Partnership development
The administration of KCU came back from the business trip to USA. The goal of the trip was twofold: to visit a conference of pastors and to establish partnership relations.
From 4th until 8th of March, the Shepherd's Conference took place in the Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, Los Angeles, California. About 3 thousand church ministers from different countries took part in it. The ministers of the Grace Community Chruch with their pastor John McArthur held pastoral and devotional conferences for 30 years. The main task of such conferences is to form and establish the biblical principles in the Church so that it could grow spiritually.
Three days of the conference were very intensive. About 30 lectures on actual subjects were delivered by pastors and teachers of Master’s Colleague and Seminary for modern church ministers. A special attention was paid to the issue of infallibility, sufficiency and impeccability of the Word of God and its power to influence people’s hearts by helping them to grow spiritually. The importance of an expository sermon, as a true method of communication of the whole will of God (Acts. 20:27) and establishment of the church pulpit’s authority were emphasized. Besides that a great attention was paid to the obligation of church ministers to conduct holy and righteous life, which is a necessary condition for blessed ministry in the context of society’s corruption and moral degradation. The warning against false teachings and non-Evangelical methods of evangelization sounded with great concern. Every participant of the conference had opportunity to choose a training seminar of his interest.
The church services were held in the mornings and in the evenings. The main preachers for the church services were chosen. They were:
Dr. John F. MacArthur, Jr., the pastor at the Grace Community Church, the famous Bible teacher, and the author of many books, including Bible commentaries,
Dr. Steven Lawson, the senior pastor of the Christ Fellowship Baptist Church in Mobile, Alabama, the teacher of the Master’s College and Seminary and of the Expositor’s Institute. He has written ten books, including Faith under Fire, Made in Our Image, and Famine in the Land: A Passionate Call to Expository Preaching,
Dr. R. Albert Mohler, the ninth president of the Southern Baptist Theological Christian Seminary in Kentucky, the author of one of the leading Bible radio programmes,
Dr. Rick Holland, the senior associate pastor at the Grace Community Church, the director of the doctor of ministries program and a faculty associate in homiletics at the Master’s Seminary,
Tom Pennington, the senior pastor of the Countryside Bible Church in Southlake, Texas. Before that, he was the managing director at Grace to You radio programme.
All sermons and seminars were of high spiritual and academic level. The church members' active participation in the organizing of the conference should also be mentioned. During all days of the conference, brothers and sisters served in different service sectors with hearty concern. They prepared printed materials and books, cooked and served the food for the participants, and kept everything clean and tidy. A group of students on their own initiative organized a campaign of cleaning the shoes for those, who wished. A lot of church members invited the guests to stay overnight at their homes. A good example of unity and sacrificial love was seen in all these things.
In the period of the conference, a meeting with the administration of The Master’s College was organized for the representatives of the Kyiv Christian University in Santa Clarita, California. There the life and activity of the University as well as general situation in the sphere of Christian education in Ukraine were presented. The brothers were listening the information about the educational programs and development perspectives of the educational activity of KCU with great interest. The administration of the College expressed desire and readiness to render assistance in the development of the educational programs. Possible ways of cooperation between the College and the University were discussed. The meeting was ended by the passionate prayer, in which God was asked to bless the educational institutions and to send His wisdom for the realization of the stated goals for His glory.
