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Eastern Michigan District Camp Meeting 2010
July 16 - 25
Join us for Camp Meeting 2010 at the Campgrounds. Evangelists for the week will be Dr. James H. Diehl, General Superintendent (Ret.) of the Church of the Nazarene, and Dr. James Mellish. As campmeeting gets closer, check back to this page for updated calendars, event list and informaiton on what will be a great week of revival on our district!
Dr. James H. Diehl
Retired General Superintendent, Church of the Nazarene
Noting Dr. James Diehl’s passion for salvation and holiness of heart and his understanding of biblical truth, delegates to the General Assembly of 1993 in Indianapolis, Indiana, elected Dr. James Diehl to the Board of General Superintendents. Since his election, he has presided at district assemblies across the United States and around the world with a core message of Christian holiness from a Wesleyan perspective.
At the center of his heart is a love for ministry. He first demonstrated this as a pastor in Iowa and Georgia. As pastor at Oskaloosa, Iowa, he conducted live radio programs for seven years and led his church to develop a weekly television broadcast. He came to the general superintendency from his senior pastor role at First Church of the Nazarene in Denver, Colorado. His ministry passion also led him to an administrative role at MidAmerica Nazarene University. Additionally, he served for a decade as district superintendent in both Nebraska and Colorado.
Dr. Diehl is a prolific writer with numerous articles that have appeared in the Herald of Holiness, Holiness Today, Preacher’s Magazine, Bread, World Mission, The Holiness Digest, Perspective, and others.
Dr. Diehl has a great love for education. He is a graduate of Olivet Nazarene University. In 1990 Northwest Nazarene University conferred a doctor of divinity degree in recognition of outstanding achievements. His passion for education has led him to serve on the Board of Trustees at several of our schools of higher education, including MidAmerica Nazarene University, Nazarene Theological Seminary, Nazarene Bible College, and Northwest Nazarene University. He also served as chairman of the Board of Regents at Northwest Nazarene University.
Dr. Diehl married the love of his life, Dorothy, and together they have four children, seven wonderful grandchildren, and a great-grandchild.
Those who know Dr. Diehl recognize him as an encourager of people and a preacher of the Word of God with outstanding insight and practical application. His humor and love for people are evident from his preaching. His heart beats ardently for evangelism, missions, youth, families, and the communication of the Spirit-filled life to people of all ages and cultures.
(Taken from the General Church of the Nazarene's website at www.nazarene.org)
Dr. James Mellish
Evangelist, Church of the Nazarene
Dr. James Mellish was the youngest of 7 children and his family lived in Lapeer, MI on a farm. His Dad not only farmed but was the pastor of many of the churches in the area. In the 57 years he served as a pastor, he never took a salary. Dr. Mellish’s mother always wanted to be a missionary, but God never called her to service in a foreign country. She decided her family would be her mission field. Three of their children were called to full-time ministry. At the age of 5 at the Beulah Church of the Nazarene, Dr. Mellish gave his heart to the Lord and was called to be a preacher.
He attended Olivet Nazarene University and Nazarene Theological Seminary. His desire was to be a Home Mission pastor. His first assignment was in Wisconsin, where he planned to start a church, have it established in 2 years, go to another location, and then start another church. A church was started in their home and in 2 ½ years they had 50-60 people attending. He was then called to Michigan to start a church in Warren, where his plan was to stay 2 years and then build another church.
The Warren Woods Church of the Nazarene was established, and after 2 ½ years he felt is was time to move on. On the Sunday he was to resign, there were 15 seekers at the altar and the Lord seemed to say to him “Who is going to shepherd these people?” and he made the decision to stay. He pastored that congregation for 35 years. Over those years, the membership grew from 0 to 1,200.
When asked what the highlight of his ministry was, his response was “People being saved. The local Elias Brothers Restaurant was a place where I led many people to Christ. A month never went by without someone being saved.” As part of his morning devotions, he reads the Bible through each year and reads or recites the 23rd Psalm. The Lord reveals something new to him each day. He prays and fasts every day from 12 to 1 pm. This has been a key part of his ministry.
Early in his ministry, he set priorities for his life: FIRST was God, SECOND was his family and THIRD was the church. He set Tuesday and Thursday evenings aside as Family Nights. He turned the telephone off and his congregation knew not to call on those nights.
Dr. Mellish is married to Marilyn and they have three children. Janell is married to Brian, and they have two sons, Luke and Logan. They live in Warren, MI. Kevin is married to Janene. They have two children, Dakota and Dalene, and he is on staff at Olivet Nazarene University. Todd is married to Jeanne and they have two children, Jackson and Benjamin. They live in New Hampshire. They are all in the Nazarene Church today.
At the present time, Dr. Mellish continues to preach the Word. Last year, he ministered in 41 pastors’ retreats, campmeetings, revivals, and in teaching bi-vocational pastors. God continues to reach souls through Dr. Mellish’s ministry.
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