As Church Health Month approaches this May, we are encouraging churches and church plants to establish a church health rhythm that will measure the quality of their ministry and evaluate the effectiveness of their missional activity.
Pastor Gary Ricci of New Hope Community in Round Lake, IL shared with us his experience in using...
"Spiritual leadership involves moving God's people on to God's agenda" Henry Blackaby
One key difference between a leader and a follower is that the leader knows what the next steps are along the journey. The "Next Steps" principle is one of those missional principles that transcends culture, geography and philosophy of ministry. Every church needs to determine how they...
Some years ago, I was speaking to a friend who had returned from a mission trip to South America. The purpose of the trip was evangelism and they followed a formula that had amazing results. The group would identify an area that they wanted to do door to door evangelism. They would first spend a day prayer walking the area they targeted for evangelism. The next day they would do the evangelism and they saw God move in miraculous ways.
One...
“After this meeting I am more encouraged than ever to be apart of Converge MidAmerica’s future.” – Michigan Pastor
Building a shared vision among our 225 churches in and throughout seven states is an enormous task but is critical to the future of our network of churches. So far we have had close to 40 churches represented with numerous staff and lay leaders attending in four locations.
Bryan Moak our...
Rev. Leslie K. Lew, age 57, went to be with his heavenly father, Wednesday, March 8, 2017 at his home in Muskegon. He was born on May 6, 1959 in Brooklyn, New York to Ben-Zion David Lew and Esther (Chenkin) Lew.
Rev. Lew has served as Senior Pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church since 2007. Pastor Lew was born into the home of Jewish believers in Jesus Christ as the Messiah of Israel. Pastor Lew’s parents were Holocaust survivors who, after...
Fashioned By God... ''Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you" Jeremiah 1:5
Phyllis Valerie Robinson was born on November 8, 1952 in St. Louis, Missouri to Bernice and Charles Robinson, Sr. She was the oldest of five children. Both parents and one brother preceded her in death. Phyllis was educated in the St. Louis Public School System,...
Rev. Andy Husmann the former Executive Minister of Converge Michigan lost his beloved wife Donna last week. 
Donna Mae Husmann of Norton Shores, Michigan, passed away at Harbor Hospice Poppen Residence on Tuesday, February 28, 2017. She was 84 years old. Donna was born on October 26, 1932, in the farm community of Wyndmere, North Dakota, the daughter of Bruce &...
Prior to planting a church, I worked in an established church for 13 years. As those 13 years progressed, I had a very clear list in my head of things I would want to take to a new church and things I would never do again.
Since being a lead pastor, God has made a few edits to that list. For instance, I used to set up chairs for an assembly once each quarter. As a result of these labors, I...
*This article originally appeared on www.broomtreeministries.org
Elijah was given a gift under a broom tree and as a result the world received something even greater. God met Elijah’s needs at a critical time in practical and miraculous ways. That led to an “AHA” moment that brought clarity and challenge which has benefited every generation since.
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This year Converge MidAmerica is celebrating 165 years of ministry. It was in 1852 that school teacher Gustaf Palmquist was baptized. Palmguist quickly became a lay minister and forty-seven days later he baptized three converts in the Mississippi River near Rock Island, IL. Five days later they together organized the first Converge MidAmerica church.
Celebrations are vital to the life of the church. They remind us of our humble beginnings and the...
