The prayers, conversations, and thoughtful planning that ultimately resulted in the creation of an adult education initiative on the doctrines of the Bible, as an auxiliary ministry of Midwest Bible Church, began in June of 2024. Five months later, on November 6, the School of Christian Theological Studies (SCTS) was launched with a registration cohort of 38 students—many of them young adults, some members of other churches, some long-time adult members of MBC, but all of them sincerely eager to learn about the doctrine of the Bible (Course: Introduction to Bibliology). The course Instructor, Vidal Cordova, presented compelling topics such as the importance of systematic theology, the preservation of the Bible throughout an extensive timespan, the uniqueness of the Bible as compared to other religious texts, the authority of Scripture, and the sufficiency of Scripture, among other related subjects. Another successful (and free) 3-week course was led by Pastor Marco on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Pneumatology) in January 2025 with 47 registered students. Powerful topics ranged from the gifts of the Holy Spirit, false teachings concerning the works of the Holy Spirit, over-contextualization, and the filling of the Holy Spirit.

Why A Church Ministry on Theological Studies?
The development of the School of Christian Theological Studies as a ministry of Midwest Bible Church was born from the urgent need—especially today—for all believers to have the same “noble” heart as the Jews from Berea whom “received the Word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:10). Our prayer is that students of these essential courses will come away eager to learn more from God’s Word as it is “examined,” in order to become strengthened in their faith—determined to do their “…best to present [themselves] to God, as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the Word of Truth.” (2 Timothy 2: 15).

Mission Statement:  
The mission of the School of Christian Theological Studies is to train MBC leaders and other members, as well as other members of Christ’s Body, in the disciplined study of God—His Attributes, His Word, and other core Bible doctrines—soundly utilizing Scripture as the foremost Source. The goal is to become well equipped to better understand God’s Word, to be stirred by His Spirit so as to consistently apply His Truths, and to “honor Christ the LORD as Holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks [you] for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet [doing] it with gentleness and respect...” (1 Peter 3: 15).

This past year’s prayer station was a delight. As times are changing rapidly in our neighborhoods, so is the work of the Lord. Many homeless regulars at 6 corners got better acquainted with us as we shared cookies and banana bread along with prayers each week. By the end of the summer our friend Julian, who is in a wheelchair and is declining in his health, prayed for the salvation of our Lord Jesus in his life! 

This summer brought the influx of many immigrants to our city. We prayed with families from Ecuador, Venezuela, Columbia, Mexico, Ukraine, and several others. What an opportunity to share the gospel among the nations. We brought coloring books, toys and Christian tracks in Spanish and English. We encountered Russian and Polish speaking people as well and made a few friends along the way.

May God be glorified and may His love go forth in their lives in this ever changing world. Those joining us this past year were Dorcas and Chris, Manny and Lilly, Chris Martin and Angel.

Serving with us for the Gospel, 
Nancy and Luis Pagan

Our purpose is to glorify God and spread His fame by assisting the Church in making disciples of all nations through our global partners. Our mission is to strengthen the connection between our global partners and each one at MBC through prayer opportunities, correspondence, in-person visits, missions trips, and financial support.

This year our adopt-a-global-partner involvement grew and continues to do so as interest grows especially through face-to-face visits. The ‘adopters’ were invited to join a gathering in January in which we met the PIE Romanian national director, Timotei Stanea and his wife.

Other highlights:

• Our first all-global partner prayer gathering in September with almost 40 in attendance including a few children for which a ‘prayer walk’ was held in the fellowship hall.
• A visit by our newest partners, Anna and Juan Antonio Ortiz, national directors of the L’Arcada Camp in northern Spain. They connected with many from our congregation.
• A visit by Teodora Petrut, the daughter of our Romanian partners, Daniel & Rachel Petrut.

We mourned the passing, yet not without hope, of global partner Mary Garland, who invested 45 years of her life in translating the New Testament for 2 tribal groups in Bolivia. In her remaining years, Mary served daily and joyfully as on online missionary with Global Media Outreach, answering the inquiries of almost 14,000 persons by email for salvation and Biblical counseling. “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Our goals in 2025 are:

• Strengthen MBC’s connection with our global partners through our ‘adopt’ growth
• 2 prayer nights this year for our global partners
• 1-2 new members to join the missions committee

The members of our team are:  Lisa Chohan, Vince Guerrero Sr., Erol Senses (Leadership Liaison), Caryl Zoladz, and Kim and Jenny Rasmussen.

The role of a Connection Team member goes beyond simply greeting individuals as they enter our church. We serve as the initial point of contact for newcomers, with the mission of representing both God and our church positively.

To facilitate connections between visitors and regular attendees, we utilize various tools. We gather contact information to ensure that those we interact with are directed to the appropriate ministries for their spiritual growth and service to Christ. Ministry leaders and directors depend on the Connection Team to connect them with individuals who are eager to be ministered to, while the church relies on us to recruit volunteers who will actively serve alongside us. Our focus is on building relationships and fostering active engagement within our church community.

We've noticed many new attendees at the church, and it brings us joy to see them return. During the 90 seconds of greeting, I've had a few people mention, "I've seen you at the front." We are not just greeters; we are "ambassadors of Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:20) dedicated to seeking His presence, serving His family with love, and spreading His fame.

We pray for at least one new member to join our team so that everyone can enjoy at least one month off. We also pray that we can gather this year to spend quality time together as brothers and sisters in Christ. It would be a wonderful opportunity to refresh our training and share the new insights we have gained.

We currently have 11 team members. At the start of 2024, we had 12, but one member is now on a break. Our team: Marne Bariso, Liz David, Wendy Gallegos, Rosalia Lopez, David Martinez, Lissi Pagan, Josh Pagan, Lizette Reyes, Mike Kijowski, Terry Kijowski, Israel Soriano

As trustees, we are responsible to care for the physical property of our church. Some of the tasks done by our trustees this year were moving chairs out and back for the sanctuary carpet cleaning, replacing needed doorstops, responding to help clean up water from backflow issues and leaks. We even had a couple people running plumbing cameras through some of our drains systems to troubleshoot said issues. We also use contractors to do maintenance and repairs for things such as snow plowing, HVAC maintenance, cleaning, lawn mowing, and roof/drain repairs.  

There were several other projects that took place this year, outside of regular maintenance. We had some good help on one Saturday morning in April to replace all the water-damaged baseboards and paint some of the walls in the Fellowship Hall and Foyer areas. Another project was upgrading the building door alarm system after a lightning strike caused major issues. Also, after the initial assessment of our drains from our trustees, we were able to get a plumber to check our system and he confirmed a collapsed drain. We are still working on getting the right contractor to solve for that collapsed drain.

We are thankful that the Lord continues to sustain the ministry of this church and, by God’s grace, we will strive to do what we can to keep the physical buildings and grounds in good shape.

Team: Carlos Gallegos, Tyler Kuipers, David Martinez, Scott Mayer, Brian McPherson, Tony Perez, Cathy Sywulka (Chair)

This was our second year offering a weekly Bible study at Clarendale Senior Living at Six Corners. We had four regular attendees until a couple in the group moved away. A few more residents join us from time to time, and our notes are available in both English and Spanish. We’ve studied portions of Psalms, the Book of Isaiah, and “portraits” of Advent.

This gathering is not just a Bible study—it has become a growing community where residents care for and pray for one another. Two of our members also faithfully attend MBC. The study is led by Kim and Jenny Rasmussen.