In an effort to focus more on reaching others, VBS 2012 is taking on a different approach this year. Instead of hosting VBS at New Life, we are going out to the community and will be hosting it at Morrows Meadows June 19th –June 21st. Our hope is to not only provide a fun and spiritually rich atmosphere for our own children but to also draw in others from the community and expose them to the Gospel. This would be a great opportunity for our own children to reach out to their friends and invite them to have some “Fun in the Son.” Stay tuned for more information and opportunities to serve during this exciting new venture!

You preregistered now by clicking HERE.

Who will you and your children invite to this year’s VBS?

As I get ready to embark on my first sabbatical this summer (June-August), I want to say how encouraged I have been by the number of people who have told me that they are excited for the opportunity Mary and I have to disconnect from ministry for a while. Thank you for your affirmation and support.

Also, I was encouraged to recently find an article about the value of sabbaticals, written by Grace Driscoll, the wife of Mark Driscoll, who pastors a very large church in Seattle, Wash. Grace’s remarks were written in response to the news that John Piper, a popular writer and pastor in Minneapolis, had decided to take an eight-month sabbatical. This is particularly interesting because it is written from the perspective of the wife of a pastor. So, I share it with you now. These are the words of Grace Driscoll:

I am so grateful for the example he has set by this action (Piper’s sabbatical). Growing up as a pastor’s daughter and now as a pastor’s wife, I can honestly say that pastors rarely do this. The pressure to be all things to all people, and the lies by which the Enemy tries to persuade leaders can cause them to believe that church ministry IS their life. The Bible is clear about what God’s priorities are, but sadly, I have seen so many examples of pastors’ wives who are no longer the first love (after Christ) of their husbands. I am thankful for the precedent and example that Dr. Piper and Noël are setting because:

-It frees up wives and children to be priorities (1 Tim. 3:4; Eph. 5:28)
-It allows the church and ministry to not be idols (1 Tim. 3:5).
-It can give wives a new freedom to have this honest discussion with their husbands (I have seen many wives silenced or unsure of how to have this conversation when they have genuine concern) (Prov. 19:14).
-It can give children a new freedom to have this honest discussion with their dads (I have seen so many kids of pastors feeling last on the list with the church at the top) (Prov. 17:6).
-It urges us all to examine our priorities and make sure our Jesus, our marriage, and our children are the top three, in that order (1 Tim. 3:1–5).
-It challenges the church to give their pastor the freedom to examine his own life and take a break if needed (Mark 2:27–28).
-It challenges us to not idolize pastors or think of them as sinless, but rather see them as gifted, called men (under immense pressure) who need to be free to repent and be redeemed like the rest of the church members (Heb. 13:18).
-It challenges wives to examine if they have enabled their pastors-husbands to become islands unto themselves (Gen. 2:18; Prov. 31:12).”

You can see the full article on the resurgence website HERE

The missions teams will be “selling ducks” to help fund their summer trips to St. Louis and Mexico. By “buying a duck” you are buying a raffle ticket to our duck race that will be held on May 20 at Morrow’s Meadow.

If your duck is one of the first 15 to cross the finish line in our duck race, you could win one of our wonderful baskets. All the baskets are worth a minimum of $50 and include assorted prizes for people of all ages.

The baskets have various themes such as kitchen supplies, kids’ fun-in-the-sun, restaurant gift cards and a Colts basket with Colts tickets. The ducks cost $5 a piece or 5 ducks for $20. If you would like to buy a duck and support our missions trips, please contact the church office!

The next meeting of the Central Indiana Presbytery is being held on Friday, May 11, at New Life from 9am-4pm. One of the things I really like about New Life hosting a presbytery meeting is that it means I don’t have to travel very far! But another thing I really appreciate about it is that it provides a chance for those in the congregation to attend all or part of the meeting and learn more about how oversight at New
Life, as well as the government of our denomination, is conducted.

The presbytery meeting starts at 9am with some introductions and reports and then is followed by a worship service at 9:30am. Lunch at noon is provided for anyone who wishes to attend and is followed by a time of prayer in small groups before business resumes with more reports as well as some examinations in the afternoon.

Two of our examinations involve New Life’s own Josh Holowell and Jason Leist, who will be examined to “come under care” of the presbytery. An under care examine consists of potential candidates sharing their personal testimony of faith in Jesus and their sense of call to the gospel ministry. Coming under care is the first step in the process of being licensed to preach and being ordained as a minister in the PCA, something both Josh and Jason are hoping to do in the future. I am sure that both Josh and Jason would be encouraged to see friends from the congregation in attendance.

By way of explanation, Presbyterian church government is representative in form, similar to the way our nation is governed. In addition, local Presbyterian churches are not independent of other governing bodies as with congregational church government. Presbyterian government is based on the practice reflected at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15.

In Presbyterianism, congregations vote to elect teaching elders (pastors) and ruling elders to serve on the session which makes decisions on behalf of the congregation. Local sessions do not function independently but are subject to the presbytery, which is made up of elected teaching and ruling elders within a given geographical region. Presbyteries meet to report on ministries, address concerns, and examine ministry candidates.

The Central Indiana Presbytery, which was formed in 2009, consists of 10 PCA churches (New Life, Westminster, Christ Presbyterian in Richmond, along with six churches in Indianapolis and one in West Lafayette). You have likely noticed that we regularly pray for these congregations and their leaders on Sunday mornings.

Presbyteries are, in turn, accountable to the General Assembly of the PCA, which is made up of teaching and ruling elders throughout the United States. The General Assembly of the PCA meets once a year. This year’s meeting, which I will be attending, will be held in Louisville in June.

The Central Indiana Presbytery meets four times a year, most often in Indianapolis. So if you’re interested in attending all or part of a meeting, consider taking advantage of attending on May 11 at New Life. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me or Pastor Bob.

It is so very exciting to think that in just a few months, we will be witnessing the beginning of our expanded new facility here at New Life. The necessary pledges have been made, so we are now hoping for groundbreaking to occur possibly as soon as August.

As thrilling as this is, we don’t want to forget that the expansion of this facility is just a step toward a larger goal – planting multiple Gospel-centered churches here in central Indiana. As a way of staying in tune with what our denomination (PCA) is doing in the area of church planting, I attended a Midwest Church Planting conference last week in Naperville, Ill., just outside of Chicago. The event was hosted by Mission to North America (MNA), the church planting division of our denomination.

It was a delight to hang out with other pastors in our presbytery, such as Scott Dean, who several years ago planted Crossroads in Fishers; Adam Brice, who recently planted Two Cities Church in Lafayette; and Dan Herron, who is planning to start a church in Bloomington. One of the blessings of being part of a presbytery is the oversight and direction we will receive from experienced church planters when we plant our own congregation one day.

The conference offered a number of workshops conducted by various presenters on such topics as avoiding burnout, avoiding sexual misconduct, dealing with financial and legal matters, and breaking through growth barriers. All were insightful, convicting and edifying.

We also received updated statistical information on the presence of the PCA in the Midwest. There is one PCA church for every 350,000 people in the Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin). In order for a denomination to have what is called “presence” in a particular region, it would be necessary to have one church for every 50,000 people. As you can see, the PCA does not have presence in this area of the country, much less “influence” or “saturation.”

The good news is that the PCA is pretty ambitious about church planting. In 2001, we had 152 churches in the Midwest; by 2006, that number had increased to 179; and as of this year, we now have 203 churches totaling 28,000 people. In Indiana, which has a population of about 6.5 million people, the PCA has 16 churches (either established or church plants).

Of course there are other Gospel-preaching denominations who are planting churches in the Midwest, for which we are grateful. We know the kingdom of God is much bigger than our denomination, and at the same time we love our tradition and long to see more PCA churches planted in this region.
So, as you can see, there is plenty of work to do – so much to do that we will have to trust our great and mighty God, who exceeds all our expectations and has promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against His church.

Beth Williamson, Cammy Miller and Jessy Delaplane will be hosting a weekly book club, on Thursdays 6:30-8pm beginning May 10. The group will be reading one book a month throughout the summer. The first book they will be reading is Amy Spiegel’s book Letting Go of Perfect: Women, Expectations and Authenticity (see the book description HERE). The books are available for purchase from the book table at church or on Amazon.com. If you are interested in joining the club, please sign by contacting the church office or by joining the my.newlife “Ladies Book Club” group. Contact the church office if you have any questions.

Amy’s new book, Letting Go of Perfect: Women, Expectations and Authenticity won’t be officially available until May, but Amy has graciously given us a few copies to sell on the book shelf for $9. The book’s description is as follows:

“Have you ever felt as though you didn’t recognize yourself in the mirror and yet you’re frantically trying to keep that image together? Felt bound by the dreams you had for life that you now realize have forced other expectations on you? Or maybe you’ve laughed at one of those insanely ridiculous moments in the day when absolutely everything goes wrong and no matter what you do, the grand purpose seems elusive.
“Let’s be honest. We all have a standard in our head that we believe is the perfect Christian woman, wife, and/or mother. Yet, have you ever really examined what that standard is? Yes, God absolutely has standards for what those roles are to be, but is He our source, or is it the peer-pressure-don’t- be-the-odd-one-out-on-Sunday-morning drive to fit in that is driving us away from authenticity and raw faith to outward performance?”

Amy’s book is available to purchase at the New Life Book Table as well as Amazon.com.

New Life T-shirts are available for purchase in the church office. The shirts cost $10 and all of the proceeds go toward sending our youth to camp and on mission trips. If you would like a T-shirt, you can stop by the church office and leave your money in the envelope provided. Checks may be made out to New Life. Get them quickly before your size is gone!

Because of an anticipated decrease in attendance as students leave for the summer, we will be moving to a two-service schedule on Sunday mornings beginning May 13. First service will be at 8:30am, followed by Sunday School at 10am, and then a second service at 11am. We plan to move back to a three-service schedule in August.

New Life will be hosting an all-new video-based marriage event created by FamilyLife on Friday, May 4 – 6:30-9pm and on Saturday, May 5 – 9am-3pm.

For more than three decades, FamilyLife has hosted live, hotel-based weekend marriage conferences known as the Weekend to Remember marriage getaway, attended by more than 2.5 million people worldwide.
Now FamilyLife is offering the video series The Art of Marriage to churches and small groups, created to help couples fully experience God’s plan for marriage. It brings together some of the most respected and influential pastors and experts on marriage and family to share with you and your spouse. It also brings a fresh approach to a video conference by weaving together the following elements to help couples fully experience God’s design for marriage:

• expert teaching
• engaging stories
• real-life testimonies
• man-on-the-street interviews
• humorous vignettes

Books may be purchased for $17.50 the day of the event; however this is not a requirement to attend. Childcare is limited, so early registration is encouraged.

Call the church office register for this seminar. The registration deadline is April 29. Childcare is limited, so early registration is encouraged. Check out the video HERE for more information about the content of the seminar.