1943-1986
Mark Graeser, John Lynn, and John Schoenheit were born and raised in relatively normal American families, graduated from normal American colleges (Grinnell, Kenyon and UNC, respectively) and became relatively normal American young men.

In the late 60's and early 70's they each became associated with The Way International in New Knoxville, OH because they were impressed with the depth of research and the quality of teaching they found there. Each became progressively more involved, assuming a variety of teaching and leadership positions up until 1986.

John Schoenheit had been an integral and well-respected member of the Research Team at The Way headquarters for several years, known particularly for his work in the Old Testament. Little did he think that his 1986 writing of an innocent little research paper reaching an obvious conclusion (adultery is sin) would sound the shot that would be heard 'round The Way world and precipitate a not-so-civil war during which many captives of tradition and tyranny were set free.

By the time the dust had settled, these three amigos formed Christian Educational Services in an attempt to continue what had been good in the teaching and practice of The Way. Since then, CES has been occupied with the difficult and sometimes tedious task of sorting through the rubble, looking for life and meaning in the profound and life-changing experience that was The Way. In the process of our seeking biblical truth and sound Christian character, God has opened many doors of utterance to us around the world and taken us far beyond a ministry to ex-Way members only.

What follows are the significant events in the growth and development of our ministry, offered in the hope of giving you a better sense of where we have come from and where, God willing, we might be going.

Here are the Scriptural Issues about which Christian Educational Services
Differs with The Way International (and other groups who hold to the same doctrine).

1986 October:

1986 November:

1987 March:

The following was printed in a national newsletter:

"C.E.S. will have no national membership and we do not intend to interfere with how your local fellowship operates. We want to encourage Bible studies and fellowship, but we don’t want to run your life or living room."

"Christian Educational Services" began with the following initial members: Robert Belt, Ralph Dubofsky, Mark Graeser, John Lynn, Sue Pierce, Tom Reahard and John Schoenheit. The initial Board of Directors included Robert, Ralph, John, Sue and Tom. The CES  office was in John Lynn’s house.

Mark Graeser presents Rethinking Christology  to Apologetic Research Coalition (ARC), an anti-cult group of orthodox Christians. He is first viewed with suspicion but eventually accepted as a Christian brother.

2^nd Chicago meeting of "American Fellowship Services"

The IRS notified CES  that our application for 501 (c)(3) status had been approved.

John Schoenheit presented paper on "The Dead are Dead" (written by Mark Graeser) to ARC. This marked the end of our association with ARC because our position was not rebutted biblically.

CES  purchased its first computer a Macintosh SE and leased a small Minolta copier.

We began sending out four quarterly letters, each consisting of personal sharings, news of activities and teaching itineraries of CES  members.

CES   also sent out six bi-monthly issues of DIALOGUE , which had a readership of 500.

One national fellowship was held in Chicago in November.

We produced a 24-hour Bible study series "Introduction to God’s Heart"  taught by Mark Graeser, John Schoenheit, John Lynn and David Anderson. This was taped May 26-June 4 and became available to the public July 29. By the end of the year, nearly 400 sets had been distributed.

John Lynn continued on a volunteer, non-salaried basis to handle the day by day operation of CES , advised by the Board of Directors about every 3 weeks in a telephone conference call.

John Lynn taught an 18-hour seminar, The Book of  Romans .

The first 90-minute bi-monthly teaching tape was produced, to which more than 500 people subscribed. To be able to produce these, CES  acquired a tape deck and microphone at a cost of about $500. The first tape was The Christian Family: A Laboratory of Love. 

Pat Lynn, who has been working as contract labor, was hired February 1 as a part-time employee, the only CES  employee.

CES  continued to send a quarterly letter, which by the end of the year went to about 2600 addresses, or approximately 4000 people in all 50 states and the District of Columbia as well as Australia, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Japan, Ireland, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa and Uganda.

Our annual Fall meeting was once again in Chicago, and approximately 100 people from across the United States enjoyed the fellowship and the Word of God that was taught.

John Lynn continued to volunteer, non-salaried basis to handle the day-to-day operation of CES 

In February, Tom Reahard resigned from the Board.

Pat Lynn completed her second year as the only CES  employee, working part-time.

The mailing list increased to 2900 addresses and about 5000 people received the quarterly newsletter.

The first edition of our first book, Is There Death After Life?  was published in February.

In June, John Schoenheit completed a 26 hour seminar entitled A Journey  Through The Old Testament .

John Lynn traveled to nearly 100 cities in the USA, as well as to England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, South Africa, Singapore, and the Philippines teaching and making CES  materials available. John Schoenheit was able to travel more this year doing weekend meetings in about ten cities, and Mark Graeser also made a couple of trips.

In December we began sending $200 a month to Rodrigo and Judy Limpot in Cebu City, Philippines.

CES  continued our policy of giving away materials to those who really wanted them but could not afford to buy them, in particular widows and single parents.

By the end of the year there were 541 subscribers to the bi-monthly tapes and 578 subscribers to DIALOGUE. 

The annual CES  Fall Fellowship was held October 11-13 at the Airport Holiday Inn in Indianapolis and about 160 folks from coast to coast in the USA attended.

Ralph Dubofsky resigned from the Board.

On February 1, John Schoenheit began work as a full-time employee of CES  with full health insurance coverage for him and his family.

In June we produced a six-hour seminar taught by John Schoenheit, entitled The Creation-Evolution Controversy.  

In July our second book, titled Speaking the Truth in Love, The Purposes of Christian Educational Services, was published.

In August, we  purchased a 1992 Plymouth Mini-van for John Lynn’s travel around the USA.

The annual CES  Fall Fellowship was held in September in Indianapolis, and about 175 people from coast to coast in the USA attended. For the first time, we made available Children’s Fellowship.

Pat Lynn completed her third year as the CES  secretary, continuing to work part-time. On November 30, Elaine Leonard began working twenty hours per week as a secretary.

We also began making available to people books written by authors other than ourselves.

Although John Lynn received no salary, CES  again paid all his travel expenses. Instead of paying him the current U.S. corporate mileage rate for his business driving, as we had done in the past, we secured a Mastercard for him to use for gasoline and for him and John Schoenheit to use for other travel expenses, and for the purchase of research books, etc.

In November, an unused porch in John’s home was renovated to expand the Home Office.

John Lynn continued to travel as extensively as he has in the past and John Schoenheit traveled more.

The year began with four corporate members: John Lynn, President and Treasurer; Mark Graeser, Vice-President and Secretary; John Schoenheit and Tom Reahard. The first three comprised the Board of Directors.

John Lynn continued on a volunteer, non-salaried basis to handle the day-to-day operation of CES  advised by Mark Graeser and John Schoenheit by regular telephone conference calls.

Pat Lynn and Elaine Leonard continued to share the secretarial and bookkeeping duties, each on a part-time basis.

To enhance his ability to serve the Body of Christ, John Schoenheit began working part-time on a Master’s of Divinity at the Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. His tuition was paid by a supporter.

In May the IRS ended our four-year probationary period and determined that we are indeed a charitable, tax-exempt corporation, rather than a private foundation. As they have been, all your gifts to CES  are tax deductible.

In December we published the First Edition of Don’t Blame God! 

Both John Lynn and John Schoenheit continued to travel extensively in the United States, as well as to Singapore, the Philippines and Australia, teaching and making available CES  materials. Mark Graeser also made a few weekend trips as available in that he worked full-time in a self-employed business.

We sent each of the Board members (and Karen Anne Graeser) to the MOMENTUS   training course, which opened our eyes to the importance of character in Chrisitian Leadership, and revealed much about the heart of God and Christ. Our participation and enthusiastic endorsement of Momentus  continued for several years, despite some controversy and loss of support from those who thought Momentus  was not biblically sound.

In September John Schoenheit and Karen Anne Graeser attended a conference at Christian International in May, all the Board and Karen Anne attended another one in October, and John Schoenheit and John Lynn attended another one in New Hampshire in November. Form these conferences we gained an appreciation of the value of "personal" prophecy and the role of apostles and prophets in the Church. Our association with CI  also led to a relationship with Greg & Marva Pharis of Labelle, Florida who attended a number of our conferences as guest speakers and ministers.

We "purged" our mailing list by asking those people we never hear from whether or not they wanted to remain on our mailing list, and then deleting those who did not respond. By the end of the year we had more than 2,700 addresses or about 5,000 people.

In May John Schoenheit conducted the first CES  Bible Land Tour.

In June, John Lynn attended the Promise Keeper’s weekend in Indianapolis, Indiana.

In July, CES  sent John Schoenheit to B.G. Leonard’s two-week class on the manifestations of holy spirit.

In August, John Schoenheit and John Lynn attended a Christian International seminar on Advanced Training (Part 2 of 3) in Versailles, Indiana. This marked the end of our association with CI  because of their concern over our non-Trinitarian beliefs.

John Lynn attended Dale Sides’ class on "Exercising Your Spiritual Authority" and Dale was a guest minister at the Indianapolis weekend. Though we recognized the validity of his ministry, we ended our association with him in 1996 because of doctrinal disagreements.

We acquired e-mail capability among John, Mark and John as well as with anyone else on the Internet. We also purchased a fax machine.

Pat Lynn was replaced by Vancy Brown as secretary and bookkeeper at "The Home Office." Elaine Leonard resigned.

CES  published a new book titled The Gift of Holy Spirit: Every Christian’s Divine Deposit,  and continued to sell the other three books, authored by Mark Graeser, John Lynn and John Schoenheit, as well as a number of works by other authors, including several historically significant 17^th and 18^th Century books on the subject of Unitarianism vs. Trinitarianism.

Both John Lynn (for the first half of the year) and John Schoenheit traveled extensively in the USA, as well as to the Philippines, teaching and making available CES  materials.

For the third year we held three weekend fellowships: San Francisco, California in March; Indianapolis, Indiana in June and in Charlotte, North Carolina in October. A total of 600 people attended these gatherings.

CES  began and ended the year with three corporate members: John Lynn, President and Treasurer; Mark Graeser, Vice-President and Secretary, and John Schoenheit, who also comprised the Board of Directors.

Mark Graeser went on the CES  payroll January 1, systematically divesting himself of his window service business in Florida, and at last moving to Indianapolis October 25.

The mailing list consisted of 2,500 addresses, or about 4,000 people.

CES  held five weekend fellowships: Millbrae, California in February; Dallas, Texas in April; Indianapolis, Indiana in June; Morristown, New Jersey in August and Atlanta, Georgia in October.

In September, we did our second tour of the Bible Lands (Israel) with 19 people accompanying John & Jenivee Schoenheit. It was very successful.

In February, we paid $4,975 to and entered into a contract with Advocate Media Group in Rome, Georgia to assist us in marketing our materials.

In December we purchased a 1996 Ford Windstar mini-van that John Lynn will drive. The 1992 Plymouth Voyager was paid off in 1996 and was assigned to Mark Graeser.

In January, Mark and Karen Anne Graeser attended a convention of the Natural Religious Broadcasters. Our books and materials were displayed at the Advocate Media Group’s booth and Mark signed and gave away about 150 copies of Don’t Blame God. 

In February, we extended our contract with Advocate Media Group, now in Chesapeake, VA. John Schoenheit and Mark Graeser continued to work full-time.

In April, John Michalak replaced Vancy Brown as Office Manager at "The Home Office." Barbara Jones began to come in three days a week as a volunteer helper. John Lynn and John Schoenheit continued to travel extensively in the United States, as well as to the Philippines and Haiti teaching and making available CES  materials.

CES  did four weekend fellowships: Seattle, Washington in March; Indianapolis, Indiana in June; Morristown, New Jersey in August and Charlotte, North Carolina in October.

In July, we took over the responsibility for a 15-minute weekly radio broadcast from The Living Word Fellowship, for which we paid $34.00 per week.

In July John Lynn went to Buenos Aires, Argentina for 10 days, with his ticket paid for by believers.

In August, Eleanor Branch was hired as a secretary.

Believers in Kenya and Tanzania contacted us. We began supporting Joseph Koome M’Mukiira. On December 29 John Lynn and Mark Graeser left for 25 days of ministering in those two countries.

In September, John Lynn and John Schoenheit spent a week in Haiti teaching an interdenominational group of leaders.

We continued to upgrade our office equipment by purchasing a new desktop computer at a significant discount. We also had two desktop computers donated to us equipped with several software and hardware accessories. A new window air-conditioning unit was also purchased for the Home Office.

John Michalak and Eleanor Branch continued working full-time at the Home Office.

In March Barbara Jones was hired as a part-time employee.

Mailing list consisted of 3,000 addresses, or about 5,000 people.

In October CES completed production of Part One of Growing Up in Christ: The Fruit of the Spirit--Developing the Character of Christ.

CES  also completed its tenth and final year of publishing Dialogue,  with subscriptions totaling 408.

Both John Lynn and John Schoenheit continued to travel extensively in the United States. Mark Graeser traveled more than he has. He and John Lynn went to Kenya and Tanzania. He and Karen Anne went to Argentina. John Schoenheit also went to Argentina on a separate trip as well as to Haiti accompanied by Michael Branch.

CES  had four weekend fellowships: Ontario, California in February; Indianapolis, Indiana in June; Morristown, New Jersey in August and in Charlotte, North Carolina in October. At the Indianapolis meeting, we unveiled our new CES  dove logo that we still use.

We also held our first annual Leadership Conference in Indianapolis in November.

John and Jenivee Schoenheit hosted a Singles Camp in Asheville, North Carolina in May, and the Bible Land Tour in June/July.

Advocate Media Group, the company with whom we signed a contract in 1996 to promote our materials, went out of business, taking with it the $4975 we paid them up front with the agreement that via the sale of our materials AMG would reimburse at least that amount.

In January our newsletter was first called The Sower,  and Dialogue was  changed to The Contender. 

John and Jenivee Schoenheit began the "Free Indeed"  Video Ministry.

Barbara Jones became a full-time employee.

CES  began  to  published  booklets  with 22 Principles of Bible Interpretation or How to Eliminate Apparent Bible Contradictions, 23 Reasons to Believe in a Tribulation or Why Aren’t We in the Tribulation Now, 24 Reasons Why Salvation is Permanent for Christians.  

In January One God & One Lord: Reconsidering the Cornerstone  of  the  Christian  Faith  was published.

In February John Michalak resigned.

Dottie Heman was hired as a bookkeeper/financial guru.

Jeff Blackburn was hired to help with marketing and shipping and receiving.

Robin Lawrence was hired to help one day a week at the Charlotte CES  Office.

John Lynn traveled extensively throughout the United States.

John Schoenheit has traveled to several different cities and taught weekend fellowships.

Mark Graeser and Michael Branch went to Haiti, and taught from the book of 1 Corinthians to 20 leaders associated with Lesly Bertrand.

In June John and Jenivee hosted a Bible Land Tour with 41 people, the most ever.

In July we held the fifth annual Singles Weekend.

John Lynn began a sabbatical in July, and Mark assumed the function of the presidency of CES. 

In July we held the first ever CES  Teen Camp with 30 teens participating who came from all over the country.

CES  purchased and moved into the new office at 2144 E 52^nd Street in Indianapolis, after 12 years at John Lynn’s residence. But since the new office used to be a home, we continue to call it the "CES  Home/Office."

In July. held the first ever CES  Family Camp, with over 100 participants.

CES also published several new booklets: 34 Reasons Why the  Holy Spirit is Not a Separate "Person" from the Only True God  the Father, 46 Reasons Why Our Heavenly Father has No Equals or "Co-equals, Defending Dispensationalism: Standing Fast in the Liberty, Becoming a Christian: Why? What? How?, The Death Penalty–Godly or Ungodly?, Sex and Scripture: A Biblical Study of Proper Sexual Behavior . 

In July, Karen Anne attended a conference hosted by Global Harvest Ministries and the C. Peter Wagner Leadership Institute.

In September, the annual Leadership Conference was held in Indianapolis, and marked a new direction for CES . Interim committees were established to explore new ways of structuring CES  and organizing our outreach more strategically.

In October, Mark & Anita Graeser attended an Advanced Deliverance Seminar hosted by Global Harvest Ministries dealing with discerning of spirits and deliverance from demonic oppression.

The CES Fall Fellowship was held in Charlotte NC and revolved around the theme of "The Hope: The Anchor of the Soul." The rough draft of a booklet written by John Schoenheit was sold at the conference, and will be published in book form.