Hamburg, Germany, host of the Eckstein Conference
On a recent podcast, Mark Prater recapped his visit to Germany for the Eckstein Conference, and the first Sovereign Grace Europe Pastors Meeting. Watch, read or listen for the full update:
Church Leaders & the Pastors Conference: An Interview with Ben Kreps
Ben, lead pastor at Living Hope Church in Middletown, PA, is typically the one asking questions as the host of the weekly podcast to connect our global family of churches with our Executive Director, Mark Prater. This time, he was interviewed to share his thoughts on the annual Pastors Conference.
How many Pastors Conferences have you been to?
I attended first in 2010 and, obviously 2020 was canceled, so it’s been 11. My first one, I was not on staff, and my wife and I went, but we didn’t know many people there. We met some people, but mostly just enjoyed the sessions and hung out together. Then, the following year I was in the Pastors College, so my wife and I attended with our class, and then we joined the staff at Living Hope and have continued to attend, obviously, since then and it’s been a lot of fun.
What do you enjoy about the Pastors Conference
Each year, it’s like a big party. The relationships we have and friends we get to connect with while we’re there is a big thing, and definitely the sermons we hear and teaching and worship is so beneficial. My wife and I always come away encouraged and refreshed. We connect with folks we know from doing the Pastors College and with folks we’ve gotten to know over the years and it’s just a good time.
Why do you believe the Pastors Conference is valuable for “non-pastors”?
Taking church leaders - guys who might have an interest in Sovereign Grace or in pastoral ministry, maybe someone who’s newer to the church but has leadership potential, or even a small group leader - and their wives is something that I’ve seen just really serve those couples. It’s a way to invest in them and even help envision them toward our partnership with Sovereign Grace. They always come away encouraged spiritually and in what God is doing through Sovereign Grace that we get to partner in.
It’s refreshing for us as pastors - the messages are great and the worship is great and we’ve found that it’s just as refreshing for our leaders as it is for us.
I mentioned that my wife and I didn’t really know anyone our first time going, so I’m more in tune to that side of things relationally when we bring people, but everybody processes it differently. One of our bi-vocational pastors and his wife went one year and just enjoyed being together and attending the sessions. They almost treated it like a getaway. But to build relationally, for example, this year we got a couple airbnbs and we’ll all be together, sharing space and meals, and I just introduce the folks we bring to a lot of different people. It’s pretty organic, but typically we’ll go out and have a dinner or a lunch and all be together and check in with each other at different times.
How has taking leaders in your church to the conference served you/your church?
One of the main ways is that the people who come back have an increased enthusiasm for being a part of Sovereign Grace and the mission that we share together and the culture that we’re seeking to cultivate in our church. It basically establishes or reinforces more of a sense of connection and understanding of what we’re trying to build.
When our leaders come back, they’ve experienced something that bleeds into what they’re leading in our church and helps them be better equipped and prepared to lead and respond to different needs.
What are you looking forward to about this year?
The main things I look forward to is hanging out way too late and getting meals with friends, but one specific thing is to celebrate the 40-year anniversary this year. I’m looking forward to that happy occasion - 40 years! This and the fact that the international folks are able to come - I know there’s over a hundred folks coming in from outside the US at this point - so to get back to that and to not just celebrate God’s faithfulness over 40 years, but to also see God exponentially growing Sovereign Grace and celebrate that together is something I’m looking forward to.
It’s also just gratifying to just roll into the Pastors Conference with just a bunch of people - like Living Hope is in the house! It’s just pure joy.
Pastors in Sovereign Grace Churches discuss a wide range of topics related to the life and work of the average local church pastor. The Ordinary Pastor Podcast is hosted by Jon Payne, Jared Mellinger, and other SGC pastors.
Season 2 premiered in August with The Sovereign Grace Statement of Faith, followed by talks on a few of Our Shaping Virtues: Humility, Joy and Gratitude.
On July 27-30, 650 people from 38 US states and 5 countries gathered in Louisville, Kentucky for WorshipGod 2022. I attended with a group of members from my church, including several other pastors I serve with. It was incredible!
The conference is designed to serve anyone who leads or participates in the Sunday gathering, as well as anyone who wants to better understand congregational worship and grow in loving God, who is worthy of all praise.
The theme of this year’s Worship God conference was Unchanging. We celebrated God’s unchanging character: his independence, trustworthiness, eternality, blessedness, and love. The theme was drawn from the newest Sovereign Grace album.
Worship is always related to missions, as John Piper has explained, because worship is the goal and fuel of missions: Missions exists because worship doesn’t. And, worship is always related to our future, because when we gather and join our voices in song with people from many different churches, we experience a foretaste of the day when we gather in the new heavens and the new earth, to sing “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!”
Jared Mellinger is Senior Pastor of Covenant Fellowship Church, Glen Mills, PA.
Fieles 2022 Pastors Conference in Juarez, Mexico
Our theme for this year was ‘Pastoral Ministry by Grace’ with Dr. Bryan Chapell as our special guest speaker. Again this year, we were joined by our wonderful regular speakers, Jeff Purswell, Bob Kauflin, Miguel Núñez, Kike Torres and Joselo Mercado. As part of the team of men participating, we also had Rich Richardson and Mark Prater. In all, this was by far our best time together in our desire to serve Mexican and Latin American pastors, leaders, and their wives.
Because of space limitations, we had to limit attendance to 400 folks, representing 23 Mexican states (70% of our country represented). Of all those in attendance, 80% were leaders and their wives, from around 110 different churches, making it one of the few contexts where the focus has been primarily on serving those in church leadership. We also had a good number of Latin American leaders that came from other countries like Costa Rica, Colombia, Bolivia, and the USA. Our mission was to encourage and equip called leaders from our family of churches but we were open to all who wanted to come and join us.
More updates on Sovereign Grace, Mexico:
Carlos Contreras is Senior Pastor of Gracia Soberana de Ciudad Juarez and Sovereign Grace Regional Leader for Mexico
This quarter we wanted to provide an update for you on Sovereign Grace Music. It's been some time since we've done so. And not only is Bob doing his usual great work, but he has grown his team too. And we wanted you to hear more about it.
In this video, Bob shares about the mission of Sovereign Grace Music. As Devon puts it, "We write songs to plant churches." Included in the update are resources produced this year, as well as our opportunities in the Spanish speaking world. He also shares about the training they are focusing on--producing the Sound + Doctrine podcast, the WorshipGod Conference and the Worship Intensive. There is so much packed into this video. You can find it on Vimeo here.
As you watch this video, prayerfully consider giving to Sovereign Grace to fund our shared passion to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ through Christ centered, God exalting music, all for His glory alone.