From July 1 to July 6, 12 men from all over the Southeast gathered in upstate South Carolina to participate in the first session of the Ministry Development Program (MDP).
MDP provides an opportunity for developing leaders in local churches to grow in their ministry gifts and clarify their callings, meet their peers and share in each other’s lives and ministries, and learn principles and practical points for effective ministry. Men representing 10 churches in five states participated in this year’s program, which ran in parallel with SEP Higher Ground.
The men involved in this first MDP ranged in age from 21 to 72 and are involved in local ministries as diverse as youth pastoring, preaching, worship leading, counseling and small group facilitation. They were led in seminars, lectures, discussions and workshops by Jonathan Stepp, pastor of Good News Fellowship WCG (Nashville, Tennessee) and New Hope Fellowship WCG (Murfreesboro, Tennessee); Jeb Egbert, national director of SEP; and Keith Brittain, district superintendent for the Mid-Atlantic District.
Mr. Stepp led the first four MDP sessions, beginning with a seminar that examined the importance for all Christians involved in ministry to approach their service with the goal of setting others’ needs and wants above their own. Participants were encouraged to imitate the life of Jesus, presenting themselves as living sacrifices in humble response to the grace and gifts Jesus has given them to make their ministries possible. This seminar was followed the next day by an open forum where participants discussed the implications of biblical assistantship and the particulars of implementing the principles that had been presented.
Mr. Stepp also organized and moderated four hours of expository preaching labs. For these labs, each MDP participant developed and presented a short sermon, which grew out of a single biblical passage. In this case, each preacher was assigned one short story from the book of Acts or the Gospels or one passage from the Epistles. Over two evenings, the group saw many vivid examples of the way the Holy Spirit works in unique ways with unique people.
As each preacher gave himself fully to the Lord’s work, the Sprit led these dozen different men with a dozen different personalities to ponder their assigned passage, and in the end, to proclaim the good news of Jesus in his own style. The unity of spirit, the love of God and the intense dedication to the gospel that was evident in these sermons was encouraging. The whole group was excited to see the variety of ways in which the Spirit’s power is evident, and the variety of people he is working with.
“I was very encouraged and inspired by what I saw the Lord doing in our group,” Mr. Stepp said. “The giftedness and love for Jesus that the MDP group showed has given me a new hope for the future of ministry in our denomination. The Christ-centered community that was created among us for that one week was an exciting and spiritually renewing event.”
Dr. Egbert followed the preaching labs with seminars on discipleship and shepherding. In his disciplemaking seminar, he emphasized the relational model Jesus exhibited in his ministry as he led his early disciples in loving God and others so they could later make disciples themselves. This initial disciplemaking seminar was followed by a seminar equipping the group to become strategic shepherds of youths or adult small groups in local churches.
Mr. Brittain brought the closing seminar, which examined the supportive and mentoring relationship Jonathan had with David in the Old Testament. He encouraged the group to find their success in seeking the success of others. The goal, he said, should be a servant leadership willing to see others’ ministries prosper beyond your own success.
Plans are under discussion to have another MDP session next year and to possibly replicate the program to other SEP sites in the future.
PARTICIPANTS—From left: Ed Burkhead, Earl Jones, Horace Likely, Louise Likely, Stephen Webb, Davina Winn, Daniel Gehr, Bill Winn, Scott Gragg, Fernando E. Vargas, Jonathan Stepp, Matt Royal, Rocky Ray, Rick Stillwell, Jeb Egbert, Calvin Simon and Keith Brittain.
Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 2003