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Valley Bible EFC
220 Turkey Hill Road
Haddam, CT 06438
(860) 345-8932
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Articles
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 We live in one of the most beautiful areas of the country, even of the world as we live here in New England. We have mountains and ocean all within a few minutes' drive. It seems like New England's number one agricultural crop is rocks. Some places they seem to grow right through the lawn.
The ground is hard and the ministry for the spread of the gospel seems hard as well. Our institutes of higher learning that started to prepare young people for the ministry of the gospel have turned into places where the gospel is most ridiculed or worse, ignored. How do we reach people around us with the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ?
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What is Orange? The color orange comes from blending two colors, red and yellow, in order to produce a more vibrant and visible result, orange. Orange curriculum is designed to blend two forces in the church so they work together. The two forces are church leadership and the family.
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A friend of mine told me recently that one of her favorite memories as a child, especially during the hottest days of summer, was to ride down a river on a blown up inner tube. This sounds both fun and refreshing. But, it made me think of VBS which is going on as I write this letter to all of you. It's like we have invited a bunch of friends from our community to a great ride down the river. It's not just a buzz of activity, or a high tide of people flowing through the church building, but it's all of that gathered around the river of life who is God.
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Last month in this space I wrote that Valley Bible Church wants to be a place with more emphasis on developing people than on developing programs. God is in the business of transforming disciples of Jesus not creating programs for them to be involved in. We do not expect that just because people participate in the programs or activities we offer they are better off spiritually or growing as a disciple of Jesus.
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There are three areas of our church that I believe are shifting and need to shift. I will briefly introduce these three here. They explain what I see as the "Big Picture" for the future of ministry and leadership here at Valley. I would love to have feedback on this article.
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For the past eight years Valley Bible Church has been working to write new bylaws to incorporate the role of elders into the leadership structure of the church. Who will be elders? How will we identify them? What will be their role? How will they relate to the other leaders at Valley? The new bylaws that answer those questions were approved for a two year trial by a vote with over 90% support at our Annual Congregational Meeting on Friday, March 12.
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One of the documents that we use here at Valley Bible Church is called "The Covenant For Members." Membership at Valley is open to anyone who will testify to faith in Jesus Christ and who is in agreement with the teachings of our Statement of Faith.
This document was developed and passed by the church body in 1999. Every membership class since that time has gone over its requirements. All who have become members since that time should have signed agreement with these biblical instructions.
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Valley Peeks, the monthly newsletter of Valley Bible Evangelical Free Church in Haddam, Connecticut is celebrating 20 years of continuous publishing. That does not rival the Hartford Courant but it is good for us.
The church Pastor John pastored in Nebraska published a monthly newsletter. He was asked to begin one here. So soon after he began to pastor at Valley, the first "Peeks" was published. Happy 20th anniversary!
A couple of notes about Valley Peeks may be helpful.
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We live in a world that changes all the time, and Valley Bible Church is also experiencing some changes. But there are some things that will always stay the same.
These will not change.
1. Our commitment to teach, preach and live by God's Word. After all, "Bible" is our middle name.
2. Our purpose to be and make disciples of Jesus Christ. We believe that continues to be Christ’s mandate for the church of all time and in all places.
3. Our desire to serve our community as representatives of Jesus. Followers of Jesus are to be known for serving others.
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