Boston-New York- Washington

At right, Tony Osimo, Bux-Mont campus pastor, Warminister, Pa.; Tim Boal, executive director, Go2 Church Planting; Larry Orme, executive director, Penn Valley Church Network and campus pastor, Telford, Pa.

Now as campus pastor of a congregation in suburban Philadelphia, he’s part of an effort that seeks to plant Grace Brethren churches in the region from Boston to Washington, D.C., known as the “Bosnywash” corridor.

“We are at the start of what could become a movement,” says Larry Orme, executive pastor of the Penn Valley Church, a Grace Brethren church in Telford, Pa.

It was a drive to better understand the Bible that originally drew Osimo to the Penn Valley Church.

“I had a love for the Lord, but I didn’t know His Word that well. I realized that there was a lot that I was missing,” he recalls. Ultimately, he joined others who were bent on not only studying God’s Word, but motivating a church environment that thrived on its commands.

The leadership of the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches (FGBC) has continued to set the stage for revitalized church growth and individual discipleship in North American Grace Brethren congregations. Meeting January 28 and 29, 2010, at the Grace Brethren Church of Simi Valley, Calif., the Fellowship Council discussed ways to focus resources and opportunities for multiplication, leadership development, and integrated ministries during the next decade as called for in the Commitment to Common Mission.

Their recommendations will be part of the agenda at the FGBC national conference, which will be held July 16-21 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cincinnati, Ohio. The decade of multiplication initiative will be discussed at the Vision 2020 town hall meeting at 9:30 a.m., Monday, July 19, and will be followed by the second of two business meeting luncheons. (The first business meeting will be held on Sunday, July 18. For a complete schedule of conference, see taketheplunge2010.com.)

The 7.0 earthquake on January 12 had a devastating effect on the country of Haiti. (Convoy of Hope photo)

Dr. Chuck Davis directs Caribbean Vision Ministries. FGBC World contacted Davis Wednesday after the quake. “We had e-mail with Elysee Joseph yesterday . . . he is in the Cap Haitien area which suffered little damage,” he said. “We have a Haitian ministry friend who has a large ministry in Port-au-Prince where our team stayed last Saturday night. We have no contact with him at this time.”

Elysee Joseph, easily the most recognizable Haitian church leader in the Fellowship, got word to Davis later that day that he was safe and that Cap Haitien appeared to have escaped the major damage that had hit further south. Grace Brethren International Missions’ Larry DeArmey, who has been meeting and mentoring Haitian church planters and pastors, responded, “I’m sure that many of our Haitian brothers and sisters in the States will suffer the loss of loved ones and friends through this. It would be wonderful to mobilize prayer for them . . . because I am certain that the coming days are going to be a real challenge.”