Ohio Association Fall Meeting Minutes
October 25, 2022
9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Huntsburg Congregational Church, Huntsburg, Ohio
Attendance: 16
John Hood, R.J. Zupancich, James Pavlic, David Dake, David Kimberly, Jonathan Cheatham, Donna Edsall, Franklin and Nanita Shannon, Tim Dubeau, Betsy Brocklehurst, Kyle Boone, Brian Egleston, Will Coley, Rae and Tom Maurer
John Hood opened the meeting with prayer..
We sang four hymns.
Discussion revolved around the question “What is hard about praying with other Christians?”
Some points made were as follows:
- Sometimes people pray too long with too many details.
- Prayer turns into complaints with very little thankfulness.
- Prayer may be too focused on the person praying.
Next, was a discussion about why prayer is needed.
Some points made were as follows:
- We can do nothing apart from God.
- In John 15 we are told to abide in Jesus.
- We pray because we are supposed to be dependent on God.
- We pray to have fellowship with God.
- Helplessness and need are why we pray.
After a time of private prayer, we compared private prayer with corporate prayer.
Some points which were made included:
- Many churches neglect corporate prayer.
- Private prayer is often focused on personal issues, whereas corporate prayer is focused on what God needs to do for his church.
Two books by Paul Miller were referenced: Praying Life (2017), and Praying Church (to be released February 2023)
We experimented with a few minutes of “popcorn prayer”—short prayers of gratitude, one sentence each. This is a technique one can use to get people accustomed to praying aloud.
Another point made is that one reason churches are dying is that they no longer hold the spirit of Jesus in the center of the church. Therefore, pastors need to pray that Christ will be the functional center of their church. After that, they need to listen to the Holy Spirit and do what He says.
Prayer should be the core value of the church.
We had communion and then broke for lunch.
At lunch we had a business meeting.
It was proposed to donate $400 to each of the following: Franklin Shannon’s mission to provide Bibles in the Philippines; Wes Blood’s mission; Barnabas Ministry, Lifespring, and the National Four C’s. Barnabas Ministry refused the donation and suggested that $400 be split evenly between Wes Blood (Wellspring) and Jeff O’Guin (Lifespring).
We voted to donate $400 apiece to Franklin Shannon’s mission and to the National 4C’s, and $600 apiece to Wellspring and Lifespring. The motion passed unanimously.
The minutes of the Spring 2022 meeting were approved unanimously as written.
John Hood brought up the problem of Ohio being such a large state that 4C’s churches in the south west and western part of the state have a very long drive to come to our meetings. It was proposed to have a summer meeting in Columbus at Highbanks Park in hopes of getting people from those churches to attend.
Tim Dubeau advised us to send out several notices.
Kyle Boone engaged us in a discussion about the purpose of the OA. Brian Egleston stated that the OA needs a compelling vision. Comments were made to the effect that knowing other pastors and what was going on with them better enables us to support and encourage one another.
Suggestions were made that the Columbus meeting have some structure so that people realize it is more than a social time, but that we hope to accomplish something practical. Tim Dubeau suggested sending out postcards with two or three questions and asking people to be prepared to discuss these questions. David Dake suggested having pictures of the various churches and asking pastors what is going on in their church as a means of getting to know each other better.
After discussion, it was decided to have the picnic in August 2023 at Highbanks Metro Park, 9466 Columbus Pike, Lewis Center, Ohio 43035.
After the business meeting, we reconvened upstairs for Sessions 3 and 4 of the program.
The “power train” of the church was discussed: Prayer > Spirit > Jesus > Power
The more common translation of 1 Corinthians 15:45 is “Thus it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being’”the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” The Good News Translation is “Thus it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam became the life-giving Spirit.” We discussed the significance of that change in translation and how it would change our understanding of the power of prayer.
Other points raised included:
- Prayer is the church’s conduit into the presence and power of the Spirit of Jesus.
- The first mention of prayer in the Bible is Genesis 4:26.
- The first prayer book of the church is Psalms.
- Corporate prayer used to be at the heart of the worship service.
- Pastors must be praying for the people of their church.
- Prayer should be based on Scripture.
The meeting concluded at 2:30 with prayer.
Respectfully Submitted,
Donna Edsall, Secretary