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Life Changing Men’s Events

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Life Changing Men’s Events
By Gary Yagel

On a warm November evening in 1966, at a camp called Hilltop, I faced the most important decision of my life. I had just been challenged to fully devote my life to Jesus Christ. Along with the other kids on this Young Life weekend, I was outside, observing the 20 minutes of silence following the Saturday night talk. Alone with God, I confessed my sins and surrendered my life to him.

That night I did what I’m sure my pastor, Sunday School teacher, and Young Life leader had talked to me every week about doing. But it was not until I got away on a retreat that I came face to face with the need to make a decision about following Christ, wholeheartedly. In Young Life circles, summer and weekend camps are notorious for the way God’s Spirit uses them to lead teens to surrender to Christ.

What does this have to do with men’s ministry? A lot. A weekend retreat or a Saturday morning seminar is a powerful tool in the hands of the Holy Spirit to grow men to new levels of surrender and commitment to Christ. Consider these benefits of such an event for men:

  1. The Biblical content they can receive. Getting men together by themselves enables teaching in two areas that are specific to men-their unique responsibilities as husbands, fathers, and spiritual leaders, and their unique temptations due to their hard-wiring as men. It is true that men could get the same content by reading a book or listening to an MP3, but 98% won’t. They are far more likely to come to a seminar or retreat that addresses their issues as men than to pick up a book and actually read it.

  2. Deeper connection with the other men. 94% of Christian men have no best friend. They are fighting their spiritual battles alone. A carefully planned seminar or retreat will encourage the kind of discussion that enables men to realize that they are not alone in their struggles. Very often it is right after experiencing this closeness at a retreat or seminar that a man will decide to get into a weekly men’s study or begin meeting weekly for breakfast with a few close brothers for encouragement and accountability.

  3. Renewed Passion for Christ. Today’s men are overworked and exhausted. They are so busy meeting their responsibilities on the job, in their homes, and in their churches, that their emotional tank is often near empty. A great seminar or retreat pours the energy of renewal into men’s souls. Time away from the routine allows a man to recover his spiritual perspective, think about things he has pushed to the back of his mind, and find rest. Often it is not necessarily a great insight that benefits him most from a Saturday morning seminar. It is the renewal of his passion.

There is a caveat about retreats though; they need to be done well. Young Life promises teens the greatest week or weekend of their lives, and they do all they can to make that promise come true. Our men’s events don’t have to quite that well done-but they need to be well planned, and very male-friendly. The speakers need to have something valuable to say about the issues men care most about. These issues are explained in the FAQ part of our PCA men’s ministry website click here.

To help you find men’s seminar and retreat speakers within the PCA we are compiling a speaker list, which will be posted on our website. We have listed those we know about later in this issue of GITG. Please email us with information about PCA men’s speakers and websites you know about gyagel@forgingbonds.org

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Article originally part of “Get in the Game”
a periodic email communication from CEP
October / November 2008 Vol. 4 No.4

The History of PCA Christian Education and Publications

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cepbluelogo.gifEquip for Ministry
May/June 1998
Volume 4, Number 3

The Historical Overview of Christian Education and Publications

When the Presbyterian Church in America was established, Christian Education and Publications was one of the first three program committees put into place. Christian education is a God ordained covenantal process and the denomination established CEP to lead, nurture, and instruct its people. CEP’s purpose is simply stated:

To glorify God by serving the Presbyterian Church in America in its worldwide commitment to make disciples, teaching and training leaders in biblical church growth and vitalization principles, discipleship, family living, the development of a consistently biblical worldview and a holistic view of the church’s mission.


CEP is not primarily a publishing house, although it does some publishing. Our Sunday school curriculum is produced through Great Commission Publications (GCP), which is jointly owned by the PCA and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church since 1975. Today, approximately 60% of PCA churches use this curriculum in a variety of ways in their local programs. More than 40,000 pieces of literature are distributed each week to our churches. GCP also gives the PCA an opportunity to extend its ministry to other interested churches. Almost 30% of its curriculum distribution is to non-PCA and OPC churches. GCP also produces the denominational Trinity Hymnal, which used in a growing number of PCA churches.

Paul Settle, the first CEP Coordinator, served that post for three years. During that time CEP published the denominational news tabloid, Continuing; developed teacher training seminars; and Women in the Church (WIC) ministries. Under Settle’s leadership the joint venture, GCP, came to be. An annual pastor’s conference was also established at that time.

Settle was replaced by Dr. Charles Dunahoo, pastor and member of the PCA organizing committee. Dr. Dunahoo has served in that position since January of 1977. The CEP office, which was originally in Montgomery, AL relocated to the Atlanta area in the close proximity of the other program committees. During that time Continuing was replaced by The PCA Messenger. Arthur Matthews served as the first editor of that publication. The Messenger was a denominational magazine that was originally mailed without charge to individual members upon request. In 1986 the publication began to be available by subscription During the eight year period that the magazine was published, its circulation reached 60,000. Then in 1994, for various reasons, the assembly agreed to discontinue the publication. This enabled CE/P to develop its generic magazine, Equip for Ministry, designed especially for local church leaders. More than 8,000 copies are distributed bi-monthly to that select audience plus a few other interested readers.

Much emphasis was placed from the very beginning on seminar training that offered more than just educational leadership. The whole work of the church was generally the subject matter, including specific officer and general leadership seminars. Planning, management, and team operation became themes of the seminars as well as teacher training and general Christian education topics.

To help strengthen homes, seminars on marriage and family have been offered as well as training on identifying one’s gifts and their utilization in ministry. Continuing education was an early theme of CEP’s ministry. Ministers conferences have been held on a regular basis, and since 1982, when the PCA was joined by the Reformed Presbyterian Church Evangelical Synod, those annual and bi-annual conferences, Partners in Ministry, have generally included the pastor’s wife.

Annual conferences have been held under CEP’s oversight focusing on music and worship. Annual training for WIC leaders has continued to grow over the years. This past March more than 125 women from presbyteries and local churches met for 2

Biblical Foundations for Womanhood Bible Study Series

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Biblical Foundations for Womanhood Bible Study Series
click image to view/order from PCA CE Bookstore

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Christian Education and Publications announces a Bible Study Series for women which will:

  • Teach women to study Scripture from a covenantal perspective.

  • Use the objectives and concepts of Biblical Foundations for Womanhood to help women apply Scripture to life.

These studies will help a women’s ministry accomplish the objectives of Biblical Foundations for Womanhood:

  • To teach women a biblical perspective of their relationships with Christ, family, and church.

  • To challenge women to fulfill their helper design.

  • To help women examine the implications of the covenant in their relationships.

  • To train women to cultivate community by obeying the Titus mandate to nurture one another for God’s glory.

  • To train women to be channels of compassion by obeying the Micah mandate.

  • To equip women for leadership roles in the women’s ministry of the church.

This Bible Study series recognizes that a women’s Bible study does not stand alone. It is to be a part of the entire discipleship ministry of a local church. Therefore, this study does not attempt to duplicate or replace other aspects of the educational ministry of the church, but rather to focus on the specific call to women to teach other women a biblical perspective of womanhood. Women encouraging and equipping women is the covenant way. It is a part of healthy church life. The apostle Paul wrote to the young preacher Titus:

You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. Titus 2:1-5


Bible Studies
click here to view whole series on PCA Bookstore website
or view individual studies by clicking links below.






The Formation of God’s People, Israel
Exodus – Deuteronomy

View Introduction and Chapter 1(as PDF)

The Gospel of Matthew:
Part I (Mathew 1-16)

View Introduction and Chapter 1 (as PDF)

The Gospels of Matthew:
Part 2 (Matthew 17-28)

View Introduction and Chapter 1 (as PDF)

Paul’s Letters to Maturing Churches:
Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians,
1 & 2 Thessalonians

View Introduction and Chapter 1 (as PDF)

Pastoral Letters:
1 & 2 Timothy, Titus

View Introducation and Chapter 1 (as PDF)

For each study there is a leader’s packet and a student book. The leader’s packet contains everything the teacher needs to prepare for the class: a leader’s guide, a student book, and a copy of the corresponding volume from The Adult Biblical Education Series by Dr. Jack Scott, which provides bfwbsleaderssample.jpgthe background commentary for the Bible study leader. The study is divided into twelve lessons. Two suggested teaching plans give the teacher the option of covering the book in one or two quarters. Lessons are adaptable to classes of different lengths.

Each student book includes preparation worksheets to help students engage each lesson. These short, daily assignments are well suited to devotional time during the week or to class discussion groups. The interactive classroom format will help to convey the covenant truths covered in each lesson.

The Foundations for Biblical Womanhood books are the resources for the application of Scripture into life.


shunt.jpgBy: Susan Hunt. Susan, a wife, mother and grandmother, is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and Columbia Theological Seminary. Susan has served 16 years as Director of Women’s Ministry in the PCA and now serves as Consultant for PCA Christian Education and Publications Women in the Church ministry. She is a noted author in both women and children’s ministry. Publications include: By Design, Spiritual Mothering, Heirs of the Covenant, Big Truths for Little Kids.

To order… Visit www.cepbookstore.com or Call 1.800.283.1357

Women in the Church Officers Installation Questions

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Installation of Officers

At an appropriate time all of the Women In the Church officers shall be installed by the pastor
or other qualified person. A suggested pattern for an installation service follows:


I. Questions to officers (shall be answered “yes,” if in agreement)

A. Do you believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice?

B. Are you thoroughly acquainted with the function and responsibillites of the office to which you have been elected?

C. Do you promise to faithfully perform all the duties of this office, as unto the Lord?

D. Will you support the officers, the goals and activities of the Women In the Church with your presence, your prayers, and your physical and mental energies?

II. Questions to the Women

A. Do you gratefully acknowledge the willingness of these women to serve you and the ____________________ Presbyterian Church in their elected capacities?

B. Will you support these officers with your cooperation, encouraging words, and prayers?

III. Statement

“I declare that these women have been duly elected and installed as officers of the Women In the Church of ______________________ Presbyterian Church.”

IV. Exhortation

A few words of exhortation to the officers and the women using appropriate Scripture.