Message from the DS Dear NEO family, These are exciting days in NEO. We have such a dedicated and gifted group of pastors and laity! I love getting to cheer you on! M25 was very impactful. Here are just a few of the comments shared by NEO participants about how God used M25 to challenge them: I have to get outside of the church and have a personal impact on people “out there”. Staying inside the church is not enough. Preach with even more conviction the necessity for evangelism, both corporately and privately. I am asking God to show me areas I have turned inward in my church thinking instead of outwards towards the lost. I believe that God is calling me to minister cross culturally and empower my African American brothers and sisters to live lives of holiness and harmony within the larger context of the Church. To be......

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Message from the DS I love Pastors! And NEO has tremendous Pastors! In the last few weeks I have shared breakfast or lunch with most of our pastors. What a treat for me! On more than one occasion, as we were sharing blessings and prayer requests, pastors shared that their church was getting older. That is certainly a blessing, for with age spiritual maturity often follows. Of course, there is also concern. -if we don’t begin to reach a younger crowd, what will happen to the church in 10 to 20 years? I looked in the files this week and saw an article by Thom Rainer on “Five Ways Some Senior Adult Churches Became Younger.” Let me share part of it below: Hear me clearly. I am not suggesting there is anything inherently wrong with a congregation of senior adults. But I have been asked on numerous occasions how......

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