Spring 2013 Newsletter

The more I interact with elders from around the United States, the more I find a lack of knowledge about Stewards Foundation. In an effort to correct this problem, and improve our communication with the assemblies, we have decided to send out a quarterly newsletter. You will find a link to each newsletter and a place to sign up for future editions on our web site, www.stewardsfoundation.org. The newsletter is available for delivery by email or mail. Our web site also provides information about our Board of Trustees and the services that we provide.

Stewards Foundation was first incorporated in April 1945 as a non-profit corporation in the state of Illinois. The foundation was relocated to Addison, Texas and incorporated as a Texas non-profit corporation in 1998. Many things have changed over the past 68 years, but Stewards Foundation’s commitment to serving New Testament pattern assemblies is as strong today as it was when William McCartney began this work from an office in his Chicago furniture company.

I am often asked, “what is the most important thing that you do at Stewards Foundation?” Some are surprised when I respond, “making loans.” Stewards Foundation was originally founded for the purpose of making loans, the desire being to assist in establishing and strengthening assembly testimonies across the United States. Making loans is still our first order of business. Through these many years, the Loan Program has provided millions of dollars for the purchase, construction or remodel of assembly facilities. In fact, it is very likely that Stewards Foundation provided a loan for your assembly at some point in time.

Just as millions of dollars have been loaned out over the years through the Loan Program, millions have been given through the Health Care Assistance Program (HCAP) to assist commended workers. Giving through HCAP is no less dear to our hearts than making loans, however, the viability of HCAP is due mainly to the Loan Program. Each year loan proceeds are the primary source of funding the annual HCAP gift. Our goal is to promote the growth of the Loan Program to sustain and expand HCAP.
In the first edition of our newsletter you will find two narratives: first, the story of an assembly that recently benefited from the Loan Program; and second, the testimony of a senior commended worker that has benefitted from HCAP over many years.The purpose for producing this newsletter about Stewards Foundation is not to make you think well of us, but of what the Lord has done and is doing through Stewards Foundation. Our desire is that as you read this and future editions, that you will give Him the glory (Ps 115:1). Unless the Lord is in this work our labor is in vain (Ps 127:1).

—
Doug Rice
Executive Director

Central Bible Chapel has been an investor in Stewards Foundation for many years – we wanted to put our savings to use for other assemblies, and anticipated the day when we might want to build or buy, and make use of SF’s services. The day came, and we not only were able to borrow to purchase our building, but in the time leading up to it, received excellent counsel on a variety of issues pertaining to buying commercial property. This was available to us whether we borrowed from SF or not, as part of its service to New Testament assemblies. We see the ministry of Stewards Foundation as a real asset to the assembly movement.

Central Bible Chapel began as a home meeting in 1974. Four families in the Montgomery area were interested in meeting on Sunday evenings for the Breaking of Bread. Around 1982, the group moved to the nearby town of Millbrook, and in 1985 rented our first public facility – a storefront where the believers met for the next 25 years.

The meeting has never been large, but our location near a prominent Air Force Base has blessed us with the opportunity to be a home away from home for a great many service men and women and their families over the years. In our small Alabama town we have been blessed to remember the Lord with believers from around the world! We have been privileged to see souls profess faith in Christ and to see a number follow the Lord in baptism. Isaiah 59:1 says, “Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear.” As a Deep South assembly, we find we are in a region where most people have “religion” and an allegiance to an “inherited” denomination, both an obstacle to local attendance. Like outposts in a mission field, these assemblies soldier on with the Gospel with this extra layer of resistance to overcome.

One objective for the assembly has been to settle into our own location in the community, one that would lend itself to outreach and give the impression of stability in this tight-knit small town community. Many storefront churches spring up and then dissolve, so being perceived as such worked against efforts to reach into Millbrook homes and hearts. We looked for the appropriate property for years, and in 2010 the Lord opened the door for us to move into a beautiful building on Main Street! Although we had been in Millbrook for over 25 years (with numerous and varied outreach efforts), this new location breathed fresh life into our community presence and acceptance, allowing us many more opportunities for Gospel outreach. In addition, we annually host conferences, have Vacation Bible School, and help out with a local food bank (directly across the street from our new location!) in providing physical and spiritual help to the homeless.

Central Bible Chapel is a small meeting in a small town with a big and mighty God! We look back on the last 38 years and rejoice to say, “Hitherto hath the LORD helped us” (1 Samuel 7:12). We look to the future, “preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (He is Lord of all)” (Acts 10:36).

T. Michael Flowers was called, by God, to service…Born on the 28^th day of March 1920 in Mangrove Bay, Andros, Bahamas, he was 17 years of age, he accepted Jesus Christ into his life under the preaching of W.H. Farrington – He would later attribute his preaching style to Brother Farrington.

After spending time ministering in England, Scotland, and Canada, he would eventually come to the United States and concentrate his ministerial efforts in the Northeastern part of the country – primarily in Michigan and Ohio.  It was during this time that he came under the tutelage of BM, TB, and Whitfield Nottage.  It was also during this time that he met and married the former Ella Mons and a daughter, Sharon, was born to their relationship.

During a speaking engagement at Carver Bible Institute in Atlanta, GA and while Brother Flowers was having his normal, regular time with God, God did something not so regular or normal.  God used a passage of Scripture from Genesis 28 that he had read many times before but this time He impressed it upon his heart as if God Himself was speaking words to Michael instead of Jacob:  “I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.  And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. “

Claiming this passage as the call and promise of God, Brother Flowers moved the family from MI to GA in 1955 and embarked upon a pioneering and church planting adventure.  A few years later in 1958, Beaufort Bible Chapel, in Beaufort, SC was birthed as well as a son, T. Martin.  A few businessmen with a desire to serve God heard the call of the vision and banded together in 1966 in a group that would become the Southern Gospel Mission Association, Incorporated.

SGMA was the vehicle T. Michael Flowers used, and is using, to continue the vision of church planting, growth, development, and leader training and development.  SGMA was established for the expressed purpose of establishing a “New Testament Church in every major city of the Southeast.”  For God’s glory, Brother Flowers has been the human tool God has used to fashion 7 local assemblies throughout the Southeastern portion of the United States – in South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama.  Additionally, there is an annual United Bible Conferences, an annual United Missions Conference, and frequent leadership workshops.

Recently, T. Michael Flowers has aged, slowed down, and stepped back from the forefront of the ministry; however, he has been aided wonderfully by the StewardsFoundation Health Care Assistance Program (HCAP).  At every step of the way, HCAP has been there providing the wherewithal to purchase medications, in office medical care, and also in home care.  He is grateful to Stewards for their faithful partnering with him to do His ministry.