2025 Priorities for Sovereign Grace Churches
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Benjamin Kreps:
Hey everyone and welcome to the Mark Prater podcast where our aim is to connect our global family of Sovereign Grace churches with our executive director. Mark, we're a couple of weeks away from another wonderful Pastors Conference, still with memories lingering of the enjoyable and edifying time that we shared together in Orlando. Part of the conference each year, though actually before the conference, when we have our Council of Elders, you give something I look forward to, I'm sure we all do. At that Council of Elders, you give a State of the Union address each year and this year was no exception. And so there was a faith-building, encouraging State of the Union address. You want to talk about that, but before we get into that, why do you give a State of the Union address each year?
Mark Prater:
It's a great question and I'm not sure we always think about why do I do this in my role as executive director? Well, first of all, it is a requirement according to our Book of Church Order. It is a unique responsibility that the Council of Elders has given the executive director to report to them annually, basically on the State of the Union in Sovereign Grace. But it's so much more than just a requirement in the way that we have sort of put together a State of the Union and deliver a State of the Union each year.
So here are some other reasons that I think it's important, why it's given annually. First of all, it gives me the opportunity to just provide just a clear vision for our future, casting vision for our future and establishing the priorities for our family of churches over the next year. It's an opportunity to do that and to do that live and in person before the council is just this wonderful experience to do so. So there's that.
I think secondly, if you think just add a theological category to it, if you can do that, just think about the sovereignty of God. And what I mean by that is that things change from year to year. And so the State of the Union really is a response to things that may be changing, whether it's in the culture or denomination. And in that sense, we're following God and attempting to have him lead us, ultimately. And the State of the Union gives us a chance to, gives me a chance, just to talk about that with our pastors. So some other things in terms of changes, there can be theological challenges that are new or that change from year to year that we've got to adapt to and just be aware of and make sure that we're guarding our churches appropriately so we can maintain theological fidelity. There can be cultural issues that change from year to year. And it seems like in the last several years that's happened more rapidly in many ways...
Benjamin Kreps:
On steroids.
Mark Prater:
Yeah, exactly. So there can be these new pressures that our pastors are facing from the culture in leading their churches. And it gives us a chance to speak into those. There are changes that can happen within the denomination. There can be new challenges within our denomination or new things that have just come about that we can now utilize. And so for example, this year we distributed and really released our Sovereign Grace catechism at the conference. And so that now is a tool that I can encourage every pastor to give to every member of their church because they're going to benefit, their soul's going to benefit, from going through that catechism. But it also helps us maintain theological fidelity, which is one of the things I talked about this year in my State of the Union. It also gives me a chance to give updates on things that are happening in Sovereign Grace that not everyone may be aware of and to thank pastors who are serving Sovereign Grace extra-locally in a variety of different ways.
And in that sense, it's also just an attempt to get us all on the same page and moving forward together. The State of the Union does provide that. And also of small benefit, some pastors have told me, usually I give an outline. I also give an executive director update that has a number of stats and you kind of combine those. Some pastors like to take that back and just inform their churches of what's happening in Sovereign Grace. So they wouldn't take my outline, just hand it out, but they might talk about, for example, the number of church plants that we have planned over the next two years and where they're going to be throughout the world, which can really build the church into Sovereign Grace. So those are just a few reasons beyond a BCO requirement of why I give one annually. And in doing so, I think it has strengthened us and helped put us on the same page year after year. And so I'm grateful for the wisdom of putting that in our BCO when it was written 11 years ago.
Benjamin Kreps:
Excellent. Well, this year, once again, you directed us ultimately toward God, which is your main purpose in that Council of Elders meeting. The specifics fall underneath the umbrella of our pursuing God together in Sovereign Grace by faith. And you highlighted a number of priorities for us in 2025 that one can hear if listening to the Council of Elders address on the resources page, which I think you'll talk about, but what are some of the priorities that you highlighted for the upcoming year?
Mark Prater:
Yeah, my first response to that question, if you weren't in the Council of Elders meeting, is to listen to it, to hear those priorities. And as you mentioned Ben, it's on the events page, it's listed below the breakout sessions, the audio is there. There's an outline available that you can just go along to use as you listen to it if you want to. And there should be a transcribed copy of the State of the Union available soon on that same webpage. So I would say listen to it. That's the main way to figure out what are our priorities in the next year. But I do want to highlight a few that I did talk about this year, not all of 'em. I think a lot of what I talked about is to try to prepare us for our future.
And when I say future, I'm thinking about the next 10 to 15 years. And there were a number of priorities under that category, preparing for our future. For example, just preparing young men for pastoral ministry who are aspiring to pastoral ministry. And it gives me a chance to introduce a new initiative by the leadership team, a pastoral development and deployment grant program that churches can apply for to have a pre-pastors college internship grant given to them. Or maybe a grant for pastors college expenses or after pastors college graduation, a grant for a residency post-graduation where they can just get experience in a local church to grow in pastoral ministry, especially before transitions occur from the founding generation to the next generation in the next 10 to 15 years. So things like that in terms of preparing for our future.
Also talked about having faith to maintain our theological fidelity, which is challenging in any year and is probably always going to be a topic for us. But there was something unique this year I just wanted to say about it because I think as things shift theologically, culturally, and even in evangelicalism, we must be a denomination that remains just committed to our theological convictions as found in our statement of faith. And it's one of the reasons the Sovereign Grace catechism I think is so important, not just for pastors, but for every member of our churches. And so just be aware that that resource is available and a little insider baseball, we're thinking about working with a potential publisher that would help just distribute that for us and maybe in doing so, give us bulk rates is something new that we're exploring since the conference.
And then the other thing I talked about is cultivating joyful generosity among our churches and in our churches. And that's because this would be an evidence of God going before us. I just see so many evidences. Now there are anecdotal, but you put 'em all together and I just think, my goodness, God is at work in our family of churches, I think in a very unique way, not unique to Sovereign Grace, but just unique in terms of his work, doing work that men can't do to stir generosity in people. It's something I've just noticed over the last probably year, and I continue to hear stories of people just being generous. And again, they're anecdotal, but the kind of generosity I'm hearing that is divinely inspired. I don't think there's a pastor to take credit for that. And so we kind of want to get behind what God is doing, and I gave four recommendations in my State of the Union of how to cultivate generosity. So just a few of the priorities that I talked about for us as a denomination in 2025.
Benjamin Kreps:
Excellent. Well, I do encourage anyone who hasn't heard that address to go ahead and listen to it. It's a wonderful mix of envisioning and encouragement and is faith building as we look to the year ahead. I know for us here at Living Hope, coming back from the Pastors Conference, we're right in the middle of a stewardship series we do each year because we need to raise money above our general fund to pay our mortgage on this wonderful building that God has provided for us. And it certainly, I found my strength, my faith strengthened coming back from Orlando to press into the grace of giving at Living Hope. And God has been very good to us as well in that regard.
So in case guys aren't aware, you should know that that address each year is the fruit of many hours of Mark praying for you, studying, thinking, considering; working many countless hours and late nights as you care for us through that address each year. So thank you for doing that once again, for building our faith, for leading us. The old leadership adage, if you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time, we're aiming at something and you're helping us to aim in ways that are God-glorifying for us as a denomination in Sovereign Grace.
So thank you, Mark. Thank you all for checking out the podcast and we'll see you here next week, Lord willing. Bye for now.