Biblical Priorities for Church Ministry
The theme for the 2013 conference was Biblical Priorities for Church Ministry with an emphasis on understanding the contemporary Christian worship controversy. Scott Aniol, the keynote speaker and author of "Worship in Song", a book we highly recommend, provided critical insight into understanding that there is biblically consistent music and music that contradicts a Christian worldview.
Tens of thousands of churches have almost identical doctrinal statements. However, when attending them they may seem vastly different. That difference is what is usually called the “philosophy of ministry” and basically describes the priorities and emphases of any given church or ministry. Sadly, apostasy, division, and church splits are more often the result of differences in how to “do church”, than in what we believe, and few churches ever articulate their philosophy of ministry.
One of the most divisive areas of philosophy of ministry today is not only the meaning of the word “worship”, but its exclusive identification with music. Our keynote speaker, Scott Aniol, is exceptionally qualified to address this topic and has written and spoken much about this over the years. Other significant areas that must be addressed relate to the priority of Bible teaching in a local church, what it means to be a pastor, ministry to men, and ministry to children, along with many other day-to-day activities of a local church.
The men teaching at this conference combine decades of experience in numerous different venues of church ministry. Each is committed to the sufficiency of Scripture and the prime directive of Scripture to “feed the sheep,” “teach the Word,” and to do the work of an evangelist. But we also need to think through how these priorities shape the day-to-day operation and decision making in the local church.
Hosted by West Houston Bible Church from March 4-6, 2013, the speakers at the conference also included daytime speakers Charles Clough, Robert Dean, Bruce Einspahr, Bryan Hult, George Meisinger, Jim Myers, Mark Perkins, David Roseland, Paul Schmidtbleicher, Jeremy Thomas, and Andy Woods.
To view all video Bible studies in the 2013 Chafer Theological Seminary Bible Conference series, click here (Vimeo) or here (YouTube).