Introducing e2’s Bench
by Gary Johnson
Friends,
God is good! Next month, e2 will celebrate our ninth anniversary and as we do so, we give thanks to the Lord for how HE has developed this ministry. We never expected to have tens of thousands of books in circulation—and in six languages. We never expected to have spoken to over 9,000 elders and church leaders—in our conferences alone. We never expected to have people connecting with us from over a dozen other countries.
Because of this growing reach and impact, we have established what we call The Bench. A winning sports team knows the value of their coaching bench, and similarly, we realize the same. To that end, the co-founders of e2 (i.e., Jim Estep, David Roadcup, and myself) have invited four others to join us in coaching churches.
Allow me the opportunity to introduce The Bench to you: Tom Ellsworth, Jeff Faull, Ken Idleman, and Dr. Billy Strother. These individuals will help us provide leadership resources to elders of the local church. In the days ahead, you will notice The Bench writing our weekly blogs, appearing in our weekly podcasts, as well as filming our expanding number of e2 talks and coaching on-site in various settings. For example, our first joint project together is currently in process. Outreach Magazine has contracted with us to write an entire book for them on the topic of elder leadership, and The Bench is producing the manuscript even now.
Our new coaches bring exceptional experiences and education to our growing e2 team. For forty years, Tom Ellsworth served as the lead minister of Sherwood Oaks Christian Church in Bloomington, IN, and Tom brings a tremendous amount of elder leadership experience to us. Jeff Faull is in his thirty-fourth year as the lead minister of The Church at Mt. Gilead in Mooresville, IN, and he provides insights from the contemporary church to many. For several decades, God has worked through Ken Idleman to expand the Kingdom of God; both as the president of a Bible College and the lead minister of a local church. With a PhD in New Testament, our team is being strengthened by Dr. Billy Strother, who not only serves in the academic field, but also preaches in many churches.
The construction industry, both residential and commercial, is experiencing tremendous upheaval right now from the rapid price increases in construction supplies. Here in Indianapolis, it was just announced in the news that the typical new home construction cost has increased $35,000 simply because of lumber’s price increase in recent weeks. Some churches have delayed or modified their construction plans because of the rapid increase in construction costs.
One of the most overlooked areas of “construction” has to do with the internal structure of the local church, and that being the leadership team. A church will pay a high price for failing to invest in the constant and further development of leaders. Whether elders, staff or key volunteers, it is essential to invest resources in building a better and bigger team of leaders.
Just give us a call or drop us a note. We would enjoy starting or continuing a conversation with you when it comes to your “building plans” for the internal structure of your ministry team. The Bench is available to you.
