February 2023

Denominational Focus: Committee on Discipleship Ministries (CDM) serves as a bridge to connect people and provide resources and training to encourage the church. CDM offers books, curriculum, conferences, certification, and education to local churches and their members of all ages.

“I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him,  having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might.”

Ephesians 1:16-19

Prayers

January 26-February 4

Prayer for the PCA to continue to be true to the Bible and the Reformed faith and obedient to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ.

February 5-11

Praise the Lord for faithful founding leaders, whose love for God’s Word and the Body of Christ shaped the ministry of CDM.

February 12-18

Praise the Lord for the way He enables CDM to equip and encourage PCA leaders and members who answer the call to make disciples.

February 19-25

Ask the Lord to bless and bear fruit through the ministry of CDM as the staff seeks to connect people to people and people to resources.

February 26‒March 4 

Ask the Lord to provide guidance and resources (people and finances) to expand CDM’s ministry to help churches make disciples.

Stories

CDM (formerly CE&P)

The Committee for Discipleship Ministries (CDM) was one of four committees established at the First General Assembly in 1973. The original name was “Committee for Christian Education and Publications” (CE&P). In 2014, the General Assembly changed the name to better reflect Jesus’s command to “make disciples” in the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20).  “Publications” was dropped from the name since the digital age was bringing so many other ways to provide resources beyond printed material.

The CE&P office was originally located in Montgomery, Alabama. The founders of the PCA wanted clear separation between the four committees and their respective ministries, so each committee was located in a different city. In 1979, the General Assembly determined the committees could relocate to the same city to improve efficiency. CE&P moved to Decatur, GA, to share the same office complex with the other committees.

The PCA Bookstore:

The PCA Bookstore is one part of CDM’s ministry to the Church. The Bookstore started in a small closet in the building in Montgomery and sent out a handful of publications to churches. Over the years, the Bookstore has grown to serve a significant number of PCA members and churches. The Bookstore also provides onsite book tables at CDM conferences and the annual PCA General Assembly.

Women’s Ministry:

On August 7, 1973, an Advisory Convention was held at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC, to prepare for the first General Assembly. The Organizing Committee, showing their strong endorsement for women’s ministry, appointed an advisory committee of women, led by Georgia Settle, to plan a gathering for women at the Convention and to write a manual for a women’s ministry in the new denomination. I was thirty-three years old and not interested in women’s ministry, but I was curious, so I attended. I did not know anyone, but as I sat on the back row and listened to Georgia pray and speak, I was captivated by her love for Jesus, His Word, the Church, her husband, and for the women who would be a part of this new denomination. I left thinking, “I want to follow her because I know she will take me closer to Jesus.” I didn’t know it then, but Georgia was my first introduction to Titus 2. I didn’t know the term “spiritual mother,” but gradually that’s what Georgia became for me. She—and the PCA Women’s Ministry— continue to have a profound impact on my life.

‒ Susan Hunt, former PCA Women’s Ministry Director

In the midst of the Covid pandemic, cancelled conferences led our Women’s Ministry Team to think outside the box to provide accessible resourcing. Denomination-wide Summer Bible studies kept us Word-based, while livestream events and online cohorts kept us relationally- driven during a time when we could not physically be together. These ministry pivots exponentially multiplied the churches and individuals we have the privilege to serve.

‒Karen Hodge, PCA Women’s Ministry Director

From Children’s Ministry:

From its beginnings, the Committee focused on Christian Education was delegated the task of overseeing ministry to the children. The CE&P (now CDM) staff was diligent in recommending curriculum, training teachers, and answering questions received by phone from the local churches until it became obvious that the need was larger than the staff could handle.

In 1997, along with Great Commission Publications, CE&P held the first National Children’s Conference with teachers and staff coming from 15 states and 50 churches. This became a yearly event held in Atlanta or St. Louis.  “Telling God’s Story to the Next Generation,” “Kids under Construction,” “Great Expectations,” “2020 Vision,” What about the Children?,” “Connect,” “Establish,” and now “Grow” have been some of our theme names given to inspire and bond all of those who are in the trenches teaching the children of the PCA.

Our CDM Children’s Ministry Staff and Team believe the greatest hope for the next 50 years of the PCA is seen in the growing families’ and children’s Bible teaching programs of each local church. They inspire us week after week. Our prayer is that every PCA member will be blessed through participation in this great wealth God has granted us, making disciples of the littlest among us.

‒ Sue Jakes, Children’s Ministry Ambassador and former PCA Children’s Ministry Director

GCP

Established by the older denomination, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, GCP has been publishing curriculum since the early 1940s. In August 1973, the Advisory Convention of the PCA mandated that a publishing partnership with the OPC be studied. In 1975, the General Assemblies of both the PCA and the OPC approved a joint venture to form GCP with the mission of publishing solidly biblical and Reformed teaching and worship resources for all ages.

The name for GCP’s Show Me Jesus Sunday School curriculum came from a presentation by Dr. Edmund Clowney where Sue Jakes, Allen Curry, and Tom and Jane Patete were in attendance. He was talking about what children need as we teach them the Bible, both Old and New Testament. He said we need to “show them Jesus” in all of Scripture which GCP then turned to a child’s perspective: Show Me Jesus.

‒ B.A. Snider, GCP Marketing Director

Fun Facts

• CDM has hosted some of the largest denomination-wide gatherings (even larger than the General Assembly). In 1999 and 2006, over 4000 participants gathered for the International Women In the Church Conferences.  Both events were held in Atlanta and featured speakers such as Kay James, Paige Benton Brown, and Joni Erickson Tada.
• The PCA Bookstore ships over 10,000 orders each year from the office in Lawrenceville, GA.
• The Women’s Ministry’s enCourage Blog showcases gifted PCA women writers and delivers a healthy dose of encouragement to over 12,000 readers a month. The enCourage podcast shares the words and wisdom of a diverse group of PCA women and has 2,000 women a week who listen along.
• Women’s Ministry launched WE—Wives of Elders—in 2022 to support Ruling and Teaching Elders’ wives to encourage and equip them in their callings alongside their husbands. The initial response has been overwhelming, with over 800 women participating.
• Women’s Ministry extends beyond the borders of North America. Our training and resources have spread to support the global church in Africa, Europe, The United Kingdom, Latin America, and South America.
• The nursery has always been the fastest growing demographic in the PCA. 
• Over 145 women and men, ages 24 to 66, have now received CDM’s Children’s Ministry Leadership Certificate.
• Every week about 40,000 students use GCP curriculum in over 1000 PCA churches
• About 40% of GCP’s customers are outside of the two denominations.
• In 2022, two CDM publications, The Good Shepherd’s Pasture and The Good King’s Feast, were printed in the U.K. and purchased by children’s ministers there to teach the children and families in their churches about the Sacraments.

Kids’ Activities