We are pleased to announce that God has provided a mentor to help us in our mission to become a multicultural church. Dr. Carl Ellis Jr. will be working with us for the next two years as Pastoral Advisor for Strategic Initiatives. He has served as an adjunct faculty member at the Center for Urban Theological Studies, and as Dean of Intercultural Studies at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was also the Associate Pastor for Cultural Apologetics at New City Fellowship. Dr. Ellis studied under Francis Schaeffer in Switzerland, completed his MAR (Theology) at Westminster Seminary, and holds a D.Phil. from Oxford Graduate School. As leader of the African American Leadership Initiative at RTS, he has collaborated extensively to mentor and create models for those aspiring to serve in multicultural contexts.
As Pastoral Advisor for Strategic Initiatives, Dr. Ellis will visit our church in August 2019, January 2020, August 2020, January 2021, and August 2021. During his time with us he will preach, lead seminars, meet with church
leadership, and participate in other activities. He will be available to our pastors and other leaders via phone and video conferencing as needed.
Sunday, August 11
Dr. Ellis preached during both morning services on August 11, and led a seminar at 5 p.m. There was also a joint adult Sunday School gathering to get to know Dr. Ellis and understand how his role as Pastoral Advisor for Strategic Initiatives will impact our leadership and plans as we seek to restore people and rebuild places through the gospel of Jesus Christ to the glory of God. The topic of the Sunday sermon aid our understanding of what it means to become cross-cultural disciple. The Scriptures are clear that every believer and every church is called to be cross-cultural in order to share the love of Christ with the world.
Also, see this video on The Root of Racism referenced by Dr. Ellis
