Hello Reader,

A significant portion of leadership in the church is getting the right people in the room having the right conversations. Another huge portion is equipping those people for those conversations. In my church tradition, we believe God calls ministers, elders, and deacons to serve in leadership in the church. I want to see those people prepared for those significant callings within the life of the church.

So, I spent some time this Spring putting together a training manual for elders and deacons. It is not officially endorsed by the RCA, but it is designed with my denomination in mind. The inaugural edition is officially available below. Whether you are within the Reformed tradition or not, I hope this resource will be beneficial for you.

Healthy Consistories, Healthy Churches

We also believe that although it is useful and good for those who govern the churches to establish and set up a certain order among themselves for maintaining the body of the church, they ought always to guard against deviating from what Christ, our only Master, has ordained for us.
— Belgic Confession, Article 32

Healthy, mature, missional consistories contribute to healthy, mature, missional churches. I have often said, “The church is only ever as healthy as its consistory.” In years of working with and observing churches, it is rare to find a truly healthy church with unhealthy leadership. Again and again, where there is renewal and revival within the churches, it begins when the Spirit grips those called by God to serve as elders and deacons.

We cannot make the church grow, only God can do that. We cannot force people to grow up into maturity of faith. We cannot force unbelievers to repent and believe in Jesus Christ. We cannot force complacent Christians into heading out in mission. Only God can know and change the heart.

However, we can lead. God has called and placed ministers, elders, and deacons within his church. When they faithfully live out their calling, they are tilling the soil of the congregation. They cannot make it grow, but they are preparing the soil and taking the lead in following Christ in mission.

The hope of this Consistory Training Manual is to help elders and deacons grow more deeply into their calling. It is designed with both first-time and seasoned consistory members in mind, so that “speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ” (Eph. 4:15). This manual draws from various other resources within the RCA and beyond to help equip the men and women God has called to lead his church.

Healthy consistories contribute to healthy churches. As we grow as elders and deacons, may Christ work through us for his mission in the world.

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In order to make it more accessible for churches, we have set up a "pay what you can" model for the Consistory Training Manual. You can give $1, $5, $10 or more (or take it for free!). Every dollar helps support the work we are doing here at Peniel Press, but we know everyone's financial situation is different.

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Writing Updates

We have made good progress both with Count the Stars and The Body of Orthodox Doctrine this past month. The former (our handbook on biblical numbers) is still in the typesetting phase, but once we are done with that, it will move quickly to publication and marketing. Please keep spreading the word and thank you to all of you who have already expressed interest.

The translation of Ursinus' commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism (The Body of Orthodox Doctrine) is shaping up to be over 450,000 words and I just hit around 150,000. Major progress, but still a long way to go. Once Count the Stars is done, I will be working on the final handbook (on biblical places) and then I have a couple ideas for other books while I finish up Ursinus. Thanks again for all the support.

Thank You

We appreciate your prayers for the work we are doing in providing theological resources for the church. One of the best ways to support us to buy our books and tell your friends to do the same. However, if you'd like to contribute in other ways, you can always put a few dollars in the tip jar to get me a coffee. If someone shared this issue with you and you would like to receive it in your own inbox, you can sign up by clicking here.

From the desk of

Stephen C. Shaffer

Author, Pastor-Theologian

​www.penielpress.com

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