Oakland
On Centennial Sunday, we invited the members of the US Congress and Senate to
come celebrate with us. With none of them were able to attend, we did get
letters of celebration from Sen. Susan Collins and Rep. Mike Michaud. In
addition to this, Maine Senate Majority Leader, Libby Mitchell, and her husband
joined us in worship, at which time she read a celebratory decree from the
members of the Maine House and Senate. We gave each of them "His Century"
shirts. The town of Oakland also declared October 5th "Oakland Nazarene Day" in
the town.
Portland First
Leading up to the anniversary, we used the provided material in all our Sunday School classes and as a base for the messages. Then, Portland's Mayor Suslovik joined us for the anniversary service. During the service, he read a proclamation signed by him and the city council declaring Oct 5, 2008 as "Church of the Nazarene Day". After the service, the mayor helped us dedicate a park bench we had set in place the day before. The bench is located next to the bus stop in front of the church and is for use by people waiting for the bus. Since the anniversary, we have seen it used by many, many people.
Augusta First
Just an update--wonderful things that came from our 100
celebration in the Augusta church. We had a series of 3 baptism services
beginning on October 5, and so far more than 20 believers were baptized! Praise
the Lord! 12 new members were added to the church by profession of faith on
October 5, and another 7 since then. We have seen an increase in our small
groups ministries, where new believers and families are being discipled, and
many new leaders are surfacing as a response to our prayers to the Lord of the
harvest--Grow Magazine recognized this increase last month. The Lord
has been so faithful, and we are thrilled to be part of this tremendous revival
that is occurring across our district. -Pastor Kevin
