In All Things

Episode 83: Dean Weaver and Michael Davis 43rd General Assembly reflections

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, and Michael Davis, Assistant Stated Clerk, reflect on the EPC 43rd General Assembly / Gospel Priorities Summit—the “tornado Assembly”—held June 20-22 at Cherry Hills Community Church in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

Episode 82: Training leaders among the least-reached with Mike Kuhn

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Mike Kuhn, Director of the International Theological Education Network (ITEN) of EPC World Outreach. The two discuss how Kuhn’s spiritual heritage of a missions passion growing up in North Carolina led to several decades serving in Morocco and Egypt among Muslim-background believers, as well as in Jordan during the Syrian refugee crisis. He also describes how his experience in the Middle East illustrated the biblical definition of hospitality as “loving the other,” as well as how ITEN trains Christian leaders among least-reached peoples.

Episode 81: Pastoring a growing rural church with Aaron White

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Aaron White, Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in South Charleston, Ohio. The two discuss the joys and challenges of pastoring a growing church in a rural community and how White intentionally harnessing the cycles of the year for discipleship. White also previews his General Assembly sermon from 1 Corinthians 12, and highlights the GA presentations of the Westminster Society, an EPC networking group that seeks to promote confessional churchmanship in the denomination.

Episode 80: How an East Texas vineyard models John 15 with Shelley Kral

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Shelley Kral, Associate Pastor for Longview Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Longview, Texas. The two discuss her path to ministry from Southern California to a Lutheran college in the Pacific Northwest to Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando to Longview in East Texas. Kral also describes a vision she and her husband had for a pastoral retreat center eventually resulting in the creation of Enoch’s Stomp Vineyard & Winery near Longview. She also explains how the vineyard illustrates the truths of John 15.

Episode 79: Sharing the gospel in dissimilar contexts with Curt Taylor

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Curt Taylor, Pastor of Cherry Hills Community Church in Highlands Ranch, Colorado—host church for the EPC’s 43rd General Assembly / Gospel Priorities Summit, June 20-22, 2023. The two discuss Cherry Hills’ excitement in hosting this year’s Assembly. Taylor also describes his path to Colorado and the EPC from Texas, including some of the challenges and opportunities in sharing the gospel in those two culturally different parts of the country. He also relates some ways the church can address division in culture.

Episode 78: Learnings from serving as Moderator with Rosemary Lukens

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Rosemary Lukens, Moderator of the 42nd General Assembly and Ruling Elder for Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church in Gig Harbor, Washington. The two discuss how serving as Moderator has strengthened her faith, as well as encouraged women across the EPC to be involved in the life of the church. Lukens also reflects on her enthusiasm for accessible theological education in an ever-changing vocational ministry pipeline landscape, funding for the mission of the larger church, and the importance of building relationships in ministry leadership.

Episode 77: Church Planting as an evangelism strategy with Dave Strunk

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Dave Strunk, planting pastor of Church of the Redeemer in suburban Knoxville, Tennessee. The two conclude a 5-episode series on Church Planting by discussing Strunk’s journey to the EPC from a Baptist background, including how he started Church of the Redeemer and how church planting is a viable evangelism strategy for established churches. In addition, Strunk reflects on his service on the EPC’s National Leadership Team from 2019-2023 and how trust serves as a form of leadership currency.

Episode 76: inFaith serving the underserved and underreached with Jerry Iamurri

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Jerry Iamurri, Executive Director and CEO of inFaith. The two discuss how inFaith ministers among the most underserved and underreached communities in the U.S., as well as how the organization serves church planters with a variety of administrative support functions. In addition, Iamurri describes how governance serves mission and vision, and how his experience as Assistant Stated Clerk informs his leadership at inFaith.

Iamurri is a Teaching Elder in the Presbytery of the East and served as EPC Assistant Stated Clerk from 2017-2022.

Episode 75: God’s glory, generosity, and joy in church planting

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Abe Radmanesh, member of the EPC’s Church Planting Team. The two continue a series on church planting by discussing how an established church can begin a church planting movement, based on Radmanesh’s experience at Colonial Presbyterian Church in Kansas City. Radmanesh also describes how his experience in the business world provides fresh perspective in church planting, the value of entrepreneurial skills in church planting, and the benefits that established churches receive by starting new churches.

Episode 74: EPC church planting “parent, patron, partner” with Shawn Robinson

Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, welcomes Shawn Robinson, Pastor of Clayton Community Church in Clayton, California. The two discuss how Robinson planted Clayton Community Church in 1996 as part of the EPC’s Key Cities Initiative. Robinson also describes the EPC’s strategy of “every EPC church a parent, patron, or partner of church planting” and how people loving  their neighbors is foundational to maintaining an outward focus as a church.