CDM Archive

Discipleship Ministries of the PCA

Jane

2009 Mercy Ministries Conference

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In March, Christian Education and Publications and Mission to North America conducted the fifth biennial conference on Mercy Ministries in the PCA. Over 230 participants from twenty-five states gathered for this conference entitled The Church as a Community of Hope: Restoring the Family, Serving the Community at New City Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Because training the church to show mercy is both a privilege and responsibility of discipling people for kingdom service, mercy ministry becomes a tangible way for churches to put hands and feet on the gospel of the kingdom.

The conference had four main objectives:

1. To mobilize compassionate leadership in our churches.

2. To equip congregations to pass on a biblical legacy of leadership characterized by mercy.

3. To understand that justice is a biblical imperative.

4. To develop an integrated approach to ministry so that mercy permeates the entire church.

How successful and effective was the conference in accomplishing those objectives? Curt Moore, Assistant Pastor/Disaster Response Assistant at Lagniappe Presbyterian Church in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi gave the following statement:

“I believe this year was the best Mercy Conference because of the real and practical ways we were encouraged to participate in showing mercy to those in need. It was also an encouragement to hear what God is doing and the diverse ways He is mobilizing His church. With regard to the content, the plenary and break out sessions were led by people who knew what they were talking about and communicated well God’s vision and passion for mercy. Unlike some conferences where you go home and put your notes on the shelf, this conference gave me the encouragement that I could really apply what I learned. What I like best was that it was a very gospel driven, gospel centered conference.”

And others add their comments:

“The plenary speakers were excellent. They were helpful to me personally.”

“An excellent conference with a lot to take back to our church and implement.”

“Definitely one of the high points in my Christian walk.”

“The conferences are impacting my church directly and my community positively.”

“The quality of the speakers and the variety of workshops was just excellent.”

“I wish we could have this kind of mercy ministry conference every year.”

CEP and MNA know this is a crucial time for churches to develop ministries that will be effective during our tough economic times. The 2009 Mercy Ministries Conference offered a program that was pertinent to our current situation. During the plenary sessions, Dr. Bob Burns of Covenant Theological Seminary spoke on Restoring Hope to the Family. Tara Barthel from Rocky Mountain Community Church and Peacemakers Ministry delivered the Friday morning plenary on Living the Gospel in Relationships. Randy Nabors, pastor of New City Presbyterian Church, spoke on The Story of Mercy; and Julian Russell of Park City Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas, gave the closing plenary on Kingdom Instructions for Mercy. For a complete list of workshop sessions, check out www.pcacep.org/mercy.

Click here to read entire publication in PDF (Acrobat Reader required)

The New City staff, worship team, and members did an outstanding job of hosting and contributing to the overall success of the conference. During the Friday night session, participants also enjoyed a mini concert from James Ward and the New City Church choir.

CEP Coordinator Charles Dunahoo reminded conference attendees that while the church has been losing ground in the past ten years, it has an opportunity to regain some of its ground by demonstrating integrity and seriousness about its challenge to disciple its people with a kingdom perspective that requires mercy and service. Referring to an article in USA Today regarding depression caused by the current economic crisis, Dunahoo expressed that the church as God’s messenger of the good news of the kingdom is the answer; but the world has to see that it is real, and young people have to be serious about making a difference in today’s world.

If you were not able to attend this year’s conference, you can still benefit from the array of pertinent and beneficial speakers. All the plenary sessions and seminars are available on CD from the CEP Bookstore at www.cepbookstore.com.

2009 Women’s Leadership Training Conference

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For the first time, CEP took the Women in the Church leadership Conference on the road. It was truly a mountain top experience as over two hundred women traveled to Lookout Mountain, Georgia. March 10-12, to the PCA’s Covenant College.

PresWIC, Bible study, and local women’s ministries leaders, including PCA staff women, gathered to be equipped corporately and individually for kingdom ministry. They were part of this annual CEP event that trains leaders to pass on their training in order that every woman know Christ personally and be committed to extending His kingdom in her life, home, church, community, and throughout the world.

Click here to read entire publication in PDF (Acrobat Reader required)

As we listened to the women who came, we heard:

“Leadership 2009 blended theology and truth-centered teaching from speakers and workshops with many practical applications for implementing ministry. Women left not just ‘inspired,’ but equipped with ideas and resources for leadership.”

“Covenant College was a great venue – [it] worked so well with the Family Matters theme. The quietness of the mountain top campus and the absence of outside stimuli greatly enhanced this conference.”

“As a pastor’s wife, fairly new to the PCA, I walked away with a better understanding of the regional discipleship of PresWIC, the PCA. and covenant theology.”

“Regional training sessions with women from my region of the United States were as beneficial as the plenary sessions.”

“Relationship building with women across the PCA is an important and beneficial equipping I am taking home.”

“Networking at the denominational level was so helpful.”

“Strong covenant theology from our LT pastor; Stephen Estock.”

“I loved the beautiful women who shared their testimonies!”


For those churches not able to attend, begin now to think, pray, and plan about attending leadership Training 2010, February 25-27, in Atlanta, Georgia. Be strategic in looking at the women in your church and region. Who needs to be trained, encouraged, and equipped?

For those churches with representation, CEP encourages you to give them an opportunity to share what they learned and brought back to the local church.

As the PCA continues to grow, there is an increasing need for the ministries of Christian Education and Publications to work with the local church in raising up a generation of leaders and teachers to build upon a firm foundation.

Please join us in kingdom ministry.

Singleness Redefined

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Singleness Redefined is a rich source of Reformed theology applied specifically to single Christian women who seek to live joyously and abundantly. Starting from the strong foundation of the Word of God, the reader is reminded of the goodness of God’s sovereignty. The wise, insightful, and at times humorous content provides a resource for both the individual and the church.

I recommend this book for two reasons. One of the most accelerated growth demographics in culture and the church is that of singles. How does the local church minister to and steward this expanding portion of God’s family? How do single women of all ages live out God’s sovereign purposes with joy and abundance?

To the multitude of lovely, unwed women ranging from twenty-somethings to centenarians. singleness brings complex responses. It runs the gamut of emotions ranging from bitterness, hopelessness, and loneliness to contentment, hope, and pleasure.

Carolyn Leutwiler takes a realistic look at the struggles and difficulties of singleness; yet because she begins at the right place. it is a book that will encourage and nurture the inner woman and equip her for kingdom service. You will not find a self-help, weak, formulaic design. You will discover a clear call and challenge to know, rejoice in, and listen 10 the truths of God rather than the lies of the world and to be involved contributors to the life and ministry of the church.

God’s family is privileged to lovingly enfold, nurture, and serve King Jesus, one another, and to live out the gospel before the world. Singleness Redefined has broad appeal – purchase this book, read it, share it with the Christian education staff of your local church; give it as a gift to a young woman who may be struggling with her singleness: and look for ways to better engraft the gifts of singles who are part of God’s good plan and purpose!

2008 Women in the Church Love Gift: An Opprtunity to Touch Your Future

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Since the founding of the PCA, the Women in the Church have played a vital role in supporting the ministries of the various committees and agencies. Each year, a Love Gift presentation has been prepared and made available from the Christian Education and Publications office highlighting the particular project for the year’s designated offering. Contributions are sent to CEP’s Love Gift Fund during the year and presented to the receiving agency or committee at the annual WIC Leadership Conference dinner.

At this year’s conference, a check for $92,000 from the 2007 Love Gift was presented to Gary Campbell, President of the PCA Retirement and Benefits, Inc. The Love Gift will be used for RBI’s Survivor Assistance ministry. Upon notification of the death of a PCA Teaching Elder or his wife, Survivor Assistance will fund and immediately send a check for $1000 to the surviving spouse and any dependents regardless of their income to help alleviate immediate financial pressure that may accompany the death of a spouse.

Read entire publication in PDF (Acrobat Reader required)

The 2008 designee is Christian Education and Publications. As a ministry of CEP, WIC has been instrumental in enabling CEP to move forward with its women’s, youth, and children’s ministries. The 2008 Love Gift, You Can See It in Their Eyes, carries forth CEP’s mission of making kingdom disciples who pass on the faith to the next generations. The six and one half minute presentation is available both in DVD and VHS format, along with supporting materials for distribution by the local church’s women’s ministries. Ideas and suggestions for using the Love Gift are also available from the CEP bookstore or the WIC office by calling 1-800-283-1357. Suggested ideas for presenting the Love Gift include during a monthly women’s meeting, a family night church dinner, a Sunday evening service, at the conclusion of the Sunday AM worship service, or a presbytery PresWIC event or retreat.

You Can See It in Their Eyes is a challenge to the church to keep front and center on its agenda the need to carry out God’s instruction to pass on the faith to the next generations. “From Generation to Generation” was the overarching theme of the 2006 WIC Denominational Conference, attended by over 4,000 women from across the church; and CEP, including its WIC ministry, continues to be committed to that task.

Visit the Love Gift website at www.pcacep.org/lovegift to preview the video, order a copy for your church, or to individually donate.

2008 Women in the Church Leadership Training Conference

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As the PCA grows, so do the opportunities for women in the church! The annual equipping event Christian Education and Publications provides for women in the church is the Leadership Training Conference. It is thrilling to see the great interest and diversity of age and regions that mark the attendees. The focus of Leadership 2008 was “The Big Picture: Our Purpose and Privilege,” with women from twenty-six states and two Canadian provinces in attendance.

Since this is a conference for PCA women in the church, we began by defining our context as women in God’s family, and by lifting high the King and His church. This year, Dr. Roy Taylor, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the PCA, led the opening session. Dr. Taylor used I Timothy 3:14-16 to remind us that living as Christian women in the church is a symphony and not a solo. As Reformed, Bible believers, we are part of something bigger; we are part of the church universal and the church triumphant. As women in the church, we are to love, live, and take the Gospel message to a needy world in word and deed.

Read entire publication in PDF (Acrobat Reader required)

Having women meet with others from their region played a central role in this year’s focus. The time spent in their eight US and Canadian regions were some of the most productive and appreciated elements of the weekend, according to the participants. In each region, representatives of the Women’s Advisory Sub-Committee (WASC), joined by CEP’s WIC trainers, modeled and equipped women for regional discipleship and community building.

Alan Johnson from Old Peachtree PCA in Duluth, Georgia, taught the joy and value of the “Centrality of the Word” in hearts and ministry. Workshops, panels, and woman to woman discipleship rounded out the rest of the weekend. Susan Hunt, former CEP Director of Women’s Ministries and current CEP WIC Consultant, ended this outstanding weekend calling the women to “Live out the Purpose and Privilege as Women in God’s Church.”

We were excited and encouraged to have PCA Ruling Elder Preston Hicks, from Lexington, KY, attend with his wife. In his local church, Tates Creek PCA, Preston is the liaison between the session and women’s ministry. (See his response to the conference below).

CEP, the 2008 recipient of the Women in the Church Love Gift, hosted the denominational dinner in which the PCA administrators and coordinators, their wives, and some staff joined the women in prayer for the PCA and its various ministries. This is a night that always elicits excited responses and this year was no exception – it is “our privilege!”

The 2009 Leadership Training Conference will be held at Covenant College, March 10-12, and will be followed by the 2009 Mercy Conference, jointly sponsored by Mission to North America and CEP, held at New City Fellowship Church, March 12-15. Look for more updates on www.pcacep.org as information for both conferences becomes available. CDs of the plenary sessions and workshops of the 2008 Leadership Training are also available. See www.pcacep.org for details.

Here is what some attendees had to say about this year’s conference. We trust these will encourage local church leaders, pastors, presbytery CE Chairman, and women’s ministry leaders as you evaluate the value of this discipleship event.

“I have been spreading the good news of God’s kingdom work through this [women’s] ministry work of the PCA. I am praying for other elders to participate in future meetings-the experience certainly enlarged my vision of the educational work (fostering and facilitating biblical thinking and covenantal living) of the WIC organization.” Preston Hicks, Ruling Elder

God’s Faithfulness, Generation to Generation

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Editor’s Note: Christian Education and Publications oversees and coordinates the women’s ministry known as Women in the Church. WIC has been a vital part of our ministry since the beginning of the PCA. Many things have and are happening as a result of this ministry. In 2006 CEP sponsored the WIC International Conference. The following is an interview with Jane Patete, coordinator of the WIC ministry. Her vision and leadership have were one of the keys in the ’06 conference as well as WIC’s effectiveness in our overall ministry.

1. Briefly state the purpose of WIC (Women In the Church) with CEP and the PCA.

The stated purpose of the Presbyterian Church in America’s Women In the Church, which was approved by the first General Assembly, is: that every woman know Christ personally and be committed to extending His Kingdom in her life, home, church, community and throughout the world.

Women’s ministry was designed to be an expression of the theology of the PCA. There were non-negotiables: the authority of God’s Word, a commitment to the theological standards of the PCA, and a commitment to work within the ecclesiastical structure of the PCA. We want women to love the church of Jesus Christ. We want to help women understand their rich and fulfilling role in the church in an un-ordained position. We want women to be confident that the study resources are soundly biblical. This is why the fathers of the PCA placed women’s ministry under the oversight of the Committee for Christian Education and Publications. CEP serves local churches by providing leadership training and resources for kingdom discipleship.

2. What are some ways CEP has provided leadership training and resources for women?

Our overarching purpose is to disciple leaders and equip them to disciple others. Specific resources that help us fulfill this purpose are: