Sunday October 25th we were ministering at Havenwood Baptist Church in Hurley. Currently the church is seeking a pastor, as the founding pastor Kevin Holland has taken a ministry in Michigan.

Carole provided keyboard music for the services. I taught Sunday School and preached for the morning service. Since one of the church members is presently recovering in the nursing home, we held the afternoon service with her.

Pastor Holland is working with a potential mission pastor to come and take over the work here in Hurley at this time. It looks like that pastor will be coming in a couple of months. Pray for this church as they work through this transition of leadership.

Sunday October 18th we were preaching at Westside Baptist Church in Janesville. Bob Logan is the pastor of this local church ministry. I was able to present our ministry via powerpoint in the morning service as well as preached for both AM and PM services.

It is always a blessing when pastors can get away from the work for time of rest and relaxation. Part of our ministry is being available to help in filling the pulpit for them.

For the evening service on October 11th we were at Faith Baptist Church in Baldwin. Garry Thompson is the pastor of this local church ministry. Pastor Thompson asked both myself and Carole to share reports of our ministry to the churches of Wisconsin. We enjoyed the opportunity to update the people at Faith Baptist Church of our continuing ministry across Wisconsin.

Sunday October 11 we visited at Faith Baptist Church in Chetek. Bruce Schmidt is the pastor of this local church ministry. Missionary John Zimmer who is working on the island of Palau in the South Pacific presented his ministry during the Sunday School and Pastor Schmidt preached for the AM Service. Following the service we enjoyed a great time of fellowship over dinner at a local restaurant with the Schmidts and the Zimmers.

Wednesday through Sunday, September 30th-October 4th we participated in the Annual Missions Conference at Bible Baptist Church in Hudson. Mark Shore is the pastor of this local church ministry. Along with Michael and Tina Rains (Kenya) and Marc and Esther Zimmerman (France), we shared the work here in the state of Wisconsin. During the five-day conference we traded off the pulpit, ministry presentation and children's ministry.

Saturday evening the three missionary families provided traditional food from their place of ministry. This international dinner gave the people of Bible Baptist Church a chance to taste a variety of food items. Our Wisconsin menu included: brats, cheese curds, German potato salad, cranberry salad, sugar cookies shaped like Wisconsin and a dessert from one of our Wisconsin pastor's wives.

The closing service on Sunday night included a final message by Marc Zimmerman. At the end of the service the church showed a parade of nations via powerpoint of their missionary family and of people who have gone out of their church into various ministries. It was a blessing to see how God has used this one local church for the cause of Christ.

On the Sunday following the annual meeting we were ministering at First Baptist Church of West Bend. Bruce Dunford is the pastor of this local ministry. During the morning service I was able to present our ministry via power point and then preach for the service.

Since the church did such a great job of hosting the annual meeting it gave us an opportunity to personally share our appreciation for their ministry in our behalf. We enjoyed a wonderful time of worship, spiritual challenge and fellowship at First Baptist.

We praise the Lord for providing a new building for First Baptist just two years ago, which made it possible for them to host the annual meeting. Our prayer is that they might continue to see growth in the West Bend community as they reach their friends and neighbors with the gospel.

Dr. Fred Moritz, Conference Speaker

September 21-22, 2009 was the annual meeting of the WFBC at First Baptist Church in West Bend. Close to 200 people attended the meeting, including pastors, pastor's wives, church members, as well as Christian workers in various local church support ministries. Dr. Fred Moritz did an outstanding job of challenging those present along the theme of "Stand for the Faith." His three preached sessions set the stage for a wonderful time of spiritual challenge.

Various workshops were provided for the benefit of those attending. Dr. Larry Oats, head of Maranatha Baptist Seminary gave a session on the Rapture and its doctrinal implications for the church. Other workshops included: Mrs. Judy Moritz speaking on "Ministering to your Missionaries," Pastor Dave West on "Developing Church Leadership in the Underdeveloped Church," Attorney Matt Davis on "Key Legal Issues for the Ministry," and Dr. Leon Leeds and Pastor Richard Chromy split a session teaching respectively on "Ministry to Seniors" and "Ministry in the Rural Community."

Annual business transacted at the meeting included election of officers--President, John Terpstra and Treasurer, Don Hawkins. Also West area representatives were elected--North West, Marlon Mielke, West Central, Ray Anderson and South West, Jerry Marsden. Also Larry Gross was elected in the North East for a one-year term to replace Scott Jones who had moved to another area. Additional business included adoption of an annual budget, passing of resolutions (check those out on the website "WFBC Info" page), and the giving of reports of our mission pastors.

Mission Pastors, Dave Marriot and Mike Brill

The staff and people of First Baptist Church of West Bend, headed up by their pastor, Bruce Dunford, did an outstanding job of hosting the meeting. The building was perfect for the various venues, and the food and fellowship provided by area churches was a great hit as well.

First Baptist Church, West Bend

We are now in our 60th year of ministry as a fellowship of independent Baptist churches. Next year's meeting will be held September 20-21, 2010 at First Baptist Church in New Lisbon. The first annual meeting in 1950 was held at New Lisbon as well. Mark your calendars now and plan to attend.