Medina Church Goes Global

Although Medina Alliance Fellowship, a 13 year old Christian and Missionary Alliance congregation, claims an average attendance of less than 150 people, they have made the decision to go global. This church doesn't hesitate to think big, explained the church's Senior Pastor, Rev. Dave Wiener. From the beginning, we knew that our ministry had to extend beyond our own community. After reaching out to a neighboring community, helping to launch a daughter church in Lodi in 2001, the church recently took on two ministries that have world-wide scope and impact.

Christian Writers Group, known as CWG, is an international Christian Writers ministry that includes members from all over the world. Founded in 1997, this ministry has over 600 members who support, encourage and assist each other by way of the Internet. Scholarships have also been provided by the ministry to enable writers to attend their first Christian Writers Conference in each of the past 3 years.

Dr. Paul Bubna, former President of the Christian and Missionary Alliance said, it may be true that a picture is worth a thousand words, but we must not miss the fact that writing words has a unique power all its own. Recognizing that one writer can reach more individuals with his message than any local preacher, the elders of Medina Alliance Fellowship unanimously agreed to adopt this ministry, and assist with oversight and direction, as a part of Medina Alliance Fellowship's ministry family to help support Christian writers locally and globally.

Executive Director of CWG Lisa Wiener, wife of Pastor Dave Wiener, is organizing the first CWG Writers Conference to be held at the Salt Fork Lodge in Cambridge, Ohio on October 31 - November 1. Writers from around the US are expected to attend. Authors Carmen Leal and Louise Bergmann DuMont (from Florida and New Jersey respectively) will present an array of writing and inspirational topics. The theme of the Conference is It's a God Thing.

Also new to Medina Alliance Fellowship's family of ministries is Global Church Partnerships, a new ministry designed to assist in forming mutual partnerships between US churches and national churches all over the world. Rev. Kevin Kutcel, former C & MA missionary to Poland and Executive Director of Global Church Partnerships, believes that partnerships of this type are the new wave of missions work. Everyone in the church can be involved, said Kutcel (also on staff at Medina Alliance Fellowship). Missions work is no longer something that must only be done by a few professionals. Medina Alliance Fellowship has a partnership with a church in Plock, Poland, and will be sending a team of church members there in August to assist their sister church with an English language camp for Poles who desire to sharpen their English skills.

August Home