In All Things

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Rosemary Lukens (Chairman of the National Leadership Team), and Victor Jones (Moderator-elect of the 43rd General Assembly) as his guests for this new episode of “In All Things”.  Dean and his guests, both Ruling Elders, discuss a variety of topics related to how God is working with the denomination at the National level.

A former Mormon author discusses her journey from Mormonism to Christianity and how it affected her relationships. They explore exploring parallels between the two religions and discuss the transformative power of encountering the Trinity. The hosts recommend her book and plan to continue the conversation in future episodes.

Lisa Brockman, a former devout Mormon, shares her personal journey to becoming an evangelical Christian. She discusses the process of achieving worthiness for a temple marriage in Mormonism and the burden of works righteousness. Additionally, she talks about her transition and involvement in an arts ministry, as well as seeking freedom from strict rules and expectations.

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Bryn MacPhail, Senior Pastor of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Kirk in Nassau, Bahamas, and author of Purposeful Pain: What Your Troubles Achieve. The two discuss how God uses suffering to make believers more like Jesus, and how repeated pain and suffering—unlike manual labor that develops strength and durability—results in a heavy burden that only being yoked to Christ can relieve.

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Mark Christian, member of the EPC’s Covenant Presbyterian Church in Omaha, Nebraska, and author of The Apostate: My Search for Truth. The two discuss Christian’s upbringing in Egypt in a family of the Muslim Brotherhood, becoming an imam at age 12, and how a journey of questioning the claims of Mohamed for a deeper understanding of Islam resulted in a failed attempt on his life and ultimately to faith in Christ.

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Samul Sesay, missionary evangelist with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Sierra Leone and President of EduNations. The two discuss Sesay’s journey to faith from a Muslim background within the syncretic religious environment of Sierra Leone. Sesay also describes the mission and vision of EduNations, which operates 15 Christian schools with more than 3,500 students in predominantly Muslim villages in the West African country, as well as how the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Sierra Leone—which has witnessed more than 1,000 baptisms in the past eight years—was birthed from the ministry of EduNations.

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Jennifer Prechter, EPC Teaching Elder who serves as a palliative care chaplain at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies in Orlando, Fla. The two discuss her journey to hospital chaplaincy, and how her ministry provides opportunity for addressing deep questions of life with unchurched people across a wide spectrum of life experience. Prechter also discusses how “longing and lament” can help people process tragedies such as a child with a terminal illness, or the May 24, 2022, shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Brandon Queen, Ruling Elder for First Presbyterian Church of Thibodaux, Louisiana, and host of the podcast “E.A.R.: Evangelical and Reformed.” The two discuss Brandon’s involvement in the EPC’s Westminster Society, how he launched his podcast as a tool for evangelism as well as his desire to use the podcast as a means of racial reconciliation.

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Bonnie Gatchell, Teaching Elder in the Presbytery of the East and Executive Director of Route One Ministry in Boston, Massachusetts. The two discuss how God led her to begin a ministry to strip club dancers in Boston, and Route One Ministry’s efforts to train church leaders on how to minister to victims of trafficking, trauma, and abuse. Gatchell also describes the qualities of a “safe church” and some of the resources on trauma and abuse that Route One Ministry provides.

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Stephen Morefield, Pastor of Christ Covenant Church in Leoti, Kansas. Morefield discusses his spiritual path as a covenant child of the EPC to urban church planting to rural church ministry. He also describes some of the joys and challenges of serving as an introverted solo pastor in a rural setting, how “falling in love with the community” is essential to rural outreach, and how writing the historical novel But the Blood: A Novel Based on the True Story of America’s Bloodiest County Seat Battle based on events in the town in the 1880s has built bridges for ministry in the community.