A Year in Review: Passing the Baton
As we look back over the last year, a lot of transition took place. Chuck Gianotti, the former director of BER, officially handed over the reins of the ministry to me. A true man of his word, he passed the baton of leadership to me and supported and encouraged me in a ministry that he had poured his life into.
I was also blessed by our core team, a team of seasoned elders, who I have the pleasure of meeting with weekly to help direct and move the ministry forward. We also have a great staff in Erica and Alexis, who have helped make the transition very smooth.
What you often can’t see outside of an organization is the inner workings. There are many hours the core team puts into calling, emailing, and writing up papers on the many questions that are asked about church leadership. There is, as you can imagine, a never-ending supply of questions, which has led us to an important decision and direction to start a podcast so the widest group of leaders can take advantage of our core team’s years of experience. Many of these are good, practical questions that are very common. David Anderson has been leading this up for us, and while we are still in the beginning stages, we are excited for what the Lord has in store for this. We will continue to produce more podcasts throughout the year and learn to be more efficient in delivering and responding to the new questions we receive.
BER Simulcast Conference
On March 20, we hosted the simulcast conference on Becoming an Effective Spiritual Leader: Modeling the Unconventional Leadership of the Lord Jesus Christ. We must have hit a need because we had over 500 people respond and over 20 different nations present. We have made the conference available on our website for people to view.
This year, on March 26, we will hold the Acts 20: Fierce Wolves are Coming conference. You can register online at BiblicalEldership.com/acts20. We are looking forward to hosting at Forge Road Bible Chapel in Baltimore and will hopefully see many in person and also online.
BER Website
We made a complete makeover of the website in 2021. We hope the change will continue to make it easy to access whatever you are looking for when it comes to finding quality resources on shepherding the flock.
School of the Shepherds
We saw an increase and growth in use of the website overseas. Most people can access the internet in some form, so this is becoming a growing tool for training and development of future and current leaders all over the globe.
The School of the Shepherds is being translated into other languages, and groups of men from multiple countries in Asia, Africa, South America, the Caribbean, and many other locations are using it. We have a growing group of Regional Reps using the training program to train men in their region and from that, many are going back to their own countries and developing leaders within their own churches. We see this multiplying effect as the Lord revitalizes areas in need of qualified, trained shepherds/overseers.
BER Blog
Weekly you can receive in your inbox our latest blog, which features a lot of material from our website along with new information to keep you growing. We try to be a practical resource in your daily life.
We are also excited to announce the launch of the Titus 2 Woman’s blog in the new year. As men we cannot downplay the important role our wives and women of our congregations play in our leadership and ministry—they carry many burdens with and for us. We hope this new blog is a source of encouragement and learning for these women.
Biblical Eldership Book
This last year we began tackling the biggest project we have ever undertaken. Alex Strauch’s book Biblical Eldership is 30 years old and needs a complete update. Along with this major revision of the book will be a new study guide and a new mentor’s guide. We could certainly use your prayers in this project as it will continue through all of 2022.
Social Media
One of the things I really enjoyed this year was the expansion of our social media footprint. Viji Roberts, on our core team, has undertaken this task with great fervor (as he does with everything) and been successful in widening the reach of our materials. If you have not had a chance to see posts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Pinterest, I would encourage you to take a look and follow us on the platform of your choice, where you can find articles written by our team and others—we believe these will be a help to your ministry.
Final Thoughts
As I reflect on the year, this verse from 2 Timothy 2:2 comes to mind:
“The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”
This passage really speaks to my heart as we see it unfold throughout the world through this ministry. To see the scope of what this can accomplish is very humbling and reminds me of what a wonderful Lord and Savior we have.
The church is and will continue to come under attack, as Paul warned: “fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them” (Acts 20:29b-30). The church was bought and paid for with the blood of Christ, and it is the elders’ role to protect and care for the flock. Biblical eldership (shepherding) is profoundly important for the life and health of the church, and that is why we find it a priority to continually develop quality, expositional material.
– Greg Smelker