WOMEN'S BREAKOUT | FULL OF MERCY AND GOOD FRUITS: HOW WOMEN CAN SOW SEEDS OF PEACE IN THE CHURCH
Mrs. Annie Curell
Women are uniquely equipped to either foster or destroy unity in a church. They should use their relational superpowers for good, but the temptations to be divisive are many. This session will encourage women to be on guard against divisiveness and use their relationships to strengthen the peace of the church.

Annie is married to Max, who has been an associate pastor at Trinity Reformed Church in Bloomington since 2002. When she's not hosting or helping Max counsel members of the church, she enjoys listening to history or news podcasts and tending the goats, chickens, flowers, and vegetables on their small family farm. Max and Annie have three children and thirteen grandchildren.

For more information on New Geneva Academy's pastoral training program visit our website: www.newgenevaacademy.com

NGA email sign-up

PLENARY SESSION 2 | JUDE: BUILDING UNITY
Rev. Jeremy Vander Galien
Jude teaches us practical ways to build unity while fighting divisiveness. How are pastors called to strengthen their congregations in faith and love? What encouragement does God give us in this difficult work?

Jeremy has been the senior pastor at Pine Grove Community Church in Rhinelander, WI, since 2015. He co-founded Armis Dei Academy, a Christian classical school, in 2021. He’s been married to Mandi since 2000, and they have eight children and four grandchildren.

For more information on New Geneva Academy's pastoral training program visit our website: www.newgenevaacademy.com

NGA email sign-up

BREAKOUT | UNITY AMONG CHURCHES: HOW TO KILL IT AND HOW TO BUILD IT
Rev. Alex McNeilly
It’s a lot of work maintaining and building unity within our own church. Is it really worth the extra effort to strive for unity with other churches too? Yes! Find out how unity can be fostered among churches, and why it’s so important.

​​Alex is an assistant pastor at Christ Church Cincinnati. Before that he was the pastor of Clearnote Campus Fellowship at Indiana University–Bloomington. He is married to Dani, with whom he is working to sustain a healthy population of redheads in southwestern Ohio.

For more information on New Geneva Academy's pastoral training program visit our website: www.newgenevaacademy.com

NGA email sign-up

BREAKOUT | THE UNITY OF HUMILITY
Rev. Tim Bayly
We pastors are proud. After all, we preach God’s Word and care for immortal souls. No one can say we aren’t very important men. But pride destroys. It sets men against each other. Instead of loving one another, we compete, and this obstructs the pastoral fellowship and co-laboring necessary for fulfilling our calling. Humility is the antidote, but do we want it? And if so, how do we get it? Do we really have to listen to our wives?

​Tim is a member of ​Evangel Presbytery and formerly served as the senior pastor of Trinity Reformed Church in Bloomington, IN. He is the vice president of New Geneva Academy and the author of Daddy Tried, The Grace of Shame, Church Reformed, Elders Reformed, and The Helpful Marriage Book. Tim is married to his childhood sweetheart, Mary Lee; they have five children, many grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

For more information on New Geneva Academy's pastoral training program visit our website: www.newgenevaacademy.com

NGA email sign-up

BREAKOUT | NON-ESSENTIALS THAT DIVIDE
Rev. Stephen Baker
From the beginning, the Church has been prone to factions that have often formed around secondary doctrinal questions. Issues like baptism, eschatology, church government, worship, and church-state relations have caused unneeded division. How can we hold our personal doctrinal opinions on secondary questions while still seeking to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace?

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. Stephen is married to Sebra, and they have six sons and nine grandchildren.

For more information on New Geneva Academy's pastoral training program visit our website: www.newgenevaacademy.com

NGA email sign-up

PLENARY SESSION 1 | JUDE: DEALING WITH THOSE WHO DIVIDE
Rev. Jeremy Vander Galien
Jude spends more than half his short book warning against those who follow "the way of Cain," sowing discord among brothers. How do pastors guard their congregations against these men? And given our own divisive hearts, how do we keep ourselves from the sin of schism?

Jeremy has been the senior pastor at Pine Grove Community Church in Rhinelander, WI, since 2015. He co-founded Armis Dei Academy, a Christian classical school, in 2021. He’s been married to Mandi since 2000, and they have eight children and four grandchildren.

For more information on New Geneva Academy's pastoral training program visit our website: www.newgenevaacademy.com

NGA email sign-up

Women's Breakout | Helpmate to a Dispirited Husband
​Mary Lee Bayly & Sarah Dionne
The pastor has barely enough to give the church and comes home depressed most days. His children and wife only receive the leftover fumes, if any. Sometimes the deteriorating state of her husband’s heart, mind, and faith concerns her. What is the wife to do when the burden of ministry is crushing her husband?

Mrs. Mary Lee Bayly
Mary Lee is the wife of Tim Bayly and has been serving alongside him in ministry for 40 years. She is mother to five and grandmother to 28. She has cared for the women and children of their congregations, including spending many midnight hours as a doula to church mothers. Back in 1992 when the Baylys moved to Bloomington, there was no Christian school for her kids to attend, so she worked to found and served as a board member and principal for a decade of Bloomington’s Lighthouse Christian Academy.

Mrs. Sarah Dionne
Sarah Dionne used to wear high heels and rhinestones, but 24 years ago she traded those in for more sensible attire, so she could marry Andrew Dionne and tackle the raising of their 6 children. This year 2 of her children are off to college, 3 will attend a local Christian school, and 1 will be homeschooled. When she is not doing laundry or packing lunches, she enjoys serving the women at Trinity Presbyterian Church in SC, teaching voice lessons, and reading books way too quickly so she can get to the plot.

For more information on New Geneva Academy's pastoral training program visit our website: www.newgenevaacademy.com

NGA email sign-up

SESSION 5 | "I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28-30)
Pastor Max Curell
Jesus gives rest to the weary soul and the guilty conscience. The pastor's work is to lead others to this rest, but he must remember Christ died for his sins, too.

Pastor David (Max) Curell has served as an Associate Pastor at Trinity Reformed Church in Bloomington, IN since 2002. Max oversees Trinity’s Home Groups and just about every other aspect of church life. Max is married to Annie, and they have three children and thirteen grandchildren.

For more information on New Geneva Academy's pastoral training program visit our website: www.newgenevaacademy.com

NGA email sign-up

SESSION 4 | "I will boast about my weaknesses" (2 Cor. 12:7-10)
Pastor Tim Bayly
The Apostle Paul felt his weaknesses keenly. But he boasted in them, understanding they would only serve to display God's power all the more. This paradoxical truth is good news for the pastor who knows his sins and frailties.

Pastor Tim Bayly is a member of Evangel Presbytery and formerly served as the senior pastor of Trinity Reformed Church in Bloomington, IN. He is the vice president of New Geneva Academy and the author of Daddy Tried, The Grace of Shame, Church Reformed, Elders Reformed, and The Helpful Marriage Book. 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. Tim is married to his childhood sweetheart, Mary Lee; they have five children and twenty-nine grandchildren.

For more information on New Geneva Academy's pastoral training program visit our website: www.newgenevaacademy.com

NGA email sign-up

SESSION 3 | "Conflict without, fears within" (2 Cor. 7:5-6)
Pastor David Abu-Sara
In ministry, a pastor is afflicted within and without for the sake of the Gospel. What are the causes of that affliction? How does a pastor persevere? He looks to God, Who comforts the depressed.

Pastor Dave helped plant Clearnote Church, Indianapolis in 2010 and serves as its pastor. He attended New Geneva Academy in Bloomington, Indiana, and graduated in the spring of 2010. He is married to his lovely wife Vanessa, and they have ten children.

For more information on New Geneva Academy's pastoral training program visit our website: www.newgenevaacademy.com

NGA email sign-up

SESSION 2 | "I alone am left" (1 Kings 19:1-18)
Rev. Joseph Bayly
Sometimes a pastor comes to believe he's alone in his faithfulness, and his work seems futile. The prophet Elijah got to this point, but God corrected and strengthened Him. The pastor receives the same loving correction from God.

Pastor Joseph Bayly and his wife, Heidi, have six children: Tate, Eliza Jane, Moses, Fiona, Annabel, and Peter. He graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in computer science and Ancient Mediterranean studies. He then studied at New Geneva Academy, graduating in 2008. In 2009 he moved with his family to Indianapolis and planted Clearnote Church, Indianapolis with David Abu-Sara. In 2015 he moved his family to Cincinnati, together with several others, to plant Christ Church.

For more information on New Geneva Academy's pastoral training program visit our website: www.newgenevaacademy.com

NGA email sign-up

SESSION 1 | "Scum of the World" (1 Cor. 4:9-13 & 2 Cor. 11:28-29)
Pastor Tim Bayly
When a pastor feels like the scum of the world and the lowest of the low, he shouldn't be surprised. He's walking in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul and the Lord Jesus Christ. God designs the burden of ministry to discipline His men.

Pastor Tim Bayly is a member of Evangel Presbytery and formerly served as the senior pastor of Trinity Reformed Church in Bloomington, IN. He is the vice president of New Geneva Academy and the author of Daddy Tried, The Grace of Shame, Church Reformed, Elders Reformed, and The Helpful Marriage Book. 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. Tim is married to his childhood sweetheart, Mary Lee; they have five children and twenty-nine grandchildren.

For more information on New Geneva Academy's pastoral training program visit our website: www.newgenevaacademy.com

NGA email sign-up

This audio is a lecture by Sebra Baker and Jenna Killingsworth, delivered at New Geneva Academy’s annual shepherds conference. The theme of this year’s conference was Old Paths. As pastors and church leaders, we must walk in the paths of faithful shepherds before us, learning to serve our flocks with care and humility.

Sebra Baker is married to Stephen, associate pastor at Trinity Reformed Church, and Jenna Killingsworth is married to Jody, the senior pastor of Trinity Reformed Church.

These seasoned pastors' wives led a break-out for women. They addressed the old paths women are to follow, particularly focusing on the Holy Spirit’s directions in Titus 2:3-5.

For more information on New Geneva Academy's pastoral training program visit our website: www.newgenevaacademy.com

NGA email sign-up

"Imagine walking into a Roman Catholic Cathedral in 1555. Let’s say you attended mass in the Notre Dame in Paris that year. Before you walk through the doors you are awed by the amazing intricacy of the architecture—flying buttresses, stained glass, gargoyles. You walk through the tall front doors and gaze at the amazingly tall ceilings, ornate stone carvings of men and angels, crucifixes, and various Biblical scenes depicted in stained glass. All of this is a feast for the eyes. You go further into the space and there are the stations of the cross, statues of saints, candles, and relics to be venerated. You see the priests wearing their luxurious outer garments—the chasubles—covered in embroidery, along with their stoles, which announce their sacerdotal status. Then— after all of that—you observe the Liturgy of the High Mass...

Andrew Dionne began his pastorate at Trinity Presbyterian Church in August 2011. He was ordained in the PCA’s Great Lakes Presbytery in Nov. 2004. From 2004 to 2011, Andrew served as a pastor at Christ the Word Church in Toledo, OH. Andrew received his M.Div. in 2004 after earning a doctorate in music composition from Indiana University. He currently serves as president of New Geneva Academy. He and his wife, Sarah, have been married for twenty-three years and have six children.

For more information on New Geneva Academy's pastoral training program visit our website: www.newgenevaacademy.com

NGA email sign-up

The care of souls is a pastor’s responsibility. He must look after each of his sheep. Long before modern psychology, men and women found love, counsel, and life-giving reproof in the Church for this reason.

Pastor Josh Knipp will exhort us to return to historic pastoral care, caring for the souls in our congregation with skill and humility, one by one, at the point of their most serious sins and weaknesses.

Josh Knipp has been the senior pastor of Bloomington Bible Church since 2011. In addition to his work as a pastor, Josh has worked as a professional counselor. He is married to his lovely wife Rachel, and they have four children.

For more information on New Geneva Academy's pastoral training program visit our website: www.newgenevaacademy.com

NGA email sign-up

Part 2: Calvin's View of the Church in the New Testament + Q&A

John Calvin worked ceaselessly to recover old paths of sound doctrine and faithful pastoral care, implementing them in his 16th-century context. As he mined Scripture and church history for wisdom, his life and ministry became a template that has never lost its relevance for the Church.

Dr. Richard Gamble taught us about John Calvin’s understanding of the Church in the Old and New Testaments, how that shaped his life and ministry in Geneva, and how it can shape us as pastors today.

Richard Gamble has served as Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh since 2005. He has served as a pastor and church planter for a number of churches and is currently a minister in the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America. He is a past president of the Calvin Studies Society and has written and edited a tremendous number of books and articles on Calvin, as well as authoring the multi-volume systematic theology The Whole Counsel of God. He and his wife Janice have five daughters and four grandchildren.

For more information on New Geneva Academy's pastoral training program visit our website: www.newgenevaacademy.com

NGA email sign-up

Part 1: Calvin Bio + Calvin's View of the Church in the Old Testament

John Calvin worked ceaselessly to recover old paths of sound doctrine and faithful pastoral care, implementing them in his 16th-century context. As he mined Scripture and church history for wisdom, his life and ministry became a template that has never lost its relevance for the Church.

Dr. Richard Gamble taught us about John Calvin’s understanding of the Church in the Old and New Testaments, how that shaped his life and ministry in Geneva, and how it can shape us as pastors today.

Richard Gamble has served as Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh since 2005. He has served as a pastor and church planter for a number of churches and is currently a minister in the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America. He is a past president of the Calvin Studies Society and has written and edited a tremendous number of books and articles on Calvin, as well as authoring the multi-volume systematic theology The Whole Counsel of God. He and his wife Janice have five daughters and four grandchildren.

For more information on New Geneva Academy's pastoral training program visit our website: www.newgenevaacademy.com

NGA email sign-up

Pastors have trained pastors ever since the Apostle Paul trained Timothy, but in modern times the Church has outsourced much of this work to academic institutions loosely connected to the church. We need to recover older methods.

Pastor Stephen Baker makes the case for a more personal and Church-centered approach to pastoral training from Scripture and history as he shows the damaging effects of a purely academic approach.

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. Stephen is married to Sebra, and they have six sons and a gaggle of grandchildren.

For more information on New Geneva Academy's pastoral training program visit our website: www.newgenevaacademy.com

NGA email sign-up

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...

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. 

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 wives 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. 

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.

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, Pastor Bayly lays the groundwork for understanding ministry as warfare.