

All of this reminds me of the words of one saint and scholar who told me: “preaching is not the making of a sermon and delivering it.  Rather, preaching is the making of a preacher, and delivering it”.

Thanks, God for keeping me in the center of your anvil of transformation.  I do realize that to be an agent of transformation and leading a movement of transformational churches, probably requires that I be the one who continually is being transformed by the Spirit.  Please, keep changing me, Lord.  It’s a good thing!

Poland, OH

September, 2012

Sabbatical Comes to a Close

God has given Sandi and me an absolutely fantastic 12 week sabbatical journey.  We've been able to accomplish many of our goals, including some quality time with our family, a focus on our marriage relationship, a focus on our relationship with Christ, and some great work including research and writing on the role of District conferences like ours in church ministry today.

Some of the highlight and takeaways that we will carry forward as we enter back into regular work and family duties include:

• A deep sense of appreciation for our heritage, and how God has woven our family and spiritual stories. The trip to Sweden was so special in this regard!
• Numerous keys to maintaining and igniting our personal walk with Christ and continuing to grow in intimacy with Him.  The 4 day experience at The Cove with Ken Boa was instrumental with this.
• A deeper understanding of how to meet each other's needs as a couple, and of the needs and passions of our grandchildren and children.  Quality time with each other and with family, has helped us with this.
• Many lessons on leadership and on keys to generating interest and financial support for our Converge Mid Atlantic church planting organization.  The Christian Leadership Alliance conference we attended in Orlando in early April helped a lot with this.
• A deep sense of renewed conviction regarding my calling as a movement leader for Converge Mid Atlantic, and some keen insights into what our organization needs to be focusing on to remain vital and effective in the future.  Reading, research, and much writing greatly helped with this project!

Both Sandi and I want to thank our Converge Mid Atlantic Board of Overseers for their commitment to serving us by granting this sabbatical season.  I am praying that God will honor and bless their willingness to grant us this time.  I also want to thank Gary Schroeder and Bob McClain for filling in for me in many duties during these past 12 weeks.  It couldn't have happened without their support.  Thanks much, guys!

I'm praying that God will see fit to use me for his greater glory as I return back to normal ministry duties in the weeks and months ahead.  I'm excited and very optimistic about what I believe He will do in and through those who are fully devoted to Him and seek to serve Him with pure and holy hearts.

Warmly in Christ,

Dan Peterson
Converge Mid Atlantic