First Blog Report

Since this blog is only six weeks old, I am pretty amazed at the widespread readership it has attracted. It has flagged the attention of people from all over the world, including Suceava, Romania; Santa Rosa, Argentina; Bangkok, Thailand; Tokyo, Japan; Linkoping, Sweden; Nairobi, Kenya; Napoli, Italy; Vienna, Austria; Amsterdam, Holland; Vancouver, BC; and someplace in Germany. Stateside, I have had hits from Jefferson City, St. Louis, MO; New York City, Massapequa, NY; Houston, Garland, San Antonio, Ft. Worth, TX; Sunnyvale, Marina Del Ray, Irvine, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Mountain View, CA; Chicago, Mt. Vernon, IL; Edgewater, NJ; Cincinnati, Columbus, OH; Ashburn, Sterling, VA; Scranton, PA; Des Moines, IA; Honolulu, HA; Parker, Gilroy, CO; Roachdale, IN; Washington, DC and Lansing, MI. Each day brings new visitors to the point that I can no longer keep up with them.

I am especially excited about major search engines now crawling my blog on a regular basis. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Live Search, Bloglines, Technorati, MyChurch and some other robots all show up on my log, some of them several times a day. This widens the scope of my potential audience.

Finally, I want to thank you for the nice things you’ve said about the blog. It is purely a labor of love, and worth many times over the $12.00 it costs me per month. Not only has it provided an outlet for years of writing, it has also inspired me to write new pieces especially for the blog. Some of you have told me to keep writing. I will. Actually, I can’t stop. It’s what I do. I only ask you to keep reading…and commenting.

The new star of the Jordan family...

Progress on new book

As I mentioned in “Especially for Ministers”, I have submitted my completed manuscript of “The View from the Back of the Pulpit” to the Pentecostal Publishing House for printing as a contract book.  It contains nineteen chapters of impressions, advice and pastoral insight which, I hope, will be helpful to ministers and church leaders in the UPCI.  The book will be approximately 160 pages and will retail for $13.99. 

Brother Cleveland Becton and Brother Travis Miller have reviewed the manuscript and have given it a thumbs up.  Their endorsements will appear on the back cover of the book.  Sister Margie McNall oversees manuscript submissions for PPH and directs projects along to their completion.  She says the book should be turned around in eight weeks.  If you are at the General Conference in Tampa, please stop by the book display and pick up a copy.  I will be there at select times during the day to sign books and talk with everyone. 

For a look at the chapter titles, go to “Especially for Ministers” and scroll down.  You can also find a couple of sample chapters there as well.  After this, I am planning on two more sequels to my leadership book, “Living and Leading in Ministry”  that came out last year.  They will be “Learning and Leading in Ministry”, and “Loving and Leading in Ministry.” 

My sister, Jenny Teets, has just written a book for preachers’ wives entitled “Married to Ministry.”  Lots of good stuff in it.  I’m sure you can pick one up at conference too.  If you can’t wait until then, email her at teets@optonline.net and she will be glad to send you a copy.  (There, Jenny.  Are you happy?  Just kidding!) 

Ohio Campground Update

We are gearing up at the Apostolic Campground for our 2007 camp season! Since there has been much discussion about the future of the campground at Buckeye Lake, I thought it would be helpful to send out an update.

At our spring conference in Delaware, the two committees that were asked to review the recent proposal to purchase a new campground facility near Circleville gave their reports. Their findings showed that to build another campground that comparable to our existing facility would run between $11 and $13 million. That did not include the $1.9 million to purchase the Circleville property. Also, it appears that we would not be able to get much more than $1 million for our campground in Millersport. After much detailed discussion, the ministers in attendance at the conference voted to stay at Millersport and do what we could to upgrade and enhance the facility there.

Renovation projects on the campground have already begun. New roofs have been applied to the hotel and tabernacle, including a considerable amount of replacement of rafters and decking. The interior of the tabernacle has been transformed. Gone is the wood paneling that had been up for over thirty years. New drywall, new lighting, new ceilings and new carpeting will greet visitors this summer. I have personally inspected the work and it is beautiful!  The front staging area looks like a concert hall.  We have also undertaken other projects around the grounds like replacing hot water tanks and outdoor steps and crews have been painting and repairing other buildings.

As far as our future is concerned, we believe there is great potential in negotiating a shared use of grounds and facilities with the Millersport Lions Club. We have considered this in the past, but too much uncertainty existed for us to go very far in the talks. It appears that the majority of us believe that staying in Millersport is our best option. This creates a scenario in which we can seriously plan for future expansion. For example, the present ball field may make an excellent site for a new tabernacle, especially if we can park on the Lion’s Club property that adjoins it. They have around one hundred acres that is used only for parking. As time goes on, we will continue to update you as to the progress we make in negotiations and plans.

We hope to see you at the main campmeeting July 30-August 3! Doug Klinedinst, Greg Godwin, Anthony Mangun, Robert Trapani and all the great musicians will keep things exciting for us this summer. Impress upon your people to put Buckeye Lake in their vacation plans this year. God bless you!

Theodora Jordan

For those of you who know my mother, Theodora Jordan, you may want to know how she’s doing.  She is in Sylvania, Ohio, at the Goerlich Center.  It is a top-tiered health facility that specializes in care for Alzheimer’s patients.  At 89 years old, she is doing well physically.  I am able to see her often and every time I see her she remarks on how well she is treated there.  We’ve been able to bring her to church several times, although it’s getting harder to do that.  On Sunday, July 1, we brought her to church and took her to eat at Red Lobster afterwards. 

If you would like to visit her, the Goerlich Center is in the Flower Hospital Complex, on Harroun Road in Sylvania.  If you’re coming from Michigan, it is the first exit after you cross the Ohio line.  Turn left at the light, and left again onto Harroun Road just past Krogers.  Flower Hospital is on the left, about a half mile.  As you enter the campus, turn left and follow the road back to the center. 

Mother’s recall now seems to be limited to her children and some grandchildren.  Please do not be offended if she can’t remember who you are.  Just fill in the gaps for her and she will be happy.