Please pray for Trinity Fellowship Pastors College in Ethiopia and for Josh Pannell, Dean of the College, as they begin their first year.

From Josh Pannell:

“Michael and I have long prayed that Trinity Fellowship would be a training ground for the next generation of Ethiopian pastors. And to our joy, God is answering those prayers, and he’s doing it much quicker than we expected. He’s brought to our church many men who show giftings and qualifications for elders. After 20 months of praying, fasting, and seeking counsel, we’ve decided to establish a pastors college as a ministry of Trinity Fellowship. Similar to the SGPC in Louisville, the Trinity Fellowship Pastors College will seek to train future pastors in both “life and doctrine” (1 Tim 4:16). 

Over a 12 month period, each student will complete 40 one-week block courses covering topics of both theological and practical ministry. God has given us professors from the US, Canada, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia who will travel to Addis to teach these classes. We’ve also established a partnership with Union School of Theology in Wales which will allow our graduates to receive accredited diplomas as well as credits towards an MTh from Union upon graduation. 

As Addis Ababa is a very international city, we’re glad that TFPC’s first class will host students from 5 different countries. Many of them are men Michael has been building relationships with for several years. If I were to speak of all the qualifications of these men, this email would easily double in length. Let it suffice for me to tell you a story of just two men: Brian and Mohammed.”

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Dave Taylor is Director of Emerging Nations for Sovereign Grace Churches and serves as the lead pastor of Sovereign Grace Church, Sydney, Australia.

Josh Pannell is the Dean of the Ethiopian Pastors College and serves as a pastor at Trinity Fellowship in Addis Ababa.

The full post Launching Our Ethiopian Pastors College originally appeared on the Emerging Nations blog on July 6, 2021. Emerging Nations exists to serve the pioneering work of Sovereign Grace Churches around the world.

https://unsplash.com/@claybanks

On the weekly podcast that is sent to our pastors, our host Benjamin Kreps always begins with “Welcome to the Mark Prater podcast where our aim is to connect our global family of churches to our Executive Director.”

Recently, Ben commented on his introduction and asked an important question:

“Mark, I always say "family of churches" when introducing this podcast, because that's what we aim to be. That's what historically we've enjoyed together. We want to preserve that relational way of building together as family. We've talked a lot over the past number of months about church planting, about global partnership agreements, and churches being adopted and brought in, and that sort of thing. So potentially a lot of growth in the days ahead, as a denomination, as a family of churches. What are your thoughts about the way that we build relationally and that value we have in Sovereign Grace?

It's an important question that if God allows us to grow and it looks like he's going to do that, how do we maintain that value of building relationally?

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Mark Prater is the Executive Director for Sovereign Grace and serves as an elder at Covenant Fellowship Church.

The full post We Are a Family of Churches appeared on the Mark Prater blog on September 6, 2021.

Photo: @jontyson

One of the ways that we love, care for, and serve one another as a family of churches is to pray regularly for one another. In his book, A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and his Prayers, D.A. Carson says that Paul’s ministry is “designed first and foremost to serve the people of God; and to this he is passionately committed. And that passion shapes the prayers he utters on their behalf.” In like manner, may our passion to serve one another in Sovereign Grace shape the prayers we make for one another. Thanks for praying.

Third Quarter 2021 Prayer Requests

• Pray that God would give the members and pastors of Sovereign Grace churches opportunities to share the gospel with unbelievers in our communities and workplaces.

• Pray for Christ Church in Conroe, TX, a church that was recently adopted by Sovereign Grace, asking God to provide for them, and give them opportunities to share the gospel in the Conroe area.

• Pray for Bob Kauflin as he leads a regional “Life Together Conference” at Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills, PA September 2-4, 2021. Pray for the members and pastors of Sovereign Grace churches who will attend from the Northeast and Mid- Atlantic regions asking God to strengthen and encourage them.

• Pray for our new Pastors College students and their families who will be moving to Louisville, KY before classes start at the end of August, asking God to provide for them and to give them grace to grow over the next year while at the PC.

• Pray for Michael Granger and Josh Pannell as they launch the Ethiopia Pastors College at Trinity Fellowship in Addis, Ababa, Ethiopia on September 1, 2021, asking God to give them wisdom, provide for the students, and to equip the students and their families for future ministry responsibilities.

• Pray for Songhwan Kang, Sr. Pastor of Lord’s Grace Church in Seoul, South Korea. They recently moved into a new location, so pray that God would give them opportunities to reach their new community with the gospel.

• Pray for our churches in Australia who currently can’t meet on Sunday’s because of COVID asking God to grant them perseverance and sustaining grace.

• Pray that God would continue to provide financially for Sovereign Grace Churches so that we can fund the gospel opportunities He is giving us throughout the world.

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Mark Prater is the Executive Director for Sovereign Grace and serves as an elder at Covenant Fellowship Church.

Earlier this month, the Pastors College held its 22nd annual graduation exercises. It was a great joy to celebrate with these students and their families, who had left the routine and familiar to invest their lives in a rigorous course of study, training, and personal growth—all in order to glorify Christ and serve his church. This year’s class comprised 10 students from six different churches in three states,  including one international student. These couples brought with them 14 children—two of which were born just prior to arriving in Louisville. One student—Josh Varnedoe (who arrived with his new bride Melanie three days after their wedding!)—was a 2nd generation PC student; his father Howard, an elder in our Franklin, TN church, graduated from the Pastors College in 2000. 

Once again, we marveled in observing the grace of God in the lives of these students and their families. And once again, it was sad to say goodbye to yet another group of folks who had become dearly loved friends. But we do so with great faith, eager to observe all the ways the Lord will use them to proclaim the gospel, to strengthen local churches, and to care for countless others in this nation and beyond. 

Congratulations to the 2021 Pastors College graduates! 

Please pray for them as they relocate and serve in local Sovereign Grace churches:

• Kevin and Beth Busch: serving at Living Hope Church, Middletown, PA

• Jake and Ellen Cronin: serving at Cornerstone Church of Knoxville, TN

• Edgar and Abby Flores: serving at Iglesia Gracia Soberana in Juarez, MX

• Taylor and Elisabeth Hollingsworth: serving at Trinity Grace Church in Athens, TN

• Austin and Bekah Jones: serving at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville, KY

• Nick and Happy Kidwell: serving at Covenant Fellowship Church, Glen Mills, PA

• Andrew and Lauren Maples: serving in a Sovereign Grace Church – location TBA

• Ethan and Meagan Montesinos: serving at Redeeming Grace Church, Franklin, TN

• Josh and Melanie Varnedoe: serving at Cornerstone Church of Knoxville, TN

• Reid Williamson: serving at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville, KY

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Jeff Purswell is the Director of Theology and Training for Sovereign Grace Churches and the dean of the Sovereign Grace Pastor's College. He also serves as an elder at Sovereign Grace Church in Louisville, KY.

Photo by Brett Zeck

As a Sovereign Grace Leadership Team, we’ve been working on the ‘Global Partnership Plan’ for about six months. We presently have about 75 Churches outside of the US pursuing adoption into Sovereign Grace Churches. By continent, there are 11 churches in Latin America, 4 in Europe/Belarus, 17 in Africa and 43 in Asia pursuing adoption. Planning for global expansion has been a significant focus of our time.

Mark Prater, our Executive Director, explains the exciting developments on his blog:

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Dave Taylor is Director of Emerging Nations for Sovereign Grace Churches and serves as the lead pastor of Sovereign Grace Church, Sydney. He resides in Australia with his wife Emma and their five children.

The full post Global Partnership Update originally appeared on the Emerging Nations blog on May 5, 2021. Emerging Nations exists to serve the pioneering work of Sovereign Grace Churches around the world.

Over the past few months, I’ve posted a series of articles that shaped our understanding of Biblical counseling, with more to come.  In the next two months, starting with this article, I will be highlighting books that shaped two of our shared values: complementarianism and gospel-centeredness - C.J. Mahaney’s The Cross Centered Life and Carolyn Mahaney’s Feminine Appeal: Seven Virtues of A Godly Wife and Mother.

Part of my motivation for reintroducing some of this older material has to do with the fact that I have only a few more months to serve as Director of Church Development, and there are certain things I want to make sure to leave behind.  I’m not indulging in a nostalgic longing for the past or a desire to return to “the good old days.”  Rather I have a sincere desire to make sure that those who have been around for a while don’t lose touch with this material and that those who are newer and those yet to come will benefit from these invaluable pieces of our history.

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The Cross Centered Life is available in paperback, hardcover, as an ebook, and translated in Spanish. Order here or purchase through Sovereign Grace Churches by contacting karen.ballinger@sovereigngrace.com.

This post originally appeared on the SGC Church Development blog as A Rich Gospel History?? A Rich Gospel Future!!, on May 10, 2021.

Mickey Connolly is the Director of Church Development on the Leadership Team of Sovereign Grace Churches, the Mid-South Regional Leader, and serves as an elder at Crossway Community Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.