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No one would confuse Albuquerque, New Mexico, with a bastion of Bible Belt Christianity. Native American and New Age spirituality captivate many of the metropolitan area’s 700,000 residents. The gay and lesbian community claims a strong presence. But that doesn’t mean evangelical churches are small and marginalized. Every year several megachurches baptize hundreds of new Christians, many of whom had long since drifted away from the Roman Catholic Church that played such a significant role in New Mexico history.

Even in a city with such an evident need for the gospel, it’s tempting for churches to compete with one another for migrating members. In this climate church growth can be a mirage. The pool of Christians may grow larger in one church, but it shrinks in others, adding nothing overall. When churches united by the Holy Spirit in gospel-centered doctrine and ministry band together across denominations, however, they offer an especially compelling testimony to the community. That’s what the pastors who have formed The Gospel Coalition’s regional chapter in Albuquerque want to see.

TGC council member Ryan Kelly, pastor of preaching at Desert Springs Church, has acted as the point man in the regional chapter, which includes Anglican, Presbyterian, and Baptist churches, among others. When Kelly arrived in 2003, Desert Springs was already committed to expositional preaching, elder leadership, and even church discipline, if necessary. But it lacked a cohesive theological vision. Several pastors in town reached out to him, finding kinship in Reformed theology. Now seven years later those pastors remain good friends who cheer each other on in ministry. They rejoiced as Desert Springs slowly found that vision and grew under Kelly’s leadership. Their friendship has laid a strong foundation for TGC: Albuquerque.

“To see 30 pastors find hearty agreement in TGC’s confessional statement and theological vision for ministry is encouraging,” Kelly said. “More encouraging is to see how that agreement has led to warm friendships, a spirit of partnership and brotherhood.”

Kelly leads a large pastoral staff with which he can talk theology and collaborate to solve ministry problems. But many of the other pastors do not, as they serve in solo capacities in smaller churches. So quarterly meetings provide an outlet where the pastors can pray for each other, ask God to bless to Albuquerque, share burdens, swap advice, discuss ministry philosophy, and track members who have switched churches. Thanks to Mars Hill Albuquerque, a charter member of the chapter, the pastors engage in Q+A with outside speakers. Last month they sat down with TGC council members Juan Sanchez, who visited from Austin, Texas, to teach in the Mars Hill Leadership Program. They have plans to talk in February with another council member, Mark Driscoll, and with theologian Wayne Grudem in April.

Real Camaraderie, Not Competition

Mike McLaughlin planted Crossroads Fellowship (PCA) in 2004. At first he didn’t have much fellowship with other pastors. He felt isolated in the difficult work of church planting after moving from Texas to Albuquerque. But he eventually formed bonds with other pastors now involved with TGC: Albuquerque because they share a common philosophy of ministry. Working with these other pastors also allows his small church to participate in larger events they couldn’t pull off on their own.

“The friendship that I have with these guys is priceless,”  McLaughlin said, “and my prayer is that our partnership as a regional chapter would be at the heart of a spiritual movement in Albuquerque.”

When he served on staff with a Baptist church, Kelly sometimes attended associational meetings. He saw the guards go up when pastors asked one another the typical questions: How’s your ministry? What are you running? Pastors wanted to put their best foot forward, emphasizing the positive, downplaying the negative, and maybe even stretching attendance figures. By contrast, he’s already seen pastors in TGC: Albuquerque humbly and honestly share their struggles and bear one another’s burdens. Shared love for the gospel of Jesus Christ above all else defuses the spirit of competition.

“It is just really exciting, encouraging, and helpful to be in partnership together with a great group of brothers in the defense, confirmation, and advancement of the gospel,” said Michael Kelshaw, lead pastor of Trinity at the Marketplace, an Anglican congregation.

“First, I am helped in faithful biblical ministry in my own context as we study and pray and talk through gospel work together.  Second, I am excited as we work through ways that we can partner in the proclamation of the gospel together as a chapter in our area.”

Sometimes this partnership takes simple, practical forms. Kelly learned during the last meeting that someone at Desert Springs had given another church equipment to translate sermons into Spanish. At least two of the churches have discussed partnering to plant churches overseas. Other times discussion focuses on a theological topics. The pastors have suggested future dialogue on justification, the church’s mission, and sins especially tempting to ministers. They also plan to converse about local challenges such as how to engage Roman Catholics with the gospel, where to plant more churches, and how to relate to evangelical churches that primarily target seekers. This month the chapter will meet for three hours at Desert Springs to pray, discuss Greg Gilbert’s book What Is the Gospel?, and advise one another. Counsel is especially valuable for these pastors, many of whom have yet to turn 40. The chapter has revealed the need and desire for friendships, as some pastors now meet even outside the scheduled gatherings to share lunch and discuss theology books, starting with Augustine’s City of God.

Continuing Education

Only regular preaching pastors are allowed to attend some TGC: Albuquerque meetings in order to keep the group small enough for meaningful fellowship. Other times each pastor brings one other church leader. But the upcoming regional conference will be open to the general public. For years Desert Springs has hosted an annual theology conference called Clarus, a Latin word that means “clear, bright, or radiant.” This year Clarus will become a TGC regional conference featuring Westminster Theological Seminary professors G. K. Beale and Carl Trueman. They will discuss the topic “Scripture: God Speaks” from April 29 to May 1. Pastors involved with the regional chapter will enjoy a Q+A luncheon with the keynote speakers. Such events build camaraderie among reformationally minded pastors in the area while providing continuing education from world-class, faithful scholars.

“I am very encouraged by the launching of TGC: Albuquerque,” said Dave Bruskas, campus pastor of Mars Hill Albuquerque.  “My hope is that as pastors in my city gather together in affirming the central message of the gospel, we will be emboldened and empowered by the Holy Spirit to multiply our churches so that Albuquerque will be transformed.”

Only about 50 percent of Albuquerque residents grew up there, according to Kelly, so the city’s substantial growth poses a challenge to the church. No one congregation can meet the need. The city needs more churches that are unified in the gospel and willing to learn from other pastors whose theology and ministry philosophy they can trust. Getting pastors in the same room to talk might not seem like much, but it’s a crucial step toward fulfilling the evangelical call.

Is there enough evidence for us to believe the Gospels?

In an age of faith deconstruction and skepticism about the Bible’s authority, it’s common to hear claims that the Gospels are unreliable propaganda. And if the Gospels are shown to be historically unreliable, the whole foundation of Christianity begins to crumble.
But the Gospels are historically reliable. And the evidence for this is vast.
To learn about the evidence for the historical reliability of the four Gospels, click below to access a FREE eBook of Can We Trust the Gospels? written by New Testament scholar Peter J. Williams.

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