By Bishop Talmadge Gardner
I was honored to serve as the presiding officer for the annual RIVER OF LIFE MINISTRIES CONFERENCE on Saturday, April 23, 2016. The conference was hosted on the campus of Bethel Life Worship Center in Greenville, Pennsylvania. Bethel Life is pastored by Rev. Kent and Denise Bell – two exceptionally remarkable and gifted servant leaders.
On Friday afternoon, I was privileged to tour Bethel Life’s Project Restore House. “Project Restore is a ministry offering hope and healing to women who have been victimized by slave and sex trafficking, through a long-term aftercare program called ’Lyndsey’s Place.’ Project Restore purposes to bring the light of God’s love into the darkened lives of trafficking victims. Evil exists not because of the evil people in the world…but because the people of light sit back and do nothing.”
On Friday evening, I had the unique opportunity to see Loving HANDS in action. “Loving HANDS is a respite service provided once a month for three hours for families who have children with special physical, intellectual, behavioral or emotional needs. All ages are welcome, along with their siblings. Each guest is paired up with a buddy for the night and enjoys an evening of gluten-free, casein-free snacks, appropriate games, crafts and fun. Parents enjoy a night off and we get a chance to love on your child.”
While serving in the general Church Education and Discipleship Ministries Divisions, I was privileged to see the vision for Loving HANDS and the Project Restore House come to fruition. These are relevant ministries that are modeling ministry and impacting our IPHC faith family in a profound way. If you want to learn more about these ministries I encourage you to visit Bethel Life’s website: www.blwc.org.
My mother was a member of Bethel Life or ‘Greenville PHC’ as it was known then. This church ‘raised’ her and her four sisters after their father died when she was 13 months old and her mother died when she was twelve. So, it consequently holds a very special place in the lives and hearts of my younger brother, sister and myself.
I had not had the privilege of serving this conference as its presiding officer since 2010. I was encouraged by what I experienced. Bishop Adams’ leadership combined with that of the members of the Conference Executive Council has been transformational, to say the least. They model team ministry and their gifts serve as a complement to one another!
Bishop Adams began his State of the Conference remarks by recalling his introduction to the conference through a mentor pastor and friend, Rev. Almon Birt [the father of Bishop Dayton Birt] some 13 years earlier. The number of churches had dramatically decreased and the future did not hold much promise. At the invitation of Rev. Birt, he attended the 25th General Conference that was hosted in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 2005. He describes this experience as follows: “But that year was the year of General Conference and I was privileged to go to Oklahoma and see the IPHC Church up close and personal AND I LIKED IT!”
Bishop Adams also credited an ‘Antioch Encounter’ that the conference hosted in Pittsburgh in 2010 as being a significant turning point for the conference. He was also very complementary of the assistance that Bishop Thompson and Evangelism USA, as well as Bishop Dayton Birt and Redemption Ministries, have made to their turn-around/rebirth!
He concluded his remarks by saying: “There is a wind blowing across the River of Life Conference. It is bringing LIFE to once dead people. Bringing life to a disjointed, dismembered conference that was almost dead.”
We rejoice with River of Life Ministries as they experience the ‘new thing’ that God is doing in their conference!
Clergy Credentials Were Issued As Follows:
Minister’s License (2) –
- Sheila Palonen
- Merissa DeVries
Local Church Minister’s Certificate (1) –
- Robert Kostelnik
The conference, in session, also celebrated the Foundations for Emerging Leaders [FEL] graduation. FEL is a new leadership training program that the conference initiated four years ago. The FEL is a three-year program consisting of 12 modules. I was honored to participate in awarding 40 graduates their certificate of completion. Those graduating from FEL’s first class were:
- Dale Adams
- Debi Adams
- Andrew Bell
- Denise Bell
- Kent E. Bell
- Marlyne Callahan
- Brad Campbell
- Rita Clemente
- Allen Collins
- Donny Decker
- Sherry Decker
- Amy Faler
- Lance Faler
- James D. Fleck
- Marcia Fleck
- Tara Fraicola
- Kim Gilmore
- Julie Graubard
- Scott Graubard
- Joan Grunewald
- Marissa Hamilton
- Betty Hayden
- Brian Heckman
- Annette Kostelnik
- Robert Kostelnik
- Angie Kuhn
- Thomas Morris
- Brian Paolucci
- Linda Paolucci
- Linda Reeder
- David Robinson
- Kathy Robinson
- LuAnn Shreckengosh
- Richard Shreckengosh
- Frank Smith
- Kristina Smith
- Todd Smith
- Holly Terry
- Melanie Weisberg
- Ben Zimmer
It was an honor as the presiding officer to recognize the following conference attendees and guests:
- Kent Bell, member of the general Discipleship Ministries Division Council and also a member of the 28th General Conference Bylaws Committee.
- Larry & Deborah Mininger, IPHC Career Missionaries. The Miningers are now in their 25th year of missions, and have an active ministry in over a dozen nations within Eastern Europe.
One can sense that Dale and Debi are walking in a new season of God’s anointing and vision as they lead River of Life Ministries. I celebrate the ‘air’ of expectancy and the hope that one experiences as you talk with the members of this part of our faith family.
