Insights and Encouragement for Church Leaders

Anna Sytsema Anna Sytsema

SO GRATEFUL TO GOD FOR OUR MAG

SO GRATEFUL TO GOD FOR OUR MAG by Rich McDermott, recently retired from FPC of Arlington, Texas.   When I arrived in Arlington, Texas six years ago in the spring of 2015, I knew very few people in my congregation and few pastors in our large presbytery.  I had never lived or worked in Texas.  As…

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Anna Sytsema Anna Sytsema

April Prayer

God of grace and love, we have entered this Easter season with great anticipation of the wonderful gift of freedom that is ours through the Death and glorious Resurrection of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ—even freedom from sin and death itself.   We pray for ourselves and so many held captive by the sinfulness…

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Anna Sytsema Anna Sytsema

Community service

Some people think that the divide between the church and the world is greater than ever. Whether true or not, three pastors in small-town Shenango Presbytery in Pennsylvania have seized the opportunity to serve their communities through local politics and have found this to be a valuable part of the ministry to which they are...

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Anna Sytsema Anna Sytsema

Life in Fellowship – Nick Warnes

Take a listen to our new podcast, Life in Fellowship. In this month’s episode of Life in Fellowship, TFC Board Chair Mike McClenahan talks with Nick Warnes, founder and executive director of Cyclical, about faithful innovation. Or watch the conversation on YouTube:

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Anna Sytsema Anna Sytsema

What’s prayer all about?

What’s a pastor good for, anyway?  When all else fails, when sermons bomb and creativity falters and pandemics hinder worship and patience with people wanes…we pray.  This is possibly our very highest calling, but it still begs the follow-up question: what is prayer all about? Whatever Reformed,…

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Anna Sytsema Anna Sytsema

March Prayer

by Tracey Davenport Great God, who made women and men in your own image, who shows no partiality, who gathers more people than we can count, people of every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, and calls us to worship: We praise you for the women and men you have called to lead…

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Dan Baumgartner Dan Baumgartner

Character Matters

by Dan Baumgartner Just so you won’t have to wonder as you read this first paragraph, I’m 62 years old. Barely. Okay, with that out of the way…John Stott is gone. Dallas Willard is gone. Eugene Peterson is gone. Some of the main people I have read, quoted, learned from, and admired over the years…

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Anna Sytsema Anna Sytsema

The Power of Story

Think back to the most powerful sermon or sermons you’ve ever listened to. What is it that you remember from them? Most likely, it was a story that illustrated a theological concept, or perhaps it was an analogy that captured your attention and brought the sermon to life in significant ways. For me, there was…

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Anna Sytsema Anna Sytsema

Following Jesus

by Tracey Davenport Hello God! I’m a big fan. Yet, you call us not to be fans, but followers of Jesus. Can I really leave behind my nets to follow Him? You are a God who calls people like us to obedience. If we follow Jesus, we will keep his commandments. Help us to follow…

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Dan Baumgartner Dan Baumgartner

Keeping the Door Open

by Dan Baumgartner I am a pastor. What does this mean? Eight months into the Covid-19 era with no concrete end in sight, and possibly never a return to our previous normal, here is my answer: I’m not always sure right now. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not in despair. I’m leading session meetings by…

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Anna Sytsema Anna Sytsema

Small Church, Big Mission

Submitted by Laura Spangler, pastor of Lloyd Presbyterian Church After the Capitol riots and the brave chaplaincy ministry of our sister, Rev. Margaret Kibben, our church, Lloyd Presbyterian Church in Winston Salem, NC, was led by the Holy Spirit to call for a public prayer gathering on January 19, 2021, Inauguration Eve. We reached out…

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Anna Sytsema Anna Sytsema

Life in Fellowship – David Won

Take a listen to Life in Fellowship as Pastors Mike McClenahan and David Won discuss how prayer sustains his church during these uncertain and unprecedented times. Watch the conversation on YouTube:

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Anna Sytsema Anna Sytsema

Life in Fellowship – Ray Garcia

Take a listen to our new podcast, Life in Fellowship. Pastors Mike McClenahan and Ray Garcia discuss church life in the era of COVID-19 and high racial tensions. Or watch the conversation on YouTube:

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Anna Sytsema Anna Sytsema

A Prayer for the New Year

by Tracey Davenport Everlasting God, we mark the beginning of a new year, a longed-for fresh start after a year of disease, death, and division. This year is full of fresh possibilities because you are faithful and because you have come in Christ Jesus to bring us life and light, joy and peace, love and…

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Dan Baumgartner Dan Baumgartner

Pay Attention!

by Dan Baumgartner Pay attention. People in the churches I’ve served are surely either starting to do it, or sick and tired of me saying it. Or both. Pay attention. Pay attention to God’s voice. Pay attention to what the Holy Spirit is doing around us all the time. Listen for the voice, watch for…

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Anna Sytsema Anna Sytsema

This year of change and uncertainty has led The Fellowship Community to have conversations with our members and churches and to re-engage our mission and strategy. While we look forward to an in-person National Gathering and other conferences in the near future, we want to stay connected with all of you. So here’s our two-part…

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Anna Sytsema Anna Sytsema

Study on Spiritual Warfare at Pastor’s Gathering this Fall

Jesus won the decisive battle against the powers of darkness, but that does not mean we can sit back and relax. Evil has not yet admitted defeat. Those who call Jesus Lord must join him in the fight. Pastors can lead our congregations to name, face, confess, and resist evil faithfully, prayerfully, and proactively, based on reformed Christian theology and practice.

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Anna Sytsema Anna Sytsema

What It Takes to Lead a Multiethnic Ministry

At the 2019 National Gathering Rev. Ray Garcia will facilitate the workshop Multiethnic Ministry: Leading in, Through and Beyond the Difficulties to address the challenges and joys of leading in a more diverse context.

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Anna Sytsema Anna Sytsema

The Long Game of Faithfulness

Fellowship Community members want to live out a biblical, orthodox, evangelical Faith, and we want to do that in a denomination with which we sometimes disagree.  And so, the questions for us are: What are we to do now? What are we to believe? How are we to obey?

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