Update Potpourri

I just want to share updates about what has been going on with the Fellowship over the past few months. This is an exciting time to be part of the FEBC, and there is much to share!

Rebecca Meyer has resigned as our Fellowship Focus Editor, as life changes have made it too difficult to continue. We will miss Rebecca greatly, as she has been an asset to our team! Rebecca has not only proven to be a capable writer and editor, but she also helped us transition from a paper magazine to online-only, which involved a complete renovation of our website. Rebecca will continue to help until our new Focus Editor is up to speed. We wish Rebecca well and pray God’s blessing on her family.

Our new Fellowship Focus Editor is Sarah Stutler. Sarah has the experience and ability to do very well in this role, and I trust her work will embody both literary and artistic excellence. Sarah also grew up within the FEBC. Her father is our Ministries Coordinator, and her grandfather is a previous FEBC President. With that pedigree, I believe she will truly bring a passion about the subject matter she is covering. Welcome Sarah!

Connect25 was a big success! There was a true feeling of connection and mutual care, and our Keynote Speaker, Mark Clifton, challenged us in many ways to refocus our local church ministries on Jesus Christ and his work. We were encouraged, challenged, and refreshed. I had two conversations with first timers (both lay people, one from Canada and one from the US) who stated that they were really surprised at how much they enjoyed Connect. I hope you will consider attending next year. We will be meeting at Salem Church in Waldheim, SK on July 9-11, 2026.

I will be sharing my “State of the Fellowship” address in a separate article, so I do not want to go into too much detail here, but our Fellowship was incredibly blessed last year. The cooperation between member churches and our Fellowship seems to be rising each year, and both churches and individuals have responded to our financial needs.

In FY2025, we budgeted to spend about $60,000 from unrestricted reserves to pay our expenses. Instead, we gained about $14,000 in unrestricted reserves. This is the first time we have seen a net positive in many years. We praise God for his provision and thank you for your faithfulness in giving to support this ministry.

There is still a need for additional support. Ministries Coordinator support is at 76%, so we still have a little way to go. Overall, we are projecting to draw about $50,000 from our unrestricted reserves in FY2026. But we trust God to fill that gap once again!

Another area of praise: For the past few years, I have been asking that each of us consider if we know other churches who might be a good fit for our Fellowship and try to engage them in a conversation. Today, I know of seven churches that are at least considering whether they might affiliate with us in the future. Some are very serious, and others are very early in the process. Please pray that God will grant discernment to these churches and to us.

Our Project Offering for Connect25 is to pay for repairs to the main conference room at Springs of Life camp in Spain after it was severely damaged by flooding. We are still accepting donations through the end of August, but it looks like we will be close to our goal of $15,000 (USD). I am so grateful that the people and churches of our Fellowship are generous and sensitive to ministry needs around the world.

At Connect25, we said farewell (for now) to Richard Colegrove, who has served as a US Director for many years. He has reached his term limit, and must now take at least one year off, but we trust he will return. We are very grateful for Richard’s service to this organization. The delegates elected Rev. Bryan Conrad (Henderson, NE) as a new US Director. We welcome Bryan! Please pray for all the FEBC Directors as they strive to serve your churches well.

We also recognized the contributions of Rev. Paul and Carol Carpenter. The Carpenters will be retiring in October after serving at Jansen Bible Church for nearly 37 years! Both Paul and Carol have served as leaders within our Fellowship, and we are very grateful for their faithfulness in ministry.

These are just a few of the things going on within our Fellowship. For more, check out the following articles: Fellowship Views, Connect25 AGM Update, 2025 State of the Fellowship Address.

---

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kevin Stone has been in full or part-time ministry for over 30 years. Before accepting the position of President, he spent 12 years as the full-time Pastor of Worship at Crosspoint Bible Church in Omaha, NE - one of our FEBC churches.