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SOUTHEAST REGION
Making Disciples who, united in Christ, embrace and reflect God's love throughout the
Southeastern United States
STORIES FROM THE REGION
On Saturday, April 13th, Brethren from across the Southeast Region, representing Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, and Kentucky, gathered for the Southeast Region Annual Meeting. This year, the meeting was hosted by Maurertown Brethren Church of Maurertown, Virginia. Approximately seventy people were in attendance for a day of worship, teaching, fellowship, and service.  Our morning began with corporate worship and messages from Steven Cole, Executive Director of the Brethren Church; Gail Heiston, Southeast Regional Resource Coordinator, and Pat Gravatt, Chair of the Southeast Regional Leadership Team. Scott Soden and Miles Larson sent video updates on Brethren Global Partners and Brethren Church Vitality, respectively. Everence spoke of the partnership and opportunities for congregations, and Nate Riddle from Mt. Olive Brethren Church invited others to participate in a mission trip to Riverside, Kentucky, this coming June. After lunch, various breakout sessions were held. The sessions focused on regional networking and collaboration, church health, and church planting with the GSE (Gatherer-Shepherd-Elder) principles of Vision USA. This year, for the first time in many years, we invited our youth to attend. They were certainly busy, decorating cookies for our lunch, hosting a Jesus-themed egg hunt, and even undertaking a service project. The project was to package cake supplies and a card to be taken to local churches to be distributed to those in need in their local communities. Some of the youth spoke at the end of the day and did a wonderful job sharing about their morning. We appreciate those who attended for the morning; it was great seeing each and every one of you and those who came to share. And thank you to Maurertown Brethren Church for their warm welcome, generous hospitality, and delicious lunch. Gail Heiston Pastor, Bethlehem Brethren Church Southeast Regional Resource Coordinator
March and April were truly months of celebration for Bethlehem Brethren Church in Harrisonburg, Virginia. As our family grows at Bethlehem, we had the joy of celebrating Easter together, both longstanding members of our church as well as new families we've been blessed to have added recently. Resurrection Sunday was filled with flowers and singing from our Bethlehem Kids. God's message of His death, burial, and resurrection over 2000 years ago resonated with us, reminding us of His continued work in our midst today. We were blessed to celebrate two baptisms in March! Praise God! What a moment of joy to welcome these souls to God's family! Thanks to the portable baptismal provided by the region for our regional churches, we were able to baptize in the church. Ten people were received into membership the following Sunday, and two Sundays ago we received three more people into membership! Three young boys were dedicated to the Lord in March as well. The week before Easter, we held an egg hunt and breakfast. Most of those attending were from our surrounding community. We had a packed house for breakfast, and the egg hunt (which we had to move indoors due to the weather) was a success as those children collected over 640 eggs in about ten minutes! We are grateful to God for how He is moving in our midst and look forward to what He has in the future! Gail Heiston Pastor, Bethlehem Brethren Church Southeast Regional Resource Coordinator
On Sunday, November 19th Bethlehem Brethren Church in Harrisonburg VA officially had Reverend Gail Heiston installed as their Senior Pastor. Representatives from the Southeast RLT, the Brethren Church National office, neighboring Brethren Churches and many friends and family gathered to celebrate this exciting occasion. Gail has been serving this community for the past few months, and they’ve already seen great growth in numbers, energy, and influence in the community. The spirit among those gathered was one of great excitement and hope. The message on Ephesians 4:1-16 aimed to remind the church community that Gail’s role is to help equip and release the saints to do the great and ever-changing work of transforming the world through Christ’s spirit.  After the service, a fellowship meal was held in celebration. The hall could neither contain the people or the excitement as both drifted into overflow rooms.The Southeast RLT and The Brethren Church would like to invite you to celebrate this exciting day with Bethlehem and Gail. We’re sure they’d love to hear from you, and share all of the great things God’s doing in their midst.
LIVING AND LOVING LIKE JESUS THROUGHOUT THE SOUTHEAST
The Southeast Region of The Brethren Church connects Brethren congregations from the Mississippi River east to the Atlantic coast, and all points South of the Ohio River.
NOT PICTURED
Matthew Price - RLT Member
Dave Winsatt - RLT Member