Chandler Im will speak in Spartanburg on Sept. 25 at organizational meetings of the Upstate Ethnic Ministry Network.
ImA Korean, Im directs the Ethnic America Network (EAN) from the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton, Ill. EAN encourages and equips ministries and churches for cross-cultural advancement of the gospel and intercultural unity in Jesus Christ. Its doctrinal statement is the Lausanne Covenant.
EAN will bring its 2011 national retreat and its 2012 ethnic ministry summit (the Carolinas Summit) to Spartanburg at the invitation of Jim Goodroe, director of missions for Spartanburg County Baptist Network, one of two EAN member organizations in South Carolina.
Goodroe said that since the goal of the summit is an ongoing ethnic ministry network in the region, monthly events will now be held in the Upstate. Next month’s event is a “Taste of Heaven” at Brushy Creek Baptist Church in Taylors, where the event drew 400 last year but could reach 800 for the 6 p.m. multiethnic worship service on Oct. 3, said Angela Carter, the church’s missions director. This year’s “taste” will include choirs from several ethnicities and conclude with the Lord’s Supper, Goodroe said.
Im will preach at a 6 p.m. multiethnic worship service on Sept. 25, at the Hispanic Church in Spartanburg. Calvary Hmong Alliance Church praise band will lead the music. The service will follow a 4 p.m. meeting and a 5 p.m. ethnic supper next door at Evangel Cathedral. The meal is free, but an offering will be taken in the worship service.
The 4 p.m. meeting will be a progress report on the 2012 summit. Goodroe said a large attendance is expected for the Carolinas Summit’s Thursday-Saturday multiethnic worship services, which are free and open to the public, so the gathering will be held at Evangel Cathedral, which can seat 5,000.
Southern Baptists have played key roles in EAN, whose president is Russell Begaye. Begaye was language missions director for the North American Mission Board until his retirement. Marcos Elizondo, multiethnic group director for the South Carolina Baptist Convention, attended the 2010 summit in Boston and chairs the ethnic liaison task force for the 2012 Carolinas Summit.
SCBC associate executive director Wayne Terry and Hispanic church-starting strategist Samuel Rodriguez attended the summit planning meeting May 25, as did directors of missions Ron Davis (Greenville), Randy Bradley (North Greenville) and John Dill (Anderson). Columbia Metro pastor Daniel Graves and Lexington association staffer David Lee will coordinate the greater Columbia involvement in the 2012 summit.
The Sept. 25 meeting will also organize the Upstate Ethnic Ministry Network. Because Goodroe is “overwhelmed” with summit planning, several ethnic ministers in the region are needed to volunteer to lead the ongoing network, he said. Volunteers should contact him at 2012summit@bellsouth.net or 864-431-6451.