This past summer, the Lord blessed the outreach efforts of the Boardwalk Chapel in Wildwood, New Jersey, in several key areas. As we look back on 2016 and look forward to what 2017 will hold, we are thankful to the Lord for his continued and steadfast faithfulness to us. We also are assured that as we remain devoted to serving Jesus, he will keep working through us to build his church. First, in 2016, the Chapel had an expanded slate of staff leaders and volunteers to help organize and lead nightly evangelistic programs from the week after Father’s Day through the Saturday before Labor Day. The staff dormitory was the fullest it has ever been, with twenty-seven full-time summer residents under the discipleship of house parents Cal and

This article by Glenda Mathes appeared on pages 16-18 of the July 6, 2016, issue of Christian Renewal. It is posted here with the publication's permission. It’s a long journey from a prison cell to a church pulpit, but Lowell Ivey has traveled it by God’s grace. On May 27, 2016, the former prisoner was ordained and installed as the organizing pastor for Reformation Presbyterian Church in Virginia Beach, VA. “My testimony is the Lord’s testimony as he’s worked by his mighty grace and power in my heart and life,” he says, “and even been so gracious as to give me a covenant family.” Abandoned by his birth parents, Lowell grew up with a rebellious nature and angry heart. He began stealing as an adolescent and was sent to prison for

                      Many people know Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, as a beautiful resort city. Located on the north shore of Lake Coeur d’Alene, which is twenty-five miles long, the town is also appropriately called the Lake City. There is no shortage of captivating views in and around this city, and the area provides many opportunities for hiking, boating, golfing, and skiing. Barbara Walters described it as “a little slice of heaven” and included Coeur d’Alene on a list of the most fascinating places to visit. While the Lake City provides many opportunities for recreation and rest, it also is in great need of biblical and Reformed churches. Along with

How do you reach New York City? Where do you start? How about AM radio? Bill Shishko, the new Regional Home Missionary for the Presbytery of Connecticut and Southern New York, hosts a weekly radio show called “A Visit to the Pastor’s Study.” The live call-in show airs Saturdays at noon on 540 AM, and is available online at the station and program websites. Bill aims for the shows to be well produced and relevant. Pray that the Lord will provide adequate funding to continue to produce quality programs, and pray for increased listenership. Pray also that God will raise up a group for a church plant in the New York metro area in his time, and that new churches will be planted in the coming years.

On April 8, 2012, a small group gathered in a home in the south Tulsa area for their first worship service after the Presbytery of the Central U.S. approved their petition to be a daughter church of Westminster OPC in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The new group, known as Providence OPC, was committed to establishing a solidly Reformed work in the Tulsa area. They desired simplicity and reverence in worship, purity of Reformed doctrine, and preaching that exalted the Lord Jesus Christ and provided instruction in how to live in obedience to him. They wanted to be a church committed to the ordinary means of grace by which Christ builds his kingdom. In July of that same year, the congregation issued a call to Mr. Jim Stevenson, a recent graduate