Investing in Future Extra-Local Leaders
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Benjamin Kreps:
Hey everyone. And welcome to the Mark Prater podcast where our aim is to connect our global family of churches with our Executive Director. Mark, as many people travelling over the summer have experienced anxiety in airports with delays and cancellations, I also had that experience and just got back last night. My local airport closed its landing strip at 12 and I got back at 11:55 by the skin of my teeth from Louisville because I was there the past few days with you and a number of other guys at a leadership development retreat.
Mark Prater:
You were, and I'm so glad that you were there. I actually got home safely as well, which is really remarkable because I was traveling with Joel Shorey. And Joel Shorey has a number of traveling stories. A lot of 'em have to do with planes, such as engines catching on fire and planes being struck by lightning and completely losing power. He's still alive. That's the good news. If you don't know Joel, he's still alive. And we got home safely last night as well. Joel was with you in Louisville, along with a number of other guys, which I'll explain in a moment. We did a leadership development retreat that started on Monday, went through Friday, had two groups of guys that I'll explain in just a moment. But here's why we do leadership development: in wanting to honor scripture and in wanting to see our family of churches to be multi-generational for the purpose of passing on the gospel, we want to invest into future generations.
You see that in scripture, obviously there's the role of families passing on the gospel to future generations, certainly in the New Testament Christ comes and he establishes his bride, his church. And Paul writes about investing into future leaders with Timothy, for example. You see Paul's investment into Timothy and then encouraging Timothy to invest in men that can continue the work of the gospel. So any local church that prays to be multi-generational, any family of churches that prays to be multi-generational, which I pray God allows us to be multi-generational, we need to be intentional to invest into younger men who will someday, or maybe even currently serve as extra local leaders to strengthen our churches and help us plant churches as we advance the gospel together. So that's the motivation behind our retreat this week.
And we had different two different groups. What we're calling a National Leaders Fellowship: guys that we've been actually meeting with; this would've been our sixth retreat. We started in 2017. Some of those guys that were a part of this National Leaders Fellowship are actually now on the Leadership Team. So at one time, Jared Mellinger, Jon Payne, Eric Turbedsky and Dave Taylor were in that group. But when they transitioned to Leadership Team, we kept this group of guys that we invest into. They're just a wonderful group of guys.
The second half of the week we've got another group of guys that are younger than the first group: men like you, Ben and Joel Shorey, I've mentioned his name already, that were there. And we just want to begin investing into you men. This was your second retreat together. And it was such a wonderful opportunity as a Leadership Team; this time being myself and Jeff Purswell and Jon Payne, to equip you and invest into you. But what is really wonderful is to watch the relationships develop, the friendships strengthen, among men who are from different parts of the country. Josh Tong came from Canada, who typically doesn't get a chance to interact. And so you build those friendships now, those relationships now, knowing that in the future, you may be helping to lead Sovereign Grace together. And that relational foundation is gonna be very, very important. So it was just a wonderful week on so many levels. But I wanted to ask you Ben, since this is now your second retreat and you just got back last night, what was your experience? How did the week impact you and affect you?
Benjamin Kreps:
Well, just as last year, maybe even more this year, I enjoyed it even more because now I know the guys in that group whereas last year I was meeting them. One of the main highlights of course is just the time we spend together connecting with each other, praying for each other, learning from one another, building the relational connective tissue that is a hallmark of Sovereign Grace culture. And so to be in a room full of men who are eagerly and faithfully pastoring their local churches, and as we shared updates and interacted, I spent a couple hours wth a guy learning about how they went to two services, because we're looking at that possibility. So just learning and enjoying one another's company is the kind of culture that we have come to expect.
And we are grateful for a room full of men that are humble, joyful, grateful, carrying each other's burdens. I was also struck by some thoughts you shared about leadership in the denomination, leadership role. Jon Payne shared about regional leaders and the heart of the regional leader. And I'm grateful to be reminded that the emphasis on leadership in Sovereign Grace is all about a heart to serve, a heart of love, a heart of sacrificial love for others. It is not about lording over or authoritarianism. The leadership gifts we enjoy in Sovereign Grace, we love the gift of leadership in Sovereign Grace, it is to be celebrated as a sweet gift from God, but the way leadership is to be discharged in Sovereign Grace is compelling and it's edifying. And it was wonderful to enjoy that once again.
Mark Prater:
It was one of the things I so appreciated about the week as well. And I'd heard this before, Jeff Purswell taught a session on pneumatological reflections, and it was so important for a leadership development retreat, because one of the takeaways from that teaching from Jeff, and interaction with Jeff, was leaders' dependence upon God, leaders' dependence upon the spirit, to be led by the spirit. We want to be spirit-led men, pastors and spirit-led leaders. I was grateful for that as well.
Benjamin Kreps:
Yes. And Jeff's instruction just led to a conversation where there are men who have been walking with the Lord for many years and serving in churches for many years, still asking questions, leaning in asking how can I grow in dependence on God? How can we apply what we're learning here, with hearts open toward the Lord, desire for greater dependency and expectation for what God will do as we grow in our dependency? So there's spontaneous moments that break out around the times of teaching that are sweet and edifying and encouraging as well.
Mark Prater:
Yeah, it's the retreat context. You can't necessarily do that as effectively over Zoom and I'm grateful that we're able to do it. I'm so glad you could be there.
Benjamin Kreps:
Me too. Thank you so much for inviting me, Mark. What are you looking forward to when it comes to leadership development in the days ahead?
Mark Prater:
Yeah, I think what I'm looking forward to is continuing to invest into guys, but also as an older guy in Sovereign Grace, I'm looking forward to seeing men deployed into extra local roles as guys like me transition out, whatever point that is. I'm looking forward to that. And then after that transition, I'm looking forward to being their biggest cheerleader and being their biggest encourager. And I want other guys that are my age, or maybe a bit older to just adopt that heart and that posture for younger men; that we are for you. We are going to encourage you to lead on and we're gonna follow.
Benjamin Kreps:
Grateful for you, Mark, one correction. I am not younger than Jon Payne and Jared Mellinger, but Eric Turbedsky is significantly older than me.
Mark Prater:
<Laugh> Yeah, that's great. Although I think you might look and act a little bit younger than Jon and Jared.
Benjamin Kreps:
I don't think that's a compliment <laugh>. Well, thank you, Mark. And, to the rest of the guys on the Leadership Team for your thoughtful and deliberate way that you seek to raise up the next generation of leaders in Sovereign Grace, as we seek to do that as pastors in our local context, for the sake of the mission of Jesus and furthering his kingdom through our feeble faltering efforts, empowered by the spirit, all because of the grace of God. So thank you, Mark. And thank you all for reading or watching. We'll see you here next week. Lord, willing. Bye for now.