This beautiful Monday morning I am rejoicing in the great gatherings we enjoyed together this past Easter weekend. What an amazing time of worship and celebration we experienced as Dave and Lem led us into God’s presence yesterday morning. Roger Ames brought an inspiring and Spirit-filled message to us. It is good to hear from a spiritual father. As most of you know this was a special combined service for Heartland Church and All Saints Anglican Mission especially focusing on baptisms from both fellowships. And not only did the newly baptized receive anointing and prayer but the Holy Spirit obviously rested on many as the healing team anointed and prayed for many people. Thanks be to God for His faithfulness.

Our ability to appreciate the diversity of Christ’s Body is getting ready to go to another level as we welcome Gospel Community Church into our building for their regular meetings this week. GC is rooted in the Calvary Chapel movement and of course Heartland is rooted in the Vineyard movement and I think God is getting a good chuckle out of this turn of events. I am praying that in a godly way GC’s emphasis on teaching and our emphasis on the ministry of the Holy Spirit will positively impact both fellowships.

We continue to realize that the gathered church, from small groups to large, is God’s idea. We cannot fulfill Kingdom ministry by ourselves. We need each other. And together we always can do more of God’s work in bringing the world and society under His Kingdom rule than we can alone.

Even though the mild weather has greatly reduced our utility costs we still are operating on very slim resources. We are committed to operating within our resources. We tithe our general church income to mercy, benevolence, outreach and missions. We endeavor to be good stewards believing that investing in pastoral care, evangelism and discipleship is God’s will for our corporate life. We are committed to going and making disciples whether in the marketplace, in our neighborhood, on our campuses, or across the earth.

I am writing to ask you to prayerfully consider increasing your financial support to Heartland Church. Will you consider investing in our life together in a greater way? We do appreciate your prayers, partnership and tithes and offerings and know God will bless you with a Kingdom return on your giving. May God teach us to prosper so that we may be able to say yes to every opportunity to do good in Jesus’ name.

Yours for the Kingdom,
Ron Allen, lead pastor
Heartland Church

I love Mondays. For me it’s basking in the afterglow of our weekend meetings. From All Saints vespers on Saturday evening, to our celebration on Sunday morning, and Wellspring on Sunday evening, I love the reports of what God is doing in our lives and how we rejoice together in seeing God’s Kingdom advance.

We continue to do together what we cannot do alone. Byron Funnell is our point guy with the Miami Tribal Council. We are slowly but surely making progress in planting a Native American Christian church that celebrates the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in a way that honors Native American culture. Consider attending the conference at Ashland University with Terry and Darlene Wildman, CREATED IN GOD’S IMAGE, WALKING HOLY GROUND, 
Seeing Christ through Native American Eyes, 
April 16-18, 2012. This gathering builds on the meetings that we have had at Heartland in the past.

Dan and Fern Utz with Clearwater Ministries continue their work in jails and prisons. After a long time they are finally able to have meetings in the facility at Madison. Go on a trip with them, it will change your life and the lives of prisoners.

Our food pantry under Larry Snider’s supervision continues to touch hundreds of lives a month. We give approximately 15,000 meals a month to the needy. And each recipient gets prayer and personal ministry. Thanks to all who faithfully share in that ministry.

We continue to build a strong ministry team trained in the skills of Restoring the Foundations. Carolyn and her team are very busy caring for souls who need a breakthrough from God. Larry Larson continues to expand his counseling ministry to those who need something more. And of course, every week the Body ministers to the Body. The skills that Jon has taught us from the Vineyard healing model equip every believer to pray for others with sensitivity and anointing.

I love our worship teams. The value and practice of tag-teaming is fundamental to our approach to worship and praise. New songs continue to emerge. Dave is wrapping up his latest project and soon we will be doing a new song sampler for our Heartland worship series. Our worship team will be doing a concert in Akron on April 28.

We host New Life Anglican mission on Sunday mornings at 11 am. Father Rick Leone also pastors Glorious King in Huntington. Our Saturday night service with All Saints Mission meets at 5pm for Vespers and at 6pm for soup and salad. At 7pm Father Nate teaches the Bible in depth for an hour. As John Wimber taught me we want to love as much of the church as God loves. We really don’t yet, but we want to. That is one reason why we are hosting Gospel Community Church on Sunday nights in our building at 5pm. This community of 300 lost their building, and we will be sharing our facilities with them.

God is up to something more. I can feel the same anticipation I have felt before when a wave of the Holy Spirit was immanent. Given the positive response to my message Sunday, I know many of you are feeling the same way. We are not going to miss this next move of God. In fact we are already experiencing the first fruits. I am excited about the new energy for evangelism and discipleship. May God keep healing us up, cleaning us up, growing us up and sending us out. Let’s keep doing together what we cannot do alone. Thank you for your faithful partnership. We overestimate what we can do in a year, and we underestimate what we can do in three years.

Blessings,

Ron Allen, lead pastor

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The old song says it well. “Count your many blessings. Name them one by one. And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” Certainly we are full of gratitude this Thanksgiving for what God has been doing for all of us at Heartland Church.

Every Sunday morning I see new faces. We are blessed by all the new folks that now call Heartland Church home. While we don’t see everyone every Sunday over 400 precious folks are regularly participating in our life together. The testimonies of new Believers are especially gratifying. We have come a long way since 2009 when we were meeting in the small auditorium. We will have lots of people to baptize at Easter. If you want to follow Christ in baptism, please talk to me or Pastor Jon. There will be classes to prepare for baptism in January.

We see the increase with Children’s Ministry. We intentionally keep the kids in with their parents during worship through communion and then dismiss them to their classes. What a great bunch of teachers Kim Rockett has on her team. We are endeavoring to teach each child 100 basic Bible verses before they reach Junior High. Every Sunday two or three of the children will corner me to let me hear their latest memory verse.

Junior High has their Bible study during Sunday morning worship after communion. We have some excellent teachers for both the guys and the gals. It is wonderful to see these young folks growing in their faith.

Wellspring is our high school/college worship service that meets on Sunday evenings at 6pm. This gathering of over 30 young adults is doing church. Of course there is lots of opportunity for fun and games, but what we focus on is these young men & women being the church and ministering to one another. We have a great team of adults facilitating Wellspring, as well as a great worship team.

One of our over 20 small groups meets at 6pm as well. Jim and Lorraine Wyrostek lead this group. Some of the parents of Wellspring students are active in this group. We believe every Christian needs to be a part of a small community of Believers where there is not only Bible study, but opportunity for hands on ministry as well. If you are interested in being a part of a small group check with me or Pastor Jon or Pastor Carolyn.

We now have over 50 folks who have been through the basic Restoring the Foundations ministry training class. This introductory course will be followed by the second level of training after the first of the year. This training is fundamental to all our ministry teams, especially those we take on ministry trips. If you are interested in being trained and equipped to minister in the power of the Holy Spirit check in with Pastor Carolyn or Pastor Jon.

The Friday morning Moms meeting just celebrated their first birthday. About 25 Moms meet for fellowship and encouragement. Check with Christine Clifton or Keri Jo Fox if you are interested.

We are interested in getting some 12 step groups started to help those with difficult addictions. Shane Chellis is a great resource leader and will help you get started on a road to freedom. Call the church office for more information.

Our new worship project, Hope Rise Up is now out. You can get a CD from Barb Yoder in our bookstore or download it on iTunes. You can also get the last CD, Something More as well. Pastor Dave is hard at work on the next project which we hope will be done in the spring. The worship community continues to grow. Musicians, dancers, painters and techies all facilitate an amazing week by week experience for us. If you are interested in being a part of this ministry talk to Pastor Dave.

Natasha Utz is building a new team of worship dancers. If you or your child would like to be a part of this team talk to Natasha or Pastor Dave.

Our food pantry regularly ministers to 60 families a week. This translates into about 14,000 meals a month. Larry Snider and his crew are amazing.

Many of you have been a part of Dan Utz’s prison ministry. If you would like to help, talk to Dan or Fern. The 20^th annual Christmas Cookie Jail Ministry for Allen County Jail is coming up Saturday, December 17. How about making some homemade cookies and helping out?

Byron Funnell continues to be the point guy in our partnership with the Miami Tribe. Several opportunities exist in this growing relationship. We hope one day to have a Miami Christian Church done Native American style.

We continue to host New Life Anglican Church with Fr. Rick Leone in our chapel on Sundays at 11am. Fr. Nate Long leads All Saints Anglican Church on Saturdays. At 5pm there is a Eucharist service, with soup and salad at 6pm. At 7pm Fr. Nate does an hour Bible lecture. Check it out.

I continue to coach several church planters and pastors in the area. We meet Saturday mornings from 9 to noon on the fourth Saturday of the month for Kindling Ministries. This is a training time for church planting and church growth.

Operating behind the scenes, our Laying a Foundation of Intercessory Prayer Team, under the leadership of Gina Jehl, faithfully prays, not just for our church but in partnership with other intercessors for God’s purposes in the region as well.

For Christmas Eve, Pastor Jon is preparing our annual candlelight service. Meeting at 7pm, this 50 minute service is always a highlight of the season. We will also have a Christmas morning family worship and communion service at 10am.

As we look ahead to the New Year, we are working on a new sermon series called, “LifeTruth.” We will focus on practical ways to grow up, clean up, heal up, and move up in the fruitful Christian life.

I am grateful for your continued partnership in ministry and mission. We can do together what we cannot do alone. This is why God created the church. Some important Kingdom activites can only be done by the whole body of Christ working together. Your investment of time, energy, money, partnership and prayer are a blessing. Thank you and thank God for the privilege of being Heartland Church together.

In Thanksgiving,

Pastor Ron for the pastoral team

God has indeed favored us this summer. Marvelous answers to prayer include breakthroughs for employment, restoration for families and marriages, and God’s healing for hurting bodies. We all know someone who has had a miraculous touch from God as we have lifted one another to the throne of grace for God’s help. We are so grateful for faithful intercessors that continue to lay a foundation of prayer for all our ministries.

We can begin to recognize the turning of the seasons again as we face the end of summer and soon the color of the leaves will welcome fall. Our children and youth are back again at their studies. And we are excited, as we look at the plans for fall through Advent for our church life together.

Our Sunday evening youth service, WellSpring has hit pace.  Great participation by a growing number of teens eager to do church together with their peers is a great encouragement to us all. We have several new home groups beginning to gather in addition to our dozen existing groups. Most are meeting twice a month. Children’s ministry continues to build upon a strong foundation of Bible memorization and is ready to go to another level. And of course we are all eagerly awaiting the next worship CD of new songs from our worship community. I love Sunday services where so many are willing to step up and take part. Last Sunday we saw seven different persons ministering with grace and power from the microphone and dozens more engaged with praying for one other. I am eager for the artists to begin a new painting in the next couple of weeks. And I am looking forward to the new young dance team to become a regular part of our corporate worship. As you noticed last Sunday we have arranged the platform to accommodate these last two activities.

I am excited that we are now beginning a new cycle of ministry team training. I am praying for 50 new people to be trained in pastoral care skills so we might be better equipped to pray and minister to one another.  It is a prerequisite for any teams we take overseas in the next few months to have been through this training. And we will be partnering with Bethel Church, Cleveland in schools of the Holy Spirit seeing the gifts of the Holy Spirit activated in the lives of God’s saints.

I am blessed when I think about the 300 families a month that we help through our food pantry. We not only offer food but we pray for each household that God would touch each family with His love and grace.

The fourth Saturday mornings of the month from 9am till noon, I will be holding a class for pastors, interns and church planters at Heartland Church. We will be focusing on advancing the Kingdom of God through church planting, church development, and church growth. We will be learning and interacting together about how to practically build from the bottom up and the inside out in our various assignments for ministry. If we want different results than we have been getting, we may need to do something different than what we have been doing.

I am convinced that God is getting us ready for a greater release of His Spirit upon His church in our society. We are praying for revival and God wants it even more than we do. As Dave said in his message Sunday when the church steps out in faith and obedience, the enemy steps up to challenge with confusion and opposition. But the battle belongs to the Lord and we will be victorious.

Thank you all for your continued partnership and support. You’re a generous and tenderhearted community of faith. Please pray for our leadership that we will be wise stewards of time, resource and money.

We still have some needed repairs to make to the building and particularly the roof on the west wing as we head into fall. I know that all of us are facing financial challenges in these days. Approximately 20% of our fellowship is giving 90% of our financial support. Would you consider what God would have you do? We can do more together than we can do alone. God designed it that way. We need each other to fulfill our calling to be about the Great Commission. We can together make the difference God is asking of us.

May God richest blessings be yours and may He be glorified in our life and work together.

Ron Allen, for the ministry leadership team.

We are about to introduce this song at Heartland, so we invite you take a few listens and be ready to sing!