April 6, 2015
Following a meeting in Dallas with the Evangelists and Elders Teams
The Teachers Service Team met in Dallas the last several days of March to have a day of overlapping discussion between our service teams on five important topics: global missions, unity, events, the next generation, and church growth. This is the fourth straight year where we have had this type of meeting. In my opinion (Steve Kinnard) the meeting this year was the most productive of the four and the collaboration between the service teams was the best yet.
The Teachers Service Team also had a day where we discussed important topics for the teaching ministry. We began the day with a devotional that focused on loving God and loving neighbor (Mark 12.28-34). The gospel is all about loving God and loving people. As teachers, we can’t leave this out. Otherwise we will be like Pharisees (legalistic to the point that we have no pastoral concern). We must keep this in mind as we talk about topics such as church discipline or marriage and divorce.
After the devotional, we discussed the main topic for the day—church discipline. Gordon Ferguson, Steve Staten, Deb Anton, and Glenn Giles (the subcommittee for this topic) led the discussion. The team discussed the major scriptures that apply to this topic. Then, the team discussed some of the pastoral concerns. The team decided on the general direction of a paper to be written. Gordon Ferguson will begin the paper, and the rest of the team will give input before the paper is released.
In the afternoon, we discussed other topics that pertain to our ministry. We reviewed our Teachers Service Team mission statement. This review gave us an opportunity to reflect on where we stood as a team in reaching our 2020 goals. We have been able to make great strides in certain areas like unity among the service teams and teacher development. But in other areas like developing a congregational curriculum for the growth of disciples within our churches, we have much work ahead of us. As a service team, we want to make sure we are developing teachers and the teaching ministry around the world.
Our next meeting will be in Kingston, Jamaica: October 12-13 for the service teams, October 14-17 for delegates meeting. At this meeting the service team will focus on two topics: the woman’s role and marriage, divorce, and remarriage.
It was also suggested that we research and discussion two other topics: leadership succession and early church worship and culture. We also want to finish a discussion which we began a few years back on hermeneutics, specifically, what is our hermeneutic?
This is the first meeting where a new member from the Caribbean was able to attend—Courtney Bailey of Kingston, Jamaica. Also, we added a new member from the Toronto church, Suzette Lewis. Suzette is a highly qualified sister, and we are delighted to have her on the team.
The Teachers Service Team is grateful to be able to serve the church and help develop teachers, the teaching ministry, and teaching tools for our fellowship. We are delighted to have more countries represented on our team than ever before and to have more women participating on the team. Please pray for the Teachers Service Team and for the teaching ministry.
Much love,
Dr. G. Steve Kinnard
Teachers Service Team Subcommittees
Teacher Development:
Valdur Koha, chair
Steve Kinnard, Joey Harris, Gordon Ferguson, Rolan Monje, Reese Neyland
Congregational Teaching:
Ed Anton, chair
Fred Faller, Douglas Jacoby, Joey Harris
Technology:
Arturo Elizarraras, chair Joey Harris
Accreditation:
Glenn Giles, chair
Steve Kinnard
Disputable Matters and Hermeneutics:
Steve Staten, chair
Douglas Jacoby, Joey Harris, Kay McKean, Steve Kinnard
Women’s Teaching Ministry:
Kay McKean, Deb Anton, co-chair
Suzette Lewis
International Teachers Seminar:
Douglas Jacoby, chair Steve Kinnard
Divorce and Remarriage, a re-examination
Valdur Koha, chair
Steve Kinnard, Suzette Lewis
Church Discipline:
Gordon Ferguson, chair
Steve Staten, Deb Anton, Glenn Giles
Members of the Teachers Service Team
Dr. Steve Kinnard, chair, New York
Dr. Rolan Monje, Manila
Ed Anton, Virginia Beach
Dr. Deb Anton, Virginia Beach
Kay McKean, Northern Virginia
Steve Brown, Buenos Aries
Steve Staten, Chicago
Gordon Ferguson, Los Angeles
Reese Neyland, Los Angeles
Dr. Douglas Jacoby, Atlanta
Joey Harris, Augusta
Dr. Glenn Giles, Denver
Fred Faller, Boston
Valdur Koha, Boston
Courtney Bailey, Kingston
Arturo Elizarraras, Mexico City
Suzette Lewis, Toronto
