The Eastern Regional Conference Sessions were held a little over 1 week ago at the Doubling Gap Center, Home of Camp YoliJwa. Our team is always excited to get out of our office and see our pastors and ministry leaders; the people with boots on the ground making a kingdom impact. For me personally, going to the ERC sessions was particularly significant because it was my first time, and over the last two years in this position (I can’t believe I’ve been here for two years now), I’ve come to know many pastors from the ERC who I’ve only interacted with by phone or email. It is truly well and good to be past the Covid era where we can see people in the flesh.
There were a number of meaningful moments to the conference. Over the course of two days, many speakers told interesting stories, gave powerful testimonies, and provided helpful, practical wisdom on ministry in a variety of contexts. I could, for instance, drill down on the keynote speaker, Eric Creekmore, who hammered home the theme of multiplication. Creekmore challenged the audience to recognize the strangeness of churches “full of people with white hair” that aren’t utilizing their experience, their time, and their abilities to multiply. He pushed back against the presupposition that people in the throes of retirement are on the downswing of disciple-making. Instead, the speaker blessed the audience, praying that their retirement age would be their most fruitful time in ministry. That makes a tremendous amount of sense, doesn’t it? People with decades of experience walking with Jesus have a tremendous amount to offer, in spite of what our youth obsessed culture would have us think. Likewise, who has more time on their hands than those moving out of full-time work? Many, without children in their home anymore, have extra space for spiritual children to adopt and foster, parenting those who are young in their faith.
I was particularly moved by a session the following day with Pastor Ray Duvall, who told his story of being burned out on ministry. He had apparently been pushing through some bitterness and difficulties for a long time. At last year's conference the ERC began a cohort for spiritual wellness and soul care, which also had a session at this conference lead by the Director of Pastoral Family Healthy, Collene Gross and newly appointed Director of Discipleship, Diane Hakes (that session was also really good, by the way). Pastor Ray joined the cohort and over the course of the last year had some revelations on burn out that I thought were helpful.
He confessed that he felt God telling him “It’s time” while he was in the middle of giving a sermon, and that’s when he knew he just couldn’t press on anymore. It was a revelation to hear him say that “burn out comes from giving away what you don’t possess.” The implications are that we can't give out joy or grace for very long if we don't have it in our hearts. And if we’re feeling bitter and frustrated, that's what we’ll end up giving out too. So, its crucially important that we “leave space between the works [we do] to allow God to breathe into us”, he said.
Recently I’ve been reading an old tome we have here in the office by C. H. Forney. If you’ve been in the churches of God for a while, you’ll know which book I’m talking about. The History of the Churches of God in the United States of North America, published in 1913, is a massive book. It is over 900 pages and was initially handwritten as Forney trekked across the United States, collecting notes and documentation about the CGGC in the early 1900’s. In interest of learning more about this monolithic figure, I found that Forney would again trek across the U.S. for a full year in the early 1900’s, this time visiting 53 churches, and traveling 25,276 miles by train, car, and trolley to do it. During that year he preached 158 sermons and delivered 61 addresses. He also did a number of other things on his trip including soliciting for the Advocate, interviewing missionaries, and managed to increase the subscriptions of every single publication that the CGGC offered at the time.
In his report on the adventure, Forney leaves a small note tucked in between his successes that states, “During the months of June and July and part of August of last year I was unable to do much on account of a physical and nervous breakdown.” The next sentence sweeps this nervous breakdown under the metaphorical rug and says “I’m glad to report that so far as I can judge, I have fully recovered from that condition.” That condition, which took him out of work for nearly three months, is given what amounts to a footnote, while the work that put him there, is celebrated at length. Forney was, without a doubt, an amazing worker for the kingdom, but it cost him a lot, and Pastor Duvall’s reflection on burnout, knowing the signs, and being refreshed by the Lord, is a message that all of us need to reckon with in our relentless pursuit of God’s kingdom.
There are a lot more moments like this that I could reflect on. Part of what amazed me was the consistency of the message across the two-day conference. Despite the fact that there were no fewer than 17 different speakers on the stage over the course of two days, the theme was remarkably consistent. It was all about discipleship. It’s hard enough to get two people to agree on anything these days, but to have almost 20 different speakers pound discipleship into our heads was awesome to witness. It feels like every facet of the ERC is moving in the same direction. Of course, I only witnessed two days of speakers, not every leader from every church, but the effect was powerful. With the new ERC President Dan Masshardt inaugurated, and a relatively new Executive Director Nate Buck giving his first address in the role, there was a sense of coherence and unity that was refreshing and motivating.
I'm personally grateful to have had the opportunity to meet some many wonderful workers for the Lord at the ERC Sessions this past week, and I'll be eagerly looking forward to returning.
The most recent issue of The Global Advocate is all about the Eastern Regional Conference, and it has just launched digitally on our website and should be reaching your mailboxes shortly. Want to get a physical copy of our bi-monthly magazine? Message us at requesting an issue and get yours FOR FREE. Or go to our digital page and see the entire magazine in its entirety, or article by article.
CGGC eNews—Vol. 18, No. 18
Login To Leave Comment