We are excited to welcome Joy and Richard Frenette into membership in the ARC. Joy and Richard are from Kenora, Ontario, Canada. Joy graduated from The Master’s Institute (MI)Seminary in May of this year and Richard is a graduate of MI’s School of Ministry. They moved down to St. Paul for the three years of schooling and have now moved back home to Kenora where they are excitedly awaiting a call. Joy’s passion is to see that all people would be walking in the fullness of the freedom that Christ has made possible for us. Richard is especially drawn toward Men’s Ministry and Outreach Ministry.

Richard and Joy have chosen to join ARC because of its character and standards. Joy writes, “Being part of ARC also allows for and invites genuine caring relationships that provide encouragement, support, advice and ideas, and accountability, all of which both of us hold in high regard. We appreciate the networking connections that are possible with ARC, both those that have already been made and those yet to come. We are looking forward to a long-term relationship with ARC and its membership.”

Joy and Richard join fellow Canadians, Ted Hill and Glen Carlson as recent additions to membership in the ARC.

Welcome to the ARC, Joy and Richard!

We are excited to announce that House of Praise Church in Blaine, MN has joined the ARC. Pastor Steve Gaustad, an alumnus of The Master’s Institute Seminary writes: “At House of Praise we believe the Lord has called us to be a place where people can experience the love of the Father in a real way. Our hope is that each person will encounter the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit in a life changing tangible way. House of Praise desires to be a place where together, we can safely step into the fullness of all God has for each us. We're simple in the sense that it's really all about Him. Our earnest desire is to be a house of praise, a house of healing and a house of harvest that people can truly call home. We chose to join the ARC because we want to be a safe place for the dangerous kind.”

House of Praise is a small gathering of believers who will have a big influence in the ARC and for the Kingdom of God. Steve Gaustad has a passion to help others experience the realities of God’s Kingdom here and now, and he and his congregation are very blessed to now be part of the ARC. As Director of the ARC, I have no doubt they in turn will be a blessing to us. Steve, along with Brian Carroll and Tim Husnik, elders for House of Praise, are pictured in the photo with this article. Welcome to the ARC House of Praise!

We are excited to announce that Glen Carlson has joined the Alliance of Renewal Churches. Glen is pictured in the middle with friends Joe Johnson (left) and Mike Bradley (right) at the Southwest ARC Gathering. Glen is a long-time friend to many of us in the ARC. He was a pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Stony Plain, Alberta for 37 years and the leader for Lutheran Renewal – Canada

In 2002 Glen left full time congregational ministry to become a consultant in Churches in Western Canada and in Southern California, assisting David Householder over a three year period. In 2006, he accepted the contract to serve Emmaus Lutheran Church in Edmonton with the specific purpose of equipping people for ministry. As a result of this the congregation has opened a center for the homeless, helping people to believe in themselves, believe in Jesus, and raise their level of expectancy.

Glen writes, “Since 2002 my passion is to listen to Jesus through the Scriptures. This has let me to write books with the overall theme of listening to Jesus. These books are of a devotional nature that helps one to listen to the heart of Jesus. Books I have written so far are: LISTENING ( a devotional guide for the whole year); REFLECTIONS ON PSALM 23 (Looking at milestones in one’s life; PLANTING FEET (Listening to Jesus through the catechism); THE BOOK OF HEBREWS (Listening to Jesus as Prophet, Priest, King.); KINGDOM FOCUS (focus for the church in the new apostolic age.); COLOSSIANS (Bible Study on Listening to Jesus in Colossians).”

Glen is joining the ARC because of the kindred spirit he shares with us. Welcome, Glen, we’re glad to have you in the ARC.

The Alliance of Renewal Churches is happy to welcome Ted Hill from Alberta, Canada as a new member. Ted writes the following:

“My name is Ted, and I am hopelessly addicted to pastoring. I tried to get away from it various times in the last 20 years, but the grip is too strong! The pastoral talons got even more intense when I experienced renewal in the mid '90's and now I have been in full time ministry for almost 15 years.

All kidding aside - I find pastoral ministry a very difficult part of my life and also an intense joy. I serve in a small country parish in rural Alberta [I mean rural - the nearest town in is 30 minutes away]. I have been here for over 8 years and I love the people that I serve. When I first realized that I needed to be connected to the ARC I was in a Lutheran Renewal Canada meeting and Mike Bradley was speaking to us and encouraging us. He was sharing about Forgotten Ones and instantly I resonated with the ARC. Isaiah 58 has been a focal chapter of my life and ministry in the past few years and I really believe that the outflow of renewal experience is just that - outflow; outflow to the lost, the broken, the discarded, the forgotten. When I read, in the mission of the ARC, that quote from Bruce Cockburn's Lover's in a Dangerous, ‘you've got to kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight’ I knew I had found a network that speaks my language. As I have connected with the ARC I have seen a humility, an intensity and a freedom that is vibrant and filled with substance. I need to be a part of a body of believers and leaders and followers of Jesus that have teeth to their faith. So I am delighted to be part of the ARC and am excited about what the future holds for my family, my parish and this grand connection to ARC!”

Welcome to the ARC, Ted!

Sharon Franta is an adventurous follower of Jesus who believes in the transforming power of the Holy Spirit through the fellowship of believers.

In 2002, she answered the Lord’s call to work at The Master’s Institute in St. Paul, MN and has been on a voyage with God ever since. A recent graduate of The Master’s Institute Seminary (’10), she is currently serving as Director for the School of Ministry; a one-year course designed to equip disciples and discover destinies. She longs to see the church strengthened, empowered and mobilized.

She and her husband Scott live in Roseville, MN and have 4 children. Much of her down time is spent her family, on the golf course or curled up with a good book.

“Joining the ARC is like coming home. I find it’s a place where the transforming power of the Holy Spirit is not only embraced, but expected. The ARC’s desire to be a genuine, united fellowship where you are encouraged and supported to be all that God has called you to be fits well with a vision to see the church strengthened. Through this, we will see God’s army take the ground that has been promised.”

Joel & Marissa Bidderman are missionaries who are passionate about prayer, worship, and social justice. Having been staff members at the International House of Prayer in Atlanta for 3 years, in 2008 they answered the Lord's call to work with White Mountain Apache teens in northeastern Arizona.

Joel is a worship leader, as well as an artist/singer/songwriter (www.joelbidderman.com), and Marissa is a talented vocalist. Joel and Marissa are currently serving on staff with Apache Youth Ministries where Joel is the Media Director for the ministry's Little Bluebird Studios (an economic development program), and Marissa is the bookkeeper and Director of Discipleship.

Joel and Marissa chose to join the ARC because they feel yoked with the ARC and its leaders in its values and beliefs, and they are excited to be connected as missionaries to an association of churches such as the ARC.

Visit Joel and Marissa's personal ministry website at: www.thirdfloorministries.org

Welcome to the ARC, Joel and Marissa!

The Alliance of Renewal Churches is happy to welcome Jack Aamot as a new member of the ARC. Jack was one of my (Mike Bradley) favorite teachers in Bible School. He lives in the Minneapolis area with his wife, Ruth. Jack writes:

"Who am I? A follower of Jesus Christ who is thoroughly enjoying this adventure of discipleship. I'm married to a beautiful younger blond (his wife of decades, Ruth) and enjoying growing older with her. We have three sons, two daughters and eight grandchildren. We enjoyed 14 years seeing many come to faith in Christ in Brazil, followed by parish ministry in Van Nuys, CA and Trinity Lutheran Church in southern Minneapolis. We then served for a decade with New Ventures, followed by a time of serving as Director for Lutheran Evangelistic Missions (LEC). I am retired now and preach and teach occasionally as well as being active with Ruth in our home church, Hosanna, in Lakeville, MN. We travel to Brazil each year to touch base with our son, Timothy, and other friends, as well as our daughter and family. God's call on my life at this stage is to be a servant to my wife who has become blind due to retinitus pigmentosa, and meet with men, both ordained and not ordained in an iron sharpens iron style of one to one relationship. I look to the ARC as a fellowship of like-minded followers of Christ with the call to win the lost, grow up the saved, and equip others for kingdom expansion."

Welcome to the ARC, Jack. We are blessed to come alongside of you and enjoy this adventure together. You can welcome Jack at: jaamot@msn.com .