In his book, “Brothers, We are Not Professionals” John Piper writes,

“Prayer is the splicing of our limp wire to the lightning bolt of heaven.”

My friends, how true this is. At times, our efforts and endeavours to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ, can feel like a “limp wire”. But praise God, through prayer, we can join our limp wire to the “lightening bolt of heaven.” To the abounding power of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

What an opportunity, and so with that in mind, here’s how you can be praying for us in the month ahead…

1. Please pray for the Sovereign Grace Churches Pastors Conference, November 18th-20th, in Orlando, USA. With over 830 people registered for this conference, from at least 16 different countries. please ask God to work in a way that our relationships among our churches are strengthened, pastors and wives are equipped for what God has called them to do, and that our family of churches is united in our shared gospel mission all for the glory of God alone.

2. Please pray for the annual Sovereign Grace Churches Council of Elders meeting, on November 17th, in Orlando, asking God to give our pastors wisdom to make decisions that strengthen our mission, foster our unity, and that best serve our churches. Please also pray for the various interest meetings at the Pastors Conference: Evangelism Interest Meeting, Small Towns Initiative Info Meeting, Pastors College & Pastoral Ministry Interest Meeting, and Church Planting Interest Meeting. That faith would be stirred and further plans for partnering together in these ways can be fostered.

3. Please pray for Solomon Faris, graduate of our Ethiopian Pastors College, as he travels to Liberia and Sierra Leonne over this next six months, as we seek to discern what God would have us to do next as we seek to come alongside our dear brothers and sisters there. Please pray that the Lord would give Solomon great discernment, wisdom and sustanance for this next six months, and that he’d be a very real encouragement to the churches there.

4. Please pray for Joel Bain and the pastoral team of Grace Family Church, Jamaica, as they continue to care for folk after the recent passage of Hurricane Melissa. In God’s kindness, all their members are well and weathered the storm well. Like many, they are concerned about how they can help with relief and recovery efforts. But more than that, they are eager to use this opportunity to proclaim the gospel, so please pray for them, that many neighbours, friends, family members and co-workers would turn to the One who alone can save.

5. Please pray that God would give all the members and pastors of Sovereign Grace churches opportunities to share the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ with unbelievers in our communities and workplaces. For how beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news.

6. Please pray that God would continue to provide financially for Sovereign Grace Churches so that we can fund the gospel opportunities He is giving us throughout the world.

An update from Jared Mellinger, SGC Director of Publishing and Senior Pastor of Covenant Fellowship Church, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania…

On October 2–5, 2025, Arche Church in Hamburg, Germany hosted their annual Eckstein (Cornerstone) Conference. I travelled with my wife, Meghan, to spend time with the pastors and wives at Arche Church, to speak at the conference, and to learn what the Lord is doing in Germany and beyond. 

The trip was a great encouragement to us. Christ is building his church in Germany, and I was on the receiving end of many expressions of gratefulness for the difference Sovereign Grace Churches has made there.   

Some of those in attendance were graduates from the Pastors College in Germany, or are currently in their Pastors College. Pastor Markus Kniesel is Dean of the Arche Pastors College, who shared through tears of gratitude the impact Sovereign Grace has had in their mission. 

Pastor Frank Huck and his team have translated many Sovereign Grace songs into German, so that the work of Sovereign Grace Music is serving churches in Germany and beyond. It was a joy to hear familiar songs sung in a different language. I did my best throughout the conference to sing in German, but it wasn’t always pretty.

Messages of Peace 

The theme of the conference was “Peace: Not as the World Gives,” from John 14:27. I preached a number of times, and Meghan taught a session for the women on “Peace in Times of Trouble: Lessons Learned from my Daughter’s Battle with Cancer.” As Meghan told her story and shared how God sustained her, many were encouraged in the midst of their present trials. 

Other sessions brought God’s word to bear on a number of topics, addressing peace in our relationships, peace as a fruit of the Spirit, peace despite crisis and wars, peace when we disagree theologically, peaceful speech, and the hope of heaven as a world of peace.

The Gospel in Ukraine 

The theme was timely in part because many brothers and sisters from Ukraine were there. Some of them are from eastern Ukraine, only 10 miles from the frontlines of war. Missiles attack every day—a live map was projected at one point, showing where missiles struck while we were sleeping the night before. They said that every Ukrainian family has sustained the loss of family and friends in the war. One brother who prayed at the conference lost three of his sons. When the sirens start wailing, all the people and children must hide.  

Meeting these courageous saints, hearing updates from them and enjoying meals with them, has left a deep and lasting impression on us. They are a remarkable example of steadfastness in suffering, and we have much to learn from their example. 

I had the privilege of finally meeting Michael Ostanin, pastor of ARK Church in Dnipro, Ukraine. Over the past 3 and a half years, Michael and his church have distributed over 400 food packages each week. They are caring for many widows, children, and refugees due to the war, including many children refugees of fallen soldiers.

During an afternoon session of mission updates from church planters and international partners, Michael and his wife shared. He expressed his gratitude for the support and giving that has come from Arche Church and from Sovereign Grace Churches, so that they can continue to care for hundreds of people suffering from the war and preach the gospel to them. 

As they share the gospel with refugees, many are coming to a saving knowledge of Christ. Every other month, the church in Dnipro, Ukraine is having a baptism service. There were 12 people being baptized in the upcoming service. Even as suffering rises, the gospel continues its onward advance. 

Thank God for Arche Church 

By the grace of God, and through the faithful leadership of Christian Wegert and his fellow pastors, Arche Church continues to be a powerful gospel presence in Germany. Pastors are being trained at their Pastors College and Reformed churches are being planted and built in Germany and beyond.

We thank God for Arche Church, and for all the pastors and churches associated with them. This is a relationship that continues to bear much fruit and mutual blessing. It is a privilege for Sovereign Grace to be a part of what God is doing in equipping pastors and strengthening the saints in Germany. The fruit of our global fellowship has filled our hearts with joy, and with excitement for the ongoing advance of the gospel in Germany.   

An update from Jeffrey T. Jo, Lead Pastor of Cross of Christ Salvation Gospel Ministries, Manila and SGC National Leader for our work in the Philippines…

In the last chapter of John Piper’s book ‘Brothers, We Are Not Professionals’, he wrote something akin to a thesis statement saying, “The tone of the classrooms and teachers exerts profound effect on the tone of our pulpits. What the teachers are passionate about will by and large be the passions of our younger pastors. What they neglect will be likely neglected in the pulpits.”

With our growing churches in Mindanao, the southern part of the Philippines, we have observed that our pastors are not getting any younger. We have encouraged them to raise up elders who will serve alongside them and we do this by building friendship and ministry partnership with the men in their local churches and by enrolling these men and themselves in our PPI (Philippine Pastors Institute) level 2 that focuses on Pastoral Theology.

For the past two years, PPI has focused on Foundational/Systematic Theology grounding our pastors and kids teachers on a theological exploration of God, humanity, and human relationships with God and the world. We have had 24 graduates of PPI’s level 1 over the past 2 batches.

For PPI level 2, we now have 13 enrollees who we hope will grow in a biblical understanding of their pastoral calling and gospel-centeredness as they serve both their families and ministries. Moreover, they will learn why biblical leadership matters, plurality of leadership, accountability and humility. In terms of ecclesiastical responsibility, they will be learning homiletics, hermeneutics, church membership, sacraments, soul care (counseling) and discipleship, all these in 9 months.

We started our class on September 24 with 13 excited students, 7 of which are young pastors whom we look forward to seeing carry gospel faithfulness to the younger generations. Our goal for the first quarter of learning is for them to understand their sacred call and exercise it faithfully and with Christlike humility. The passion and zeal to serve should just be a by-product of their deep understanding and inspiration from the gospel of Christ, who has called them to both salvation and service.

Part of the PPI program is for students to nourish friendship and partnership in ministry. We hope to remind them of the significance of continuing their relationship even outside the walls of our classroom. We try to enhance the 4 ‘Fs’ every time we gather – faith, fun, food and fellowship. We end our week of learning by having our wives with us in singing, games and the study of God’s word on marriage and parenting. In this way, we see ourselves not in competition but in cooperation, not just learning academically but growing together as a family in unity, purity and humility.

This was Paul’s prayer as well for the believers in Philippi. He exhorted them this way:

“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:1-8)

May both the teachers and students of PPI admire and be awed by the glorious gospel of Christ, inspiring our hearts to make His Name known not only in Mindanao but even to the different parts of the Philippines and the world.

In God’s abounding kindness, 2025 has been a great year for church planting in the United States. September alone marked four Sovereign Grace church plants and Mark Prater, our Executive Director, has been catching up with the church planters over on his podcast.

One such planter is Howard Varnedoe, who recently planted Hope Community Church, in Columbia, Tennesee. It was just a little while ago that his son, Josh Varnedoe, planted Christ Community Church in North Knoxville and so this is certainly an exciting story to tell. You can listen in right here. … Enjoy!

An update from David Del Castillo, Pastor of Iglesia Gracia Soberana, Santa Cruz, Bolivia...

Dear Friends,

We want to share with you what God has been doing among us over the past few months.

One of the most meaningful events that took place was the visit of John and Nancy Loftness, Chris Deloglos, Jacobis and Keila Aldana, and Fabrizio Rodulfo. The main reason for their visit was to honor the life and ministry of my father, Pastor Jorge Del Castillo. Some dear friends from Sovereign Grace Churches in Latin America took the initiative to help us celebrate and give thanks to God for his ministry.

Although our local church began in 2020, God allowed my father to serve as a pastor for over 40 years. Both he and my mother, Teresa, have faithfully served the church throughout their entire active lives. It was Jorge—deeply convinced and theologically aligned with Sovereign Grace—who led the planting of our church. In recent years, his health has limited his involvement, yet it was through him that God initiated this work.

With that in mind, John and Nancy Loftness, Chris Deloglos, and Fabrizio joined forces with me as the local pastor to organize a service of honor. It was a wonderful time of thanksgiving to God for the lives of Jorge and Teresa Del Castillo. Many in our congregation had not known about their earlier ministry, so it was a special opportunity to remember and thank God for all He has done through them.

Since we had the privilege of hosting these wonderful guests, we also organized two additional events. The first was a church seminar on spiritual disciplines, with teaching from John, Chris, and Jacobis. They shared excellent messages that reminded our church of the importance of the spiritual disciplines and how they shape our lives. Each message was of great value and encouragement to our congregation.

We were also blessed by the visit of Fabrizio Rodulfo, whom God has used in a very special way in recent years. His work alongside Bob Kauflin has made it possible for us to sing Sovereign Grace Music songs in Spanish. This ministry has been a great blessing—not only to our local church—but also to the broader Spanish-speaking Christian community for more than ten years.

Taking advantage of Fabrizio’s visit, we hosted a conference for musicians, introducing them to Sovereign Grace Music and the many resources available. The event was attended by participants from Santa Cruz and several other cities in Bolivia. Like the English version, our Spanish music ministry has been a great help to those seeking theologically solid and musically contemporary songs. We thank God for this time together.

It is also worth mentioning that Jacobis and Keila Aldana visited our dear brothers and sisters from En Su Palabra Church in Cochabamba, pastored by Erick Miranda, who is nearing the completion of his ordination process. If the Lord allows, this will become the second Sovereign Grace church in Bolivia.

Finally, our church continues to grow, and we ask for your prayers as we seek to lead our people faithfully toward Christ. This year we’ve had to adjust to being a larger church. We currently have over 50 members, with about 30 more preparing to join through our membership class. Sunday attendance has also increased significantly, with around 130 people gathering each week. Our small groups are doing well, and home discipleship continues to be a strong support for our congregation.

All this growth brings new challenges in discipleship, and we ask for your prayers as we seek to strengthen this area. Our desire is to see God raise up leaders and pastors from within our church, to train and ordain them so that they can serve alongside us and plant new churches. 

Thank you so much for all your love and support.

With Ed Omara, Norman Pedd and Norman’s son Nathan

An update from Joselo Mercado, Lead Pastor of Iglesia Gracia Soberana de Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA, and SGC Key Leader for our work in Latin America…

From Friday 24th to Saturday 25th October, I had the privilege of participating in a remarkable men’s conference held in the city of Córdoba, Spain. The gathering brought together around 400 men representing 48 churches from across the nation. What made this event even more striking was that it reached that number without any paid promotion or external publicity—the hunger among the churches for gospel-centered teaching was the true catalyst. The sense of unity, spiritual vitality, and eagerness to learn was palpable from beginning to end.

The conference was organized by a coalition of local evangelical churches with a deep desire to see men transformed by the gospel and equipped to lead their families, churches, and communities faithfully. Although the event was planned primarily at the local level, it carried a national flavor because of the broad representation from multiple regions of Spain—Madrid, Granada, Málaga, Santander, Valencia, and beyond.

Group of pastors before the conference.

The sessions ran from Friday afternoon through Saturday evening, featuring teaching, worship, small-group discussions, and Q&A moments. I had the honor of preaching four times throughout the conference and participating in a panel discussion where attendees asked practical questions about applying biblical truth to real-life struggles faced by men today.

Each teaching session focused on showing how the gospel is not merely a set of doctrines to affirm but a living power that transforms character, relationships, and leadership. My goal was to lead these men to see that biblical masculinity flows not from cultural expectations or personality, but from knowing Christ deeply and being shaped by His humility, sacrifice, and servant leadership. 

The time was deeply edifying and relational. Many pastors expressed gratitude that these conversations moved beyond methods and strategies to address the heart of pastoral life. Several mentioned that they had been longing for spiritual refreshment in their own souls, and that this time together rekindled their sense of calling and dependence on God’s grace.

Worship at the Men’s Conference.

A Testimony of God’s Strength

On a deeply personal level, this trip was also a testimony of God’s sustaining grace. As many know, in recent years I suffered multiple strokes that significantly affected my health and physical endurance. Preparing and traveling for a conference of this magnitude would have been humanly impossible not long ago.

Yet throughout the weekend in Córdoba, I experienced a tangible miracle of God’s strength. Not only did He sustain my body to stand and preach four times in two days, but He also gave me spiritual vitality and deep biblical fellowship with brothers and pastors from all over Spain.

There were moments during worship and after teaching when I was moved to tears—aware that every word spoken, every conversation shared, and every breath taken was a gift of grace. The Lord reminded me again that His power is perfected in weakness, and that the work of ministry is never about human ability, but about the faithfulness of the Great High Priest who intercedes for us.

Many men who knew about my health challenges expressed how seeing me serve and preach encouraged their own faith. It became a living example of what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:7:

“We have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”

What God did in Córdoba was not just about sermons delivered—it was about the gospel embodied in weakness and grace.

With Pastor Israel Sanz and his wife

Relationships and Fellowship

One of the greatest joys of the weekend for me was spending extended time with Pastor Israel Sanz, who serves as one of the key leaders in the Spanish gospel movement. Our time together was encouraging and strengthening. We discussed ministry challenges, the development of leadership pipelines, and the importance of building gospel partnerships across Spain and Latin America.

My wife Kathy also had meaningful fellowship with Israel’s wife, Damaris, and several other pastors’ wives. They shared their own experiences of ministry, challenges in supporting their husbands, and the need for mutual encouragement among ministry families. Kathy returned deeply refreshed by the time of prayer and fellowship with these faithful women.

Additionally, Ed O’Mara, pastor of Sovereign Grace Church in Turin, Italy, and SGC Area Leader for Europe, attended the conference, accompanied by Norman Pedd, a Sovereign Grace church planter serving in Santander, northern Spain. Having them present brought a sense of partnership and shared mission, which was is encouraging to me.

Ed likewise expressed how encouraged he was to see the advance of the gospel in Spain—to see churches growing in sound doctrine, healthy leadership, and gospel unity. He commented that witnessing this work firsthand gave him renewed faith to believe that God can do the same in Italy. The time together with Ed and Norman also allowed for important conversations about how we can strengthen our family of gospel-preaching churches throughout southern Europe.

Pastor that was saved during outreach in Seville in 1992. He was 15 at the time, and is now the pastor of the church that was born out of the outreach.

Encouragements from the North of Spain

Following the conference, Kathy and I traveled to northern Spain, where we spent time with Norman Pedd and his family. Norman is planting a church in Santander, a city of great beauty but also great spiritual need. We had dinner with his family and heard firsthand about the joys and difficulties of pioneering gospel work in a post-Christian region.

It was humbling and inspiring to see his perseverance and his family’s faithfulness. They are building slowly, meeting with new believers, and forming the foundations of a healthy local church. Our time together included prayer, counsel, and mutual encouragement. It reminded us that God is at work in places where fruit may take years to appear—but His promises remain sure.

Conclusion

In summary, the Córdoba men’s conference was an extraordinary expression of unity, hunger for truth, and gospel-centered transformation among the churches of Spain. The event gathered 400 men from 48 congregations—without promotional resources—because the Spirit of God is stirring genuine renewal.

The opportunity to preach four times, lead a Q&A, meet with pastors about the practical implications of the gospel, reconnect with a church born from the 1992 missionary outreach in Seville, and witness God’s sustaining power in my own body and spirit made this weekend profoundly significant.

The fellowship with Pastor Israel and Damaris Sanz, the encouragement shared with Ed O’Mara and Norman Pedd, and the follow-up visit to northern Spain all contributed to a time filled with gratitude, vision, and renewed hope.

We return thankful to the Lord for the doors He continues to open in Europe and confident that the same gospel that is bearing fruit in Spain will also bear fruit across the continent and beyond.

With Norman and his family, including wife Barbara in Bilbao.

Psalm 139.7-10 declares, ‘Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there you hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.'

There is nowhere we can go where we are outside of God’s presence, nowhere, and that’s one of the many things that makes prayer such an incredible and daily opportunity. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords is always present, always with us, and always eager to hear us.

And so here are some specific things that you can be praying for, and talking with the King about, in the month ahead…

1. Please pray for Joselo Mercado (Lead Pastor of Iglesia Gracia Soberana de Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA, and Key Leader for our work in LATAM) as he pulls together a small group of SG LATAM Pastors in Panama, 7th-10th October, for the purpose of beginning the work of forming a wider leadership group for our work in LATAM. For David Del Castillo (Bolivia), Jacobis Aldana (Colombia) and Sergio (Costa Rica), would this be a wonderful time of creating unity and vision for the days ahead.

2. Please pray for the Ripple Youth Conference to be held in Manila, Philippines, on 18th October. Please pray that the same move of the Holy Spirit witnessed during the Men's and Women's Conferences over the last three months, will also powerfully sweep through the Youth Conference. In addition, please pray for the speakers and the messages to be delivered, so that the truth of Christ would so anchor the youth that they would stand firm in their biblical convictions, boldly proclaim the gospel, and be a salt and light in this time of confusion and darkness. Now, more than ever, this needy generation must hear the unwavering truth of Christ.

3. Please pray for Trinity Grace Church of Athens as they send out a missions team to Rancho 3M. Pray the team would be a blessing to everyone who is there and that they’ll be able to continue putting in the groundwork for a hoped for Church Plant at Rancho 3M in the days ahead.

4. Please pray for Sovereign Grace Church, Nairobi, Kenya, and Sovereign Grace Church, Windhoek, Namibia, as both churches look for new venues to meet in on Sundays. Both churches have experienced some wonderful growth, so please pray that God would provide two new meeting venues for them, that the work of the gospel can continue to expand to others in those two cities and beyond.

5. Please continue to pray for the ARK Church in Dnipro, Ukraine, led by our friend Michael Ostanin. This dear church continues to feed over 400 people a week, care for refugees on a daily basis, and share the good news of Jesus Christ with any and all that will listen. They are doing an amazing work in Ukraine, may we never tire of praying for these dears saints.

6. Please pray that God would continue to provide financially for Sovereign Grace Churches so that we can fund the gospel opportunities He is giving us throughout the world. We really do have more opportunities than we can fund and so we are so in need of His grace in this.

… May His grace abound to us all.

Sovereign Grace exists to plant and strengthen churches for the glory of God, and in His extraordinary grace, four Sovereign Grace churches were planted in September. I’m not sure I remember a month like this in our history and to celebrate, giving all the glory to the Lord, here’s some brief updates from three of the plants…

Cross of Grace Church, North Manchester, IN

“On September 21, 2025, Cross of Grace Church in North Manchester, Indiana. held our first service. This day was the culmination of a 5+ year process of taking steps toward planting in this town. 

God was so kind to us in our first gathering. Not only did everything go smoother than I ever would have expected, but we even had 118 people in attendance from the community--68 more people than our core group! Praise the Lord!

After our time of worship together, we held a spaghetti dinner in the gym, where people could continue to get to know one another. Around 80% of those people stuck around for dinner, and we had a wonderful time of fellowship. 

The gospel was sung, prayed, preached, and displayed on our first Sunday. Please pray that the Lord would cause that seed of the gospel to begin to grow for many. Pray that the Lord would bring back the non-Christians who joined us. Pray that he would use our church to make Jesus big in our community!"

Thank you!

Adam Penird - Lead Pastor

Emmanuel Church, Coatesville, PA

“God was incredibly good to us on the launch Sunday for Emmanuel Church! Our launch team of around 50 adults and children gathered with joy and anticipation—and the Lord exceeded our hopes by bringing over 30 guests to join us. Together we lifted our voices in heartfelt worship, prayed earnestly, sat under the proclamation of God’s Word, and shared communion together. It was a remarkably ordinary service — and it was fantastic, because our extraordinary God met us!

The atmosphere was filled with joy and expectancy. Guests commented on the life in the room and the sweetness of gathering around the gospel. Afterward, we lingered long over lunch, where conversations and laughter flowed freely, and genuine fellowship marked the day. It was a beautiful foretaste of the kind of church we long to be: a joyful, generous, ordinary church family delighting in the gospel deeply, applying it broadly, and proclaiming it boldly.

We are overwhelmed with gratitude for how God has already been at work and so excited to see what He will do in the weeks and months ahead. Praise God for such a joyful beginning. Roll on next week!”

Nathan Smith - Lead Pastor

Trinity Church, Galloway, NJ

“I never saw myself as a church-planter.  I am simply a local church pastor who wants to disciple people to love God and those around them for the sake of the Kingdom. I don’t have a pioneer spirit. So, when Greentree Church began to talk of church planting in Galloway, I assumed someone else would need to go. Two years later, God had worked in my heart to see that I was the one to go and plant this new church.

Galloway is about 30 minutes north of Greentree Church.  Most of the people who live there have no connection to any kind of Christian church. But by God’s providence, Greentree had a committed core of believers who lived in the Galloway area. They were committed members of Greentree, but the distance made it hard for some of them to be as involved as they would like and somewhat disconnected from Greentree’s emphasis on local outreach.

We planted Trinity Church of Galloway to disciple those people to reach their community for Christ.  We want their friends and neighbors to experience the corporate witness of the local church – to see the beauty and glory of Christ among his people gathered and sent out in his name.  We seek to be salt and light to the people of Galloway.”

Eric Huber - Lead Pastor

The team from Cornerstone Church (Knoxville, TN) visited Sydney, Australia in July to serve SGC Wahroonga.

An update from Leo Parris, US Global Missions Coordinator for Sovereign Grace Churches, and Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania…

It was a busy summer in our global partnership in Sovereign Grace Churches. By God’s grace, more and more of our churches in the West are building relationally with others around the globe to make disciples of all nations for the glory of Christ.

Below is a snapshot of some of the ways our churches fostered global partnership.

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Pastors visited Local Churches

For the past several years, Marty Machowski has travelled to Lord’s Grace Church in South Korea to strengthen pastor Songhwan Kang, and to preach at the church and a conference. Marty is carrying forward the many years of faithful ministry that Larry Malament invested in this church before the Lord took him home. 

Marty Machowski, Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church (Glen Mills, PA) has travelled to Lord’s Grace Church in South Korea over the years to strengthen pastor Songhwan Kang and his church.

Josh Montague is a Pastoral Resident at Cross of Grace Church in Chaska, Minnesota. Josh has worked with Training Leaders International (TLI) for many years and has recently begun pouring into our SG pastors and pastoral candidates in the Philippines, walking them through the TLI curriculum on faithful exegesis and exposition. Josh, along with Chris Oswalt and Robert Sidlow, travelled there this past February and September, and Josh will return in December along with Ryan Chase.

Josh Montague, Pastoral Resident at Cross of Grace Church in Chaska, Minnesota together with Chris Oswalt and Robert Sidlow have poured into our SG leaders in the Philippines.

This is just a taste of how God is using our pastors to equip and care for our global partners as we continue to expand globally, but there are more examples! David Quilla in Pakistan. Chris Deloglos in Bolivia. Jared Mellinger in Germany. Jeff Purswell in Australia. Dave Taylor in the Philippines & Mexico. Bart Lipscomb and Doug Hayes to many locations in Africa… Many pastors travelling to Ethiopia. Oh yeah, and Bert Turner spent 5 weeks in Brazil! Wow! Thank God for the gifted and faithful pastors that Christ has gifted to Sovereign Grace Church. Isn’t it amazing how he is using them globally? To include a list of all the activity of our pastors would require a series of posts!

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International Teams

Many of our churches also sent teams of members to strengthen our global partnership this year. Different teams focused on construction, VBS, Youth Camps, direct evangelism, and fellowship.

Rancho 3M

Sovereign Grace has a long and rich partnership with this orphanage and school located in the dessert valley of Guadalupe, Mexico. Lakeview Christian Center (New Orleans, LA), Risen Hope Church (Summerville, SC), Cornerstone Church (Knoxville, TN), and Center Church (Phoenix, AZ) have all sent or plan to send teams this year to partner with this wonderful ministry. This orphanage continues to work in close relationship with our churches in Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas. In the future, the leadership of Rancho 3M hopes to plant a Sovereign Grace Church on the ranch site.

Lakeview Team

Risen Hope Team

Playa Azul, Costa Rica

This year, Covenant Fellowship Church led 2 different teams to visit Iglesias Biblica de Playa Azul to continue growing our partnership there. The first team engaged in construction projects while the second one held a YouthCamp. The first team was made up of 4 different Sovereign Grace Churches, all partnering to invest in our global partnership. Both teams also had the joy of worshiping with the new church plant in Jaco, Iglesias Gracia Soberana. Trinity College also sent a team to work with this church earlier this Spring.

Construction team from four different SG churches.

Team of youth, youth leaders and parents holding a Youth Camp.

Running A VBS Sydney, Australia

In July, Cornerstone Church (Knoxville, TN) sent a team to lead a Pirate themed Holiday Kids Club at Sovereign Grace Church Wahroonga in Sydney, Australia. The hope of this trip was to reach young families and school-aged kids around the local area with the gospel, which they did with great zeal. A WAC (We Are Conquerors) evangelistic bi-weekly Kids Club was able to be launched off the back of this trip.

Church Strengthening Trips from Toronto

In February, Sovereign Grace Church of Toronto sent a small team of folks to pour into the new church plant in Sovereign Grace Church in Nairobi, Kenya. Then, they also sent a different team to strengthen Trinity Fellowship Church in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. These were relational trips aimed at having mature folks from their church come along side to encourage folks at these other churches.

A team from SGC Toronto, Canada serving Trinity Fellowship in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Another team from SGC Toronto, Canada serving a new church plant in Nairobi, Kenya.

And these are only some of the trips that have happened. In addition to visiting Rancho 3M a couple of times, Mercy Hill Church (Fredericksburg, VA) and Kingsway Church (Midlothian, VA) joined forces to send a couple teams to Bolivia in La Paz and Santa Cruz. Greentree Church (Egg Harbor Township, NJ) will send a team in early October to partner with Pat Tedeschi and Oasis Church in London there. 

All of this is visible grace in our family of churches. God is not only growing our churches globally in size and impact, he is expanding our hearts as well. May 2026 continue to be full of activity as we work together across many nations to proclaim the gospel and together support the maturation of the Body of Christ.

If you would like to learn more about how to connect your church to our global partnership, contact Leo Parris, US Coordinator of Global Missions, at lparris@covfel.org.

Team members from Cornerstone Church of Knoxville, TN travelled to Sydney Australia in July to serve SG Wahroonga and their Holiday Kids Club.

An update from Joselo Mercado, Lead Pastor of Iglesia Gracia Soberana de Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA, and Key Leader for our work in LATAM…

In July we had the joy and privilege of holding our very first Pastoral Training Retreat in Colombia, a milestone for the growth of gospel ministry in that country and across Latin America. This gathering marked the beginning of what we pray will be a long-lasting investment in raising up and strengthening pastors who serve faithfully in their local churches.

Pastors and leaders traveled not only from across Colombia—cities such as Bogotá, Medellín, Santa Marta, Cali, and Bucaramanga were represented—but also from Costa Rica and Bolivia, highlighting the regional impact of this retreat. Altogether, around 30 pastors and leaders participated, many of them bivocational men who labor sacrificially to shepherd God’s people while also providing for their families.

The retreat was intentionally designed to be both theological and relational. Rich Richardson and I were there to lead the training sessions and to continue cultivating relationships with the pastors. Their presence helped establish a sense of partnership and trust, reinforcing that Sovereign Grace is committed not only to sound teaching but also to long-term relational investment.

The main teaching focus of the retreat was the Seven Shared Values of Sovereign Grace—a framework that shapes our identity and practice as a family of churches. Each value was carefully unpacked, showing how these biblical convictions ground our mission and ministry. Pastors were encouraged to not only understand these values but also to apply them in the context of their local congregations. This was not merely theoretical instruction, but a call to embody these values in preaching, leadership, and daily pastoral care.

A particularly helpful session was led by Bob Wright, who taught on the topic of biblical generosity. Bob reminded us that generosity flows from the grace we have received in Christ, not from external pressure or human obligation. He traced biblical principles from both Old and New Testaments, demonstrating how gospel-shaped generosity becomes a powerful witness in our churches and communities. His teaching resonated deeply with pastors who minister in contexts where financial challenges are real and ongoing, and many left encouraged to model and cultivate a culture of generosity in their own congregations.

While the pastors were being trained, my wife Kathy gathered with a group of 12 wives who were present. This was a precious time of fellowship and encouragement for these women, many of whom quietly and sacrificially support their husbands’ ministries. Kathy listened to their stories, prayed with them, and shared insights from Scripture about walking faithfully with the Lord in the midst of the unique joys and challenges of ministry life. For many of the wives, this was one of the first times they had been intentionally included and cared for in this way, and their gratitude was evident.

One of the most significant moments of the retreat was the ordination of Jacobis Aldana as the first Sovereign Grace pastor in Colombia. This was a historic step, both for Jacobis personally and for the churches in Colombia that he represents. His ordination was a visible demonstration of our shared mission to establish healthy, gospel-preaching churches led by qualified pastors. It was deeply moving to see pastors and leaders from multiple cities and countries join together to affirm and celebrate this important milestone.

Afternoons allowed space for fellowship, prayer, and brotherhood among the pastors. Many of them serve in isolation, often without a network of like-minded leaders to encourage them. For them, simply being in a room with other pastors who share their joys and struggles was deeply refreshing. We heard testimony after testimony of how life-giving it was to pray for one another, to share meals together, and to realize, “I am not alone in this work.”

God was clearly at work. We saw men and women leave with renewed faith, strengthened convictions, and practical tools to better serve their churches. Some commented that this was the first time they had received focused training for their pastoral role. Others expressed gratitude for the relational depth they experienced, saying it was exactly what they needed in a season of weariness.

We return with great hope that this retreat was not simply an event, but the beginning of an ongoing work. Plans are already in motion to continue training pastors in Colombia on a regular basis, with the vision of equipping a new generation of leaders who will plant and strengthen churches throughout Latin America.

Please join us in praying that God would use the seeds sown in these days to bear much fruit for the advancement of the gospel in Colombia, Costa Rica, Bolivia and beyond.

August/September marked the start of the US Pastors College in Louisville, Mexican Pastors College in Juarez, and Trinity Fellowship Pastors College in Ethiopia. So much to be excited about as we consider both the year, and fruit, ahead…

US Sovereign Grace Pastors College

An update from Jeff Purswell, Dean of the US Sovereign Grace Pastors College in Louisville, KY…

In August, the US Pastors College kicked off its academic year by welcoming our 27th class of students. We are once again humbled by the sacrifices that these men, their wives, and their children made as they left their homes, churches, communities, and, for some, their home culture to pursue training for pastoral ministry.

Thirteen men have joined us in Louisville this year: eight from the US, three from Canada, and two families from the Philippines who braved the visa application process, jetlag, and the challenges of life in a foreign country to be a part of this year’s class. It is a diverse group: the students range in age from 22 to 41 and come from a variety of vocational backgrounds. All of them are married, and they brought with them 24 children (and one due to be born this month!).

At least four of the students are actively pursuing church planting, while the rest are eager to serve in a variety of contexts. Observing the combination of these students’ academic eagerness and their relational bonding gives us great encouragement for what the Lord has in store for this year. And we are once again reminded of the sacrifice of our churches in sending such quality men and women to be equipped in the college. Please pray for these men, their families, our instructors, and all that goes into the PC year—that the outcome would be faithful and fruitful laborers for the harvest, whose lives, families, and churches are built upon the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Pastors College of México

An update from Edgar Flores, Pastor at Gracia Soberana Ciudad Juárez, Mexico & Dean of the Pastors College of Mexico…

We are thrilled to begin the 2025-26 year of the Pastors College in México. By God’s grace, our first PC graduation was in August. This PC year, we have four students: Alejandro Mascareño (Baja California, México), Eli Warren (Ciudad Juárez, México), Isaac Alarcón (Guadalupe, México), and David Calvo (Costa Rica). Three students and their families moved into the apartments on the church premises. Two students are exploring the possibility of planting Sovereign Grace churches. Eli Warren desires to plant a church in the west of Ciudad Juárez (one of the most troubled parts of our city), and Isaac Alarcón is exploring the possibility of beginning a church in Rancho 3M, a children's home in Guadalupe (one hour from our city). The Ranch is deeply connected to Sovereign Grace, and having a Sovereign Grace church in Guadalupe has been a desire for years.

Our desire for the Pastors College of México is to be known as a Sovereign Grace Pastors College. We want the College to be profoundly rooted in the shared values and virtues that Sovereign Grace embraces and in our Statement of Faith. By God's grace, the number of professors who will give classes in-person is growing, and this is the second year of Greek classes. We desire that our students will continue to cultivate a life of godliness throughout the year and be fully immersed in the life of our local church. It is an exciting year—thank you for praying with us as we equip future Sovereign Grace pastors. 

Graduating class of 2024-25.

A welcome gathering for the new class of 2025-26 and their families.

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Trinity Fellowship Pastors College

An update from Josh Pannell, Dean of Trinity Fellowship Pastors College in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia …

Greetings from Addis Ababa!

In the Lord’s kindness, a new year of Trinity Fellowship Pastors College has begun. This year, God has entrusted us with nine students: five from Trinity Fellowship in Addis, three from Nairobi sent by Brian Kiama, and one from Pakistan. The brothers from Nairobi are especially a mark of the Lord’s kindness to us, as they are the first students sent from a church planted by a TFPC graduate. Our brother from Pakistan represents a network of churches pursuing Global Partnership with Sovereign Grace Churches, and we rejoice to serve him here, trusting the Lord to strengthen many in Pakistan through his training.

Once again, many Sovereign Grace pastors have gladly agreed to cross oceans to teach these men: Steve Whitacre, Joseph Stigora, Jace Hudson, Mark Prater, Mark Alderton, Joel Bain, Jeff Purswell, Pete Payne, Andy Farmer, Dr. Josh Blount, Rick Gamache, and Brian Chesemore. Alongside them, six classes will be taught by TFPC graduates now pursuing MTh degrees through our partnership with Union School of Theology in Wales: a joyful sign of the maturity God is quickly working.

This year’s graduation will also mark our fifth anniversary as a pastors college. We give thanks for all the Lord has done, and we ask him to raise up more faithful shepherds for many churches from these men. Truly, the Lord is kind.

Over on the Mark Prater Podcast, our Executive Director recent gave an “around the world” update on so many things that have been taking place in Sovereign Grace Churches.

With so many stories to tell, please listen in… How great is our God!!

Around The World - Global Updates (Mark Prater)

Charles Spurgeon, in his book “The Power of Prayer in a Believer’s Life," writes:

        “Do not bring before God stinted petitions and narrow desires, but remember, as high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are His ways above your ways and His thoughts above your thoughts. Ask, therefore, after a Godlike fashion, for great things, for you are before a great throne.” 

In God’s amazing kindness, you and I get to come before his “great throne” and ask Him for “great things”. It’s an astounding reality, and so here are some ways you can be praying for our Global endeavours over the next month…

1. Please pray for the four U.S. church plants that are launching this month: Trinity Church of Galloway, NJ (Sept 14th), Hope Community Church, Springhill, TN (Sept 14th), Cross of Grace Church, North Manchester, IN (Sept 21st) and Emmanuel Church, Coatesville, PA (Sept 21st). May the Lord bless the labours of the church planting teams and may many unbelievers come to know Jesus through these noble endeavours.

2. Please pray for the many Pastors College students and their families that begin their 2025-2026 year in their PC’s this month: 13 students in the US Pastors College, 8 of them coming from the US, 2 from the Philippines and 3 from Canada. 4 students in the Mexican Pastors College, 3 of them from Mexico and 1 from Costa Rica; and 8 students in the Ethiopian Pastors College, 5 of them from Ethiopia, 2 from Kenya and 1 from Pakistan. Please ask God to provide for them and to give them much grace over the next year, as they learn to watch their lives and doctrine closely.

3. Please pray for Dave Taylor as he heads to South Korea, following on from the leadership team retreat in LA, to serve Songhwan Kang in Seoul, as Lord’s Grace Church celebrates their 15 year anniversary. Please pray that Dave will be a blessing to them and will be able to serve Songhwan, the Lord’s Grace Church pastoral interns and the Church well during this stay.

4. Please pray for the many ladies coming together in the Philippines for their ‘Ripple Women’s Conference’ this month, looking at the ‘Habits of a Godly Woman’. Please pray that both speakers and members alike will be envisioned, encouraged and built together as they gather together in this way.

5. Please pray for the Greentree Church missions team as they head to London this  month to work with Pat Tedeschi in evangelism; Josh Montague (Chaska, MN) and Chris Oswald (Kansas City) as they visit the Philippines with TLI; and Doug Hayes as he travels to Covenant Mercies locations in Zambia, Ethiopia, and Liberia.

  … As we come before this ‘great throne’, may His grace truly abound to us all.

An update from Riley Spring, Lead Pastor of Sovereign Grace Church, Parramatta and Regional Leader for SGC Australia…

In early August, we had the joy and privilege of hosting Jeff and Julie Purswell here in Australia for our TOGETHER 2025 combined churches retreat. We went away to the coast for the weekend and, even though it rained the whole time, that didn’t spoil it at all. We enjoyed rich fellowship, fun, worship, and time sitting under God’s Word. It was a special event for us as we held our largest church retreat yet, with over 340 people attending, and it marked 15 years of Sovereign Grace Churches Australia. It truly was memorable.

Over the weekend, Jeff unpacked the theme The Glorious Christ across four sessions, which you can listen to here. I highly recommend listening to these sermons. They were passionate, carefully exposited, clearly applied, and powerfully exalted Christ in our hearts and minds. God was very kind to us as He helped us sing with joy and faith, minister to one another with our gifts, and knit us together in love. It truly felt like one big family.

Jeff and Julie brought with them such warmth of love and an intentionality to greet, welcome, serve, and care for our churches. It was a joy to watch them in action—often catching them in prayer or embracing someone they had just met as if they were lifelong friends. This is one of the beautiful things about our partnership in the gospel across Sovereign Grace Churches!

We also held a separate training day on the Thursday before the retreat, where Jeff gathered with all of our pastors in Australia to look at the need for doctrinal fidelity and gave an edifying overview of the Pastoral Epistles—whetting our appetite for the PC Course in 2026. At the same time, the wives met with Julie and were blessed and encouraged by her example, experience, and endurance. That evening we all gathered together for an SGC Australia Pastors and Wives dinner, feasting on smoked lamb, sharing stories, and simply enjoying being together.

True to SGC form, “we may be small… but we are slow!” Yet despite this, the Lord is on the move here in Australia among us. There is a wonderful unity across our two pastoral teams and our churches. We have seen two pastors ordained this year, with more hopefully to come. Both of our churches are stepping out with even greater intentionality in evangelism through the Bridge Course, and we are seeing more people come to faith.

It is our hope that as we build well—and build slowly—we lay a foundation for the future: playing our small part in the gospel ecosystem of Australia, aiming to reach new people one at a time, to plant more churches in the coming years, and to raise up future pastors. We would love your continued prayers as we seek to plant and strengthen churches here in Australia.

We are already looking forward to our TOGETHER 2026 one-day event with the Global Leaders and Leadership Team!

Last month, we had the graduation ceremony for the Sovereign Grace Pastors College Class of 2025! The class included nine men from five U.S. states and two countries. Having completed a year of rigorous theological training and mentorship, their passion for Christ and commitment to gospel ministry was evident, and we’re excited to see how God will use them as they return home to serve their churches and communities.

To give you a small taste of their exciting and strategic deployment, here’s where they’ve all headed on to…

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Leyton Adams
Cornerstone Church, Knoxville, TN

“At the Pastors College, we prioritize watching our lives and teaching, and our professors have modeled that before us so well. I have had the privilege of seeing men who are brilliant in their understanding of God's Word and genuinely pious in their posture to it. As John Owen said, they are men whose "... heart is cast indeed into the mold of the doctrine that the mind embraceth ... [and] have communion with God in the doctrine [they] contend for." Their combination of doctrine and life, head and heart, is a model which I want to imitate.”

Leyton will be returning to Cornerstone Church to help lead the Young Adult ministry, teach Sunday classes, and work with their outreach ministry.

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Asher Donohue
Covenant Fellowship Church, Glen Mills, PA

“This year at the Pastor's College, God has taught me to rely on him in new ways. I have learned that my own ability or understanding cannot lead me, but must be surrendered to the one who is sufficient for every task. Through the training, fellowship, and discipleship of this year, I approach ministry opportunities in the future knowing that God's grace is sufficient in my weakness. My job is simply to follow in the footsteps of the Savior and of those who have gone before me. As Proverbs 3:5-6 says, ‘Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.’”

Asher will be leading the youth ministry at Covenant Fellowship, serving as an assistant editor at Sovereign Grace Publishing, and pursuing ordination.

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Austin Loke
Sovereign Grace Church, Wahroonga, Australia

“Three themes that marked the entire year are: the surpassing preciousness of God's Word, the cruciform nature of the Christian life and pastoral ministry, and the fact that the Pastors College is custom-designed to be a training ground for faith. Coming into the Pastors College, I thought my life was pretty Word-centered, but class after class left me with a sense of my under-appreciation and under-application of His Word in my life, and has rekindled a burning desire to know and live off every word that comes from the mouth of God. Also, the cumulative effect of instruction from many pastors has left a distinctly cross-shaped understanding of pastoral ministry.”

Austin will be returning to Sovereign Grace Wahroonga, Australia, and working part-time as a Pastoral Candidate and overseeing discipleship, as well as preaching.

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Titus Miller
Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville, KY

“The Pastor’s College was a life-changing gift that strengthened my heart and mind for gospel ministry, as well as my marriage, friendships, and personal faithfulness to Christ. It provided rich theological training, wise mentorship, and deep friendships that I will carry with me into future ministry. God used that season to clarify my calling and cultivate humility and joy in serving His church. I’ll always look back on it with gratitude and awe at God’s kindness in giving us this last year in the PC.” 

Titus will remain at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville to continue to receive training for pastoral ministry.

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Brayden Peterson
Cross of Grace Church, El Paso, TX

“One thing that the Lord has taught me this year is that my love for others must flow from my love for Him—my primary call is to love Him with all I have, and then through that, my love for His people should overflow.”

Braden Peterson will be serving as a Pastoral Intern at Cross of Grace church, leading the young adults and young professionals groups.

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Mikey Roman
Covenant Fellowship Church, Glen Mills, PA

“The PC was a year of intense study as well as intense growth. The classes were often theologically dense, which challenged me and pushed me to study God’s word. They were also pastorally rich, which prepared my heart and mind to go back to Covenant Fellowship. The friendships made through the whole year were such blessings and I believe will last a lifetime.”

Mikey will be returning to Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills, PA where he will enter into a two-year pastoral residency with the intent of either planting a church or serving in international missions when his residency is completed.

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Erik Schmaltz
Sovereign Grace Church, Midland, TX

“I have longed to attend the Sovereign Grace Pastors College for over a decade, but God saw fit for me to wait until I was 42 years old. What an incredible experience my family and I have had this year at the PC! Erin's and my marriage has been greatly strengthened, equipping us to love and support each other as we head back into ministry. We've watched our four kids mature in their love for God and His church. I now have a much deeper love for God, a greater desire to understand His Word, and the confidence to serve His people. We will forever be grateful for the dear friends we've made this year with the other PC families and the members of Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville.”

Erik will be returning to Sovereign Grace Church in Midland, TX where he will continue to serve on staff and complete his elder ordination.

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Joel Seric
Sovereign Grace Church, Parramatta, Australia

“This year of studying at the PC has been profoundly impactful for my family and I. God has used the church community of Louisville to encourage us. God has used the teaching of the PC to provoke my thinking and humble me before Him. God has used our time here in the States to grow our marriage. God has grown our affection for Sovereign Grace and its emphasis upon partnership.”

Joel will be serving as a Pastoral Resident at Sovereign Grace Church of Winter Garden in Florida.

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Zach Taylor
Living Hope Church, Fayetteville, AR

“Though I had had a solid theological education prior to coming to the PC, I feel significantly more equipped for pastoral ministry because I attended Pastors College. God used the PC to deepen my hunger for God's Word. My wife and four kids would tell you that God has grown me as a husband and a father. I feel so much more prepared to apply the Word to my life and the lives of those whom God has called me to pastor. Lastly, my time at the Pastors College has grown me to be more like Christ, not only through the regular, intentional instruction I received, but also the close friendships that were forged during our 10 months in Louisville.”

Zach will be returning to Living Hope Church in Fayetteville, AR, where he will serve as the worship pastor and attend to other pastoral duties.

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Please join us in honouring their achievement and praying for the fruitfulness of their ministry in the days ahead. To God be all the glory!

An update from Ed O’Mara, Lead Pastor of Chiesa Grazia Sovrana di Torino, Italy and SGC Area Leader for Europe…

From 11-16 August, Grace Church in Bristol, UK hosted its annual G2 Youth Camp. Nearly 30 youth between the ages of 11 and 17 attended. There were youth from churches in England, Wales, and Italy who joined the week and camped out in the countryside of South Wales. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and spiritual strengthening. During the week, the youth studied the book of Ephesians through morning Bible studies. In the evenings, they gathered to worship in song and to hear preaching on the first half of Daniel. The Lord moved among these young people to give them a greater understanding of the gospel and to help them walk faithfully before the Lord, prizing Him as the greatest treasure.

The time was also filled with plenty of fun and relationship building as well. The youth did a scavenger hunt through a nearby seaside town, competed in a laser tag battle, played sports and board games, did crafts, and went to the sea. Meanwhile, everyone ate their share of sweets, spent a lot of time laughing together, and enjoyed nights around a fire (with the obligatory accompaniment of s’mores and hot chocolate!) and gazed at the stars in awe of the Lord’s creation. The week was capped off with a very entertaining talent show put on by the youth.

While this camp was a great blessing to all who attended, it was also extremely spiritually significant. In a continent where the influence of the gospel is waning, it is vital that we faithfully invest and transfer the gospel into the next generation. Our churches, in future years, will not be healthy if we do not take on this responsibility with intentionality and great care. Each step, including this G2 Youth Camp, by God’s grace, presses the gospel deeper into the hearts of the young people who will lead and serve their local churches in years to come.

Our hope is that continuing this context will deepen the discipleship of our youth and develop in them a love for the local church. We pray that they will see the importance of keeping the gospel central and will invest their own lives in faithfully following the Saviour. Please join us in praying that the Lord will bear much fruit and that He will continue to raise a generation of young people in Sovereign Grace, not only in the UK and in Europe but across the globe, who are passionate for Jesus and His gospel and eager to serve their local churches.

An update from Joshua Varnedoe, Lead Pastor of Christ Community Church, North Knoxville, Tennessee, USA…

On Sunday, August 17th, Christ Community Church opened its doors to the community of North Knoxville. This morning was the product of two and a half years of prayer, discussion, planning, and more prayer! It was a celebration of the Lord’s faithfulness to both Cornerstone, the sending church, and Christ Community.

Since its founding in 1990, Cornerstone has been gripped with a passion to reach the lost. Over the years, this has been illustrated by its vibrant campus ministry at the University of Tennessee and the church’s love for church planting. In the last 15 years, CCK has planted 3 churches: Redeeming Grace in Franklin, TN, Trinity Grace in Athens, TN, and Christ Community in North (downtown) Knoxville.

Christ Community Church was planted so that those living in the North Knoxville community might hear the Gospel and trust in Jesus Christ by faith. One of the reasons why this part of town was such an attractive location for a new church was the lack of spiritual life. The philosophies and priorities of man reign supreme in the coffee shops, the grocery stores, and in the neighborhoods. Our mission is to bring light into dark places by preaching the Gospel of Christ which is the “power of God for salvation” (Rom. 1:16).

Cornerstone Church has sacrificed in significant ways for this church plant, most pointedly in the people they have joyfully sent out for the cause of Christ. Represented in the church plant team are families who have been members of CCK for decades. A large number of them became Christians and got married through CCK’s campus ministry. Still more have been faithful servants in the church—community group leaders, musicians, children’s ministry teachers, and the list goes on. However, because they love the mission, they eagerly volunteered to help start a new church in North Knoxville. Most of our team live within 10 minutes of where Christ Community is located, and they have been boldly inviting their neighbors, co-workers, and friends to come on a Sunday morning.

The Lord graciously provided a meeting space for Christ Community through a local Baptist church. We began renting their gym and some classrooms earlier this year and have gradually updated our new space with fresh paint, new lights, wall décor, etc. Finally, after months of hard work, Christ Community was ready for our first Sunday.

Our first service was a joyful occasion. God’s grace was on display as members of the planting team arrived early to prepare for the meeting. As the morning progressed, we were shocked by the number of new faces that came through the door. Many had heard about Christ Community from friends and neighbors. One family had been waiting for us to launch all summer!

We sang songs celebrating the grace of God in Christ, we prayed together, we began our series in the Gospel of Mark, and we received the Lord’s Supper for the first time as a church. The Lord was present with us, and we were aware of his pleasure in our gathering. 

Looking forward, much of our focus and energy is being devoted towards outreach and evangelism. We’re spending a lot of time thinking about creative ways to engage our community. We want to build new relationships and invite more people to join us on Sundays. Who knows who might walk through the doors of Christ Community Church! May the Lord of the Harvest receive all the glory for what he has done and for what he will do!

There’s no doubt that for many years now, our music has played a significant part in seeing Sovereign Grace Churches planted and strengthened across the world. Not least in Latin America. With that in mind, here’s an update from Bob Kauflin, Director of Sovereign Grace Music, as he talks about Gracia Soberana Música…

The Lord has kindly enabled us to serve Spanish speaking churches increasingly through Gracia Soberana Música this past year. Fabrizio Rodulfo has been leading these efforts and the fruit is both abundant and encouraging. Here are just a few of the highlights.

For the first time, we released a Spanish version of an album, Knowing God, only three weeks after the English release. We used that as an opportunity to rebrand from “Sovereign Grace Music en Español” to “Gracia Soberana Música.” That made the name more accessible to Spanish speakers and created a stronger connection to our family of churches known as Iglesias Gracia Soberana.

This year we also launched a fully Spanish website identical to the Sovereign Grace music website but with all our Spanish (and Portuguese) music. As part of the website, we translated and posted a number of my blogposts from my Worship Matters blog.

In July, we released an album of 12 newly translated hymns entitled Himnos. It contains seven traditional hymns and five modern hymns from Sovereign Grace Music. It’s already racked up 1.5 million streams on Spotify.

In an effort to serve Hispanic churches with theological training in music and worship, we started producing an AI dubbed version of the Worship Matters Video Intensive. I speak a tiny bit of Spanish, but this makes me sound fluent. We hope to have all the videos translated before the end of the year. We also began a fully Spanish podcast hosted by Fabrizio and Luis Carlos Asencio, who serves with Mario Figueroa at Vine Church, in Tampa, Florida. The podcast is called “Acorde a la Gracia” (In Accord with Grace) and is modeled after Sound Plus Doctrine, contextualized for Latin America. 

We also hosted eleven writers in Louisville for the second Spanish Songwriters retreat. The spirit of unity, faith, and joy, not to mention the great songs, were all evidence of the Lord’s kindness to us. We plan to record a live album based on Ephesians next March in Juarez, which we’ll release at the Fieles a Su Llamado conference in August. Providentially, the Files conference this year will be similar in content to some of the WorshipGod conferences we’ve been hosting in the US. 

Fabrizio also had the opportunity to travel to David del Castillo’s church in Santa Cruz, Iglesia Gracia Soberana, to share our values with area leaders and musicians and to strengthen the connection of GSM with our Latin churches.

We’re hoping in the future to continue doing what we’ve been doing, and also expanding the reach of Gracia Soberana Música through translating and writing children’s songs and Christmas songs. Similar to Sovereign Grace Music, our heart is to serve Hispanic churches by producing Christ-exalting songs and training for the Church from our local churches. 

We’d appreciate your prayers for all these endeavors, and are grateful for the opportunities the Lord has given us to proclaim the glorious gospel in song to our Hispanic brothers and sisters throughout Latin America and other parts of the world. 

An update from Andrew Leung, Pastor at Sovereign Grace Church Wahroonga, Sydney, Australia…

A few months ago now, in March 2025, I had the joy and privilege to once again attend the Sovereign Grace Asia-Pacific Pastors & Wives Conference. It served as a wonderful opportunity to hear first-hand how our fellow pastors and wives serving in the Asia-Pacific were tracking, specifically how God has been at work in their lives, as well as in the churches they lead. It was great to be able to hear so many stories of God’s evident kindness and mercy among the churches in the Philippines, Pakistan, India and Korea, and to be able to pray for and alongside them.

Not only were the participants fed from God’s Word, bringing refreshment to the souls of many who serve in the gospel frontline in the Asia-Pacific region, the open Q&A with panels was a standout as we together discussed and thought about some of the potential cultural blindsides in how the gospel affects life and ministries.

The testimonies from brothers and sisters who face the many different challenges unique to their nation were simply faith stirring, and a reminder that despite the different challenges, we have the same God who comes alongside each one of us, doing His work building his church.   

We also had a session for pastors and leaders interested in becoming a part of Sovereign Grace, and opportunities to ask questions. It was heart-warming to see the room packed to the brim, and opportunity for conversations to be had over pizza. There were stories of pastors who have served their church for years, and having seen their church grow and multiply, are now experiencing challenges in ministry and desiring others to walk alongside them in ministry. They were encouraged to see the fellowship and interconnectedness amongst the family of churches in Sovereign Grace, knowing they do not have to do ministry alone. 

God is on the move, and the promise of our Risen King rang throughout this trip for me, as the gospel advances in the Asia-Pacific… “And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20)

What a wonderful King we serve!

In a recent ‘Quarterly Prayer Requests’ email, Mark Prater wrote the following…

In his timeless classic, “The Christian Ministry” Charles Bridges writes, “Prayer implies the renunciation of all dependence upon our best preparations, ministerial gifts, or spiritual habits; an acknowledgement of their insufficiency to qualify us for the discharge of our commission; and a simple dependence upon our Glorious Head for his present influence.”

Why do we pray for one another as a family of churches? Because prayer is a renunciation of our self-dependence and an expression of our complete dependence on God for His present influence, provision, help, and power. Prayer is a regular reminder that we cannot accomplish all that God has called us to do without asking for His "present influence.” 

God loves to hear our desperate, dependent prayers for one another and for our shared mission. Therefore, here’s some ways you can be praying for our family of churches and our shared mission in the month ahead…

1. Pray that God would give the members and pastors of Sovereign Grace churches opportunities to share the gospel with unbelievers in our communities, workplaces and on our campuses. Pray for the saving grace of God to reach many.

2. Pray for the 5 U.S. church plants that are launching this fall in Coatesville, PA, Galloway, NJ, North Knoxville, TN, Springhill, TN and North Manchester, IN asking God to draw unbelievers and the unchurched to those churches, and to bless the labors of the church planting teams.

3. Pray for the first Sovereign Grace Latin America Pastors Retreat in Santa Marta, Colombia this month, which is the first of its kind outside of Mexico, when pastors from Colombia, Bolivia and Costa Rica will gather to build relationally, give updates, and pray about building Sovereign Grace Churches in Latin America in the future.

4. Pray for Jeff and Julie Purswell as they travel to Sydney, Australia to serve at the Sovereign Grace Churches, Australia, Together 2025 event, August 8-10, 2025, when the pastors and members of our 2 churches in that nation will gather for worship, teaching, and fellowship. Pray for Dave Taylor and Riley Spring asking God to give them grace to lead this important gathering.

5. Pray for our new 2025-2026 Pastors College students and their families from 3 different nations who will be moving to Louisville, KY before classes start at the end of August, asking God to provide for them and to give them grace to grow over the next year while at the PC.

6. Pray for the Sovereign Grace Churches Executive Committee retreat in Glen Mills, PA, August 19-22, 2025, asking God to give the 9 men on this committee wisdom and help in fulfilling their responsibility of overseeing and evaluating the Leadership Team.

7. Pray that God would continue to provide financially for Sovereign Grace Churches so that we can fund the gospel opportunities He is giving us throughout the world.

Thank you so much. May our dependence only bring about more of His great influence, all for His glory alone.