Answer His Call

The world at its worst needs the Church at her best.
A practical resource for the equipping of congregational leaders who serve as elders of the Church.
"Since the Bible specifies elders to be the overseers of the church and since we are a people who respect The Book, we need to consider how to make the God-given system work more effectively. 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, and 1 Peter 5 are in the Bible for a purpose. The problem isn't with God design, it's with our implementation of His plan.
That's why this book about the role of eldership is desperately needed and can be extremely helpful. James Estep, David Roadcup, and Gary Johnson have the theological credentials and practical experience to shed some light on how God intended His church to be shepherded. Jesus Christ is still the only hope of the world, the church is still His body on the earth, elders are still the pastors of His flock and the time in which we live demand the best we can give. So study and implement the principles set forth in this book so the church can be as the Lord intended it to be -- a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden."
-From the foreward by Bob Russell

Answer: His Call is not the product of one author. Rather, it is the fruit of three individuals labor, working in concert with one another, and bringing their diverse experience and perspective to the table for discussion. James Estep is an academic, David Roadcup is a church consultant and Gary Johnson is a churchman. While these three men have known one another separately for a long time, it was not until they were all three together in Heiligenkreuz, Austria teaching students from eastern Europe and central Asia at Haus Edelweiss (TCMI) that the three men sat together for the first time and shared their concerns for the health of congregations and the health of its leadership. We are convinced that a healthy leadership builds a healthy congregation. From these conversations over coffee came the idea for this series, designed to strengthen the health of elders as the congregation s leaders.
While individuals were assigned their own chapters to write, the final form of each chapter was reviewed and reworked by all three authors sharing a common table, typically in Indianapolis, Indiana. Hence, the work is a tri-authored resource for the equipping of congregational leaders who serve as elders of the Church.