don't wait...

Man, has God been moving in our midst!! This has been an incredible 40 days of fasting and prayer. The stories of what God has done, what He has revealed, etc have been incredible. We are truly in a new move of the Spirit in the life of our church. As the Sr. Pastor my heart longs for all who call Asbury home to experience this great move of God but there are always obstacles isn’t there? Sometimes the obstacles are self imposed such as, our busy schedules or our lack of interest and sometimes those obstacles are direct hindrances from the enemy. I get a word from God the last couple of weeks for my life and it was “don’t wait.” When I began to pray and ask what “don’t wait” means God revealed to me that He wants to move in my life by His choice and that I am not to wait for others to follow but to allow Him to move. So, I have not been waiting and it has been awesome!

How about praying with me about some things while I have you on my blog:
- Pray that I will continue to listen to God and allow Him to lead
- Pray for Pastor Sam Thomas who was hired in February to come and be our Executive Pastor starting May 19th.
- Pray for the children’s ministry of our church as we seek God for direction.

Until next time – pray for me, Dennis

We belong...

While I was in Africa for two weeks I had a lot of time to reflect on the ministry of our church. I started by recalling some of the many things that need addressed but the longer I was separated from Asbury’s ministry by time and distance the less I focused on what we needed to do better and the more I focused on what we do right!

Being a part of a growing church is a novelty in America. H. B. London, from Focus on the Family states that 80% of all churches in America are either plateaued or in decline – only 20% are growing churches. This figure of growth and decline is even more dramatic among United Methodist Churches.

We belong – We are a part of a church that is growing – a church that is alive in its faith and it making a difference for Christ in Wichita and around the world. In July we will celebrate the one year anniversary of the formation of our Linwood Campus (formerly the Zion UMC). Under Pastor Greg Halls’ leadership the Linwood campus is growing and making a difference in the Linwood area of Wichita. A new Saturday evening service is being supported by the Linwood campus. It is called Nu Heart, New Start. Its focus is ministry to the formerly incarcerated who often times feel less welcome in traditional church settings.

Asbury Church Linwoood Campus

A new children’s ministry look is already taking shape under Deb Beat who serves as the Linwood Campus Children’s Director. The current children’s ministry is being expanded and a full children’s ministry program will commence in the fall of this year.

Amy Beckmann, Asbury’s Director of counseling is working with Pastor Greg and planning support groups that will being meeting at the Linwood Campus. Recently Linwood did a radical “make over” as they cleaned the outside stone of their building, painted classrooms and cleaned every room, etc. The campus looks awesome and is in the process of putting up their new Asbury Church Linwood Campus sign.

The Linwood campus will begin an extensive outreach ministry starting in May and particularly focusing on this fall. As you can see there is much to celebrate in our church and I have only shared a little about one campus – more to come.

Until then – keep on keeping on!

Pastor Dennis

God Does AWESOME Things!

Just returned from a missions trip to Sudan. It was an incredible time. Thanks so much for praying for the team We saw God do some awesome things as people were saved, and delivered from the bondage that the enemy had placed on them. The Sudanese people were so warm and friendly. The areas is very underdeveloped but in the simple way in which they live they welcomed us into their community and genuinely appreciated us being there. Asbury will have an impact on the Church in Darjo, Sudan for many years to come and we look forward to growing our relationship together.

While in Africa two the team members, Eric Nordberg and I spent two days on a safari. Now that too was an experience. I would love to show you all of my pictures of lions, zebras, elephants, etc, but you would probably have to be there to appreciate them. Ha!

Recently we had two new staff members join the Asbury team. First we want to say thanks to Elizabeth Nordberg who served as our part time Children’s Director while we searched for a full time children’s pastor. She did a super job. Elizabeth passed the baton to Stephanie Williams who is serving as our interim Children’s director and she is off and running and doing a great job. Please add Stephanie to your prayer list as I know she would appreciate it.

We have been anticipating the arrival of Pete Goodman, our new Student pastor for High School youth and for the College ministry. Pete too has hit the ground running and we welcome him to Asbury.

I have been overwhelmed by the number of Asburians who are participating in the church wide 40 days of fasting and prayer – and the testimonies have been an encouragement to us all. Heather Bradley recently shared her 40 day fast and prayer testimony at the West Campus. I understand that Pastor Aaron didn’t need much time to preach after it as she shared what God used to touch the hearts of all in attendance.

I want to encourage everyone to take a look at our new web page. It is awesome! It is not completely finished but it is on its way. Remember our web page is the primary means of communication for our congregation so be sure to check it out each week for the information you need about what is happening at Asbury.

Until next time

Pastor Dennis

Today we celebrate two new staff members who will join the ministry of Asbury Church

Today we celebrate two new staff members who will join the ministry of Asbury Church:

Sam Thomas

Sam Thomas is our new Executive Pastor. Currently Sam is a Master of Divinity student at the United Methodist Garrett Evangelical Seminary in Evanston, Illinois and he is currently ordained in the Evangelical Church Alliance. He will graduate on May 15th and be ready to minister among us on May 19th. Sam has an extensive business background and has served as a Campus Pastor intern for the Willow Creek Church – North Shore, Illinois Campus for four years. Sam’s understanding and involvement in multi-site ministry will greatly enhance the ministry of Asbury church.

Sam also serves in the military as a Chaplin, where he has attained the rank of Major. He currently serves in the reserves.

Sam’s main responsibilities will be working with our campus sites and campus pastors.

We welcome Sam to the team!









Peter (Pete) Goodman

Also joining us is Peter Goodman as our Student Pastor with emphasis on our High School youth and College ministries. Pete is from Freeport, Illinois and worked as a youth intern for Pastor Greg Hall who is our Linwood Campus pastor. Crossroads church is also a multi-site church so Pete’s understanding of the multi-site church will help us form our youth and college ministries for each campus. In addition to his love for student ministry, Pete is also an excellent worship leader and will help lead worship in many venues at Asbury.

Pete has a BA in Business Administration from Illinois Wesleyan University and is pursuing an MA in Christian Leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary. Pete will start on April 1.

We welcome Pete to the team!

Enjoying the journey!

As I write this I am “pumped!” God is putting in a place a great plan for us at Asbury. In a few days I will be sharing some new staff positions that have been filled. We have been searching since last October for each one of these. Can you believe I waited this long!!! I can honestly say that God has given me great patience in this process as I did not want to move ahead of him.

Our campus approach to ministry has been one of the greatest adventures of my personal ministry and it has been so rewarding. Pastor Greg, the Linwood Campus pastor is doing an incredible job. The campus is growing and in the process of organizing to reach out in a more effective way in the community. But wait, there is more – the West Campus, under the leadership of Pastor Aaron is growing as well. In fact, we have run out of available space and are scrambling to come up with a plan. A youth ministry is being organized on the campus and Eric Overmiller will be leading it.

The Breakthru campus, led by Pastor Ryan has also maxed out its space and we are looking into what we can do to address this great problem. But there is still more – the Central Campus, led by Pastor Brian is growing as well. What do you do when you have more people than space? Answer – praise Jesus for a great problem and work on a solution.

Many of you are familiar with our “Pay it Forward Ministry.” What an awesome way God has moved!! I invite you to check out the many testimonies about “Pay it Forward” on our church web page, www.asburychurch.org. On Easter Sunday we will celebrate Jesus is Risen and He is making a difference in the lives of so many!! You will be blessed!

Do you know the number one reason why guests tell us they come to Asbury – to all of our campuses? Because someone – a friend, a neighbor, a co-worker – someone told them what God was doing for them in the life of the church and invited them to come check it out for themselves. Who have you invited? Who will you invite this week?

Enjoying the journey,

Pastor Dennis

Asbury Staffing Update

In the new year Asbury’s web page will be the primary medium of communication for our church body. Currently we are in the process of redoing the web page so please bare with us as we put it all together. I wanted to share with you two new staff members that will be joining us in the next few weeks.



Asbury Zion Campus Pastor
First we want to welcome Pastor Greg Hall as our new Asbury Zion Campus pastor. Greg and his wife Mary have two girls; Amy who is in college and Julie who is a 3rd grader. Pastor Greg has been on staff at Crossroads Community Church in Freeport, Illinoise for 7 years. Crossroads is a multi-site church as well so Greg will bring with him experience and knowledge that will be put to good use! One of the many aspects that attracted Greg and Mary to the Asbury Zion Campus is the opportunity to minister to the inner city of Wichita. They both have a heart to reach the working class core of Wichita and will be living near the Asbury Zion campus. Pastor Greg will have his office at the Asbury Zion campus.

Pastor Greg’s gifts are teaching, vision casting, inspiriing and motivating people, evangelism and connecting people with God’s paln for their lieves. Pastor Greg will begin on January 2, 2008



Middle School Pastor/Creative Arts Pastor
Our new Middle School Pastor will not be new to many of you as he is one of us, Pastor Matt Lowry. Matt and his wife Darcy were a part of Asbury for many years before moving out of state. Since then they have also enlarged their family with the addition of two children. Currently Pastor Matt is serving at the Hope Springs Community Church in Loveland Colorado as worship leader and youth pastor.

Pastor Matt will serve not only as the Asbury Middle school pastor but he will also serve as one of the Worship pastors with primary responsibility for the Asbury West and Asbury Zion Campuses. In addition Matt’ gifts will also give him responsibility for Web site ministry and he will work with the video and tech teams.

Matt’s gifts include leadership, relationship building, website design and technical skills. Pastor Matt will begin on January 2, 2008.



Other staff updates
Because of the Christmas season we have temporarily put on hold the search for an Executive pastor, High School/College Pastor and Children’s pastor. We have some very good possibilites for both the High School/College pastor and the children’s pastor. Our priority is to fill these positions and then begin the search for a great Executive pastor.

Please keep the interview teams in your prayers as they continue to search for the persons who will best minister to us.

go back to the drawing board and see a different picture

What an awesome 100th year birthday celebration we had. There were many people who spent long hours and sacrificed much to make our birthday party a tremendous success. To each of you I want to say thanks and I want to particularly say thanks to Brent McNulty, Asbury's Publicity Coordinator who led the charge and as a result gave all us a weekend that blessed, inspired and challenged us.

Our campuses continue to grow, evolve and minister in different ways. The West Campus has experienced awesome growth with each Sunday seeing new guests saying they want to be a part of Asbury through the West Campus. Their story could have been the story of many young married couples - their marriage was in trouble. When the mailing of the new West campus came to their door they read it and decided that what they had left out of their marriage was God. As a result they decided to check out Asbury West and they have not missed a Sunday since. And their marriage...they are growing in a new awareness of their love for God and for each other!

Our Zion Campus will become a "full service" campus starting in January 2008. "Full service" implies that they will be offering ministries for children, youth and adults through a variety of ways, starting with the transitioning of the current children's Wednesday after school program into a Wednesday night Zone. We had hoped to transport the Zion children and youth to the Central Campus on Wednesday nights but the overwhelming attendance at the Central Campus this fall and the need to minister to those in the Zion neighborhoods who need a local ministry to attend has helped us to see the need to go back to the drawing board and see a different picture.

Although the Breakthru and Central Campuses had some of their participants go the West and Zion Campuses as Covenant members they too continue to grow even as they have sent out others to help the new campuses. It has been awesome.

The leadership of Asbury Church has been working on the proposed 2008 budget. This has been one of the most comprehensive budgeting processes in the 14 years that I have served as your Lead Pastor. It will not only reflect what is the financial need to nurture persons in their faith journey, but it will reflect the needs of our congregation to witness to our faith in service beyond ourselves. The 2008 mission’s budget of our church will reflect the growth, energy and vision of our congregation as we begin the New Year. In fact, I would like to pause for a moment and say thank you to those of you believe in the witness and work of your church. Your sacrificial giving in 2007 has been phenomenal! Lives are being changed!

His name is Brian and he has been at Asbury since he was in grade school. I remember when his mom and dad started coming to Asbury and how Jesus began to touch and change their lives. Brian is now a senior in high school, a leader in the Asbury youth ministry. But there is more...Brian is praying whether God is calling him to be a pastor. Thank you Asbury, for believing that God does change lives! Because you believe and give as a result, Brian is a young man who has not only been changed on the inside but is being called by God to go help others find the change that God can bring to them as well.


Growing in Jesus.

- Dennis