at New City Presbyterian Church in
Chattanooga, Tennessee. Because training the church to show mercy
is both a privilege and responsibility of discipling people for
kingdom service, mercy ministry becomes a tangible way for
churches to put hands and feet on the gospel of the kingdom.
The conference had four main objectives:
1. To mobilize compassionate leadership in our
churches.
2. To equip congregations to pass on a biblical
legacy of leadership characterized by mercy.
3. To understand that justice is a biblical
imperative.
4. To develop an integrated approach to ministry
so that mercy permeates the entire church.
How successful and effective was the conference in
accomplishing those objectives? Curt Moore, Assistant
Pastor/Disaster Response Assistant at Lagniappe Presbyterian
Church in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi gave the following statement:
“I believe this year was the best Mercy Conference
because of the real and practical ways we were encouraged to
participate in showing mercy to those in need. It was also an
encouragement to hear what God is doing and the diverse ways He is
mobilizing His church. With regard to the content, the plenary and
break out sessions were led by people who knew what they were
talking about and communicated well God’s vision and passion for
mercy. Unlike some conferences where you go home and put your
notes on the shelf, this conference gave me the encouragement that
I could really apply what I learned. What I like best was that it
was a very gospel driven, gospel centered conference.”
And others add their comments:
“The plenary speakers were excellent. They were
helpful to me personally.”
“An excellent conference with a lot to take back
to our church and implement.”
“Definitely one of the high points in my Christian
walk.”
“The conferences are impacting my church directly
and my community positively.”
“The quality of the speakers and the variety of
workshops was just excellent.”
“I wish we could have this kind of mercy ministry
conference every year.”
CEP and MNA know this is a crucial time for
churches to develop ministries that will be effective during our
tough economic times. The 2009 Mercy Ministries Conference offered
a program that was pertinent to our current situation. During the
plenary sessions, Dr. Bob Burns of Covenant Theological Seminary
spoke on Restoring Hope to the Family. Tara Barthel from
Rocky Mountain Community Church and Peacemakers Ministry delivered
the Friday morning plenary on Living the Gospel in
Relationships. Randy Nabors, pastor of New City Presbyterian
Church, spoke on The Story of Mercy; and Julian Russell of
Park City Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas, gave the closing
plenary on Kingdom Instructions for Mercy. For a complete
list of workshop sessions, check out www.pcacep.org/mercy.
The New City staff, worship team, and members did
an outstanding job of hosting and contributing to the overall
success of the conference. During the Friday night session,
participants also enjoyed a mini concert from James Ward and the
New City Church choir.
CEP Coordinator Charles Dunahoo reminded
conference attendees that while the church has been losing ground
in the past ten years, it has an opportunity to regain some of its
ground by demonstrating integrity and seriousness about its
challenge to disciple its people with a kingdom perspective that
requires mercy and service. Referring to an article in USA
Today regarding depression caused by the current economic
crisis, Dunahoo expressed that the church as God’s messenger of
the good news of the kingdom is the answer; but the world has to
see that it is real, and young people have to be serious about
making a difference in today’s world.
If you were not able to attend this year’s
conference, you can still benefit from the array of pertinent and
beneficial speakers. All the plenary sessions and seminars are
available on CD from the CEP Bookstore at www.cepbookstore.com.
— Staff Writer
Second
Quarter 2009