Horizon

The Horizon Conference is off to a great start this week. There are 350 students and leaders from 27 different ARP Churches. Horizon is the High School conference run by Christian Education Ministries. Rev. Derek Wells, Greenville ARP, is bringing the message while Crossings Community Worship
Team leads the music. Please be in prayer for the staff, leaders and students this week.

Be sure to tag #ARPMagazine in your photos through social media.

150 Years

The ARP Magazine is celebrating 150 years of sharing the Good News! Click on the image to the left to watch a short video (less than 2 minutes) to tell you more about the magazine.

Looking for…

Steeple for Sale

Beautiful used steeple for sale, made by Schafer Manufacturing. Cost $34,000 new in 1992. High tensile white fiberglass exterior that never needs painting. Composite steel and fiberglass support structures internal. Assembly can be in three pieces bolted together. Overall height is 55’ and the base is 10’ x 10’. The total weight is 2400 lbs. Can be interior lighted with translucent windows. Copper ground cable is included.

Cost: $10,000 OR buyer pays for professional removal costs.

Call Sovereign Grace Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, NC: 704.553.9600

When in Boone NC

Worship @ Brookside ARP Church, 1122 Old 421 South (off Hwy 421 S, turn @ Nissan dealer, 1 mile on right)  The Lord’s Day  11AM

Full Time Pastor

Covenant ARP Church, Statesville, NC is seeking a full time pastor. Please contact Ronald Gadish, rrgadish@hotmail.com or 704-873-0993

Burial Plots

Burial plots for sale including vaults for $1000 at Northlake Memorial Gardens, 11001 Alexandriana Rd. Huntersville, NC 25078. Contact: D. Symns, dsyms1@gmail.com or 605-630-0393.

Summer Updates

Please be in prayer for those at the Quest Conference this week. There are 365 students and leaders from 29 different ARP Churches represented. Quest is the Middle School conference run by Christian Education Ministries and held at Bonclarken Conference Center in Flat Rock, NC. Pray as the Lord works in the lives of these youth.

Also, pray for the various Vacation Bible Schools this summer at our ARP Churches.

Be sure to tag ARP Magazine in your photos through social media. #ARPmagazine

ONA/ARPC AND FAITH FOR LIVING, INC. PARTNERSHIP FOR THE D. JAMES KENNEDY INSTITUTE FOR REFORMED LEADERSHIP

[Greenville, SC] – Outreach North America and Faith for Living are pleased to announce the official partnership launch of the D. James Kennedy Institute for Reformed Leadership.

The D. James Kennedy Institute was founded by Dr. Michael A. Milton in 2013 when the Kennedy family entrusted him with the name of the late pastor and evangelist for ministry to pastors and other church leaders. The late pastor’s daughter, Jennifer Kennedy Cassidy, announced the DJK Institute at an event at the Ronald Reagan Ranch in Santa Barbara, California.

The ministry was fine-tuned as Milton was studying in the School of Government at UNC Chapel Hill as an Army Chaplain. Milton, a Presbyterian minister, educator, and former pastoral intern under Dr. Kennedy at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, researched a growing trend of clergy problems that often led to leaving the ministry. He turned a major portion of his Master of Public Administration into a plan for reversing that trend through the DJK Institute’s “pastors-in-residence” fellowship.

Milton explained: “The model is quite simply to create a vocational residency much like a medical residency. Pastoral students just out of seminary go to their first pastoral assignment. While there, they enroll with the DJK Institute in a “pastors-in-residency” fellowship. The resident then cultivates twelve core competencies through online lectures of distinguished Senior Fellows, under the supervision of a senior minister in the church or in the community, and with a Senior Fellow with the DJK Institute. The resident also must go through theological reflection on the practice of that competency (e.g., visitation or counseling) with a peer, his family, and online with other fellows in a guided discussion group. The goal is sustainable pastoral health and congregational health.”

Milton went on to explain that the relationship with Outreach North America, the “home missions” arm of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARPC), an evangelical Presbyterian denomination, allowed the ministry to have a home “within the Church, which is where it should be.” Moreover, he sees the DJK Institute as serving the broader Church. Pastors can earn credit through Erskine Theological Seminary for work done at the DJK Institute. This can count towards further postgraduate education.

Rev. Mike Jones, Executive Director of ONA commented, “We are thrilled to offer this residency for new ministers. It fills a vital place in the shaping of men to “to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands” (2 Tim. 1:6). Those who complete the DJK Institute will gain invaluable knowledge, insight and wisdom from those who have gone before them in ministry. This type of guided mentoring was the practice of the early Church but has been somewhat lost in the academic rigors of modern seminary education. The institute’s goal is to mate the knowledge learned in the classroom with practical training for ministry, thus producing ministry wisdom. ONA is humbly proud to be a partner in continuing the legacy of Dr. D. James Kennedy.”

Those interested in learning more about the DJK Institute can go to djkleader.org. The first cohort group of pastoral residents is slated to begin in September 2018.

The D. James Kennedy Institute for Reformed Leadership is a partnership ministry of Faith for Living and Outreach North America seeking to shepherd the shepherds that shepherd the flock for sustainable spiritual health in pastors and their families, as well as in congregations throughout North America.

Contact: Erin Hipps, Outreach North America, ehipps@arpsynod.org | 864-467-1800

General Synod 2017

Pre Synod

Hosted by Outreach North America, Moderator Lee Shelnutt and the Committee on Campus Ministry, Pre Synod kicked off the week on Monday night with keynote speaker Ed Stetzer and music from Jeremy Casella part of Indelible Grace.

Dr. Stetzer is the Executive Director of the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism. He has planted, revitalized and pastored churches, trained pastors and church planters on six continents and has written dozens of articles and books.

Dr. Stetzer said that as Christians we must/should obey commands. There are four commissions of Jesus.

1. We are sent (John 20:19). Just like the Disciples were sent then, we are sent now.
2. To all different kinds of people (Matthew 28). When we read nations, we think different countries but that didn’t exist when Jesus said this. This means all different kinds of people.
3. With a message (Luke 24:46). The Gospel needs to be offered to all.
4. Empowered by the Spirit (Acts 1:6).

Dr. Stetzer closed the session with a time of Q & A followed by a Hymn sing with Jeremy Casella. Casella is a founding member of the Indelible Grace hymns movement. Drawing from scripture as well as his own life experience. He has toured throughout the United States and Europe for over 18 years, sharing his songs and stories in churches, colleges and anywhere else people are gathered.

Opening Worship

Rev. Patrick Malphrus, vice moderator, began the 213th Synod meeting with 1 Samuel 4:1-11. He described the mess in Israel and how glory had departed from there. From this scripture, it leads us to ask questions about ourselves. Malphrus challenged pastors to ask if there is something or someone they rely on to go to battle for them? Are there things they place equal to God. For non pastors, do they treat pastors as if they are to fight their battles to help grow the church? For the ARP denomination, what do they think will save them? The next big question is, “has the glory departed from the ARP Church,” Malphrus asked. By God’s grace He is working in the church. We don’t need to rely on anything else.

Dr. Leslie Holmes along with Rev. Malphrus served communion.

Tuesday Synod Business

Retiring Moderator Phil Williams handed over the duty of Moderator to Lee Shelnutt, pastor of Huntersville ARP Church.

Williams says, “I leave the office of Moderator with a charge to each you. Do not wait to be asked, just serve your Church, serve your Presbytery, and serve your Synod. Never forget you are always “Coram Deo” (Before the face of God). Thank you for the great joy, privilege and honor of serving you, His people.

Rev. Shelnutt challenged Synod to not despise the day of small things! There is no need. The Lord is at work, by His Spirit, and one day you will rejoice when you see what He has in store!

To read more about Pre Synod and the General Synod meetings, subscribe to The ARP Magazine  here.

Synod Preparations

For those of you attending the Synod meeting next week, make plans to arrive early for Pre-Synod on Monday, June 5 with Dr. Ed Stetzer speaking. Followed by a Hymn Sing with Jeremy Casella from Indellible Grace! This is a free event, no registration required, starts at 7pm.

Attention Women!

Pastor’s Wives Gathering

Wednesday, June 7, 9:30am in Synodical Hall. No registration needed.

Oasis

Wednesday, June 7, 2pm in Synodical Hall. All women are invited. No registration needed.

Breakfast for Church Planters’ Wives and World Witness Women Missionaries

Thursday, June 8, 9:30am in Synodical Hall.

#ARPsynod2017

Be sure to stay up to date on all Synod events by following The ARP Magazine on social media, using the #ARPsynod2017 or #ARPmagazine.

For those not attending Synod, please be in prayer for the leaders, the meetings, and the conversations outside of the official meetings.

May/June 2017 ARP Magazine

Click on the magazine cover on the left to read the May/June edition of  The ARP Magazine..

Erskine Announces 17th President

The Board of Trustees of Erskine College and Theological Seminary has announced the appointment of Interim President Dr. Robert E. Gustafson, Jr. as 17th president of the institution.

“The Presidential Search Committee is convinced, after observing Dr. Gustafson’s seven months as interim president, that his gifts and abilities perfectly fit Erskine’s current needs,” Board Chairman Sam James said. “Our committee unanimously presented him to the Board of Trustees for approval.”

Gustafson began his work as interim president Nov. 1 upon the retirement of Dr. Paul Kooistra, Erskine’s 16th president.

Interviewed during the first few weeks of his tenure as interim president, Gustafson noted “the resonance of my leadership experiences in secondary education with the college environment,” saying, “Although I worked with students preparing for the college and university world, the daily routines, challenges, and issues of a head of school at that level are strikingly similar to my task at Erskine.”

As head of school at the Stony Brook School, Stony Brook, N.Y., for 15 years, Gustafson was responsible for oversight of a $9 million annual operating budget and more than 100 faculty and staff members. He also served for five years as head of school at Jackson Preparatory School, Jackson Miss.

“Rob Gustafson is a visionary leader with a history of effectiveness in Christian education,” Board Vice Chairman Tom Hellams said. Hellams, who headed the Presidential Search Committee, called Gustafson “a dedicated Christian with a pastor’s heart, a deep thinker, and a lifelong learner, ready to address the challenges of Erskine College and Theological Seminary.”

Erskine’s newly appointed president was educated at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va., where he received the bachelor of arts degree in religious studies; Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Mass., where he was awarded the master of theological studies degree; Columbia University Teachers College, New York, N.Y., where he was the recipient of a Klingenstein Fellowship Grant and earned a master of arts degree in educational administration; and Erskine Theological Seminary, where he received a doctor of ministry degree.

Gustafson and his wife, Marjorie Graham Gustafson, are the parents of two children.

Plans for Gustafson’s inauguration as president will be announced at a later date.

Imogene Covone

Imogene Covone passed away yesterday, May 25. She was a retired missionary to Mexico where they served for thirty five years. She lived in Florida with her daughter Gina. Please pray for her family during this time.

Her son Philip had this to say about her, “She loved like Jesus Christ, forgave as he fed the hungry, gave water to the thirsty, gave clothes to the naked, visited the abandoned on the pressure and hospital; she cared more for others than for herself . To her, there were no strangers, and if anyone talked to her for a minute, she said, ‘my house is your house.’ If one spoke to her once, they never forget it.”

Prayers for Synod 2017

Here is a prayer guide that can be used by individuals, churches, or groups of ARPs to pray for our Synod and the upcoming meeting June 5-8. It is set up as a service, but you can utilize it however bests fits your situation.

Synod 2017 Prayer Guide