We offer this edition of Equip for Ministry with the hopes and prayers that God will use it some way to encourage you in your spiritual growth and help your church develop its ministry. This is a tremendously important time in the life of the church. I recently studied the survey done jointly by Newsweek and Beliefnet regarding “spirituality in America” (Newsweek Sept 5. 2005).

While the findings were consistent with other surveys we have studied, one issue impressed on me once again is people are interested in “spirituality,” but this is not necessarily to be equated with a high interest in religion. I was deeply concerned to read from the survey that 68% of the evangelicals surveyed did not believe that Christ was the only way to salvation.

Pluralism has become so ingrained in our culture that even those who call themselves evangelicals have been “squeezed into the worlds mold and customs.” According to the survey, “79% believe that someone of another faith can attain salvation or go to heaven.” The article states that “spirituality,” or the impulse to seek communion with the Divine, is thriving.

One of the concerns surfacing in reading the current trends is the need to preach and teach the Word with greater clarity and to go the extra mile, if that is what it takes, to connect the dots for the people to whom we minister. When I read these kinds of statistics or look at Gallup and Lindsey’s, Christian Smith’s, or George Barna’s work, I have to conclude that evangelicals are not trying to go that extra mile. Maybe we are making wrong assumptions and trying to convince ourselves that our people automatically know what we are talking about, when in reality they are saying to themselves, “so what?”

Of the many conclusions I could draw from this, two stand out. First, we must preach and teach the Word faithfully and consistently. There should never be a doubt in anyone that it is not God’s Word being set forth. The second conclusion is the Bible must be taught and preached with a life-transforming thrust. People must understand the consequences of hearing and being taught the Word. There must be more than a hearing of the Word - there must be the accompanying application of that Word in our daily lives. Kingdom disciples are transformed into people whose target is set on doing God’s will. There are fruits or deeds that must accompany the Word or it will not take hold and grow the church or expand the kingdom.

I am also convinced, as I study the rising generation, one of the reasons they have found it so easy to drop out of church or look to other avenues to meet their spiritual needs is because they have not seen the church working very well and making that much of a difference. Remember, the rising generation is the “so what?” generation. The whole concept of diaconal or mercy ministries has become the church’s opportunity to rise to the occasion. After following the events of the recent hurricane disasters along the Gulf Coast, and seeing churches respond openly and generously, the churches are to be commended for adding deeds of mercy to their professions of faith. I believe that will make a key difference in the attitude of the rising generation regarding the church.

For several years, Christian Education and Publications has offered seminars to churches on diaconal ministries, sometimes including mercy ministries. In recent years, CE&P and Mission to North America have teamed up to stage three diaconal ministry conferences for the denomination. It has been encouraging to me recently to hear several comments such as, “our church is more sensitized and better prepared to respond to some of the disasters because of that emphasis.” That is what it is all about! Doing the Word - word and deed ministry.

The lead article by Amy Sherman is another story of mercy ministry from one of our PCA churches, Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama. The church lives in the tension of doing good deeds to gain the attention and praise of men, but at the same time to “let your light shine so that man seeing your good works will glorify our father in Heaven.”

We offer this story to you not just to let you know what this church is doing to make a kingdom difference in Huntsville, but to plant some seeds to help you see the opportunities that God has set before you at this time. This is just one story among so many which we have mentioned from time to time in our seminars and conferences, highlighted in our monthly Bulletin Supplement and sometimes on the website of CE&P and MNA.

With a general diaconal/mercy ministry theme in this issue, we have highlighted one topic from our training manual Serving and Challenging Seniors. With the able assistance of Dr. George Fuller, CE&P now offers training and resources to encourage churches to be equipped to minister to senior citizens as well as create opportunities for ministry for them.

We have selected several books we believe are important for you to be aware of and serve as helpful resources for ministry. We have selected a couple of well-written commentaries, books that can help you understand topics such as midlife crisis, and knowing how to talk with skeptics, doubters, and cynics.

We also chose to include a book on American evangelicalism for several reasons. We need to understand who we are, where we have come from, where we are now, and what do we need to know about the future as “evangelical and reformed people.” Another reason for including and recommending The American Evangelical Story, A History of the Movement, is that evangelicals have struggled to have a biblical view of the kingdom of God and the church’s ministry. The evangelical story in America has fallen into traps that greatly damaged the church’s witness. We must learn from those mistakes, as well as know how to recognize the opportunity to be the church and to extend God’s kingdom both locally and globally.

There are announcements of key conferences and other resources available to local churches and their members. Be sure and check the CE&P website - www.pcacep.org - for more information on those ministries and resources. The Presbyterian Church in American and Christian Education and Publications are not about us but about God and his kingdom. We are here to serve his purpose to this generation by passing on to the next generations, by word and deed, the truth about God, his power, and might. We pray that this issue of EfM will be a blessing and a challenge to you as we close out another year and anticipate opportunities for 2006. Remember, we are available to assist you in your training and resource needs.

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