In All Things

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Doug Resler, Senior Pastor of Parker Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Parker, Colorado. The two discuss the benefits a congregation receives when its pastor is involved in ministry beyond their local church, as well as Resler’s passion for church revitalization and the importance of that process starting with a revitalized pastor and Session. In addition, Resler describes how global engagement helps the church minister to the world that is coming to the United States in increasing numbers.

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Bill Crawford, Pastor of the First Presbyterian churches in Thibodaux and Houma, Louisiana. The two discuss Crawford’s call to small church ministry and his 21 years in south Louisiana, including some of the challenges and opportunities for the small church. Crawford also describes his experience with disaster relief beginning with back-to-back hurricanes in 2001, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Hurricane Ida in 2021, and how he brought that experience to Fort Myers, Florida, following Hurricane Ian in September 2022. Weaver also shares how listeners can contribute to relief efforts by donating to the EPC's Emergency Relief Fund at www.epc.org/emergencyrelief.

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Suzanne Zampella, Transitional Pastor for First Presbyterian Church in Monett, Missouri. The two discuss how her sense of calling to the ministry was awakened when she was ordained as a Ruling Elder. She also talks about serving in an ECO—Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians—church, and how the role of a Transitional Pastor is as a change agent, helping a congregation know who they are and what they want to be. Zampella also reflects on the EPC’s Small Church Summit, held October 11-13 in Orlando, and how it not only provided opportunity for pastors to build relationships with each other, but also demonstrated that the denomination values and supports pastors of smaller churches. In addition, she discusses some of the challenges and joys of serving the small church.

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Annie Rose, Stated Clerk of the Presbytery of the Rivers and Lakes and a member of the interim committee writing a Pastor Letter of Racial Lament and Hope. The two discuss her path to ministry as the child of a Complementarian church, as well as how serving as a Presbytery Stated Clerk provides avenues to observe pastoral stressors. She provides counsel for both pastors and elders based on those observations, and also discusses her involvement on the Pastoral Letter interim committee and how the group sees love as the basis for biblical lament.

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, continues his discussion with Kent Mathews, President and Academic Dean of Heartland Theological Seminary in Kansas City and Director of the EPC’s Mentored Apprenticeship Program for seminary students. In the second of a two-part conversation, the two discuss strategies and resources for preparing pastors to serve in small churches and rural churches, including how Commissioned Pastors and the EPC’s CEEP (Candidates Educational Equivalency Program) serve the church by offering a pathway to ordination for prospective ministers who do not have an MDiv degree.

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Kent Mathews, President and Academic Dean of Heartland Theological Seminary in Kansas City and Director of the EPC’s Mentored Apprenticeship Program for seminary students. The two discuss the challenges and opportunities in preparing people for vocational ministry, and how Heartland Seminary and the EPC Mentored Apprenticeship Program combine rigorous academic preparation with practical, mentor-partnered application. Mathews also describes the need to develop a pipeline of ordination candidates for ministry in rural churches—including the benefits of serving in rural communities—and how small churches can be better equipped for fostering community.

EPC Stated Clerk Dean Weaver and Assistant Stated Clerk Michael Davis discuss a week of tragedy and grief in Davis’s home city of Memphis, Tenn., following the murder of Eliza Fletcher and a series of shootings in the days following. The two also reflect on the commitment of EPC churches in the city to continue to proclaim the gospel in their community.

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Bob Garment, longtime Stated Clerk of the Presbytery of Florida and the Caribbean and the EPC’s new Chief Parliamentarian. The two discuss Garment’s path to the EPC from his former denomination, including how a newsletter from an EPC church in Louisiana started the process. Garment also describes how his relationship with Howard Shockley, longtime Stated Clerk of the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic, resulted in his own service for more than 30 years as Stated Clerk of the Presbytery of Florida and the Caribbean, and how polity serves the mission of the church.

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Luis Quiñones, pastor of Iglesia Presbiteriana Evangélica Nación Santa (Holy Nation Evangelical Presbyterian Church) in Haines City, Florida. The two discuss Quiñones’ spiritual journey from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, to serving as pastor in Philadelphia, Pa., to planting Nación Santa in Central Florida, and how prayer in an EPC Presbytery of Florida and the Caribbean meeting solidified the decision to transfer the church to the EPC from its previous denomination. Quiñones also describes how Nación Santa lives out Revelation 7:9 as a Spanish-language congregation but with multiple Latin nationalities and cultures in its membership.

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Case Thorp, Senior Associate Pastor of Evangelism for First Presbyterian Church of Orlando, Florida (FPCO). The two discuss Thorp’s spiritual roots in evangelistic camp meetings in Georgia, FPCO’s church planting efforts, and his ministry in Orlando through missions, evangelism, and leadership of The Collaborative—designed to help people bridge the secular-sacred divide by integrating their faith and their work. Thorp also previews the World Reformed Fellowship’s sixth General Assembly, to be held October 27-30 at FPCO, and The Collaborative’s podcast, “Nuance,” launching in mid-September.