Brad Strait (right), Chair of the Ministerial Vocation Committee, leads discussion during the annual meeting of the MVC and presbytery Ministerial Committee and Candidate Committee Chairs on March 12 in Orlando.
Members of the Ministerial Vocation Committee (MVC) and Presbytery Ministerial and Candidates Committee Chairs met March 12-13 at the Office of the General Assembly in Orlando. The MVC addresses ministerial issues at the national level of the EPC, and the Presbytery Chairs lead at the presbytery level.
“It’s hard to overstate the importance of the work tackled by the MVC and these presbytery committees,” said Jeff Jeremiah, EPC Stated Clerk. “I have said for a long time that the most important committee in our presbyteries is the Ministerial Committee, because when it does its work well it frees the presbytery to focus on mission and outreach. The networking, sharing best practices, and addressing common issues that took place between MVC and these chairs this week will have high value for the ongoing health of the EPC given the overlap in their ministries.”
Among the topics discussed by the group were the EPC ordination process, the Candidates Educational Equivalency Program (CEEP), and strategies to address the ongoing physical, mental, and emotional health of EPC pastors and ministerial candidates.
Members of the Ministerial Vocation Committee are Brad Strait (Chair), Teaching Elder from the Presbytery of the West; Michael Flake, Teaching Elder from the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic; Neal McAtee, Ruling Elder from the Presbytery of the Central South; Frank Rotella, Ruling Elder from the Presbytery of the East; Phil Stump, Ruling Elder from the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic; and Caroline Tromble, Ruling Elder from the Presbytery of the Rivers and Lakes.
Ministerial Committee and Candidate Committee Chairs who attended the meeting were Bruce Tenenbaum and Eric Toohey (Presbytery of the Alleghenies); Scott Sealy (Presbytery of the Central South); Jamie Cupschalk and Jay Lee (Presbytery of the East); Rick Gernhardt (Presbytery of Florida and the Caribbean); Tom Pitman (Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic); Joshua Hansen and Charles Youther (Presbytery of the Midwest); Ed Cummings and Scott Koenigsaecker (Presbytery of the Pacific Northwest); David Abdo and Jay Hull (Presbytery of the Pacific Southwest); David Hoffelmeyer and Zach Hopkins (Presbytery of the Rivers and Lakes); and Greg Daniels (Presbytery of the West).