We are often asked why Discerning the Faith Ministries was founded. It is an honest question deserving of an honest answer.
What We Are
Discerning the Faith Ministries exists to equip church leaders to apply a biblical worldview. Over the past few years, as we examined the landscape of Christianity in a post-modern culture, we were struck by what seemed to be a lack of theological discernment, even among evangelicals. Gauging the theological temperature of the United States through research by Ligonier Ministries, Lifeway Research, Pew Research, conversations with church leaders and other sources, we observed a deficit in theological knowledge among not only the broader Christian community, but even church leaders; particularly lay leaders. Even beyond the borders of the United States, pastors in other countries often lack the theological training or resources to be equipped for faithful ministry. The result has been a massive infusion of social and prosperity gospel especially among impoverished countries and people groups. After much prayer and thought we proceeded down the path of forming a ministry which could help address these issues.
Throughout the history of the church, particularly after the Reformation, books have played a vital role in the theological development of pastors, elders, teachers and leaders, yet many pastors in other countries lack access to these resources. Our co-founder, Erin Miller, was inspired by Susannah Spurgeon’s book ministry to poor pastors in 19th century England and began developing a plan to enable pastors to receive theological books using eBooks through Kindle kits. Named in honor of Susie Spurgeon, the Susannah Project ministry is partnering with publishers and ministry organizations to distribute books in the native language of pastors through our digital resources kits. We have already sent kits to Malawi and Haiti, but are in the process of working with ministry partners to send these to several other countries. Our goal is not to give these to any and all pastors without reservation. Similar to Susannah Spurgeon’s book ministry, we have a process for nominating pastors to ensure they hold to an orthodox, Christian view of salvation and are adequately sponsored. Our model involves partnering with ministries, such as seminaries or missionary sending agencies who are already training indigenous pastors, and offering these digital kits as a complimentary supplement to their current efforts.
Beyond our international ministry, we established The Institute for Theological Leadership as a means of filling the gap in theological training among lay leaders in the church. Lay leaders such as elders, deacons, Sunday School teachers and others are not necessarily able to invest the time in formal theological education, but nonetheless should be equipped for ministry as leaders who can faithfully discern biblical truth.
This deficit has led to an increasing trend among evangelical churches for adult classes to be taught primarily using videos or lesson workbooks instead of being taught directly through an elder or other leader in the church. There is nothing inherently wrong with these methods, but this results in essentially outsourcing the local church function of equipping the congregation for ministry (Eph 4:11). Studies from places such as LifeWay Research, have found that people desire in-person teaching over video teaching and this is something we seek to address through this institute. Ultimately our goal is for leaders within the local church to be equipped with the tools necessary to exercise theological discernment through the knowledge of God’s word, so as to fulfill their God-ordained role in the local church.
What We Are Not
We should be clear, we are not the church. We do not desire to replace the church. Our ministry can only function biblically if it exists as a partnership with the local church for the purpose of serving and equipping those in the church. Additionally, unlike what some might initially perceive by the name of our organization, we are not a discernment ministry, as they have commonly been referred to, whose sole purpose is to slander or condemn evangelical leaders as heretics because of their associations. We desire to assist church leaders to think biblically through issues and will point out heretical, incorrect views when we see them, but only in the context of demonstrating why such views do not align with Scripture.
Partner With Us
We need partners. It is only through financial sponsors and partnership with other ministries that we are enabled to serve local churches around the world through this ministry. If you have questions or would like to learn more about our partnering with us, send us an email to info@discerningthefaith.org or visit our website at www.discerningthefaith.org/partner-susannahproject/.
