CDM Archive

Discipleship Ministries of the PCA

Women

Shaping a Community of Grace Today for a Stronger Church Tomorrow

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By Dr. Bryan Chapell

“The Lord has changed me in numerous ways. One of the most significant of those is how he has given me a much greater appreciation of my need for other people and the corporate nature of the gospel.”

– Doug Kothe (MDiv ’11)

This is how Doug Kothe, one of our current students, describes his time at Covenant Seminary. Doug’s words reflect the experience of many who come to us each year to follow the call of God in preparing for ministry. His statement also reflects our firm belief that fully preparing pastors and other leaders for Christ’s church involves much more than mere classroom instruction. It involves, as we like to say, the shaping of the whole person-head, hands, and most especially, heart-within the context of a living, learning, worshipping community of grace. And, because we believe that God calls not just pastors, but also pastors’ wives and children into ministry, that shaping process must include not only the student who is taking classes, but also that student’s whole family. This is why we strive to make our campus a place where students, faculty, staff-and their families-can grow together in the gospel and be transformed by the power of God’s grace into the pastors and other ministry leaders our Lord has called them to be.

To this end we are seeking to raise funds for needed improvements to two elements of our campus that are vital to this kind of personal and spiritual growth: Edwards Hall Community Center and Rayburn Chapel. The only large gathering places on our campus, these two aging venues need to be renovated both to accommodate our increasing numbers of full-time students and to make it easier for seminary families to meet, worship, and enjoy fellowship with one another. We also hope to make some technological improvements that will better enable us to produce gospel-centered resources for use on campus and by the worldwide church. You can find out more about our plans here or through the 2011 WIC Love Gift promotional materials available here. Please consider how your church might be able to help.

We are exceedingly grateful to Women in the Church for their enthusiasm and support for our ministry and their heart for the men, women, and children whom God has called to Covenant Seminary. We look forward eagerly to seeing what our Lord will do through them and through our generous PCA churches as we seek to continue shaping a community of grace today for a stronger church tomorrow.

Many blessings to you in Christ,

Bryan Chapell

President, Covenant Theological Seminary

Please Pray for Us!

Here are a few ways in which you can be praying for Covenant Seminary during the next few months.

  • Pray for the students who will graduate this spring and move on to serve in churches and other ministries. Pray for those who are still seeking a call, that God would quickly clarify their places of future service and give them a strong sense of his guidance in this process. Pray also that he would work mightily through each of these graduates to show his grace and mercy to others.

  • Pray as we continue to navigate challenging economic waters that the Lord would continue to provide the funds we need to operate the Seminary and offer scholarships and other financial assistance to our students. Pray that the Lord would help us to continue building good relationships with our donors and that he would open doors to future friendships that would lead to even great financial health for the institution.

  • Pray for us as we seek a replacement for Professor of World Mission Dr. Nelson Jennings, who will be leaving us at the end of this academic year to become Director of Program and Community life for Overseas Ministries Study Center (OSMC) in New Haven, Connecticut. Pray that the transition to his new role would go well for Dr. Jennings, and that our search for his successor would be blessed.

Jack Scott, January 2, 1928 – June 13, 2011

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Jack Brown Scott, former CEP Staff Writer and Teacher, January 2, 1928-June 13, 2011

Jack ScottWhile attending the 39th General Assembly of the PCA last week in Virginia Beach, I received word along with a request for prayer from John Thomas Scott that his dad Jack was near death. We requested prayer from the General Assembly and Jack Scott revived a bit; however, Monday afternoon 12:45 pm, Jack was called home to be with the Lord.

I need not remind those who knew him, Jack Scott was an amazing man of God. I have had the privilege of knowing him for many years and then the special privilege and honor of having him on our CEP staff of over seven years. When I began serving the PCA as the Coordinator of CEP, Jack Scott was on that committee. At that time he was professor of Old Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. (Jack was one of the founding professors of RTS). We had been together on several previous occasions, Bible conferences, various committee meetings, etc.

Part of my desire from the beginning was to develop an adult Bible study series that would help people in the church to better know the English Bible from a Reformed perspective. As I shared my vision at that first CEP Committee meeting in January of 1977, Dr. Scott expressed his appreciation. My response was “Jack, I really need someone to help me actualize that. Would you consider being that man?” To my surprise his response gave me encouragement.

After a period of prayer over the next couple of weeks, we continued to talk and early 1977 Jack left RTS and joined our CEP staff. He shared both the concern and vision for such a curriculum. He and his precious wife Eleanor Caslick Scott joined us.

At that point he began writing a 26 volume curriculum for studying the English Bible, including two outstanding surveys of the Old and New Testament. Over the next six years Jack wrote that curriculum with great diligence. Of course when I say English Bible, he was a brilliant linguist, having mastered the Hebrew language for which he soon received his PhD. Among his many writings, I would have to call the Adult Biblical Education Series (ABES) his magnum opus. The first volume appeared in late 1977 and since that time we have continued to print and reprint those studies. (I had the privilege and responsibility of writing the early leader’s guides which required reading each one. What a spiritual education and blessing!).

Jack Scott was an exemplary husband and father, a faithful brother in Christ, an outstanding Bible scholar, and a servant leader with an obvious pastor’s heart. Jack loved his family, his friends, as well as his Lord, and that was reflected in every aspect of Jack’s life.

His love and care for Eleanor, his children, Edward, Caroline, John Thomas, and Ann modeled a real covenant family for all of us.

Having begun as a missionary in Korea where he met and married Eleanor, to pastoring churches in Kentucky and Mississippi, to the faculty of RTS, and then CEP. Jack demonstrated his commitment to Christian education as the fulfillment of God’s great commission.

His love and counsel sustained me through many hard and frustrating times in our ministry together. Jack modeled a consistency in his Christian life that has been a challenge to us all. Kennedy Smartt, a former classmate of Jack’s at Davidson College, prior to serving together later in the PCA, said to me this morning, “my fondest memory of Jack is teaching himself Hebrew while in college.”

We continue to reprint many of his writings, especially the ABES series which PCA churches have been using now for over 25 years. Though Jack did not like for me to say it, I had to because it was true, namely, “when you read Jack Scott’s material, you have read the best of biblical scholarship.” It was my privilege to write a chapter in a book honoring Dr. Jack B. Scott three years ago, Interpreting and Teaching the Word of Hope, Essays in Honor of Jack Brown Scott on His Seventy-Seventh Birthday.”

Jack was a gifted man of God and his life has blessed us in so many ways.

We join with Eleanor, and the family in remembering Jack Scott and we do so with the confidence of the Apostle Paul’s words, “…To depart and be with Christ, for that is far better,” Phil. 1:23 “And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: “Blessed are the dead, who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Sprit, “That they may rest from their labors, for this deeds follow him,” Rev. 14:13.

Charles Dunahoo, CEP Coordinator.

Meet the Seminar Speakers

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Sandy Currin

Dear Sister in Christ,

My heart longs for the sweet moments of fellowship experienced during past General Assemblies as I anticipate meeting in Virginia Beach. Inpast meetings, God surprised me by providentiallyconnectingme with new friends and even a family member. Who knows whom God will bring into my life at this GA?Thus I am eager to meet you and sit down overcoffee where we canshare the truths of Scripture.Whether I will mentor you or you me,we will each know the great joy of giving and receiving the hope within us.

You may ask, How could God possibly use me in the life of another?Perhaps the better question is, Why am I not allowing God to use me intentionally in the lives of others? During my seminar, Redeeming Eve: Applying the Titus Two Mandate to our Daily Lives, we will explore how God hascreated us to enter the lives of other womenbothforspiritual health and so thatwe can more effectively live out God’s word in our culture. What a privilege we have to join with ourcovenantal God in reaching the next generation.I am looking forward to our time together!

~Sandy

Redeeming Eve: Applying the Titus Two Mandate to our Daily Lives. This seminar will discuss how our covenantal God has specifically created and prepared us as women to mentor the next generation. Upon that foundation we will examine the biblical principle of mentoring as described in Titus 2

Sandy is the Mid – Atlantic Women’s Advisory Sub-Committee representative. She is married to Senior Associate Pastor, Jerry Currin from the Church of the Good Savior in Durham, NC. Jerry and Sandy have three grown daughters and one granddaughter. Sandy has been passionate about mentoring since becoming a Christian through the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ at Duke University and then serving on their campus staff. She is also the Redeeming Eve Coordinator of her church and serves on the Eastern Carolina PresWIC. Sandy has been a registered nurse for thirty-nine years and still works part-time at UNC Hospital where she also mentors student nurses.

Wednesday and Thursday Women’s Programs

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LEADERSHIP WIVES: Wednesday and Thursday Women’s Programs

  • Wednesday-Our Privilege in Marriage
  • Thursday-Our Privilege in the Body

Wednesday

United in Christ: The Power of One-Marriage and Ministry

A personal greeting from Karen

Connections…that is what my heart longs for this summer. General Assembly consistently falls at the time of year when I long to have time to rest after a rich and full ministry year and I long to have time to reflect on where God has taken me and what the future might hold. It is a time where I yearn to bask in the rich community many faraway friends and precious kingdom partners, to feel a vital connection, a genuine oneness to God and others. If you are anything like me I live most days…disconnected in my heart, thoughts, purposes and ultimately from my Savior. I see the tangible evidence of this my home, ministry and marriage. Will you join me as a sister who struggles to connect…who desires to experience the communion of the Power of One…sweet oneness with Christ and your husband. I look forward to seeing your lovely faces this June as we explore United in Christ: The Power of One-Marriage and Ministry. Recommended reading: **Relationships: a Mess Worth Making by Tim Lane and Paul Tripp.

Karen Hodge is a motivating and encouraging pastor’s wife and mother of two beautiful children. She is having the time of her life serving alongside her husband Chris, Senior Pastor at Naperville Presbyterian Church. Prior to their newest adventure, Chris and Karen have served at Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, AL, Christ Covenant Church in Charlotte, NC, and planted Treasure Coast Presbyterian Church in Stuart, FL. She also serves as National Trainer for the Women’s Ministries for the Presbyterian Church in America. She has a heart for MNA (Mission to North America) and sits in an advisory role to the Standing Committee of MNA as well as serving the Church Planting Assessment Center. It is from this perspective as wife, mother, leader, and friend that she offers insight from God’s word to women concerning how she and they can most effectively learn to enjoy and extend God’s glory.

Thursday

Our Privilege in the Body

A personal greeting from Kathy

Each year that I attend GA, I look forward to seeing friends from all of the places that we have lived and labored and sometimes it is a real “blast from the past” with wonderful surprises. But I also look forward to seeing the bigger picture that God is painting of His Church. Just as our local church “bodies” are built with individual gifts and graces, just like each of my friends, this PCA “body” is built of churches with individual gifts and graces that together help visualize God at work. This year I look forward to seeing all of you (my new friends) at GA as we look at Our Privilege in the Body: Extending His Kingdom through Hospitality. What does Scripture tell us about hospitality and how is it an integral part in this “body” building? Come ready to think outside the box!

We will be looking specifically at hospitality to our brothers in Christ, but Scripture also commands us to be hospitable to our neighbors and enemies. You may want to check out ** Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition, by Christine D. Pohl, for a fresh look at this command.

Kathy Stair is the wife of Randy Stair, ruling elder and President of the PCA Foundation. They are parents of Julie and Brad, and grandparents of Samantha,Aidan, and Logan. Kathy and Randy are members of ChristChurch Presbyterian, Atlanta, GA. Kathy has served in several churchesin Women’s Ministry, five years as Administrative Assistant to CEP’s Coordinator of Women’s Ministries, and is a CEP Women in the Church Trainer.

**Recommended books will be available in the CEP Bookstore during General Assembly, or you can order them now by calling 800-283-1357 or order online: www.cepbookstore.com.

Targeting Comprehensive Christian Education

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It never ceases to amaze me that anywhere in the world you say “Christian Education” people automatically think Sunday school. Is this the only Christian education the church does? If it is, then we are in big trouble. Let me explain.

In teaching the Christian Education (CE) courses in South Africa for eight years, the student’s first exercise was to list every church activity, i.e., worship, soup kitchens, Bible study, missions, etc. The challenge was for them to tell me which one was not CE! As you read further, that is my challenge to you, because the way you understand the educational ministry of your church will determine its spiritual depth. You disagree? Then my challenge is to prove my point.

Let’s start with missions. My contention is that missions is a sub-set of CE! What do missionaries do? They share the Gospel. To share the Gospel means to teach the meaning of the Gospel – this is CE! When there is a group of converts a church is started and training leaders is a number one priority. Training is CE! How about worship? Worship is leading people in worship to understand the importance of what they are doing. It is not only the sermon (which in itself is CE), but it is instructing the people to understand what they are singing and why. A well planned worship service is led by one who understands what it means to keep the people focused and aware of what they are doing. This too is CE!

View and download the complete Equip to Disciple Issue 1, 2011 (Acrobat Reader required).

Think about every ministry in your Church. Is there one thing that isn’t in actuality Christian education in some way?

So what is the point? In any good education program there must be good planning and coordination. This is where it appears that many churches fall short in seeing the big picture of what is really taking place.

If you had asked your child’s teacher what she was going to cover that year, how would you react if told she will figure that out as they go along? Imagine 12 years of this? Would anyone ever get an education? Then why do we think that we can do this in the church? This leads to a further challenge.

I will use several examples:

Youth: What are they being taught? Why? What is the plan? What should they know, be, and do after 4 years? Or is your group like most, simply teaching one topic this week and another the next; somehow hoping they will eventually develop a healthy Christian worldview by themselves. Is this what you want for your young people who will be going on to university where they will be confronted with philosophies that are not only not Christian, but in many cases anti-Christian? Have you really prepared them? This is like that teacher with no plan.

Bible studies: What is being studied? Why this study? What are you trying to accomplish in this group and study? At the end of this study what will they know, be, and do? Think about this – if you have no objectives then your objective is to accomplish nothing. But you say, “Our objective is to study the book of Romans.” Great! But what does that mean? If you ask the group at the end what they have learned about Romans you might be shocked that little was learned or remembered. Worse yet, little has happened to change anyone’s life. The goal for CE (discipleship) must be transformed lives! If our only goal is to cover a book, or to know a doctrine, then true discipleship has not taken place. Discipleship is moving people ever closer (by the work of the Holy Spirit) to being like Jesus (Rom. 8.29). So I ask you again, in your teaching, what are your goals for your group becoming more like Jesus? Will they see Jesus in every verse? Will they grow in their relationship with Jesus as a result of interacting with Romans?

Another area focuses on – preaching. Are your sermons planned for the next year? Why not? What are you trying to accomplish? What really “scares” me about wellmeaning preachers is when they say they believe they are discipling their people through their sermons. That is scary because you have already told me that you do not have a plan for what you hope your sermons will accomplish. How does your sermon connect with other teaching going on in the church? You have one ‘goal’ for this sermon and another for the next. If your people don’t know your objective, how can you expect them to figure it out when you haven’t? This is not discipleship; this is a hit-and-miss approach to giving disconnected information, with no thread to help the people tie it all together! This again is like the teacher you would not allow to teach your children.

Continued…

A Warm Welcome to the Women’s Leadership Training Conference First-Time Attendees

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Leadership Training

Adapted from an LT welcome speech given by Susan Phillis, who served as WASC Chairman from 2005-2007.

When was the last time you planned an event? Do you remember starting with the basic questions?

  • Who should come?
  • When should we have it?
  • Where will we meet?
  • What will we serve?
  • How will we spend our time?

That’s what your Women’s Advisory Sub-Committee (WASC) members have done in regard to this year’s Leadership Training.

The WASC chose, intentionally, to invite you to this event:

  • PresWIC leadership
  • Bible study leaders
  • Local church women’s ministry leaders
  • Directors of Women’s Ministry
  • PCA staff members

They made a conscious decision to invite you, because, as you will hear over and over again, we are one body, one church, one team, with one common purpose: to serve God’s church in ministering to people.

Some come as old friends, much like the TV show Cheers, “where everybody knows your name.” Some of you will come for the very first time, wondering why you ever agreed to do this, feeling frightened, isolated, and overwhelmed. Rest assured-everyone in the room has been in your shoes! And the feeling doesn’t last long.

I want you to know: GOD wants you here! You have been prayed for by name and chosen by Him to come and be encouraged and equipped for service.

Our purpose is simple: to train you so you can train others. We’re going to sharpen your skills, challenge your comfort zone, and connect you with other women in ministry. Our hope is as you sit under the teaching of our conference faculty, as you attend various workshops, as you hear testimonies from your sisters, as you gather in regional meetings, and as you meet the coordinators of PCA agencies and committees-through all of this-you will be encouraged and challenged to “fight the good fight of faith.”

Adapted from a welcome speech given by Jane Wiggins who currently serves as WASC chairman.

On behalf of the Women’s Advisory Sub-Committee (or WASC, as you will hear us called), I would like to welcome you to our Women’s Leadership Training Conference. We look forward to our time with you over the three days we will be together during the conference! We usually have many first-time attendees. (Last year the Mid-South, my region, had 20 of our 32 attending for the first time). As the PCA website states, the goal of the annual Leadership Training is to help equip and train you as leaders so that you, in turn, can take back to your women important foundational biblical truths to undergird your ministries as well as resources and ideas to enrich your ministries.

Our challenge each year is to be reminded of our purpose for women’s ministry. The purpose statement for women’s ministry as written by the PCA founding fathers in 1973 is one that you may know by heart: That every woman know Christ personally and be committed to extending His kingdom in her life, home, church, community, and throughout the world. I would ask you to consider these questions as you anticipate coming to the conference:

  • What IS the goal of your ministry? Is it a calendar filled with events, programs, Bible studies, and retreats…all good, mind you…but simply there because you “think” that this is what ministry is all about? (After all, you were handed a notebook, and this is what has been done year after year). Have you and your ministry team been in prayer as to what the over-all purpose should be? Then, is this purpose reflected in each of your ministry events, studies, and service projects for the year?
  • Is your ministry based upon biblical foundations and what God’s Word teaches about His design for women? Or has today’s culture painted its own picture of what a modern woman should be and this stamp is slowly being seen upon the lives of your women?
  • Does your ministry encourage women to love Christ, to love His Word, His people, and those outside the church? The gospel of Jesus Christ is not only the basis for coming to Christ but also must be what drives us in our daily lives. As one WASC member said, “Our discipleship must be gospel-driven or it simply becomes just another program and not the transforming power of Christ in our lives.”
  • The last question I have is one that is more personal. Does the love of Christ compel us? Is the love of Christ the driving force in our own lives? Do we spend time in His Word each day, a Word that has the power to new our minds? Do we seek His will in our lives and for the ministry to which He has called us? We know because scripture tells us that God’s Word has the power to transform. So I would ask, are our hearts being changed through the power of His Holy Spirit? Is so, and only then, can we as leaders hope to be used by Him in our ministries, in our families, and in our communities.

Lastly I want to encourage each of you to make the most of the three days together. Try to meet and engage in conversation with the many women at the conference that you do not know. I know…it’s hard sometimes to begin a conversation with a total stranger…it calls us to get out of our comfort zone, doesn’t it? Just remember that all of us will be in the same boat! Remember that because Christ has transformed our hearts, we will actually be meeting women who, although at the present may live in a distant state, we will one day live side-by-side in our eternal home!