My Experience at the 2025 Banner of Truth East Coast Ministers’ Conference
What does a man need to know when beginning his pastoral labors? What will enable him to endure the inevitable hardships and discouragements over the course of his ministry? How is it possible for him to finish well? These were the questions raised and answered at this year’s East Coast Ministers’ Conference, put on by Banner of Truth. The answer implicit in each of the eleven addresses was this: the pastor must continue to recognize his weakness and keep looking to the Chief Shepherd for his strength.
The conference began with Nate Shurden’s exhortation to grow in your weakness as a pastor and ended with David Whitla’s encouragement to remember your source of strength for pastoral ministry. Shurden exhorted us to trust not in ourselves or our strength, but in Christ, and to receive his hard providences as “opportunities to declare more fully and depend more deeply on Christ and him crucified.” Whitla concluded the conference by encouraging us with five sources of strength: 1) the Lord called you to be a pastor of His Church, 2) the Lord has told us what to do in his word, 3) the Lord has provided everything necessary for this work, 4) the Lord will be with you in this work, and 5) the Lord’s people are with us.
Between these bookend addresses, we were instructed by Barry York of the Holy Spirit’s sustaining power both for preaching and prayer. In short, we need to rely on the written word the Spirit inspired, the presence of the Spirit in us, and the power of the Spirit working in ourselves and our hearers. And because the world and the church so desperately need preachers, we need to ask our congregations and others to pray for us—because only the Spirit can strengthen and help preachers.
Jeff Smith (from Coconut Creek, Florida) brought two very helpful messages to us. He reminded us that God is committed to keeping us weak in our own eyes—we are clay pots, after all—and that pastoral ministry is an extension of Christ’s suffering for the life of his body; our sufferings, pressures, and difficulties are a means by which spiritual life is given to others. He also gave us four motivations to help us endure suffering: 1) Jesus Christ is worthy of our devotion, 2) his word is not bound, 3) he has a people whose salvation is worthy of our suffering, and 4) he has promised a reward to us.
We were exhorted by Matthew Everhard to surround ourselves with several living mentors but also to choose one “dead mentor,” whose biography and works we should read throughout our lifetime; his was Jonathan Edwards. In Nate Shurden’s second address, he gave exhortations from the ministry and pastoral theology of Thomas Murphy to help us avoid sabotaging a long ministry in one place.
Finally, we were blessed to hear from keynote speaker Ian Hamilton on three different occasions. He began with the paradigm of Christ, who lived in “humble, trustful dependence upon the Holy Spirit,” whose actions and words were shaped by the written word of God, and who did everything for the glory of the Father. This is what we are called to.
He continued by giving eight principles to help us press on in ministry, most notably calling us to not simply preach about Christ, but to preach Christ. He finished by raising and answering this sobering question: “what makes you think you will finish well?” Exegeting Hebrews 12:1-2, he said we must look to Jesus as our supreme example, take comfort from his human sufferings, and refresh our souls with the future hope of being with him.
In addition to these practical and helpful addresses, it was soul-refreshing to join over three hundred brothers in belting out biblically sound hymns and psalms. What made those moments even sweeter was reflecting upon how we will be doing the same on the redeemed earth in the age to come!
In between addresses, we enjoyed a rich time of fellowship with other men—both pastors and aspiring pastors. The speakers from the conference were also very approachable, and quite often seen mingling and enjoying fellowship with the brethren. Not to mention, there were opportunities for exercise, recreation, and even an ice-cream social!
Choosing the option of lodging and eating on the beautiful campus of Elizabethtown College, where the conference is held, provided me the opportunity to share meals with dear brothers in Christ, some of whom I would likely not otherwise meet: a Reformed Baptist pastor of a congregation that recently left the United Methodist Church, a Presbyterian pastor from Canada, and the pastor of a church planted by Capitol Hill Baptist Church over a hundred years ago! Moreover, while dorm rooms are not known for comfort, sharing a room provided special time and space for catching up with a good brother.
Of course, what turned the conference from great to excellent was the bookstore. Well-stocked with Puritan paperbacks, biographies, sets of completed works, Bible commentaries, devotional reads, systematic theologies, and more, the store was a treasure trove! For the benefit of those who may not know where to even start, one of the emcees would give a book recommendation or two, prior to each address, for stocking up one’s library with great resources. An added bonus was having the option of buying Banner books in person and saving the shipping fees! In some cases, the books were significantly discounted. For $130, I bought sixteen different books, some of which have already proved extremely useful.
Altogether, it was a memorable experience, and I am thankful to the Lord for this conference. May his promised kingdom come and his will on earth be done!
About the Author
Ryan recently celebrated his tenth anniversary with his dear wife, and they have five children. He is presently a pastoral intern at a church in Canton, Michigan, and is pursuing his MDiv from CBTS.
This blog post is authored by a student of Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary.
