On Sunday April 28, 2013 we had a chance to hear from Byron Johnson, a long-time friend and mentor to our brother Carl Miller. Byron described a ministry he recently launched to support African-americans who want to get involved in missions work.
The ministry is called Vision 938 and you can learn more about it from the web site:
Please check out this ministry and consider becoming a supporter!
As many of you know, we have posted life group discussion material on this blog for several years now. Since this same material is also available in our sermon notes, we have decided to streamline our processing of Sunday sermons by directing you to use the sermon notes for life group discussion material from now on. You can read the sermon notes and discussion material (as well as listen to the sermons) at the following link:
Sunday Life Page (Life Church sermons)
Not all life groups will choose to use this material, but it's there if you need it.
Please remember that we generally do not produce new discussion material on Communion Sundays. Our Communion Sundays are devoted to prayer, or testimonies, or questions and answers, on a rotating basis. Due to the personal nature of the prayer requests, testimonies, or questions, we normally do not include them in our podcast or broadcast.
For this reason, for the week following a communion Sunday, feel free to reuse discussion material from a previous sermon.
On Easter Sunday (April 7, 2013) the Life Church Men's Chorus made its debut under the direction of Bil Mooney-McCoy. Checkout the video:
Bil Mooney-McCoy,
Worship Team
Bil Mooney-McCoy is a native of Boston, currently living in Dorchester, married for more than 30 years, the father of three, and incredulously, a grandfather. His undergraduate work was at Brandeis University and he has a Masters of Music from New England Conservatory in Jazz Piano. Bil is a freelance computer programmer and a professional musician, currently teaching lessons and leading a choir at a Boston Public School.
In 2000, with his wife, Paulea, Bil co-founded a multi-ethnic house church, the Gathering Christian Fellowship, that meets in the Dorchester section of Boston. While still connected to the Gathering, Paulea and Bil were called to Life Church in 2010 and are thrilled to be part of the leadership team there, along with leading the Worship Team.
Bil is often involved in a number of city-wide activities. Currently, with Paulea, he’s on the team of a Living Waters program, a healing prayer and discipleship ministry dealing with relational and sexual brokenness.
Over the years, Bil has been a speaker or facilitator at workshops, church meetings and services, retreats, schools, and other venues, presenting on topics including sexual purity and addiction, online safety for children, marriage and relationships, worship and music ministry, cross-cultural communication, racial reconciliation, and workplace communication.
Bil’s passions include morning coffee, finding new guitar chords, creating killer PowerPoint presentations, and watching how fast his teenage daughter can text her friends.
Paulea Mooney-McCoy
Worship Team
Coming Soon!
Rev. Dr. Michael Dixon,
Discipleship
Michael was born in Chicago, IL, where he received the Lord in 1980. He was ordained as an American Baptist minister in 1998. He currently helps with Life Group 1, as well as Sunday school classes, as well as being part of the leadership team at Life Church. He also currently implements his accelerated math and science curriculum at Parkside Christian (PS-6th) /Cross Factor (7th-10th-going to 12th) Academies, a K-10 private school in Boston, MA. With over 21 years of teaching experience in math and science, he specializes in high academic achievement for minorities and inner-city youth in math and science. He loves the Lord as well as science fiction, especially Dr. Who and Star Trek, and spending time with his wife Crystal and 6 boys. They currently reside in Dedham, MA.
Crystal Dixon,
Discipleship
Coming Soon!
William Baxter
Marriage Ministry, Discipleship
William Baxter was born on November 3, 1959 at Princess Ann County Naval Base in Portsmouth Va. In 1960 his loving parents William and Florita Baxter moved their family to Boston. William attended the Emmanuel House School for nursery and kindergarten, St Francis de Sales and St Johns Grammar schools in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and then The Holy Cross Cathedral High School in the South End of Boston where he excelled in the football and graduated in May of 1978.
In 1979 William began a career in Criminal Justice/ Law Enforcement. He worked for the Dare Family Service in conducting psycho-criminal screenings and transporting juveniles to various state facilities. In 1980, he worked as an Intake Counselor for the Judge John J. Connolly Detention Facility in Roslindale, Massachusetts. In 1983 he was appointed and sworn in by then Sheriff Dennis Kearney as Deputy Sheriff of Suffolk County, and attained the rank of Sergeant Deputy in 1986. In 1989, William became a Patrolman for the City of Boston Police Department and is currently assigned to the Community Service Office as a Youth Service Officer.
In 1990, William married Gayle Elaine Thomas.
In 1995, William began following Jesus and his life began to transform. He was baptized at Holy Tabernacle Church and eventually transitioned to New Covenant Christian Church (now Jubilee Christian Church). He likens his transformation process to the song: “As the deer panted for the water, so my soul thirsted after you”.
In 2005, William graduated Suma-Cum Laude from Newbury College with a Bachelor’s Degree, in Criminal Justice. In that same year he was contracted by the Federal Government as a National Trainer for the G.R.E.A.T. program.
In 2006 William and Gayle joined Life Church where he currently serves as a life group facilitator, pre-marital counselor, and as a member of the Life Church Leadership Team. He and Gayle currently lead the Life Church Marriage Ministry.
Awards:
Gayle Baxter,
Marriage Ministry, Discipleship
Gayle Baxter (née Thomas) was born on October 23, 1958 to George and Louise Thomas of Roxbury, Mass. She attended Boston Public grammar and middle schools and graduated from Boston Technical High in 1975. In 1978 She pursued a degree in Liberal Arts with a minor in Biology at Boston State College. Her strong desire to promote the physical and emotional healing of others led her to work in healthcare environments as a nursing assistant and mental health counselor, and ultimately to pursue a degree in Nursing at Laboure College.
Realizing that she wanted to specialize in Psychiatric Nursing, Gayle sought employment at Massachusetts Mental Health Center which (a Harvard-teaching hospital). In this setting that she was mentored by experienced mental health practitioners who provided a foundation for her to practice as a psychiatric nurse in both inpatient and outpatient settings (including community nursing).
Gayle has been happily married to William A. Baxter since 1990 and they enjoy growing together in Christ. She aggressively pursues opportunities to grow spiritually in Christ and maintains a healthy lifestyle via gym workouts, aerobic fitness, swimming, skiing, and good nutrition. Her fun pursuits include watching action, adventure, and Sci-fi movies, bowling, and fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ. She is eager to see how God will use the gifts He has given her to serve His people for the building of His Kingdom.
Gayle began following Christ in 1994 at Holy Tabernacle Church. She then attended New Covenant Christian Church (now Jubilee Christian Church) and found that Christ centered groups helped her to grow spiritually. She and her husband William joined Life Church in 2006 and she currently serves as a co-leader of a life group, a pre-marital counselor, and a member of the Life Church Leadership Team. She and her husband William currently lead the Life Church Marriage Ministry.
Rocklyn E. Clarke Sr.,
Senior Pastor & Founder
This version of Rocklyn's bio is no longer being updated! Please see the current version at the following link:
Congratulations to Parkside Christian Academy, which has been named a “Top School” for the state of Massachusetts in the 2009 Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (CTY)Talent Search. CTY Talent Searches identify, assess, and recognize students with exceptional mathematical and/or verbal reasoning abilities. They looked at the top 100 schools by state to determine the number of student enrollments they received into their annual Talent Search, and Parkside was recognized for this honor. The honor signifies that Parkside has a solid core of very high achieving students.
Congratulations Parkside students, parents and staff!!
For more information about the CTY program and the honorees, please go to www.cty.jhu.edu/ts/topschools/MAtop.html.
January 25, 2010: Emmanuel Gospel Center (EGC) is announcing the release of EGC President Doug Hall's long-awaited book!
The Cat and the Toaster: Living System Ministry in a Technological Age is now available! Learn what EGC has been learning about urban ministry. Order the book and check out the new Living System Ministry website.
Learn how you can help fight the genocide in Darfur:
