Eric Bobbitt

Eric Bobbitt is a pastor of Zionsville Fellowship near Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. With a M.A. in Counseling Psychology and a M. Div. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, he directs the pastoral care and counseling ministries. His service in a variety of settings includes 18 years of pastoral ministry, along with experience in university ministry, substance abuse residential treatment, and public school counseling. He and his wife, Jan, have 5 children ranging in age from 23 to 9 years.

2011 Forum Sessions

Luncheon Workshops

Post-Forum Seminar

Luncheon Workshops

In the World But Not of It: The Christian Family and Culture

Despite biblical teaching and the best of intentions, many Christian families lack the actual manner of living that corresponds to the scriptural pattern. The surrounding culture’s forms, priorities, and values are threatening to shape family more than biblical purposes. To help participants gain a perspective on the pervasive power of culture, a case study of the dynamics and challenges faced by the American family will be briefly presented. Participants will be encouraged to make a basic evaluation of the trends and pressures encountered by the families in their culture in order to call families to faithfulness in your time and place.

Post-Forum Seminar

Developing Leaders in the Local Church

Leadership is crucial at so many levels, whether it be in the family, in small groups, in large or small organizations, schools, athletic teams, neighborhoods, voluntary associations, work crews, or in the church. Leaders provide vision, find direction, inspire, take responsibility for themselves and others, and help move individuals and social groups forward to maturity and effectiveness in life and work. It has been observed that today there exists a vacuum of leadership in “the west.” This affects society at every level. The Scriptures are rich with instruction on the kind of people who lead effectively.

The goal of any Christian ministry is to produce maturity. New Testament study reveals this as a goal for each Christian and each local church. Key in this development is that there be mature people in leadership. Too often this has been sacrificed with unfortunate results. It has been observed that the leadership team is a microcosm of the church—that the church will rise no higher than its leadership. The same is true of para-church organizations and, for that matter, all groups of people, both religious and secular.

Biblical principles, when applied in the lives of people, bring a positive result in both character and “style” of leadership. The Bible has a lot to say about leadership development from the standpoints specific instructions as well as example. The Scriptures direct us as we consider how to develop leaders and also offers guidelines by which we may test the various models of leadership in our present world.

There is no short cut to maturity and there is no short cut to mature leadership. All of us embark on life’s journey with a variety of backgrounds and experiences which affect the progress we make in our growth. One thing is sure, no matter how much we know, or what our spiritual or psychological heritage might be, it takes time to mature.
 

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