Church Ministries
Sunday School: We offer two Adult Sunday school classes, which begin at 9:45 AM. Both classes focus on the Bible, while using supplementary material. Adult Class #1 is an overview of the entire Bible, led by the Pastor and the interns. In February we will begin a year long study of Biblical doctrine, using the Westminster Confession of Faith as our outline. Adult Class #2 uses the ARP Adult Quarterly . That group is led by one of our Ruling Elders, Luther Jarrell. They meet in a classroom in the Fellowship Building. Classes for children: The teachers make use of Great Commission Publication materials.
Internships: We intend to give great meaning to being “under care” of Presbytery. If you become an intern at New Covenant, you will be introduced to a large number of ARP pastors with whom we are in close fellowship. You will get to preach in their churches, and they will get to know you in a variety of situations. We currently have three seminary interns from Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, and we are always interested in adding more. Please contact us, if you are interested in joining us. Pay. We provide modest pay, which might be matched by RTS toward your tuition. So far, all of our interns have received this matching money from RTS. The Pastor mentors these men, and includes them in all aspects of the ministry; and they are also mentored by one another. Time. We require a large time commitment on Sundays (cf. Isaiah 58:6-14). We have weekly intern meetings on Sundays, following our church lunch. We discuss ministry issues in the church, pray and plan. Then we go into the neighborhood for outreach. The Pastor and the interns (along with others) are either knocking on doors or they are ministering at the Brian Center, a local nursing home. After that we have a preaching lab. The interns and take turns preaching on Sunday mornings. All sermons, even the Pastor’s sermons, are preached one week in advance, on the prior Sunday afternoon, within the context of the preaching lab/intern group. This gives us the opportunity for constructive feedback prior to sermon delivery to the congregation. We require attendance at all Presbytery and Synod meetings, i.e., if you have the ability to attend. We have one intern who has remained in the PCA, while officially under care of his PCA Presbytery. We can do that for other interns as well. Internships are required of all RTS students in the M.Div. program.
Outreach: Most every Sunday afternoon the Pastor and interns go into the neighborhood, knocking on doors and speaking with people. We are also ministering at the Brian Center, a local nursing home, on Sunday afternoons, beginning on Aug. 7th. We hope to be more involved with the Neighborhood Association, as we join them in trying to revitalize the neighborhood. We have recently made initial contact with the Crisis Assistance Ministry and with Second Harvest Food Bank. Both of those groups provide outstanding service to this community, so we are looking forward to partnering with them. We desire to minster to various kinds of needs which our congregation and neighborhood have.
Fellowship: Lunch is provided after church each Sunday for getting to know each other, for prayer, and for discussion about outreach to our city – especially to the Plaza-Shamrock neighborhood.
