Blog https://www.mountaincty.church Tue, 19 Mar 2024 03:50:44 -0400 http://churchplantmedia.com/ Pastor Josh Update https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-josh-update-_10 https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-josh-update-_10#comments Mon, 08 Nov 2021 06:00:00 -0500 https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-josh-update-_10 As you can see above, we've become farmers now! Of course, not really. But we were able to visit a local pumpkin farm for a fun time of hayrides, a corn maze, and various other fall festival activities. 

This past month, I was able able to travel to the church replant we are overseeing (Redeeming Grace Church of Southgate, Michigan) in order to meet the people there and preach. They were very friendly and seemed eager to move forward. 

Speaking of moving forward, we're hoping to finally move into our church building on November 21! There are two things to keep in mind, though. First, we need to pass the inspection, which will likely take place early next week. Please pray that all goes smoothly. Also, we may need to vacate the building for a few weeks this winter in order to complete some key structural renovations. Please pray that vacating the building is not necessary. 

We currently have three people in baptismal counseling and are excited to see their eagerness to follow Jesus and the newfound joy they have now that they are Christians. Please pray that John, Marlene, and Nicole will grow in their faith and follow through with this important step of obedience to Jesus. 

We also have thirteen people in our latest Membership Information Class (which started October 16) and have been seeing a higher than usual number of new guests on Sundays this past month as well. Please pray that we'd be able to make a meaningful investment in those God brings us and that he would lead them to the church he wants them to be a part of. 

And finally, we were able to rejoice in God's goodness this past month as we celebrated our church's five year anniversary. On October 23, 2016, fourteen people covenanted together to form Redeeming Grace Church, and God has been so faithful to us and blessed us abundantly throughout these past five years. I preached a special sermon to mark the occasion (available here), acknowledging God's blessings and calling on the church to be good stewards of God's grace in the future. We also recited our entire membership covenant together as a church and recommitted ourselves to living out those covenant commitments. It was a wonderful time!

Of course, part of the reason for God's blessings that we've seen these past five years is your faithful prayers. Thank you! The fact that you are lifting up our requests before God means the world to us, and I don't believe we'd be where we are today apart from those prayers. 

Please continue to pray that God would bless this endeavor and that we'd see more and more open doors for the gospel. Please pray, as always, that those we're reaching out to would come to faith in Jesus. You might especially mention our new home daycare clients Tom and Lauren, who live within walking distance of our church building (which is quite amazing when you consider the fact that the church building is 15 minutes away from our house). Thank you!

Serving Him,
Josh & Becky Tancordo

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As you can see above, we've become farmers now! Of course, not really. But we were able to visit a local pumpkin farm for a fun time of hayrides, a corn maze, and various other fall festival activities. 

This past month, I was able able to travel to the church replant we are overseeing (Redeeming Grace Church of Southgate, Michigan) in order to meet the people there and preach. They were very friendly and seemed eager to move forward. 

Speaking of moving forward, we're hoping to finally move into our church building on November 21! There are two things to keep in mind, though. First, we need to pass the inspection, which will likely take place early next week. Please pray that all goes smoothly. Also, we may need to vacate the building for a few weeks this winter in order to complete some key structural renovations. Please pray that vacating the building is not necessary. 

We currently have three people in baptismal counseling and are excited to see their eagerness to follow Jesus and the newfound joy they have now that they are Christians. Please pray that John, Marlene, and Nicole will grow in their faith and follow through with this important step of obedience to Jesus. 

We also have thirteen people in our latest Membership Information Class (which started October 16) and have been seeing a higher than usual number of new guests on Sundays this past month as well. Please pray that we'd be able to make a meaningful investment in those God brings us and that he would lead them to the church he wants them to be a part of. 

And finally, we were able to rejoice in God's goodness this past month as we celebrated our church's five year anniversary. On October 23, 2016, fourteen people covenanted together to form Redeeming Grace Church, and God has been so faithful to us and blessed us abundantly throughout these past five years. I preached a special sermon to mark the occasion (available here), acknowledging God's blessings and calling on the church to be good stewards of God's grace in the future. We also recited our entire membership covenant together as a church and recommitted ourselves to living out those covenant commitments. It was a wonderful time!

Of course, part of the reason for God's blessings that we've seen these past five years is your faithful prayers. Thank you! The fact that you are lifting up our requests before God means the world to us, and I don't believe we'd be where we are today apart from those prayers. 

Please continue to pray that God would bless this endeavor and that we'd see more and more open doors for the gospel. Please pray, as always, that those we're reaching out to would come to faith in Jesus. You might especially mention our new home daycare clients Tom and Lauren, who live within walking distance of our church building (which is quite amazing when you consider the fact that the church building is 15 minutes away from our house). Thank you!

Serving Him,
Josh & Becky Tancordo

]]>
Pastor Carr Update https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-carr-update-_6 https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-carr-update-_6#comments Mon, 08 Nov 2021 06:00:00 -0500 https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-carr-update-_6 Dear Friends, Family, and Partners,

 

It’s hard to believe that we are now heading into November - WOW!!  We hope this letter finds everybody well.  Leslie and I are so grateful for each one of you and your continued prayers, friendship, encouragement, and financial support!!  God truly does use each of you to bless us and we are grateful for His provision and your partnership!!

 

October was a good mix of outreach to our community, as well as ministry to our own BOC family.

 

OUTREACH to our community:

 

We hosted a “Pierce the Darkness” ministry to all of our trick-or-treaters this year, which included a block party, games, food, candy, trunk-or-treat, door prizes, etc.  The tweak this year was that we did it right BEFORE the regular trick-or-treating so we could spend more time with our community as well as do it while still daylight.  It was really well-received (as one barometer, over 700 hot dogs were served - WOW!!) and was wonderfully led by two of our dear ladies - Ms. Grace and Ms. Shanita!!




We continue to work on our Cycle-Breaking Apartments ministry.  We are SO close to having one apartment completed.  Thank you to our friends from Fearless Church in Dayton, OH who continue to help us with this project.  We are also grateful for our Pastor David and Deacon David for their labor of love in assisting brother Glenn and his buddies!!  Please pray for the necessary resources to complete the other two apartments.  We still need about $20,000 to fully complete all three apartments.  As God provides, we will complete the project.  Please pray for us as we develop written requirements, policies, etc. to launch this ministry.

 

We also continue to provide backpacks of food for the weekends for our “at risk” children at the Westernport Elementary School.  What a ministry opportunity!!  We are so blessed by Ms. Stephanie and Ms. Shanita who provide this ministry on a weekly basis.  The sad thing is that we have a record FIFTY children who require this ministry.  Please pray for them and their families and that this ministry will have an eternal impact upon them!!

 

MINISTRY to our church family:

 

We had a great time together as a church family with our annual picnic at Brookdale Farms this month.  The cool thing about this ministry was that we had encouraged our families to invite other unchurched families to join us just to hang out and enjoy the day with church folks!!  It was a HIT as we had well over 20 folks who have no church home join us for the fellowship together!!  This picture is of our own Deacon John and his family.  Please pray for John and his family as he continues to pursue training to become ordained as a pastor in the months ahead!!



We also had a sweet time of fellowship at our third annual church costume party!!  The night included crafts for the kids, costume party for children and adults, games, food, and lots of fun and laughter.  As we did with the church picnic, we encouraged our families to invite unchurched families and wow, what a turnout.  We had between 40 and 50 children at this party.  Ain’t that cool??  We were grateful for Ms. Katie and Ms. Ashley for organizing and leading in this party!!



In addition to these special activities, we were also blessed with the regular monthly ladies’ fellowship who came together for a craft night in October, our weekly FIGHT NIGHT for men, the youth group ministry for our youth, and a weekly Bible study for our ladies (through November).  Our fellowship is growing together as well as reaching outward and we are blessed to watch what God is doing in and through His church here at BOC!! (Picture is of our youth outing to the local Escape Room in Frostburg this month - we had a good time together!!)

 

Would you please keep these prayer requests in mind as you seek the Lord on our behalf??

1 - Please pray for fruit to come from the travels I had this month.  What an honor to preach at Mountain City Church in Frostburg, MD (Thank you, Pastor Joe Saweikis!!) and Thelma Baptist Church in Wetumpka, AL (Thank you, Pastor Doug Chappelle), as well as meet with so many pastors, directors of missions, and leaders throughout the state of Alabama.  We are so blessed to have so many friends and partners in the ministry here in our mountains.



2 - Please pray for the Lord’s will to be done in regards to a grant proposal I submitted to the US Wind Power Foundation to help with the costs of the materials we need to put on our new roof in the Spring.  We have made it through the first step in the process and are now waiting to hear about our status.  Please pray for the resources needed for the roof to be completed (right now, we are looking at a need of approximately $100,000)!!

 

3 - Please pray for the necessary resources for the completion of our cycle-breaking apartments.  As of now, we have everything we need to complete the first apartment.  Another $8,000 would give us what is needed to complete the second apartment, and another $12,000 would complete the third apartment.

 

4 - Please pray for our upcoming rec. League basketball for our community children (our “poor man’s version” of Upward Basketball)!!  Registration occurs in November and we will start in December.  Please keep JoJo in prayer as she leads this ministry and please pray for much fruit to come from this outreach!!  Thank you to donations from Faith Baptist Church in Glen Burnie, MD, and First Baptist Church of Wetumpka, AL to help us make this ministry even more impactful and effective!!

 

5 - Please pray for our Christmas ministries to our community.  One ministry will be a Christmas backpack distribution as we will hand out OVER 300 backpacks this year.  Thank you to our friends from Elmore Baptist Association for their generosity and assistance in this ministry.  One other ministry is the distribution of gifts in a “Christmas Shop” for families in exceptional need during this time of year.  Thank you to our community for their donations throughout the year as well as to our friends from Central Park Baptist Church in Decatur, AL for their donation of $2,000 worth of toys to this ministry.   

 

6 - Lastly, please pray for our new “strategy” of outreach as we are asking our church families to invite families they know and are trying to reach to join us for our fellowship / internal church ministries - it’s our attempt to expose unsaved people to the Gospel through fellowship with church folk!!!  Please pray that our friends in the community will be drawn to Christ through these efforts.

 

As always, Leslie and I want you to know that we desire to encourage you as much as you encourage us in our ministry here in the Mountains.  If  there is anyway we can pray for you or come alongside you in a practical way to encourage you, please do not hesitate to let us know.  You can e-mail me at pastorsteffan@gmail.com, call me at 301-697-4828, or message me on FB.

 

Speaking of ways to contact us, please feel free to follow along in our ministry in one or more of the following:

BOC Website - www.bruceoutreachcenter.com

BOC Facebook - www.facebook.com/bruceoutreachcenter

BOC Private FB (Hope in the Mountains - please send a request to join and I will add ya’)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1536105830013432

You can also download our APP by searching “Bruce Outreach Center” in the APP store on your smartphone.

 

Thank you again for your friendship and partnership!!  We look forward to how God blesses as we continue to partner together for the sake of His Kingdom!!  We appreciate and love each one of you!!

]]>
Dear Friends, Family, and Partners,

 

It’s hard to believe that we are now heading into November - WOW!!  We hope this letter finds everybody well.  Leslie and I are so grateful for each one of you and your continued prayers, friendship, encouragement, and financial support!!  God truly does use each of you to bless us and we are grateful for His provision and your partnership!!

 

October was a good mix of outreach to our community, as well as ministry to our own BOC family.

 

OUTREACH to our community:

 

We hosted a “Pierce the Darkness” ministry to all of our trick-or-treaters this year, which included a block party, games, food, candy, trunk-or-treat, door prizes, etc.  The tweak this year was that we did it right BEFORE the regular trick-or-treating so we could spend more time with our community as well as do it while still daylight.  It was really well-received (as one barometer, over 700 hot dogs were served - WOW!!) and was wonderfully led by two of our dear ladies - Ms. Grace and Ms. Shanita!!




We continue to work on our Cycle-Breaking Apartments ministry.  We are SO close to having one apartment completed.  Thank you to our friends from Fearless Church in Dayton, OH who continue to help us with this project.  We are also grateful for our Pastor David and Deacon David for their labor of love in assisting brother Glenn and his buddies!!  Please pray for the necessary resources to complete the other two apartments.  We still need about $20,000 to fully complete all three apartments.  As God provides, we will complete the project.  Please pray for us as we develop written requirements, policies, etc. to launch this ministry.

 

We also continue to provide backpacks of food for the weekends for our “at risk” children at the Westernport Elementary School.  What a ministry opportunity!!  We are so blessed by Ms. Stephanie and Ms. Shanita who provide this ministry on a weekly basis.  The sad thing is that we have a record FIFTY children who require this ministry.  Please pray for them and their families and that this ministry will have an eternal impact upon them!!

 

MINISTRY to our church family:

 

We had a great time together as a church family with our annual picnic at Brookdale Farms this month.  The cool thing about this ministry was that we had encouraged our families to invite other unchurched families to join us just to hang out and enjoy the day with church folks!!  It was a HIT as we had well over 20 folks who have no church home join us for the fellowship together!!  This picture is of our own Deacon John and his family.  Please pray for John and his family as he continues to pursue training to become ordained as a pastor in the months ahead!!



We also had a sweet time of fellowship at our third annual church costume party!!  The night included crafts for the kids, costume party for children and adults, games, food, and lots of fun and laughter.  As we did with the church picnic, we encouraged our families to invite unchurched families and wow, what a turnout.  We had between 40 and 50 children at this party.  Ain’t that cool??  We were grateful for Ms. Katie and Ms. Ashley for organizing and leading in this party!!



In addition to these special activities, we were also blessed with the regular monthly ladies’ fellowship who came together for a craft night in October, our weekly FIGHT NIGHT for men, the youth group ministry for our youth, and a weekly Bible study for our ladies (through November).  Our fellowship is growing together as well as reaching outward and we are blessed to watch what God is doing in and through His church here at BOC!! (Picture is of our youth outing to the local Escape Room in Frostburg this month - we had a good time together!!)

 

Would you please keep these prayer requests in mind as you seek the Lord on our behalf??

1 - Please pray for fruit to come from the travels I had this month.  What an honor to preach at Mountain City Church in Frostburg, MD (Thank you, Pastor Joe Saweikis!!) and Thelma Baptist Church in Wetumpka, AL (Thank you, Pastor Doug Chappelle), as well as meet with so many pastors, directors of missions, and leaders throughout the state of Alabama.  We are so blessed to have so many friends and partners in the ministry here in our mountains.



2 - Please pray for the Lord’s will to be done in regards to a grant proposal I submitted to the US Wind Power Foundation to help with the costs of the materials we need to put on our new roof in the Spring.  We have made it through the first step in the process and are now waiting to hear about our status.  Please pray for the resources needed for the roof to be completed (right now, we are looking at a need of approximately $100,000)!!

 

3 - Please pray for the necessary resources for the completion of our cycle-breaking apartments.  As of now, we have everything we need to complete the first apartment.  Another $8,000 would give us what is needed to complete the second apartment, and another $12,000 would complete the third apartment.

 

4 - Please pray for our upcoming rec. League basketball for our community children (our “poor man’s version” of Upward Basketball)!!  Registration occurs in November and we will start in December.  Please keep JoJo in prayer as she leads this ministry and please pray for much fruit to come from this outreach!!  Thank you to donations from Faith Baptist Church in Glen Burnie, MD, and First Baptist Church of Wetumpka, AL to help us make this ministry even more impactful and effective!!

 

5 - Please pray for our Christmas ministries to our community.  One ministry will be a Christmas backpack distribution as we will hand out OVER 300 backpacks this year.  Thank you to our friends from Elmore Baptist Association for their generosity and assistance in this ministry.  One other ministry is the distribution of gifts in a “Christmas Shop” for families in exceptional need during this time of year.  Thank you to our community for their donations throughout the year as well as to our friends from Central Park Baptist Church in Decatur, AL for their donation of $2,000 worth of toys to this ministry.   

 

6 - Lastly, please pray for our new “strategy” of outreach as we are asking our church families to invite families they know and are trying to reach to join us for our fellowship / internal church ministries - it’s our attempt to expose unsaved people to the Gospel through fellowship with church folk!!!  Please pray that our friends in the community will be drawn to Christ through these efforts.

 

As always, Leslie and I want you to know that we desire to encourage you as much as you encourage us in our ministry here in the Mountains.  If  there is anyway we can pray for you or come alongside you in a practical way to encourage you, please do not hesitate to let us know.  You can e-mail me at pastorsteffan@gmail.com, call me at 301-697-4828, or message me on FB.

 

Speaking of ways to contact us, please feel free to follow along in our ministry in one or more of the following:

BOC Website - www.bruceoutreachcenter.com

BOC Facebook - www.facebook.com/bruceoutreachcenter

BOC Private FB (Hope in the Mountains - please send a request to join and I will add ya’)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1536105830013432

You can also download our APP by searching “Bruce Outreach Center” in the APP store on your smartphone.

 

Thank you again for your friendship and partnership!!  We look forward to how God blesses as we continue to partner together for the sake of His Kingdom!!  We appreciate and love each one of you!!

]]>
Pastor Josh Update https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-josh-update-_9 https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-josh-update-_9#comments Tue, 20 Jul 2021 11:00:00 -0400 https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-josh-update-_9 One of our prayers for several years now has been that God would provide more opportunities for us to engage youth in a more meaningful way. Occasionally, we would have a family with teenagers attend our church for a few months only to leave because they desired more for the youth. This happened about four or five times. We noted that if we just had several families with youth attend at the same time, instead of separately, we'd be able to get something going!

Thankfully, it seems as though that time may be upon us. As you can see pictured above, we had our first ever youth activity--a youth cookout and bonfire hosted by our church members Steve & Rhonda. In addition to three adults who have indicated an interest in ministering to youth, we had four families attend this cookout (a total of 18 people). In addition, there is another family with youth who's been attending lately but who wasn't able to make it due to being on vacation. So that makes five families of regular attenders who seem interested in getting their youth together for activities. The opportunity for meaningful youth ministry certainly seems to be upon us! Please pray that we would be able to make an impact in this area. 

In addition, we had 12 people in our most recent membership class. The class consists of attending four teaching sessions and reading a 70-page membership handbook. All 12 class participants have indicated an interest in moving forward with membership, 5 of them planning to join by baptism. In addition, we've been having so many newcomers lately that another membership class will likely be necessary soon. Our attendance has increased by approximately 25% in the past 6 months, and the increase has come almost entirely from people who are completely new to our church (rather than those returning from a COVID-related absence). We praise God for this wonderful season of blessing! 

One (good) challenge this has brought is that we are feeling very stretched with our ability to minister to those God has brought our way. One of our elders moved to California last year, and another elder is considering how he will respond to an unexpected invitation from a church in Michigan (his hometown) to be their full-time pastor. That would only leave two elders at our church. Please pray that God would provide the leadership necessary to lead our flock. At least two other men have come in recently who seem to be qualified to serve in this way, but we'd like to spend longer getting to know them before making any hasty decisions. Please pray for God's wisdom. 

Also, please pray for Janet as she actively moves toward starting an Evangelistic Bible Study at her house. Several non-Christian neighbors have already expressed interest in attending, and they are working out the logistics. In addition, Becky and I continue to follow up with those who attended the Evangelistic Bible Study at our house a month or two ago. In fact, we are going on a playdate with one of those women (and her husband/children) in a few days at a local playground. This woman is named Samantha and is the events manager at the hotel we rent on Sundays. We are just thrilled at how God seems to be blessing that relationship (this will be our second time getting together with them). Please pray that God would continue to open doors for the gospel and draw people to himself. 

Finally, please pray for a challenge we have with meeting space. The building renovations are taking longer than expected, and the hotel has told us that, due to more events as well as staffing issues, we will need to use an alternate (smaller) meeting room every Sunday beginning in September. Last year, this would not have been an issue, but with our increased attendance, it is. We are currently exploring creative solutions, but the most likely scenario at this point is that we will need to begin having two worship services. This is not something we desire to do permanently if we can help it, but we may need to do it for several months until we can meet in our own building. 

As always, we can't thank you enough for your prayers! They mean the world to us, and we have no doubt that the fruitful season of ministry we are currently enjoying is a product of the faithful army of prayer warriors who are standing behind our ministry. 

Serving Him,
Josh & Becky Tancordo

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One of our prayers for several years now has been that God would provide more opportunities for us to engage youth in a more meaningful way. Occasionally, we would have a family with teenagers attend our church for a few months only to leave because they desired more for the youth. This happened about four or five times. We noted that if we just had several families with youth attend at the same time, instead of separately, we'd be able to get something going!

Thankfully, it seems as though that time may be upon us. As you can see pictured above, we had our first ever youth activity--a youth cookout and bonfire hosted by our church members Steve & Rhonda. In addition to three adults who have indicated an interest in ministering to youth, we had four families attend this cookout (a total of 18 people). In addition, there is another family with youth who's been attending lately but who wasn't able to make it due to being on vacation. So that makes five families of regular attenders who seem interested in getting their youth together for activities. The opportunity for meaningful youth ministry certainly seems to be upon us! Please pray that we would be able to make an impact in this area. 

In addition, we had 12 people in our most recent membership class. The class consists of attending four teaching sessions and reading a 70-page membership handbook. All 12 class participants have indicated an interest in moving forward with membership, 5 of them planning to join by baptism. In addition, we've been having so many newcomers lately that another membership class will likely be necessary soon. Our attendance has increased by approximately 25% in the past 6 months, and the increase has come almost entirely from people who are completely new to our church (rather than those returning from a COVID-related absence). We praise God for this wonderful season of blessing! 

One (good) challenge this has brought is that we are feeling very stretched with our ability to minister to those God has brought our way. One of our elders moved to California last year, and another elder is considering how he will respond to an unexpected invitation from a church in Michigan (his hometown) to be their full-time pastor. That would only leave two elders at our church. Please pray that God would provide the leadership necessary to lead our flock. At least two other men have come in recently who seem to be qualified to serve in this way, but we'd like to spend longer getting to know them before making any hasty decisions. Please pray for God's wisdom. 

Also, please pray for Janet as she actively moves toward starting an Evangelistic Bible Study at her house. Several non-Christian neighbors have already expressed interest in attending, and they are working out the logistics. In addition, Becky and I continue to follow up with those who attended the Evangelistic Bible Study at our house a month or two ago. In fact, we are going on a playdate with one of those women (and her husband/children) in a few days at a local playground. This woman is named Samantha and is the events manager at the hotel we rent on Sundays. We are just thrilled at how God seems to be blessing that relationship (this will be our second time getting together with them). Please pray that God would continue to open doors for the gospel and draw people to himself. 

Finally, please pray for a challenge we have with meeting space. The building renovations are taking longer than expected, and the hotel has told us that, due to more events as well as staffing issues, we will need to use an alternate (smaller) meeting room every Sunday beginning in September. Last year, this would not have been an issue, but with our increased attendance, it is. We are currently exploring creative solutions, but the most likely scenario at this point is that we will need to begin having two worship services. This is not something we desire to do permanently if we can help it, but we may need to do it for several months until we can meet in our own building. 

As always, we can't thank you enough for your prayers! They mean the world to us, and we have no doubt that the fruitful season of ministry we are currently enjoying is a product of the faithful army of prayer warriors who are standing behind our ministry. 

Serving Him,
Josh & Becky Tancordo

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Pastor Josh Tancordo Update https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-josh-tancordo-update-_5 https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-josh-tancordo-update-_5#comments Mon, 14 Jun 2021 09:00:00 -0400 https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-josh-tancordo-update-_5 This past month, we were blessed to be helped by a mission team from Clayton Baptist Church in Clayton, GA. As the teams before them, these men generously gave their time to serve us as we continue the lengthy process of renovating our new building. They were also a tremendous encouragement to us during their time here!

Above, you can see a very special event pictured: a surprise birthday party we put on for Paul Behrens. Paul is one of our elders and has been volunteering his time 50-70 hours per week (!) for the past 6 months to serve in a general contractor role. Since his birthday fell on one of the days the mission team from Clayton was here, we decided to throw him a surprise party at the church building with the mission team and about a dozen of our folks. Paul is just one more example of the way the Lord has provided so abundantly for our every need. 

In addition, the Lord continues to bless our evangelistic efforts. Becky's Evangelistic Bible Study went extremely well. It lasted five weeks and was consistently attended by 8-9 non-Christians (not counting a few Christians Becky invited to assist her). One of these women has come to faith, and we are prayerfully considering how to continue our outreach to the others. Please pray for wisdom as we move forward with them. We are actively considering splitting the ladies into three groups and having three smaller studies in place of the one large study. This would enable more women to get involved as leaders. Our goal, in time, is to see evangelistic studies like this being done all over the place by the people of our church. 

Two specific individuals to be in prayer for are John and Samantha. John is the husband of Marlene (who came to faith through Becky's evangelistic study). We are not sure where John is in his walk with God at this point, but he has recently completed the Membership Information Class and has scheduled a membership interview with me for next week. I'm sensing a significant open door to talk with John about the gospel and ask for prayer that the Lord would work in his heart and give clarity to the both of us about his condition.

Also, Samantha is the Groups & Events Manager for the hotel we rent on Sundays. She attended Becky's study as well and seems to be very open to establishing a deeper friendship. She said she and her husband would be interested in going on some playdates with Becky and I (and our children). God really seems to be opening the door for this relationship, so please pray that God would work through us to draw Samantha and her husband to saving faith.

As always, thank you for your prayers! We have no doubt they are the true root and cause of all the encouraging events we are seeing.

Serving Him,
Josh & Becky Tancordo

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This past month, we were blessed to be helped by a mission team from Clayton Baptist Church in Clayton, GA. As the teams before them, these men generously gave their time to serve us as we continue the lengthy process of renovating our new building. They were also a tremendous encouragement to us during their time here!

Above, you can see a very special event pictured: a surprise birthday party we put on for Paul Behrens. Paul is one of our elders and has been volunteering his time 50-70 hours per week (!) for the past 6 months to serve in a general contractor role. Since his birthday fell on one of the days the mission team from Clayton was here, we decided to throw him a surprise party at the church building with the mission team and about a dozen of our folks. Paul is just one more example of the way the Lord has provided so abundantly for our every need. 

In addition, the Lord continues to bless our evangelistic efforts. Becky's Evangelistic Bible Study went extremely well. It lasted five weeks and was consistently attended by 8-9 non-Christians (not counting a few Christians Becky invited to assist her). One of these women has come to faith, and we are prayerfully considering how to continue our outreach to the others. Please pray for wisdom as we move forward with them. We are actively considering splitting the ladies into three groups and having three smaller studies in place of the one large study. This would enable more women to get involved as leaders. Our goal, in time, is to see evangelistic studies like this being done all over the place by the people of our church. 

Two specific individuals to be in prayer for are John and Samantha. John is the husband of Marlene (who came to faith through Becky's evangelistic study). We are not sure where John is in his walk with God at this point, but he has recently completed the Membership Information Class and has scheduled a membership interview with me for next week. I'm sensing a significant open door to talk with John about the gospel and ask for prayer that the Lord would work in his heart and give clarity to the both of us about his condition.

Also, Samantha is the Groups & Events Manager for the hotel we rent on Sundays. She attended Becky's study as well and seems to be very open to establishing a deeper friendship. She said she and her husband would be interested in going on some playdates with Becky and I (and our children). God really seems to be opening the door for this relationship, so please pray that God would work through us to draw Samantha and her husband to saving faith.

As always, thank you for your prayers! We have no doubt they are the true root and cause of all the encouraging events we are seeing.

Serving Him,
Josh & Becky Tancordo

]]>
Pastor Carr Update https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-carr-update-_5 https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-carr-update-_5#comments Mon, 14 Jun 2021 09:00:00 -0400 https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-carr-update-_5 Dear Friends, Family, and Partners,

 

It’s a joy to sit down and “count our blessings” this month - of course, the cornerstone of those blessings is our salvation in Christ Jesus, then followed by the Lord’s provision of such wonderful partners like yourselves, who make all we do here in the Mountains possible - THANK YOU!!  Leslie and I hope this letter finds you well.  Please never hesitate to let us know how we may be praying for you and your family - it would be an honor to come alongside of y’all in prayer!!

 

We enjoyed a wonderful Mother’s Day week this month.  We recognized all of our mothers in our church family on Mother’s Day Sunday during the morning worship service - we were blessed to give each mama a beautiful bracelet that was handmade by women who have been rescued from human trafficking through the Well House ministry (this is where our daughter JoJo is currently serving in ministry).  Each bracelet included the name of the rescued woman who made it so our ladies can specifically remember these ladies in prayer!!  If interested in knowing more about this wonderful ministry, please check out https://www.the-wellhouse.org/ or contact me and I can get you our daughter’s contact information.

 

Later that week, we had our Bruce Outreach Academy (homeschool umbrella and support ministry) end-of-year party at Creekside Park, complete with games, food, and fun!!  We had a great year this year and are blessed by partners like Severna Park Church (Severna Park, MD) and Gayton Church (Henrico, VA) who contribute to this ministry in such practical ways!!  I will be wrapping up all of the required reviews in June and then we will have the rest of the summer off!!

 

To top off Mother’s Day week, we were able to host a wedding and reception for a couple we are trying to minister to here in Westernport.  Adam and Liz were joined together in marriage that Saturday.  The relationship with Adam is a long and winding story - starting with our rec. league basketball for adults, earlier profession of faith and baptism, continuing drug addiction, gang membership, incarceration, and now in recovery and back to participating with us here at BOC.  We were honored to bless Adam and Lizz and minister to them - may we never forget why we are here and what we are called to do!!  Please keep praying for Adam and Lizz and their walk with the Lord.  Also, praise the Lord for some wonderful people in our church family who continue to capture the vision of our calling here at BOC!!  We are blessed to be serving here among such wonderful people.

 

We received great news this month, thanks to our partnership with Elmore Baptist Association (Wetumpka, AL) and Pat Ingram (Alabama WMU), our church will again be able to distribute 350+ Christmas backpacks to our area later this year!!  The partnership for 2021 is now official and we look forward to reaching our community with the Gospel through this ministry again this year!!  Praise God for such wonderful and generous partners!!  

 

We also had a couple of other blessings this month in regards to recognition / publicity outside of our local region.  First, we were included in a wonderful article about the Christmas backpacks ministry and the partnerships they produce in The Alabama Baptist newspaper publication.  What an honor!!  In addition, we were blessed to have a blog that I had posted like FIVE years ago be reprinted and then published in an online magazine that focuses on youth and children ministries - www.churchleaders.com - this site gets 1.2 million views a month, so to be included on their site was a real honor!!!



Speaking of getting our message outside of our region, Bruce Outreach Center now officially has its own APP - free and available for download for both iPhone and Android.  Just follow this link and you can download it to your phone - subsplash.com/bruceoutreachcenter/app - please also help us spread the word if you know of anyone who wants to follow along!!  I am so grateful that I have my dear wife Leslie to handle all of this stuff - she actually makes us LOOK like we know what we’re doing - LOL!!

 

I was also able to spend a week in Alabama this month - probably the last time for a little while.  But, what a great week, as I was able to make new friends (Gateway Community Church in Lauderdale, MS, Strong Tower Church in Montgomery, AL, and Covington Baptist Association in Andalusia, AL); I was also able to develop a couple of wonderful new partnerships and was able to preach and share in two churches for the first time (Glynwood Baptist in Prattville, AL and First Baptist Church in Wetumpka, AL).  Of course, I was also able to touch base with other ongoing friends and partners while traveling in our home away from the home state of Alabama!!  Praise the Lord!!  Thank you to everybody there for their warmth, hospitality, support, friendship, and ongoing partnership!!

 

We are looking forward to June as well - we will honor our graduates and celebrate our fathers!!  We will also welcome friends from Fearless Church in Dayton, OH as they continue to work on our cycle-breaking apartments ministry.  If you are looking for a place for your church to serve this summer, please do not hesitate to contact me and we can brainstorm and pray together!!  I am also looking forward to being home for most of the month - focusing on our ministries right here at home.  Please pray for me as I will be on the road for two days later this month in Ohio (Fearless Church) and Illinois (visiting some long-time friends of the ministry).

 

In regards to our roof situation, there is still no new information - still waiting on prices of lumber to fall and are keeping any donations given towards this project in our savings designated just for this project. We are grateful for brother Kenny, who is lending us his expertise on flat roofs to help us nurse this roof through another winter!!  If you have any questions or want to get more information about this project, please let me know.

 

I believe that’s it for this month - a full and productive one for the Kingdom!!  We pray that things are looking up for y’all as well as we all come out of this very difficult and strange time we have all experienced in our nation.  You have all been in our prayers - as individuals, families, businesses, and churches!!

 

Leslie and I really don’t know how we’d make it out here without each of you praying, giving, sending, and encouraging like y’all do!!  Please know how much we appreciate each of you - your sacrifice, your faithfulness, and your generosity.  Please let us know how we can encourage and pray for you!!  What a joy it is to be in partnership with each of y’all!!

 

Your Partners in the Harvest,




Steffan and Leslie Carr

]]>
Dear Friends, Family, and Partners,

 

It’s a joy to sit down and “count our blessings” this month - of course, the cornerstone of those blessings is our salvation in Christ Jesus, then followed by the Lord’s provision of such wonderful partners like yourselves, who make all we do here in the Mountains possible - THANK YOU!!  Leslie and I hope this letter finds you well.  Please never hesitate to let us know how we may be praying for you and your family - it would be an honor to come alongside of y’all in prayer!!

 

We enjoyed a wonderful Mother’s Day week this month.  We recognized all of our mothers in our church family on Mother’s Day Sunday during the morning worship service - we were blessed to give each mama a beautiful bracelet that was handmade by women who have been rescued from human trafficking through the Well House ministry (this is where our daughter JoJo is currently serving in ministry).  Each bracelet included the name of the rescued woman who made it so our ladies can specifically remember these ladies in prayer!!  If interested in knowing more about this wonderful ministry, please check out https://www.the-wellhouse.org/ or contact me and I can get you our daughter’s contact information.

 

Later that week, we had our Bruce Outreach Academy (homeschool umbrella and support ministry) end-of-year party at Creekside Park, complete with games, food, and fun!!  We had a great year this year and are blessed by partners like Severna Park Church (Severna Park, MD) and Gayton Church (Henrico, VA) who contribute to this ministry in such practical ways!!  I will be wrapping up all of the required reviews in June and then we will have the rest of the summer off!!

 

To top off Mother’s Day week, we were able to host a wedding and reception for a couple we are trying to minister to here in Westernport.  Adam and Liz were joined together in marriage that Saturday.  The relationship with Adam is a long and winding story - starting with our rec. league basketball for adults, earlier profession of faith and baptism, continuing drug addiction, gang membership, incarceration, and now in recovery and back to participating with us here at BOC.  We were honored to bless Adam and Lizz and minister to them - may we never forget why we are here and what we are called to do!!  Please keep praying for Adam and Lizz and their walk with the Lord.  Also, praise the Lord for some wonderful people in our church family who continue to capture the vision of our calling here at BOC!!  We are blessed to be serving here among such wonderful people.

 

We received great news this month, thanks to our partnership with Elmore Baptist Association (Wetumpka, AL) and Pat Ingram (Alabama WMU), our church will again be able to distribute 350+ Christmas backpacks to our area later this year!!  The partnership for 2021 is now official and we look forward to reaching our community with the Gospel through this ministry again this year!!  Praise God for such wonderful and generous partners!!  

 

We also had a couple of other blessings this month in regards to recognition / publicity outside of our local region.  First, we were included in a wonderful article about the Christmas backpacks ministry and the partnerships they produce in The Alabama Baptist newspaper publication.  What an honor!!  In addition, we were blessed to have a blog that I had posted like FIVE years ago be reprinted and then published in an online magazine that focuses on youth and children ministries - www.churchleaders.com - this site gets 1.2 million views a month, so to be included on their site was a real honor!!!



Speaking of getting our message outside of our region, Bruce Outreach Center now officially has its own APP - free and available for download for both iPhone and Android.  Just follow this link and you can download it to your phone - subsplash.com/bruceoutreachcenter/app - please also help us spread the word if you know of anyone who wants to follow along!!  I am so grateful that I have my dear wife Leslie to handle all of this stuff - she actually makes us LOOK like we know what we’re doing - LOL!!

 

I was also able to spend a week in Alabama this month - probably the last time for a little while.  But, what a great week, as I was able to make new friends (Gateway Community Church in Lauderdale, MS, Strong Tower Church in Montgomery, AL, and Covington Baptist Association in Andalusia, AL); I was also able to develop a couple of wonderful new partnerships and was able to preach and share in two churches for the first time (Glynwood Baptist in Prattville, AL and First Baptist Church in Wetumpka, AL).  Of course, I was also able to touch base with other ongoing friends and partners while traveling in our home away from the home state of Alabama!!  Praise the Lord!!  Thank you to everybody there for their warmth, hospitality, support, friendship, and ongoing partnership!!

 

We are looking forward to June as well - we will honor our graduates and celebrate our fathers!!  We will also welcome friends from Fearless Church in Dayton, OH as they continue to work on our cycle-breaking apartments ministry.  If you are looking for a place for your church to serve this summer, please do not hesitate to contact me and we can brainstorm and pray together!!  I am also looking forward to being home for most of the month - focusing on our ministries right here at home.  Please pray for me as I will be on the road for two days later this month in Ohio (Fearless Church) and Illinois (visiting some long-time friends of the ministry).

 

In regards to our roof situation, there is still no new information - still waiting on prices of lumber to fall and are keeping any donations given towards this project in our savings designated just for this project. We are grateful for brother Kenny, who is lending us his expertise on flat roofs to help us nurse this roof through another winter!!  If you have any questions or want to get more information about this project, please let me know.

 

I believe that’s it for this month - a full and productive one for the Kingdom!!  We pray that things are looking up for y’all as well as we all come out of this very difficult and strange time we have all experienced in our nation.  You have all been in our prayers - as individuals, families, businesses, and churches!!

 

Leslie and I really don’t know how we’d make it out here without each of you praying, giving, sending, and encouraging like y’all do!!  Please know how much we appreciate each of you - your sacrifice, your faithfulness, and your generosity.  Please let us know how we can encourage and pray for you!!  What a joy it is to be in partnership with each of y’all!!

 

Your Partners in the Harvest,




Steffan and Leslie Carr

]]>
Pastor Josh Tancordo Update https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-josh-tancordo-update-_4 https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-josh-tancordo-update-_4#comments Wed, 12 May 2021 09:00:00 -0400 https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-josh-tancordo-update-_4
If there's one thing we've learned during our time in Pittsburgh, it's that God is faithful. The story both of our lives and of our fledgling church plant is one of the faithfulness and abundant goodness of God.

This past month has been no exception. In fact, it has been one of the most encouraging months we've had. 

Above, you can see a picture of a Wednesday evening prayer meeting we held. We were joined by a mission team from Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church. It was a wonderful time of seeking God's face together. The team accomplished a tremendous amount of building renovation work in the week they were here. 

In addition, earlier in the month, teams from Grace Life Church of the Shoals and Great Commission Church joined us and were able to accomplish an impressive amount of work as well. Because of these three teams, we are much closer to our goal of being ready to move our Sunday worship gatherings into the church building this summer. We simply cannot express how grateful we are to all who journeyed to Pittsburgh to help us!

Yet the building renovations are only the beginning of what God has been doing. This month, Becky started her women's evangelistic Bible study at our home. The study meets for five weeks and gives an overview of the Bible. By God's grace, we had nine non-Christian women join us the first week and eight join us the second week! This is in addition to a few Christians Becky invited to assist her. God is on the move! 

Best of all, one of these women named Marlene actually professed faith in Christ just a few days ago and gives every evidence of being a new Christian! There are also several others in whom God seems to be working in a notable way. 

Finally, we seem to have had a very welcome influx of new people into our Sunday gatherings and other meetings. We have now surpassed our pre-COVID attendance levels and have nine people participating in our four-week membership class. 

Please continue to pray that God would bless our efforts for his glory and Kingdom. We'd especially appreciate prayers for Becky's evangelistic study, that every single one of those nine non-Christian women would come to true and saving faith. Also, please pray for our elders. There are only three of us, so between the building renovations, the influx of newcomers, and the ongoing shepherding needs, we are feeling quite stretched. Please pray that God would strengthen us and raise up others to join us in ministry as elders. Thank you!

Serving Him,
Josh & Becky Tancordo

]]>

If there's one thing we've learned during our time in Pittsburgh, it's that God is faithful. The story both of our lives and of our fledgling church plant is one of the faithfulness and abundant goodness of God.

This past month has been no exception. In fact, it has been one of the most encouraging months we've had. 

Above, you can see a picture of a Wednesday evening prayer meeting we held. We were joined by a mission team from Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church. It was a wonderful time of seeking God's face together. The team accomplished a tremendous amount of building renovation work in the week they were here. 

In addition, earlier in the month, teams from Grace Life Church of the Shoals and Great Commission Church joined us and were able to accomplish an impressive amount of work as well. Because of these three teams, we are much closer to our goal of being ready to move our Sunday worship gatherings into the church building this summer. We simply cannot express how grateful we are to all who journeyed to Pittsburgh to help us!

Yet the building renovations are only the beginning of what God has been doing. This month, Becky started her women's evangelistic Bible study at our home. The study meets for five weeks and gives an overview of the Bible. By God's grace, we had nine non-Christian women join us the first week and eight join us the second week! This is in addition to a few Christians Becky invited to assist her. God is on the move! 

Best of all, one of these women named Marlene actually professed faith in Christ just a few days ago and gives every evidence of being a new Christian! There are also several others in whom God seems to be working in a notable way. 

Finally, we seem to have had a very welcome influx of new people into our Sunday gatherings and other meetings. We have now surpassed our pre-COVID attendance levels and have nine people participating in our four-week membership class. 

Please continue to pray that God would bless our efforts for his glory and Kingdom. We'd especially appreciate prayers for Becky's evangelistic study, that every single one of those nine non-Christian women would come to true and saving faith. Also, please pray for our elders. There are only three of us, so between the building renovations, the influx of newcomers, and the ongoing shepherding needs, we are feeling quite stretched. Please pray that God would strengthen us and raise up others to join us in ministry as elders. Thank you!

Serving Him,
Josh & Becky Tancordo

]]>
Pastor Carr Update https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-carr-update-_4 https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-carr-update-_4#comments Wed, 12 May 2021 09:00:00 -0400 https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-carr-update-_4 Dear Friends,

 

What a great time we had this past month as we had our second largest outreach ministry since coming back from Covid.  We were blessed to host a community Easter celebration party, including the sharing of the Gospel, food, egg hunt, prizes, etc., 90 percent of which was all outside!!  We had about 300 people participate and many seeds were sown for the sake of the Kingdom!!



Partnerships have been key for us in our start, our growth, and our perseverance here in the Mountains.  We are grateful for each one of you who partner so faithfully with us.  This month, I was blessed to visit some wonderful people in Maryland and Pennsylvania - people who represent churches and groups who come alongside of us and make what we do here in Westernport possible.  I especially want to thank the churches who were represented - Faith Baptist (Glen Burnie), Severna Park Baptist (Severna Park - this precious church also sent clothing donations for our clothing ministry this month), Whitehall Baptist (Accokeek), Potomac Heights Baptist (Indian Head), North Harford Baptist (Jarrettsville), and New Providence Baptist (Quarryville, PA).  Thank you to Pastor Ron Rush from New Providence, who allowed me to preach from his pulpit and to Brian & Jeanne Akers and John & Debbie Martin for hosting us in their homes. Last, but not least, we are grateful that the decision was made during this trip to bring back our basketball camp this summer!! 

 

Keeping in the same vein of partnerships, we were grateful for another team from Fearless Church in Dayton, Ohio, as brother Glenn continues to come our way every month or two to work on our Cycle - Breaking apartments ministry!!  Praise the Lord that all three apartments have now been dry-walled, mudded, sanded, and painted!!  Another team will be joining us from this church in July!!  Much of this work is being accomplished thanks to several donations from our partners, including a large gift from our friends at Fearless Church!!  So, thank you to all who have given to help move this vision along!!

 

Before going to an update on our roof situation, I also wanted to praise God that one of our first-generation Christians, Ms. Kay (some of y’all have heard me tell you hers and her husband Brandon’s story), is now a regular employee at our Bruce Learning Center.  God is blessing this ministry and now our young believers are starting to be raised up to staff it - ain’t God cool!!! 

Of course, when working here in the Mountains (or anywhere in ministry for that matter), the praises are countered by the challenges (or what I like to call, the future praises).  Due to the extreme cost increase of lumber and the increased need of the number of trusses due to the engineer’s specifications, we are not able to work on our roof just yet.  Even if we could get the trusses, we would then not have enough money for the lumber and hardware needed to put up the trusses.  So, we may have to go another winter with the existing roof. 

 

So, please pray for the Lord’s provision - either in finances or in reduction of costs.  Please also pray for the existing roof to last one more winter here in our Mountains!!  We will keep everybody posted as to the progress of this need in the weeks and months ahead.  We would appreciate it if you would be on “standby” and consider sending teams to help us when we can proceed with this project.  The cool thing is that it is a flat roof and we now have a set of steps to the roof, so climbing ladders is no longer a challenge - YAY!!!

 

With that all being said, I hope you know how disappointed this makes me as I have had to personally contact teams from sister churches who were planning to come and help this Spring and Summer to cancel their plans.  I know y’all understand, but we had lots of plans together and a lot of work went into making those plans.  So, please forgive us and I hope we can do this together in the months ahead.  If your church would like to send a team our way to help with other projects - like the apartments, do some concrete work, help with some wiring, or do some outreach, etc. - please let me know and we’d love to have you join us in 2021.

 

Leslie and I really don’t know how we’d make it out here without each of you praying, giving, sending, and encouraging like y’all do!!  Please know how much we appreciate each of you - your sacrifice, your faithfulness, and your generosity.  Please let us know how we can encourage and pray for you!!  What a joy it is to be in partnership with each of y’all!!

 

In His Service,




Steffan and Leslie Carr

]]>
Dear Friends,

 

What a great time we had this past month as we had our second largest outreach ministry since coming back from Covid.  We were blessed to host a community Easter celebration party, including the sharing of the Gospel, food, egg hunt, prizes, etc., 90 percent of which was all outside!!  We had about 300 people participate and many seeds were sown for the sake of the Kingdom!!



Partnerships have been key for us in our start, our growth, and our perseverance here in the Mountains.  We are grateful for each one of you who partner so faithfully with us.  This month, I was blessed to visit some wonderful people in Maryland and Pennsylvania - people who represent churches and groups who come alongside of us and make what we do here in Westernport possible.  I especially want to thank the churches who were represented - Faith Baptist (Glen Burnie), Severna Park Baptist (Severna Park - this precious church also sent clothing donations for our clothing ministry this month), Whitehall Baptist (Accokeek), Potomac Heights Baptist (Indian Head), North Harford Baptist (Jarrettsville), and New Providence Baptist (Quarryville, PA).  Thank you to Pastor Ron Rush from New Providence, who allowed me to preach from his pulpit and to Brian & Jeanne Akers and John & Debbie Martin for hosting us in their homes. Last, but not least, we are grateful that the decision was made during this trip to bring back our basketball camp this summer!! 

 

Keeping in the same vein of partnerships, we were grateful for another team from Fearless Church in Dayton, Ohio, as brother Glenn continues to come our way every month or two to work on our Cycle - Breaking apartments ministry!!  Praise the Lord that all three apartments have now been dry-walled, mudded, sanded, and painted!!  Another team will be joining us from this church in July!!  Much of this work is being accomplished thanks to several donations from our partners, including a large gift from our friends at Fearless Church!!  So, thank you to all who have given to help move this vision along!!

 

Before going to an update on our roof situation, I also wanted to praise God that one of our first-generation Christians, Ms. Kay (some of y’all have heard me tell you hers and her husband Brandon’s story), is now a regular employee at our Bruce Learning Center.  God is blessing this ministry and now our young believers are starting to be raised up to staff it - ain’t God cool!!! 

Of course, when working here in the Mountains (or anywhere in ministry for that matter), the praises are countered by the challenges (or what I like to call, the future praises).  Due to the extreme cost increase of lumber and the increased need of the number of trusses due to the engineer’s specifications, we are not able to work on our roof just yet.  Even if we could get the trusses, we would then not have enough money for the lumber and hardware needed to put up the trusses.  So, we may have to go another winter with the existing roof. 

 

So, please pray for the Lord’s provision - either in finances or in reduction of costs.  Please also pray for the existing roof to last one more winter here in our Mountains!!  We will keep everybody posted as to the progress of this need in the weeks and months ahead.  We would appreciate it if you would be on “standby” and consider sending teams to help us when we can proceed with this project.  The cool thing is that it is a flat roof and we now have a set of steps to the roof, so climbing ladders is no longer a challenge - YAY!!!

 

With that all being said, I hope you know how disappointed this makes me as I have had to personally contact teams from sister churches who were planning to come and help this Spring and Summer to cancel their plans.  I know y’all understand, but we had lots of plans together and a lot of work went into making those plans.  So, please forgive us and I hope we can do this together in the months ahead.  If your church would like to send a team our way to help with other projects - like the apartments, do some concrete work, help with some wiring, or do some outreach, etc. - please let me know and we’d love to have you join us in 2021.

 

Leslie and I really don’t know how we’d make it out here without each of you praying, giving, sending, and encouraging like y’all do!!  Please know how much we appreciate each of you - your sacrifice, your faithfulness, and your generosity.  Please let us know how we can encourage and pray for you!!  What a joy it is to be in partnership with each of y’all!!

 

In His Service,




Steffan and Leslie Carr

]]>
Pastor Josh Tancordo Update https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-josh-tancordo-update-_3 https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-josh-tancordo-update-_3#comments Tue, 06 Apr 2021 12:00:00 -0400 https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-josh-tancordo-update-_3 One of the blessings we enjoyed this past month is pictured above. It may not seem like much, but what you're looking at is actually the first time we've had an organized music team in our church that wasn't visiting from out of town! We also have 2-3 more people lined up to add to the team in the next few weeks. Until now, it has just been our music leader playing his guitar on stage. We praise God for the way he's allowed us to build out this ministry!

In addition, perhaps the biggest source of excitement this past month has been the way God has opened doors for us evangelistically. Many of you may remember that a core component of our approach to evangelism is in-home Evangelistic Bible Studies. Due to COVID, Becky was forced to put her Evangelistic Bible Study reaching out to several women on hold.

However, God has now opened those doors once again—and, in fact, has opened them wider than ever! A total of five non-Christian women have committed to participate in a five-week study giving an overview of the Bible. Three of these women have never been involved in any of our previous evangelistic studies.

One neat story that illustrates the unexpected ways in which God has been opening doors for us is Samantha. Samantha is the manager who oversees groups and events at the hotel we rent for our Sunday services. Since she is my primary contact person at the hotel, we exchange emails usually about once a week. However, I've only met her face-to-face twice and have never discussed anything related to Christian teaching with her. However, even though I viewed it as a long shot, I decided to go ahead and email her inviting her to the study. Somewhat surprisingly, she accepted! She's even willing to arrange her own childcare if needed since her husband works late into the evenings. 

Please pray that God would open Samantha's eyes to the gospel—and likewise Katie, Julie, Lauren, and Marlene. I wish I had space to share all of their stories with you. We're also waiting to hear back from a sixth non-Christian woman (another Katie) who wants to come but is checking on the date and logistics, so please pray that things work out for her to be there as well. There will also be several Christian women in attendance to provide back-up for Becky in the group discussions. 

Finally, the renovations on our church building continue to progress by God's grace. We will host mission teams from three churches this month and are immensely grateful for their help. These churches include Grace Life Church of the Shoals, Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church, and Great Commission Church. One additional team from Clayton Baptist Church will come up in May. Please pray that these trips would be fruitful in every way. 

As always, thank you for your prayers and support—and have a wonderful and worshipful Easter celebrating the resurrection of our Lord!

Serving Him,
Josh & Becky Tancordo

]]>
One of the blessings we enjoyed this past month is pictured above. It may not seem like much, but what you're looking at is actually the first time we've had an organized music team in our church that wasn't visiting from out of town! We also have 2-3 more people lined up to add to the team in the next few weeks. Until now, it has just been our music leader playing his guitar on stage. We praise God for the way he's allowed us to build out this ministry!

In addition, perhaps the biggest source of excitement this past month has been the way God has opened doors for us evangelistically. Many of you may remember that a core component of our approach to evangelism is in-home Evangelistic Bible Studies. Due to COVID, Becky was forced to put her Evangelistic Bible Study reaching out to several women on hold.

However, God has now opened those doors once again—and, in fact, has opened them wider than ever! A total of five non-Christian women have committed to participate in a five-week study giving an overview of the Bible. Three of these women have never been involved in any of our previous evangelistic studies.

One neat story that illustrates the unexpected ways in which God has been opening doors for us is Samantha. Samantha is the manager who oversees groups and events at the hotel we rent for our Sunday services. Since she is my primary contact person at the hotel, we exchange emails usually about once a week. However, I've only met her face-to-face twice and have never discussed anything related to Christian teaching with her. However, even though I viewed it as a long shot, I decided to go ahead and email her inviting her to the study. Somewhat surprisingly, she accepted! She's even willing to arrange her own childcare if needed since her husband works late into the evenings. 

Please pray that God would open Samantha's eyes to the gospel—and likewise Katie, Julie, Lauren, and Marlene. I wish I had space to share all of their stories with you. We're also waiting to hear back from a sixth non-Christian woman (another Katie) who wants to come but is checking on the date and logistics, so please pray that things work out for her to be there as well. There will also be several Christian women in attendance to provide back-up for Becky in the group discussions. 

Finally, the renovations on our church building continue to progress by God's grace. We will host mission teams from three churches this month and are immensely grateful for their help. These churches include Grace Life Church of the Shoals, Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church, and Great Commission Church. One additional team from Clayton Baptist Church will come up in May. Please pray that these trips would be fruitful in every way. 

As always, thank you for your prayers and support—and have a wonderful and worshipful Easter celebrating the resurrection of our Lord!

Serving Him,
Josh & Becky Tancordo

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Pastor Carr Update https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-carr-update-_3 https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-carr-update-_3#comments Tue, 06 Apr 2021 12:00:00 -0400 https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-carr-update-_3 Dear Friends,

 

Leslie and I hope that this letter finds all of our partners well and blessed!!  It’s been an active month here in our Mountains and we are grateful for your prayers and support!!

 

We must admit that much of our energy, focus, and resources have been spent on our roof situation.  We have started with Monday nights (in place of Fight Night) and Wednesday nights (in place of our midweek worship service) working together as a church family - the men are on the roof and the ladies are under the roof (doing service ministry and preparing meals for the men who are on the roof).  Let me share with you an opportunity for partnership and a pressing prayer request in regards to the new roof we are trying to build over our auditorium and gymnasium.

 

OPPORTUNITY - We are grateful for a special blessing as we work on this roof, as we now have a stairwell (with handrails) that leads right up to the roof - no more need for climbing multiple ladders to get to the actual roof.  So, it’s much more accessible for those who know how to swing hammers, use saws, and can work a drill.  The opportunity is this - we would love to have teams come and join our men on the roof and help us put this roof on - you would be working on a flat roof so the work is very doable.  We can offer AC rooms for air mattresses, a kitchen for cooking, hot showers, etc. all without cost.  If you need help with cooking, we can lend a hand as a church family.  If you are interested in bringing a team of 2 to 60 for anywhere from a weekend to a week or two, or if you have any questions, please contact me at pastorsteffan@gmail.com or call me at 301-697-4828.  

 

PRAYER REQUEST - Please keep us in prayer as we have found that the increase in lumber costs as well as the increase in the number of trusses necessary due to engineer requirements, has taken our estimated truss cost from $36,000 to $118,000!!  Needless to say, we have been floored, but we are not knocked out!!  Please pray for the Lord’s provisions as we proceed in this very necessary project for the future of our church ministry.

 

Even with the challenges of the roof, we are still busy navigating Covid and staying open for worship each and every week!!  We also continue to serve our community through both our Bruce Learning Center Preschool Ministry and our Bruce Outreach Academy Homeschool Ministry, allowing us to minister to 80 children in our community!!  Our clothing ministry also continues to expand and we may be expanding into doing some more food ministry again as these outreach ministries grow!!  Please pray for wisdom in our approach to these ministries, as well as a Harvest to come from these efforts!!

 

I (Steffan) was blessed to spend about 9 days on the road, taking our daughter back to Odenville for her ministry at the Well House and then spending the week connecting with various churches and friends in Alabama!!  We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and partners.  I was blessed to have the unique opportunity of preaching in three consecutive worship services one Sunday morning - thank you to Brother Shane Russell and the wonderful folks at Shoal Creek Baptist Church in Deatsville for allowing me such a high honor and unique opportunity!! 

In addition to personally speaking with many wonderful men and women of God throughout the trip, I was also blessed to share at the Autauga Baptist Association (Thank You, Mel Johnson), Pleasant Ridge Church (Thank You, Jimmy Allen), Tallapoosa Association (Thank You, James Smith), and Center Baptist Church (Thank You, Faron Golden)!!  I am also grateful for the wonderful hospitality, as always, that is demonstrated to us by our long-time friends, Mike and Pat Ingram (Millbrook Church).  Leslie and I are so honored and blessed by our friends and partners in Alabama!! 

 

Prayer Requests - 

1 - Please pray for our outreach ministry for Easter as we have a “He Is Risen” community party.  If you are reading this by snail mail, then you are probably reading it after the ministry has taken place.  Please pray for us to make connections and experience a Harvest from the proclaiming of Jesus at this event!!

2 - Please pray for us as we travel to Pennsylvania and points east in Maryland later in April and look to touch base with some of our partners, preach at a partnering church, spend some time with friends, and have a planning meeting with our partners who make our basketball camp happen every year (as we try to recover from canceling it last year due to Covid).

 

I believe that’s about it for this month.  Please never hesitate to contact us via FB Messenger, e-mail (pastorsteffan@gmail.com), or telephone / text (301-697-4828).  We know that it is impossible to do what we do without YOU and your faithful support here in our mountains at BOC!!  Thank you for your partnership and friendship, and never hesitate to let us know how we can pray for you and encourage you - individually and in ministry!!  May God richly bless each of you!!

 

Your Partners in the Harvest,




Steffan and Leslie Carr



P.S.  As a reminder to all of our friends and partners, remember that you can follow us on our public FB wall at www.facebook.com/bruceoutreachcenter and you can request us to add you to our private FB wall for our partners at www.facebook.com/groups/hopeinthemountains (just make sure you message us that you are one of our partners or part of one of our partnering churches).  You can also check us out at www.bruceoutreachcenter.com and we hope by our next newsletter to have an APP you can download at Google Play or iTunes!!

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Dear Friends,

 

Leslie and I hope that this letter finds all of our partners well and blessed!!  It’s been an active month here in our Mountains and we are grateful for your prayers and support!!

 

We must admit that much of our energy, focus, and resources have been spent on our roof situation.  We have started with Monday nights (in place of Fight Night) and Wednesday nights (in place of our midweek worship service) working together as a church family - the men are on the roof and the ladies are under the roof (doing service ministry and preparing meals for the men who are on the roof).  Let me share with you an opportunity for partnership and a pressing prayer request in regards to the new roof we are trying to build over our auditorium and gymnasium.

 

OPPORTUNITY - We are grateful for a special blessing as we work on this roof, as we now have a stairwell (with handrails) that leads right up to the roof - no more need for climbing multiple ladders to get to the actual roof.  So, it’s much more accessible for those who know how to swing hammers, use saws, and can work a drill.  The opportunity is this - we would love to have teams come and join our men on the roof and help us put this roof on - you would be working on a flat roof so the work is very doable.  We can offer AC rooms for air mattresses, a kitchen for cooking, hot showers, etc. all without cost.  If you need help with cooking, we can lend a hand as a church family.  If you are interested in bringing a team of 2 to 60 for anywhere from a weekend to a week or two, or if you have any questions, please contact me at pastorsteffan@gmail.com or call me at 301-697-4828.  

 

PRAYER REQUEST - Please keep us in prayer as we have found that the increase in lumber costs as well as the increase in the number of trusses necessary due to engineer requirements, has taken our estimated truss cost from $36,000 to $118,000!!  Needless to say, we have been floored, but we are not knocked out!!  Please pray for the Lord’s provisions as we proceed in this very necessary project for the future of our church ministry.

 

Even with the challenges of the roof, we are still busy navigating Covid and staying open for worship each and every week!!  We also continue to serve our community through both our Bruce Learning Center Preschool Ministry and our Bruce Outreach Academy Homeschool Ministry, allowing us to minister to 80 children in our community!!  Our clothing ministry also continues to expand and we may be expanding into doing some more food ministry again as these outreach ministries grow!!  Please pray for wisdom in our approach to these ministries, as well as a Harvest to come from these efforts!!

 

I (Steffan) was blessed to spend about 9 days on the road, taking our daughter back to Odenville for her ministry at the Well House and then spending the week connecting with various churches and friends in Alabama!!  We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and partners.  I was blessed to have the unique opportunity of preaching in three consecutive worship services one Sunday morning - thank you to Brother Shane Russell and the wonderful folks at Shoal Creek Baptist Church in Deatsville for allowing me such a high honor and unique opportunity!! 

In addition to personally speaking with many wonderful men and women of God throughout the trip, I was also blessed to share at the Autauga Baptist Association (Thank You, Mel Johnson), Pleasant Ridge Church (Thank You, Jimmy Allen), Tallapoosa Association (Thank You, James Smith), and Center Baptist Church (Thank You, Faron Golden)!!  I am also grateful for the wonderful hospitality, as always, that is demonstrated to us by our long-time friends, Mike and Pat Ingram (Millbrook Church).  Leslie and I are so honored and blessed by our friends and partners in Alabama!! 

 

Prayer Requests - 

1 - Please pray for our outreach ministry for Easter as we have a “He Is Risen” community party.  If you are reading this by snail mail, then you are probably reading it after the ministry has taken place.  Please pray for us to make connections and experience a Harvest from the proclaiming of Jesus at this event!!

2 - Please pray for us as we travel to Pennsylvania and points east in Maryland later in April and look to touch base with some of our partners, preach at a partnering church, spend some time with friends, and have a planning meeting with our partners who make our basketball camp happen every year (as we try to recover from canceling it last year due to Covid).

 

I believe that’s about it for this month.  Please never hesitate to contact us via FB Messenger, e-mail (pastorsteffan@gmail.com), or telephone / text (301-697-4828).  We know that it is impossible to do what we do without YOU and your faithful support here in our mountains at BOC!!  Thank you for your partnership and friendship, and never hesitate to let us know how we can pray for you and encourage you - individually and in ministry!!  May God richly bless each of you!!

 

Your Partners in the Harvest,




Steffan and Leslie Carr



P.S.  As a reminder to all of our friends and partners, remember that you can follow us on our public FB wall at www.facebook.com/bruceoutreachcenter and you can request us to add you to our private FB wall for our partners at www.facebook.com/groups/hopeinthemountains (just make sure you message us that you are one of our partners or part of one of our partnering churches).  You can also check us out at www.bruceoutreachcenter.com and we hope by our next newsletter to have an APP you can download at Google Play or iTunes!!

]]>
Pastor Josh Tancordo Update https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-josh-tancordo-update-_2 https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-josh-tancordo-update-_2#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2021 10:00:00 -0500 https://www.mountaincty.church/blog/post/pastor-josh-tancordo-update-_2 This past month we were blessed to bring six new people (pictured above) into membership in our church. Don't worry...the baby you see isn't one of them. We're saving infant baptisms and non-communicant membership for next year :)   Just joking of course. 

As you can see, these are all young families. We've also had an influx of a number of other young families recently as well. Previously, our intake has been pretty evenly spread out across the age spectrum, but lately it has become noticeably younger. That is both a blessing and a prayer request—please pray that God would provide some seasoned Christians to help disciple these younger ones!

In addition, things continue to progress with our building renovations. Since the major structural renovations will take longer than anticipated, we've decided to start using the building before those renovations are completed. This won't be too much of a hassle since the major renovations don't involve the main auditorium. We will be able to use the auditorium and just close off other portions of the building. We hope to start doing this the first week of July. 

In addition, we are finally starting to get the mission teams scheduled! We will have 3-4 teams visit us next month, so please be in prayer that we'd be able to work safely and efficiently. And thanks to those who are coming!

In addition, the renovations have been a wonderful experience for our congregation. Our people have been working tirelessly. We've had five church workdays, and people have also been coming in on some weekday evenings as well. For example, one of our small groups adopted the bathrooms as their own and has been coming in weekly in order to work on them.

Furthermore, I personally didn't expect this, but the renovations have also been very useful for outreach. We've actually had a number of non-Christians (about four or five) who have been attending on Sundays also show up and help us with the renovations. This has resulted in them getting much more connected to the people of our church and a number of good conversations. We didn't intend this as an outreach program, but it certainly seems to be turning into one! Please pray for a fruitful harvest as both Christians and non-Christians rally around this project.

As always, thank you for your prayers and for standing behind us as we seek to see God's Kingdom advanced in Pittsburgh!

Serving Him,
Josh & Becky Tancordo

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This past month we were blessed to bring six new people (pictured above) into membership in our church. Don't worry...the baby you see isn't one of them. We're saving infant baptisms and non-communicant membership for next year :)   Just joking of course. 

As you can see, these are all young families. We've also had an influx of a number of other young families recently as well. Previously, our intake has been pretty evenly spread out across the age spectrum, but lately it has become noticeably younger. That is both a blessing and a prayer request—please pray that God would provide some seasoned Christians to help disciple these younger ones!

In addition, things continue to progress with our building renovations. Since the major structural renovations will take longer than anticipated, we've decided to start using the building before those renovations are completed. This won't be too much of a hassle since the major renovations don't involve the main auditorium. We will be able to use the auditorium and just close off other portions of the building. We hope to start doing this the first week of July. 

In addition, we are finally starting to get the mission teams scheduled! We will have 3-4 teams visit us next month, so please be in prayer that we'd be able to work safely and efficiently. And thanks to those who are coming!

In addition, the renovations have been a wonderful experience for our congregation. Our people have been working tirelessly. We've had five church workdays, and people have also been coming in on some weekday evenings as well. For example, one of our small groups adopted the bathrooms as their own and has been coming in weekly in order to work on them.

Furthermore, I personally didn't expect this, but the renovations have also been very useful for outreach. We've actually had a number of non-Christians (about four or five) who have been attending on Sundays also show up and help us with the renovations. This has resulted in them getting much more connected to the people of our church and a number of good conversations. We didn't intend this as an outreach program, but it certainly seems to be turning into one! Please pray for a fruitful harvest as both Christians and non-Christians rally around this project.

As always, thank you for your prayers and for standing behind us as we seek to see God's Kingdom advanced in Pittsburgh!

Serving Him,
Josh & Becky Tancordo

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