2021 New Geneva Academy Shepherds Conference
The Good Soldier
Suffer hardship as a good soldier of Christ Jesus (2Timothy 2:3).
The Good Soldier
Suffer hardship as a good soldier of Christ Jesus (2Timothy 2:3).
Online registration is now open.
The 2021 NGA Shepherds Conference will be held at Trinity Reformed Church, Bloomington, Indiana, and is for all church officers and aspiring church officers—with wives welcome. The conference is presented by New Geneva Academy and sponsored by Evangel Presbytery. All attendees of the October 6-7 conference are invited to attend Evangel Presbytery's Fall Stated Meeting on Friday, October 8.
In addition to the plenary sessions, we'll have a breakout seminar for wives titled, "Strengthening Your Husband for the Fight" led by Mary Lee Bayly.
In addition to the plenary sessions, we'll have a breakout seminar for wives titled, "Strengthening Your Husband for the Fight" led by Mary Lee Bayly.
Session Descriptions
The Pastor Is a Soldier | 2 Timothy 2:1-7
Tim Bayly
Ministry is warfare. Pastors are soldiers enlisted by the Lord: "Suffer hardship as a good soldier of Christ Jesus." Men who fight, command, and lead aren’t popular today, but the pastor isn’t working for popularity with women and men. He only has eyes for God. So he humbles himself to fight, but it’s hard not to pick the wrong battles with the wrong enemies at the wrong times. Fighting takes the sort of wisdom that develops with time. Through an exposition of 2 Timothy 2:1-7, Tim will lay the groundwork for understanding ministry as warfare.
2 Tim. 2:1-7 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 3 Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. 5 Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. 7 Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
Soldiers Must Be Trained | 2 Tim. 2:2
Stephen Baker
No military officer sends his soldiers into battle without first putting them through bootcamp. The Church needs pastors for the warfare of ministry, but those pastors need training. More is at stake in ministry than in warfare—the casualties are eternal souls—so the Church’s training of her shepherd had better exceed the rigor of the training of the armed forces. How should the Church take responsibility for the men who will shepherd Her? What role should the Church play in training them?
2 Tim. 2:2 The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
Soldiers Work | 2 Tim. 2:4-7
Andrew Dionne
Ministry is hard work—you don’t get to live as an ordinary civilian. The Lord enlisted you and now you are on duty serving as His soldier. This is more than the work of preaching—it’s the work of constantly shepherding, counseling, rebuking, and praying for God’s people. This work never stops coming. How do pastors remain faithful when they come to the limits of their own strength? How do pastors give to their wife and children when the people of God have left them exhausted?
2 Tim 2:4-7 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. 5 Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. 7 Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
Soldiers Fight | 2 Tim. 2:3-4
Brian Bailey
Ministry is warfare. Warfare means fighting. There’s no ministry without conflict. Yet many church officers who engage in battle every day in their occupations outside the church are consciously or subconsciously opposed to conflict within the church. Why? In what condition will this tactical error leave the church and her sheep? Why are we scandalized by conflict among the sinners who make up each congregation?
2 Tim. 2:3-4 Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
Soldiers Suffer | 2 Tim. 2:3
Tim Bayly
Our ministry as pastors and elders is to join our Lord in His suffering for the sake of His bride. This suffering for love of the Church takes many forms, but any faithful soldier will find it unavoidable. The pastor who avoids suffering simply cannot be faithful to his calling. How can pastors prepare their hearts for the pain and trouble that God will send their way in the course of ministry? Is love the answer?
2 Tim. 2:3 Suffer hardship with me...
Tim Bayly
Ministry is warfare. Pastors are soldiers enlisted by the Lord: "Suffer hardship as a good soldier of Christ Jesus." Men who fight, command, and lead aren’t popular today, but the pastor isn’t working for popularity with women and men. He only has eyes for God. So he humbles himself to fight, but it’s hard not to pick the wrong battles with the wrong enemies at the wrong times. Fighting takes the sort of wisdom that develops with time. Through an exposition of 2 Timothy 2:1-7, Tim will lay the groundwork for understanding ministry as warfare.
2 Tim. 2:1-7 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 3 Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. 5 Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. 7 Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
Soldiers Must Be Trained | 2 Tim. 2:2
Stephen Baker
No military officer sends his soldiers into battle without first putting them through bootcamp. The Church needs pastors for the warfare of ministry, but those pastors need training. More is at stake in ministry than in warfare—the casualties are eternal souls—so the Church’s training of her shepherd had better exceed the rigor of the training of the armed forces. How should the Church take responsibility for the men who will shepherd Her? What role should the Church play in training them?
2 Tim. 2:2 The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
Soldiers Work | 2 Tim. 2:4-7
Andrew Dionne
Ministry is hard work—you don’t get to live as an ordinary civilian. The Lord enlisted you and now you are on duty serving as His soldier. This is more than the work of preaching—it’s the work of constantly shepherding, counseling, rebuking, and praying for God’s people. This work never stops coming. How do pastors remain faithful when they come to the limits of their own strength? How do pastors give to their wife and children when the people of God have left them exhausted?
2 Tim 2:4-7 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. 5 Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. 7 Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
Soldiers Fight | 2 Tim. 2:3-4
Brian Bailey
Ministry is warfare. Warfare means fighting. There’s no ministry without conflict. Yet many church officers who engage in battle every day in their occupations outside the church are consciously or subconsciously opposed to conflict within the church. Why? In what condition will this tactical error leave the church and her sheep? Why are we scandalized by conflict among the sinners who make up each congregation?
2 Tim. 2:3-4 Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
Soldiers Suffer | 2 Tim. 2:3
Tim Bayly
Our ministry as pastors and elders is to join our Lord in His suffering for the sake of His bride. This suffering for love of the Church takes many forms, but any faithful soldier will find it unavoidable. The pastor who avoids suffering simply cannot be faithful to his calling. How can pastors prepare their hearts for the pain and trouble that God will send their way in the course of ministry? Is love the answer?
2 Tim. 2:3 Suffer hardship with me...
SPEAKER BIOS
Rev. Stephen Baker
Stephen Baker has served as the dean and lead instructor of New Geneva Academy since 2005. He has been an associate pastor of Trinity Reformed Church since 2003. In 2001 Stephen completed a Master of Ministry degree from the Reformed Baptist Pastoral Training Institute of Worcester, Massachusetts. Stephen is married to Sebra, and they have six sons and four grandchildren. 
Elder Brian Bailey
Mr. Bailey serves as an elder at Trinity Reformed Church in Bloomington, IN and works as a lawyer. In 2010, Governor Mitch Daniels appointed Brian as Commissioner to lead the state agency responsible for administering property tax reforms. Brian’s duties included issuing budget orders for local governments totaling $6 billion annually and deciding other property-tax issues and disputes. Beginning in 2013, Brian served as Tax and Fiscal Policy Advisor to Governor Mike Pence. Governor Pence soon promoted Brian to serve as his State Budget Director, making him responsible for stewarding the state’s tax revenues and developing and managing a $30 billion annual state budget. Brian was a member of the Governor’s cabinet and served on the Governor's senior staff. |
Rev. Tim Bayly
Tim Bayly has been senior pastor of Trinity Reformed Church since 1996. He’s vice president of New Geneva Academy, a pastoral training school where he’s been an instructor since 2005. He has the MDiv from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and in 1983 was ordained by John Knox Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to serve First and Rosedale Presbyterian Churches in Wisconsin. In 1991, along with his congregation, Tim transferred into the Presbyterian Church in America, where he served on his presbytery’s Shepherding Committee and the General Assembly’s Ad Interim Study Committee on Women in the Military. From 1996 to 2000 Tim was executive director of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. His books include Daddy Tried, The Grace of Shame, Church Reformed, and Elders Reformed. He also writes and podcasts at Warhorn Media. Tim is married to his childhood sweetheart, Mary Lee; they have five children and twenty-seven grandchildren. 
Rev. Dr. Andrew Dionne
Andrew Dionne began his current pastorate at Trinity Presbyterian Church (Evangel Presbytery) back in 2011. From 2004 to 2011, Andrew served as a pastor at Christ the Word Church (Toledo, OH). Andrew received his MDiv from Covenant Theological Seminary in 2004 after earning a doctorate in music composition from Indiana University in 2003. In addition to his work as a pastor, he is a former moderator of Evangel Presbytery. He and his wife, Sarah, have been married for twenty-two years and have six children. |
SCHEDULE
Wednesday, October 6
600 PM Registration
700 PM Session 1 (Tim Bayly)
830 PM Meet & Greet
Thursday, October 7
800 AM Continental Breakfast
900 AM Session 2 (Stephen Baker)
+ Women's Breakout Session
1030 AM Session 3 (Andrew Dionne)
1200 AM Lunch
130 PM Session 4 (Brian Bailey)
300 PM Free Time, grab dinner on your own
700 PM Session 5 (Tim Bayly)
815 PM Panel Discussion w/ Tim & MaryLee Bayly, Max & Annie Curell, Stephen & Sebra Baker (Andrew Dionne, moderator)
[Friday, October 8]
830 AM Coffee & Light Breakfast
900 AM Evangel Presbytery Meeting
1200 PM Lunch
100 PM Presbytery Resumes
500 PM Presbytery Adjourns
600 PM Registration
700 PM Session 1 (Tim Bayly)
830 PM Meet & Greet
Thursday, October 7
800 AM Continental Breakfast
900 AM Session 2 (Stephen Baker)
+ Women's Breakout Session
1030 AM Session 3 (Andrew Dionne)
1200 AM Lunch
130 PM Session 4 (Brian Bailey)
300 PM Free Time, grab dinner on your own
700 PM Session 5 (Tim Bayly)
815 PM Panel Discussion w/ Tim & MaryLee Bayly, Max & Annie Curell, Stephen & Sebra Baker (Andrew Dionne, moderator)
[Friday, October 8]
830 AM Coffee & Light Breakfast
900 AM Evangel Presbytery Meeting
1200 PM Lunch
100 PM Presbytery Resumes
500 PM Presbytery Adjourns