Building Gospel Partnerships in Europe

An update from Ed O'Mara, SGC Area Leader for Europe...

The steady decline of Christian witness, liberalization and ongoing extinction of gospel-preaching local churches, and fragmentation amongst once vibrant denominations have made for a dark spiritual climate in Europe. Pastors often feel alone in their call. Interdependency plays a vital role in nourishing healthy churches and supporting pastors. We need one another, and when we say this we mean that our conviction is not simply “association” but “partnership.” We believe in being bound together in shared values and vision to press forward our commission, jointly defend biblical doctrines we hold dear, and encourage one another in our walk as pastors.

In Europe, we are beginning the exciting steps of establishing this sort of meaningful partnership as part of the Sovereign Grace Churches family. For this reason, from 12-15 March, 14 men from various European nations gathered near Milan for our second annual SGC European Pastors Retreat. The retreat was divided into two portions in which the first half of the retreat focused on building strong SGC partnership structures. We began by fostering our relationships and caring for one another. We then moved to charting a path forward for future development. We do not take for granted that we have inherited robust partnership structures from our SGC family. Yet we also know we have a responsibility to apply these to our European context. As such, we talked through what a European BCO might look like, and how we would proceed with church planting evaluations, ordinations, and adjudications in ways that take ownership for a maturing SGC-Europe.

This post first appeared on the Sovereign Grace Missions blog on April 3, 2024.