2021 Clergy and Wives Retreat Recap

2021 Fall Clergy and Wives Retreat October 7th-9th (Synopsis by Fr. Jeffery Welch)

Early in October this year our Bishop Rob Northwood hosted all the clergy and their wives of our Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic CEC at a Spiritual Retreat at Solomon Island’s Holiday Inn. The Lord gave us beautiful weather on the ride there and all through the Retreat. We were blessed with several guests especially our Patriarch Bp. Craig Bates and his wife Cathy and Rev. Dr. Bob Engle From World Vision and The Urban Ministry Institute (TUMI).

Bishop Rob led us in Holy Communion Friday morning bringing us the first message through the sermon. He emphasized our Church’s mission to take the full gospel into all the world through signs and wonders as well as preaching and teaching. We do this because “our” Church is not ours!  It belongs to our Lord Jesus. As in the story of the Samaritan Woman at the well, we are called to find ‘key’ people who will help open up whole communities to the gospel.  He concluded that we needed to form small discipleship groups within the parish to minister and reach outside our parish.

Bob Engle taught the next two sessions. He shared his experiences as a World Vision missionary to the inner city (with his family) since 1982 and how God called him to learn different cultural languages. It was not always easy.  But just like Jesus’ example there is no ‘gain without pain’! His talks were filled with ‘truth nuggets’ such as “If you want people to learn to build a ship, teach them to love the lonely immensity of the sea;” All the while emphasizing we are in an invisible spiritual war between two Kingdoms; How the currency of the galaxy is souls; and Jesus is LORD of all. This means the Church is central to our Christian life, the gospel is the basis of discipleship, the Holy Spirit empowers us for action, and we need to embrace and share the Kingdom of God. He added there is no great commission without a great submission to Christ.

Our Patriarch Bishop Bates preached at the Holy Communion on Saturday morning as the Retreat ended. He shared extensively of his personal spiritual journey including how God led him into the CEC and it’s early growing pains (as any creature of God experiences). He emphasized our need to re-commit to all three “streams” of the CEC, particularly true revival through our evangelical efforts. He emphasized the priesthood of all believers, not just the ordained clergy, and that true revival comes from committed laity involved in liturgy, charismatic ministry and going out to make disciples of all nations (including differing cultures). He left us with this golden truth-nugget: We don’t bring people to Christ… we are to bring Christ to the people where they live.

Great fellowship was enjoyed by all at meals and times of relaxed sharing while seated outside each evening. It was a refreshing and wonderfully challenging Spiritual time. Thank you Bishop Rob.

New Wine & The Charismatic Stream

-Sarah Northwood
6/5/2019

“The old wine is good enough” but is it? This is the question that the Lord asked me after I had been walking with Him in what I thought was a strong committed relationship for several years. I want to explain how I related with God, what I realized was missing, and how it has changed the way I live as a Christian now.  

Sarah Northwood

I turned over management of my life to the Lord Jesus Christ 33 years ago. I learned many things about the Lord and the Christian life in a sound Bible believing Evangelical church.  I had come out of a lifestyle of worldly behaviors and foolishness. I was convinced to the point of being willing to be taught and led, however, some of those things I was taught were contrary to the truth. One of those beliefs was the teaching concerning the Holy Spirit.

My church at the time loved the Lord, we sought to “carry our cross daily” we learned to serve our brothers and sisters and reach the lost as we were eager and compelled by Love to “Go therefore and make disciples…” For all those teachings and especially the godly examples of those pastors who were servant-leaders to us, I am grateful. However, much of what we lived out in our Christian lives could be done without the need for the supernatural empowering and direction of the Holy Spirit. 

We applied Biblical principles, we disciplined ourselves to follow those principles rather than our own feelings, and we even shared the gospel with others based on carefully laid out spiritual laws and gospel presentations. We learned to praise God thorough all afflictions, but we were relatively unaware of Spiritual warfare. We didn’t believe that God would do supernatural healing or give prophetic direction. We didn’t learn to “hear God” except through the abundance of counsel (prayers of those around us) or the Scriptures. Believing that God was supernaturally empowering us or leading us or even working a miraculous sign through us was not one of our experiential beliefs. 

A dear friend asked me to join her at a Charismatic healing service. I went with her to make sure that, when He didn’t do what she was seeking, I would encourage her to remain faithful to the Lord.  Trouble is, she got healed that night! This was a little crack in my theological armor, but because it wasn’t in my own experience, I wasn’t persuaded that it really happened. However, God began to reveal many things to me as I became increasingly willing to believe that He was showing me things that I hadn’t been taught. He wanted to show me that He does still use people to heal others- sometimes miraculously! He wanted to show me that He is still giving people prophetic words and revealing words of knowledge to them and speaking through them in a heavenly language. I have been able to follow Him into conversations that, before would have led nowhere only to find that, as He leads it, they are open to words of truth that He provides. I have been led by Him to pray for strangers and see them healed of physical as well as emotional hurts.

All this change wasn’t an easy transition for me, however. I had to be willing to let go of the teaching that didn’t line up.  Instead of believing that the Holy Spirit is not currently doing miracles or healing people, I needed to reevaluate that in light of what God was trying to show me.  This caused a lot of growing pains.

What did I learn? That the old wine isn’t good enough.  There is a joy and an excitement as we are “filled with new wine”. There is an empowerment which comes when a person is yielded to the Spirit and allowing God to supply them with His words, His knowledge, His inspiration, His love and counsel. 

 We can follow the teaching of Jesus Christ as indicated in the Bible, we can mature in our character as we apply those principles to our lives.  We can even lead others to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ without necessarily being “filled with the Spirit”, but we will only be teaching them what we have “learned”- i.e. The lessons and teachings we have given mental ascent to. As for experiential knowledge of God and His presence, and the supernatural gifting that He wants to give His children to equip them for ministry and growth, these are only available as the Holy Spirit fills us and works through us.  This is the Charismatic Stream that creates a distinction between those who “know Him” and those who are in Him. Is it WWJD (What Would Jesus DO?) or WIJD? (What is Jesus Doing) What is He doing through you, not what has he taught you to do. This is the difference between the new wine and the old wine. So, you can ask yourself, “Is the old wine good enough?” New Wine into Old Wineskins is a parable of Jesus. It is found at Matthew 9:14-17, Mark 2:18-22 and Luke 5:33-39.