Our collection of EWP Talks on Pastoral Leadership explores how local churches can help people cultivate a holistic, integrated embodiment of Christian life and calling. The local church is where the rubber of theological knowledge hits the road of human life, and it is the unique and indispensable role of professional “spokespeople for Christ” to help people follow Jesus with their whole life’s work, and to deploy their congregations as a force for justice and flourishing in their communities.
Here’s a closer look at some of the talks in our Pastoral Leadership collection:
Charlie Self | Faithful Churches Create Flourishing Communities: Righteousness, Peace and Joy
Charlie Self of Assemblies of God Theological Seminary draws together God’s communicable attributes with church experiences from Dallas and Oregon all the way to Sri Lanka and Cambodia, presenting the church’s mission embodying righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit within all the world’s communities.
Consider assigning in: Pastoral Leadership, Theology, Culture, New Testament
Chris Armstrong | God’s People, Christ’s Body, Spirit’s Temple: Being a Sacred Church
What if we’re getting the whole sacred/secular problem backward? Chris Armstrong invites us to rethink what the church really is – a visible sign of invisible grace – before we roll up our sleeves to change the world.
Consider assigning in: Pastoral Leadership, Theology, Spiritual Formation, Ethics, History, New Testament
Vincent Bacote | Sending Disciples to a Pluralistic World: Imagination, Hospitality and Hope
Vincent Bacote of Wheaton College invites us into a more full understanding of how worship can form us for a lives of Christian discipleship in a pluralistic world, marked by imagination, hospitality and hope.
Consider assigning in: Culture, Pastoral Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Ethics
Lisa Slayton, Terry Timm & Deborah Gill | Staying Rooted: Discipling People in the New Economy
In a rapidly changing, globalized economy, how can we help people keep their daily lives rooted in the stability of God’s reality? In this insightful discussion, Deborah Gill of Assemblies of God Theological Seminary interviews two leaders who are on the forefront of developing responses to that question: Lisa Slayton of Tamim Partners and Terry Timm of Christ Community Church of the South Hills. Together they explore how discipleship in the church can effectively cultivate the capacities necessary for faithful work in today’s economy that is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous.
Consider assigning in: Spiritual Formation, Pastoral Leadership, Ethics, Culture
Rachael & Jacob Denhollander | Justice and Vocation: A Conversation with Rachael and Jacob Denhollander
Why has the church uncovered more sexual abuse and exploitation in its ranks than almost any other institution in our society? Why is it so difficult for the church – of all institutions! – to respond to abuse with justice and mercy? And what does justice have to do with vocation? In this powerful video, Rachael and Jacob Denhollander speak theologically and practically of the urgent call to the church today to protect the vulnerable. They discuss the atonement, eschatology, vocation and a right understanding of the role of pastoral leadership, showing that justice is woven together with everything the church is and does. Patrick Smith of Duke Divinity School moderates the discussion.
Consider assigning in: Ethics, Pastoral Leadership, Theology, Culture, Spiritual Formation
Christopher Brooks | Rethinking Urban Poverty: Context, Data and Collaboration
Christopher Brooks of Moody Theological Seminary, merging theology with his pastoral experience in Detroit, argues that poverty need not be permanent; the truth of the gospel and the imperatives of discipleship demand constructive solutions to poverty.
Consider assigning in: Pastoral Leadership, Ethics, Culture
Jules Martinez | Reconciled to Reconcile: Making the Kingdom Visible in a Divided World
When the church is divided by ethnic separation and political polarization, the kingdom of God is revealed less fully to our neighbors, and has a gravely diminished impact on communities. In this powerful and personal talk, Jules Martinez of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School points us toward essential kingdom virtues and practices that help local churches grow together and make the kingdom visible and effective.
Consider assigning in: Ethics, Pastoral Leadership, Culture, Spiritual Formation
And More:
Tom Nelson | If We Would Be Faithful: Fruitfulness Matters
Anthony Bradley | Christian Personalism: How to Preach a Public Faith without Making Atheists
Gavin Ortlund | Worth Standing Up For: Hearing a 4th-Century Witness for Justice and the Gospel
Greg Forster | Fruitful Paradoxes: Bringing Life to the World in the Modern Economy
W. Jay Moon | Economics and Mission: The Connected Complexity of Cultures
Jennifer Powell McNutt | A God Who Crosses the Tracks: Social Action in Reformation Theology