Dear brothers,

I’m writing to thank you for the many ways you are laboring in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic to pastor, lead, and care for the members of your church. In God’s good sovereignty, He uses pandemics to reveal many things. As I hear about the ways that you are responding to the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic presents, my respect and appreciation for you has only increased. Here are some of the ways I see God is using this pandemic to reveal things about you, for which I thank God for.

This pandemic reveals your true calling as a pastor.

You are not men who are running away from this pandemic, rather, you are men who have run right into it with faith and courage. Your prayers, long hours, and the hard work you have done to serve your church reveal that you have been faithful, you have stayed at your post, and by God’s grace are even more resolved to pastor and protect your church. If you weren’t called, you would have quit. But you are men who have taken the people of your church by the hand and said to them, “fear not, for our God is with us.” (Isaiah 41:10) I thank God for how He is using this pandemic to reveal your true calling as a pastor.

This pandemic reveals your heart to shepherd the flock of God

Peter exhorts us “shepherd the flock of God that is among you…” (1 Peter 5:2a) The necessary isolation this pandemic has produced reveals your heart to shepherd those among you who God has entrusted to your care. The frustration, pain, and burden you feel because you can’t be with your people only reveals the shepherd’s heart God has given you. The creative ways that you have used Zoom, Skype, phone calls, and texts to talk with your people, counsel your people, and pray with them all reveal a heart to shepherd the specific flock God has entrusted to your care. I thank God for how COVID-19 has revealed your heart to shepherd your flock.

This pandemic reveals your devotion to our ecclesiology

COVID-19 has forced us to ask questions like, “How can we remain faithful to our ecclesiology and still pastor our people especially when we can’t gather together?” Just the fact that you are wrestling with that question reveals your devotion to continue to build your church on solid theological ground. You are men who don’t want to compromise all the entailments of corporate worship that we enjoy. I also believe that because you have been faithful to our ecclesiology, where you have taught the primacy of the local church, and the practice of gathering together every Sunday in particular, when this pandemic is over, you are going to see the fruit of what you have built for years. In other words, right now the members of your church are anticipating the day when you can all gather together because you have been faithful to our ecclesiology. I thank God for your devotion.

This pandemic reveals your commitment to our gospel partnership in Sovereign Grace.

Our interdependence to advance the gospel together is not only a New Testament reality, but also an important aspect of our culture in Sovereign Grace. We have always built relationally with one another, and God has used this pandemic to show us why we must continue to do so. I have been so encouraged to see our pastors sharing ideas and resources to help and strengthen one another. I’ve watched with joy as Sovereign Grace pastors reach out to one another, encourage one another, pray for one another, and care for one another. By God’s grace, we will endure, and even thrive, in this pandemic together because you are men who are committed to the gospel partnership we share. I thank God for your ongoing commitment.

These are just some of the ways that I see God using COVID-19 to reveal the good work He is doing in each of you. I don’t know if it’s appropriate for me to say this or not, but I’m going to say it anyway. I’m so proud of the pastors in Sovereign Grace! And I continue to count it a privilege to labor for the gospel alongside each of you.

“As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.” 2 Thessalonians 3:13

With my heart-felt appreciation,

Mark

Transcript:

Ben Kreps:

So we're welcoming everybody to another episode of Mark Prater's video podcast. I should comment for the small group of faithful pastors who've been following your podcast that the podcast has a new host, which is me, and my name is Ben Kreps. I'm the lead pastor of Living Hope Church in Middletown, Pennsylvania. It's been a Sovereign Grace Church for 30-something years. 

I don't know if guys are aware (I imagine they are) that Eric Turbedsky was hosting this. He's a fairly busy guy with a number of responsibilities. And so, I have a little bit of experience hosting a podcast of my own called The Gospel Culture Podcast. You can Google it (you'd find it with my name) for about half a year or so, and we thought, why not give it a shot and free Eric up and I can host it. So here we are. How are you Mark?

Mark Prater:

Good, I'm doing great. I'm so excited about you hosting this podcast. Tell me why you started your Gospel Culture Podcast. And are you seeing the results of what you hope for?

Ben Kreps:

Yeah, I'll be really brief. Eric warned me about you that you'll try to turn things back around, because you didn't want to talk about yourself. But we want to talk about you. 

Basically, the reality is, I mean if you pull up to a red light and look at the people all around you, they're just on their phones. Everybody's looking down at their phones. So we had a desire to meet people where they live, which is on their phone. And podcasts, I'm a big fan of podcasts. So it's an opportunity for me to serve my church and anybody else who wants to listen in, talking about a variety of things connected to what it means to live a gospel-centered life, and to look at life and ministry through the lens of the gospel. 

It's not setting the world on fire, but I have folks in my church that communicate appreciation for episodes here and there, and that they found it helpful. So it's working the way I was hoping it would.

So, on a sad note, we had a loss in the Sovereign Grace Family recently, and we wanted pastors to get an update so they would understand what's going on. So why don't you share that Mark.

Mark Prater:

Yeah, I sent out an email a few days ago, which maybe most of our pastors read, but Erin Radano has been my administrative assistant, in a very capable sense for probably at least 10 years now. And her husband Chris: We prayed for Chris and Erin two years ago at our pastors conference when he was fairly early diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. And then this past year at our pastors conference, Erin wasn't able to come. And we prayed for them there as well. He passed away on Thanksgiving morning. Chris ran a good race for Christ in this life. And he finished well. 

We just had his Memorial service on Saturday here at Covenant Fellowship Church. And I would say it obviously had moments of sorrow and moments of joy. We are sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, as Scripture talks about. But it was also, I believe, one of the most Christ-exalting memorial services I've been a part of, because that's what Chris wanted. 

And actually one of the moving aspects of the service was Chris wrote a letter that Jim Donahue read and he addressed his family, extended family, people in the pastoral team. He talked to Erin. And it was very moving and a reflection of Chris's heart for not only his family, but his church family. So we miss him. 

Eric and the girls are doing well overall, enjoying the support of our church family here. But pray for them. They're just grieving. They miss their husband and their father. So thank you for asking and thanks for praying.

Ben Kreps:

Yeah, well, I mean, if anybody's been around Sovereign Grace for any length of time they have in some way been served by Erin, whether they know it or not. Certainly very sad, but like you said, how wonderful that he's with Christ and his testimony continues.

So one of the things that I wanted the other other pastors at Sovereign Grace to be able to know about is just simply some of your background. I'm sure most of us know pieces here and there. But I personally don't think I know the story of how you even became a pastor, much less the Executive Director. So just to situate people (this is the beginning of the podcast). 

We've done a couple of episodes. Eric hosted those. We've done a few, but now it's going broader after a time of feedback (when we changed your camera so that we're not looking up your nose). But in order to give some context to all of this: The purpose of this podcast is for pastors to feel a connection with you and hear your heart. And so in order to give context to that, I thought it would be helpful to just share for a few minutes about your story. So how did you become a pastor?

Mark Prater:

Thanks for asking, Ben. I still can't believe I'm a pastor. It's still a stunning thought. I'm a pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church, which is in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, a western suburb of Philadelphia. Jill and I and our three girls walked through the doors of Covenant Fellowship in September of 1990 and have been a part of Sovereign Grace since that time: 30 years next year. 

We had moved from the Midwest, which is where we're from. I was working for a pharmaceutical company at the time and I moved out here and had taken a different position within that company. A friend at that company invited me to church, and Jill and our girls came, and this has been our church home for obviously a long time now. 

We came here as Christians, as believers, but for different reasons (especially with my own heart and life) really marked by selfish ambition. I was not really following Christ in the way that Scripture commands us to. And what happened is that I heard preaching that was good expository preaching, but also helped me apply the gospel to my life. That along with the work of the Spirit that was convicting me of my pride and my selfish ambition, and the fellowship of the saints that we were enjoying here through our small group ministry, really what it led to was for me to make some changes within my career that allowed me to keep working for the company, but essentially what I did is I stepped off of the corporate climb. 

That was just a good thing for me, still not thinking about ministry. And just over the course of time, just something stirring inside of me, I would say maybe first a heart for and a love for the local church, my calling kind of emerged out of that first. And then I began to wonder about being called. And I didn't even really understand what all that meant. So I talked to the pastors here and they kind of looked at me and knew I wasn't ready for ministry. 

And then I just was in different discipleship groups (one led by Allen Redrow, one led by Dave Harvey), and over the course of a few years, I was really looking for external confirmation to this internal sense that I was called. And that was essentially determined. And that led to me planting a church in 1996.

Ben Kreps:

Was that in Pittsburg?

Mark Prater:

It was. We were sent here from Covenant Fellowship with, I think it was about 10 or 12 adults and a handful of kids to plant in Pittsburgh: Providence Church. That church is still there, no longer a part of Sovereign Grace. We thought in moving there we would spend the rest of our lives there. But the Lord had different plans and we moved back here in 2002, where I became the Executive Pastor here at Covenant Fellowship Church.

Ben Kreps:

And then all of that windy road ended up for you becoming the Executive Director of Sovereign Grace. So I mean, why did you want to be the Executive Director so badly?

Mark Prater:

Exactly! (Laughter) Whoever thought, I mean, let's be honest, whoever thought that I would be the Executive Director. Let's start there. Something I never wanted. It really is like this: In 2011-2012 when we've just had all kinds of things going on with Brent's accusations and the civil suits, bullets were just flying everywhere. It felt like that. And I think at some point the Permanent Board had the thought of: Who is dumb enough to take this role?

Ben Kreps:

And your name immediately sprung to mind.

Mark Prater:

Yeah, Prater's coming up to do this, so...

Ben Kreps:

Yeah. Well, I think I can speak for all the other pastors at Sovereign Grace about how grateful we are that you've agreed to become the Executive Director. You've done an outstanding job. You've served us so well, helping us navigate through a very stormy season--a number of years--into calmer waters. And you continue to serve us. So I'm personally grateful. I imagine all the other pastors at Sovereign Grace would also want to communicate that gratitude to you.

So here's the deal. It's a short podcast and we're done. That's the deal. So the plan will be to do a weekly podcast like this, about eight minutes long, something like that, where we'll give you an opportunity to share thoughts about Sovereign Grace and what you see and how you would want to connect and encourage the pastors. So we'll plan on doing another one next week.

Mark Prater:

Great. Looking forward to it.

Ben Kreps:

Yeah, looking forward to it. See you then.

If you have questions or comments, Mark, would love to hear from you. For more videos like this, hit subscribe on YouTube or by email at markkprater.com.

Transcript:

Eric Turbedsky: Hey, my name is Eric Turbedsky, Director of Communications for Sovereign Grace Churches, and I'm here with our Executive Director, Mark Prater on his podcast, which is about getting you what you need to be part of our global family of churches. And today I want to hear from Mark a little update: How did the conference go? What kind of things would you look at to evaluate the conference? Tell us some things that surprised you from the conference. It was a great conference Mark. Thanks for leading us. What were your thoughts? 

Mark Prater:  Well thanks. Thanks for asking. I thought the conference went really well. It actually went better than I'd hoped. I mean, you pray, but God always does more than you ask or even think to ask him. So I'm very grateful to God for how the conference went overall. 

Some highlights for me were: 

-People traveling from 18 different countries to be here in the States was so encouraging. 

-I was very affected (I know a lot of people told me they were as well) on Wednesday night, before we started singing to have Psalm 1:17 read in eight different languages. It just makes the gospel big. It reminds us that the gospel transcends racial, cultural, and language barriers and saves people from tribe, tongue, and nation. So that was so encouraging. 

-The preaching was outstanding. And we could spend a whole podcast talking about the preaching. 

-One of the things that surprised me in a good way was the interest meetings that were held throughout the conference. We had a church planting luncheon where we had 16 guys who are interested in planting a church with Sovereign Grace. It's actually the largest church planning interest meeting that we've had over the last six years. So that was a surprise, and very encouraging. 

-That luncheon was packed out. It was led by the national church planting group. And I heard back from Mike Seaver in particular who said that these guys were engaged. He said he could hardly eat his lunch cause they're just asking him all kinds of questions about how to plant with Sovereign Grace. So in a time when people might be thinking who wants to plant with Sovereign Grace, we're actually finding the opposite to be true. 

-The other thing that was encouraging was on Wednesday afternoon we had the Pastors College interests meeting and that room was packed out. We had to bring more chairs to accommodate the interest there. And there's just this increased interest from people who attended the conference to actually apply to the Pastors College next year. So that was really encouraging. And that same afternoon we had an evangelism meeting led by Mickey Connolly and Jim Donohue and those guys were telling me that room was packed out, and we had to bring chairs into that room as well. 

So that was all just a pleasant surprise that I think gives you a little bit of an idea of where we might be as a denomination. That's a picture of health in some sense you can measure. So that was encouraging. 

Eric Turbedsky: Well those are all outward reaching and expanding. We're chasing the gospel as it works. It felt big on whatever that was Wednesday night when all the languages, people just reading Scripture in different languages. But if you think church planting, Pastors College, so training for the future, and evangelism... it is really encouraging to think all my friends are looking outward and wanting to build and take risks for the expansion of the gospel. That's really encouraging. 

The room seems really big at our conference. This would be a question for everyone that was there this week. Is there a reason why all the chairs are zip-tied together and we're not allowed to spread them apart? Do you know anything about this Mark? And what are you going to do about it? 

Mark Prater: I didn't know they were zip-tied actually, so that's good to know. Last year we were in a smaller room and so we requested that bigger room because it felt like we were too packed in last year. So we moved over to this bigger room. I think we can make some adjustments: either bringing the stage out a little bit more or not zip tying the chairs so people can move around. I'll make sure that gets fixed. 

Eric Turbedsky: I also heard that there were a lot of silver alerts.. explain to those that are still lost that we're looking for them. So we learned there. And I don't think this was ever an issue in the past with Sovereign Grace Churches, but these silver alerts in Florida... 

Mark Prater:  Yeah. The silver alerts are something Mickey mentioned in the panel that he learned about, which is just folks that are a bit older who get confused and lost and they can't find their way. We had some of those at the conference. So it also tells us how we're moving from the first generation to the second generation, hopefully in Sovereign Grace. 

Eric Turbedsky: Do you expect anything--any big expectations for next year, thinking ahead of the conference? What would be different next year? Obviously maybe some different speakers or topics or whatever, but is there anything, in particular, you're thinking next year? 

Mark Prater: I think we'll look at different speakers because that can be helpful. One of the pieces of feedback I got was how well Josh Blount preached at his very first conference. 

Eric Turbedsky: We call him the Jeff Purswell of the West Coast, even though he lives in West Virginia. 

Mark Prater: Right. He's close enough. His state is called West Virginia. So you can claim it. I get it. He just did a great job. 

So a piece of feedback is: There are guys that we don't typically hear from that have that kind of gifting and ability. And so that's one of the things I would be thinking through in the year to come is other guys like him. I would have Josh speak again, obviously, but, I want to think about other guys, for example. 

And we didn't have CJ speak this year, so I want to most likely ask him again. I think it's good to hear from our founder. So that, that'd be something I'd be thinking about. 

The other thing is to continue to look for times of just praying for one another. We did that a little bit on Wednesday night and I'm wondering if there's another place in the conference to do that because it's an opportunity for pastors and wives to be cared for. Typically they're caring for others, but this is a conference where they can be cared for. So I'd be looking for those. There may be one additional opportunity there for next year. 

Eric Turbedsky: I have grown to appreciate it as I've been a pastor additional years and adding those years up that our Pastors Conference is still about word and prayer, which is just so appropriate for men and who are giving their lives to the ministry of the word and prayer to come be ministered to. So thank you for how you lead us Mark. I'm grateful. I think most of us, if not all of us, went home really happy. Thanks for the update. Thanks for being a part of Sovereign Grace Churches. Hopefully this serves you. Until we meet again.

If you have questions or comments, Mark, would love to hear from you. For more videos like this, hit subscribe on YouTube or by email at markkprater.com.

Transcript:

Eric Turbedsky: Hey, my name is Eric Turbedsky, Director of Communications for Sovereign Grace Churches, and I'm here with our Executive Director Mark Prater on his podcast, which is all about getting you ready and all you need to enjoy being part of our global family of churches. And this coming week is an exciting week, Mark, as we look forward to our Pastors' Conference. 

Mark Prater: Yeah. I can't wait. This is my favorite conference for a number of different reasons. And I'm especially excited about this conference. Let me just give you a few reasons why. First of all, just knowing that we have people traveling from—I believe it's 16 or 17 different nations to be there together—is a picture of the gospel and how the gospel unites us all in Christ. So we've got actually an evening plan on Wednesday evening where Bob Kauflin and Roberto Estupinian are going to lead singing together. We'll probably sing a couple of worship songs in Spanish, and I believe we're going to start that with a Scripture reading that will be done in several different languages. It'll be a visual reminder and an audio reminder when we hear the Scripture read of how Christ unites us from every tribe, tongue, and nation. And we're all represented in that room. So that's one of the reasons I'm excited is just the people traveling from different nations. 

Also, I'm very excited about the sermons—the main session messages—that you're going to hear that I believe will strengthen us. And we're going to end the conference with Rick Gamache reminding us that the sole purpose of life and ministry—the sole motivation of life and ministry—is the glory of God. 

Also just being together. I consistently get this feedback after every conference, every year, from guests who say this: I have never been around such a joyful group of pastors and wives. And there will be joy in that room because we love one another and we love being together. And I can't wait to be with you when we gather in Orlando. 

Eric Turbedsky: Oh, it is always just a wonderful time. Sometimes I go kicking and screaming. I don't want to leave my home and my family and church. But I always return really happy and always very encouraged to see its effect (the conference, every year) on the entire pastoral team of leaders and our church as we transfer all those things as we're being refreshed and encouraged and taught and bringing that all back to our local churches. So I'm really looking forward to it. 

Okay. So we call it the Pastors Conference. And to be clear, Mark, does "pastors" have an apostrophe like as in a possessive pastors' conference? How do you spell the pastors' conference? Guys want to know. Actually the Communication Director who wants to know. 

Mark Prater: It's a big debate actually in Sovereign Grace. You've got your grammar geeks who have an opinion on it. Actually we're gonna go with: Both are appropriate in Sovereign Grace. 

Eric Turbedsky: Oh, that's wishy-washy. Okay. Very good. Okay. Another one is that historically we've called it the Pastor's Conference or the Leaders' Conference. Why is it called the Pastors Conference? And the reason I'm asking because many of us are bringing our wives.

Mark Prater: Actually, to be more accurate we should call it our pastors and wives conference. But we call it a pastors' conference because it is a conference designed to serve and strengthen and equip and love on the pastors in Sovereign Grace Churches. And all of our guests who are pastors (or those who are in leadership in churches), we want to do the same for. But the ladies coming is so important because... Let me, just begin with this: why it's important for your wife to come if she's able is because I can't do what I do without Jill. And I think probably every pastor in Sovereign Grace would say that they can't do what they do in pastoring their church and leading their church without their wife. 

That doesn't mean you can't be single as a pastor. Please keep your theology right. But our wives are so key and so important to what we do as pastors for a number of different reasons. So the conference is a place for wives to come and to be encouraged and to be strengthened and to be cared for. 

There are certain aspects to pastoral ministry that wives experience very uniquely, that are sometimes difficult to talk about with members of the church. Not that you can't, but it all doesn't translate because they just don't have that experience. But you're coming to a conference where other wives are there and you can talk about some of the challenges in ministry and you know that person understands and can give you wise counsel and pray for you. 

So there's not just the care that we want to bring as a leadership team in the way we think about a conference. There's just being together with other wives and other women and talking about some of the challenges, not only in ministry but in your home as well. You can do so in a way that you can kind of let your hair down and speak very freely and yet receive very good care. So I just encourage wives to come partly for that reason. 

Eric Turbedsky: How do you prepare Jill for the conference? So Jill is going to go, and obviously you have a different role than many of us (or all of us) have. You're the only one that's the Executive Director, so you relate to all of us in a different way. But for the average pastor in Sovereign Grace Churches, yeah, your wife is coming. How do you prepare for the conference? 

And I'm thinking in particular many times: I'm busy. And so my wife is trying to navigate the conference without me at moments. But both the messages that are often directed towards pastors (and she's not a pastor, she's a pastor's wife) but as well sometimes she'll be without her pastor during the conference... What are some of the things you talk about with Jill before you go? 

Mark Prater: I have the advantage of seeing the registration report. So I've got a pretty good idea of who's coming. So I'm letting her know that she's going to see people that she's familiar with but doesn't talk to very often and just encourage her to look for them and engage them. I also let her know about guests that are coming and if they're bringing their wives and tell her, boy, I want you to meet so-and-so's wife. So Jeffrey Joe, who's not a Sovereign Grace pastor at the moment is bringing his wife, Virginia, literally from the Philippines this year. I'm telling Jill, I want an opportunity to introduce you to Virginia so that she has a chance to engage our guests and I want to prepare her for that. 

And then also, I have the advantage of seeing the sermons before they're preached and I'm telling her what's going to be preached and how it could really have application to what we're facing together as a couple or in our home or even in our church and just to help prepare her for it—for the sermons and how to receive from them and benefit from them. 

But the other thing I do with Jill: I think you've got to study your wife. I mean, that's something that CJ I think has taught us over the years so well. Study your wife. Know, your wife. And when I think about Jill, she brings joy into any situation she's in, typically. So I'm encouraging her to engage as many people as she can, because her joy just kind of spills out of her and can be contagious. A lot of times actually I'm waiting on her to leave the room to go back to our sleeping room because there are more people lined up to talk to her than to talk to me quite frankly—which I completely understand. She's a joy to be around. 

Eric Turbedsky: Okay, one last question is this: What do you say to the wife or the pastor who would like to have brought his wife to the conference, but they're church planting and they don't have much of a budget or they've got lots of young children and they can't make it, but they're not going to be there. How can they take advantage of the conference even though they're not there? And obviously being there is a big part of it. 

Mark Prater: It is. Well, a couple of things come to mind. I think if you're there without your wife, call her right after a session where you've got a few moments and just tell her what happened. I think most of our wives just really like to hear updates on the testimony that was shared. Carlos Contreras is going to be giving an update about Mexico next week and you're just going to love that. So call and tell your wife what he said. Tell her about the sermon that you heard and how you've benefited from it and you can't wait to get back home to listen to it with her so you can discuss it. 

Which is the second thing I would do is: Once you get back home make some time to listen to the sermons if you can together. I know that's really hard, but certainly if you can't, then have her listen to it or watch it on video, and then take some time to discuss it. 

And I think one other thing that does come to mind: You will encounter other ladies who are going to ask about your wife and how she's doing. Make sure your wife knows that those women asked about her, because that can just be a meaningful connection and make it more personal, even though she's not at the conference. 

Eric Turbedsky: Oh, that's good. Those are encouraging notes when people remember you and notice when you're not there. And there sure are going to be women in different seasons that are making a huge contribution locally. And some of that is seasons, just caring for young children or caring for aging parents and just can't leave. And we want them to feel the effects of our union together and our fellowship as pastors and partners in the gospel. 

Very helpful, Mark. Thanks so much. Thanks for your leadership. Good stuff. Until the next episode when we'll meet again, thanks for watching. Thanks for being our partners in the gospel and Sovereign Grace Churches. 

If you have questions or comments, Mark, would love to hear from you. For more videos like this, hit subscribe on YouTube or by email at markkprater.com.