Church experiences growth under new leadership

Church experiences growth under new leadership
By Sheila Allen
LONGVIEW, Wash. —
Out of retirement and into
the thick of ministry, Larry
Pedigo and his congregation are making a difference
for the cause of Christ at
Highlands Baptist Church in
Longview, Wash.
Nestled in a low-income
neighborhood, the church
has shown remarkable
growth since Pedigo assumed pastoral leadership.
With 37 baptisms recorded
in the last year, up from
three the previous year, there
is renewed excitement in the
church.
“I wasn’t in ministry my
whole life, because I served
in the Navy for 20 years,”
Pedigo said. “Although I
grew up in Kentucky, I married a girl from the Northwest, and we were led to
the Lord in 1979 by a Bible
Baptist preacher.”
Pedigo served as pastor at
Grace Bible Church in Woodburn, Ore., for nine years,
and then Eastside Baptist
Church in Vancouver, Wash.,
for eight more years.
“We retired and moved to
Longview in 2006 to be near
our daughter and eventually
found Highlands, where I
worked as a volunteer under
pastor Craig Neet,” Pedigo
said. “He resigned and I
began filling in as interim
pastor for six months before
they tabbed me to be their
senior pastor.”
Giving credit only to God
for their success, the church
has seen their attendance
triple since that time.
“We have several programs going here, but they
are not established by me,
Pedigo noted. “My leader-
ship is different than some
in that I want our leaders of
ministries to receive God’s
blessings. While I give them
advice and my prayer support, I also give them ownership of their own responsibilities. I don’t have to be
involved in each individual
ministry.”
The church operates
under the direction of a sixmember council made up
of men and women and has
ministries that reach out to
all ages.
With a strong SAFE (Setting Addicts Free Eternally)
program in place for children through adults, there
are also several ministries for
children, youth and adults.
“I give most of the credit
for growth in our church
to our youth pastor, David
Newman, a volunteer who
is just an awesome guy
and we now have 15 youth
attending,” Pedigo noted.
“We don’t have doctors and
lawyers here, but everyday
working people.”
Maintaining a community
presence through a food
ministry, the church disperses food items received from
area food programs as well
as church members to keep
a refrigerator, three freezers and a room stocked with
items to help an average of
20 families.
“Pastor Larry is always
open to talk,” said Rachael
Green, children’s director at
Highlands. “He ministers
and corrects with love, after
being corrected you will never leave his office without
knowing that you are loved.
He is an encouragement to
all of us and Highlands Baptist Church.”
Larry Pedigo with his wife, Marie, are enjoying another new phase of ministry
after he assumed the pastorate at Highlands Baptist Church in Longivew, Wash.
The church is seeing renewed growth in an economically depressed area.
“It’s not about me, but we
are a friendly church, loving
one another,” Pedigo said.
“I never went to seminary,
but had training under some
knowledgeable pastors and
took some classes at Multnomah School of the Bible. We
have Bible studies, children’s and youth programs
throughout the week and the
SAFE programs going on.”
A neighborhood block
party is in the works with
hot dogs, snow cones, prizes,
music and a gospel presentation prepared for those who
come at personal invitations
and flyers distributed.
“God blesses faithfulness
and what we do here — anything good that happens
— we give God the praise.,”
Pedigo said.
Children gather in the auditorium of Highlands Baptist Church in Longview, Wash., on a recent weekday for Vacation Bible School. The church has baptized 37 people in
the last year since Larry Pedigo assumed the lead pastor role. Pedigo likes to empower ministry leaders to succeed with ownership of their own responsibilities.
Northwest Baptist Witness
Page 4
July 28, 2011
Northwest students give selflessly to others
had Jesus in common and
that’s all we needed to create
a strong bond and fellowship. It’s comforting knowing
there are other teenagers in
this country and the world
who have devoted their lives
to Christ, and it gives me
hope that others can as well.”
With over 350 students
converging on the city, participants were housed at a
local middle school. Eleven
Southern Baptist churches in
the area provided lunches to
workers, who saw the temperature soar to 95 degrees at
their sites early in the work
week.
Every minute filled to the
brim, a daily schedule saw
most arising at 5:30 a.m. for
an early breakfast before departing to the work sites by
7 a.m. Showers in the school
gym’s locker rooms after
the work day gave way to
dinner, corporate worship
and church devotions at
night’s end, topped off
with late night free time.
While most of the work
concentrated on home
repairs, students also took
the time to prayer-walk the
neighborhoods and take
available opportunities
to chat with homeowners
and nearby residents about
the reason they raised
funds throughout the year
to come to Casper.
Students and leaders
also joined area churches
for worship one night
during the week, providing inspiration to church
members and World
Changers alike, as they
shared in the common
goal of living a life dedicated to Christ.
Under the theme of
“Unless” taken from
Psalms 127:1, students
were immersed in nightly
worship sessions which
Katie Samperi, (left) a student from Greater Gresham (Ore.) Baptist Church helps with renovations on a home in Casper, Wy., magnified the needs of
during World Changers, a NAMB-sponsored event held in multiple locations across the United States.
the world around them.
By Sheila Allen
CASPER, Wy. — Teenagers
from two Northwest Baptist
churches joined thousands of
others making a difference
in communities across the
nation when they traveled to
Casper, Wy., to participate in
World Changers.
A North American Mission Board venture, World
Changers combines practical
learning, servanthood and
commitment to missions.
A caravan of vans carried
students from Quinault Baptist Church in Kennewick,
Wash., and Greater Gresham
(Ore.) Baptist Church to the
semi-arid southeastern region of Wyoming known for
its oil town and its elevation
of 5,200 feet.
But to World Changers
participants, Casper became known as a place to
serve others in Jesus’ name.
Spreading across various
parts of the city, Northwest
students began the week by
meeting others who joined
the event from far-flung
places such as West Virginia,
Florida, Kansas, Arkansas,
Texas and California. They
were soon making new
friends as they scraped old
paint, tore off layers of crumbling roofs and dismantled
ineffective storm windows
and doors in an area that
sees significant cold weather
in winter months.
The week progressed as
old became new, with layers of thick paint covering
bare wood and razor-straight
rows of shingles topping
homes for low-income
residents who desperately
needed help.
World Changers leaders
worked with Casper city officials, as they have for over 20
years, to provide the manpower for local citizens who
need a helping hand. Funding for the materials came
from governmental sources, a
happy partnership according
to local officials.
“One of my favorite things
about the week was realizing that there are people
out there who love Jesus just
as much as we do, and their
hearts’ desire really is to
spread the Word,” said Rebekah Potts of Gresham, Ore.
“I loved that we didn’t even
know our crew members, but
it didn’t matter because we
Small Business Healthcare tax subsidy available for churches
DALLAS — Depending
upon the number of employees, some churches may
be able to receive a refund
of several thousand dollars
from the Internal Revenue
Service. Although the official
date for filing was May 15,
churches may still file a late
return if they qualify for the
credit.
Small churches can find
additional help from GuideStone Financial Services in
evaluating whether they
wish to pursue the Small
Business Healthcare Tax
Credit that was created
under the healthcare reform
law. GuideStone has created a number of resources
designed to help churches
evaluate the new credit.
The resource page on its
Northwest Baptist Witness
website (www.guidestone.
org) includes, step-by-step
guide for determining eligibility and amount of the
credit, necessary forms and
other frequently asked questions. The resource also includes a webinar with Danny
Miller of Connor & Winters.
Miller is a noted attorney
who specializes in benefits
issues for ministers.
“We urge churches to
evaluate all factors before
deciding whether to pursue
the credit,” said O.S. Hawkins, GuideStone president.
“These resources provide
tools to help in that process.”
These resources can be
accessed free of charge on
GuideStone’s Healthcare
Reform website.
The IRS confirmed in No-
tice 2010-82 in December that
the Small Business Healthcare Tax Credit is available
to churches who participate
through a self-funded denominational church health
plan, including GuideStone
health plans.
The heath care tax credit
signed by President Obama
in March 2010 provides a tax
credit for certain small employees, both for-profit and
tax-exempt, that pay at least
50 percent of the premiums
of their employees’ health
insurance.
Because most tax-exempt
organizations do not pay
income taxes, this credit will
be used to reduce certain
payroll taxes.
Eligible organizations are
generally those with less
Page 5
than 25 full time employees
with an average salary of not
more than $50,000.
“Wages” for purposes
of average wages excludes
clergy pay altogether, because clergy pay is not FICA
wages.
To be eligible for the tax
credit, a church must pay a
uniform percentage, but not
less than 50 percent, of the
premium for each employee
enrolled in the health insurance coverage offered by the
church.
Churches may compute
the credit by completing IRS
form 8941 and then attaching
it to IRS form 990-T before
filing with the IRS. (Commpiled from reports by Guidestone Financial Resources and
the ECFA)
July 28, 2011