This Week in the BRN Family 01.29.26

BRN leaders connect with ministry leaders in Denmark; church planting missionaries are commissioned to Allentown, Pa.; and college students still meet to study God's Word despite frigid weather - it's an incredible week in the BRN Family!

January 29, 2026
Macala Mays

This Week in the BRN Family shares quick highlights of BRN churches and ministries throughout Pennsylvania and South Jersey loving their neighbors. Check out the latest happenings, baptisms, and accelerating Kingdom movement stories below:

BRN leaders connect with pastors and ministry leaders in Denmark

Last week, BRN Executive Director Barry Whitworth and his wife Beth and BRN Send Network PA/SJ Recruitment Leader and Senior Pastor at Riverbend Community Church Joe Velarde traveled to Denmark to connect with pastors and serve alongside local churches.

During their trip, Whitworth and Velarde met with pastors to offer encouragement and helped lead Bible studies and prayer gatherings. The whole team served at a food distribution and a pizza and praise event. Additionally, one of the days, the women hosted a tea event and shared about Christ’s love. What a blessing it is to partner with brothers and sisters around the globe for the sake of the Gospel!

Allentown church plant missionaries commissioned by Southern California church

This past weekend, Philadelphia Send City Missionary Kyle Canty traveled to Southern California to visit Mt. Zion Church of Ontario, California, who is the sending church for James and Valerie Taylor, new Send Network planters in Allentown, Pa. The Taylors moved to the Lehigh Valley to plant 1427 Church in downtown Allentown.

On Sunday, Mt. Zion officially commissioned the Taylors. Sending church pastors Dr. Brian Kennedy, senior pastor, and Dr. Cliff Jenkins, pastor of discipleship and leadership development and former BRN church advancement consultant, and Canty participated in the commissioning service. Praise the Lord for raising up these missionaries and for the faithful support of their sending church and its leaders!

BRN Family Missionary Update: Alta Brandenberger

Settling into a new year and a new home, International Mission Board Missionary Alta Brandenberger, who has roots in Pennsylvania, shares an update and prayer requests from Prague! Alta enters the new year continuing her Czech language classes and starting a new outreach opportunity called English Club. For a full update, check out Alta’s January newsletter here.

Please also join us in lifting up the following prayer requests for Alta:

The start of English Club
For people at English Club to be interested in Christ
Boldness in making connections
Karl, my language tutor, to know Jesus as his Savior
The hearts of my friends also serving overseas

BRN Campus Missionaries gather for annual Learning Community

Last weekend, campus missionaries and next gen ministry leaders gathered at the BRN Missions House in Harrisburg for their annual Campus Missionary Learning Community (CMLC.) During this meeting time, next gen leaders from across the PA/SJ region heard updates from one another, discussed evangelism strategies, and encouraged one another as they prepare for another semester of reaching college students with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Please join us in supporting these collegiate missionaries by lifting them up in prayer. Churches interested in connecting with or supporting any of our BRN Next campus missionaries are encouraged to contact our BRN Next Gen Consultants Brian Musser and Eric Reiber at [email protected].

Baptisms:

Harvest Church rejoices over 16 baptisms at Worship Night

Harvest Church in Indiana, Pa., recently hosted a worship night where over 200 people attended to praise the Lord. Additionally, during the worship night, the church celebrated 16 baptisms! What a joy filled night! Praise the Lord for all those who went public with their faith in Jesus and for all those who witnessed them take this step of obedience. Please join us in rejoicing with the entire Harvest Church family!

Collegiate Corner:

New Life/BASIC students still gather for Bible study despite frigid weather

There was more than a foot of snow, wind chills were below zero, and the university was closed – but that didn’t stop students at PennWest Clarion University from gathering for their weekly New Life/BASIC Bible study this past Monday! Praise the Lord for a full room of students desiring to study God’s Word, no matter the weather!

Be a part of This Week in the BRN Family

Have exciting things happening in your church!? Let us know so we can celebrate with you and share the good news with our BRN Family. Submit stories of your church accelerating Kingdom movement, loving their neighbors or celebrating baptisms on our News Tips page. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Macala Mays

In 2022, Macala Mays stepped into her current role as Associate Editor of BRN United and Podcast Producer for the Baptist Resource Network of Pennsylvania/South Jersey (BRN). Before taking this position, she worked as a contracted Podcast Producer in 2021 and a freelance writer in 2020 for the BRN. During her time with the BRN, Macala Mays has produced three different podcast series, including 50 Stories of Transformation (2021-2022), The #LovePASJ Podcast (2022), and Celebrating Cooperative Missions (2023). She also has written over 60 articles for the BRN and has been nationally published by The Baptist Paper and Baptist Press. She is also a member of the Baptist Communicators Association (BCA). Prior to working with the BRN, Macala interned at the State Capitol of Tennessee in the Publications Division under the office of Secretary of State. She also remotely wrote news for TalkErie, a radio station in Erie, Pa., and previously worked as a News Director/Producer for WJET-TV in Erie, Pa. Macala Mays holds a master of arts in communications from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania (EUP) as well as a bachelor of arts in journalism/public relations from EUP. During her graduate years, Macala worked as a Graduate Assistant and helped manage the on-campus radio station. She also served as a managing editor for the university’s newspaper, which led to an interest in music journalism. Macala and her husband, Robbie, live in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, where they attend Big Woods Bible Church and Robbie serves as the Associate Pastor of Campus Ministry. Both Robbie and Macala find great joy in discipling and walking alongside college students at Lock Haven University.