Meeting Transcripts

‍Rev. Sola Adesope | March 7, 2025

‍Download the presentation slides.

Opening Remarks

Thank you

It’s been so wonderful to have all of you here for our Winter Tabernacle Meetings and our Ministers’ Meeting this morning. Thank you all for coming, and may God bless each and every one of you. Our fellowship means so much to us. This is one way to know the Apostolic Faith: we are, like Brother Ted Friesen wrote in his song, “Together, Together, Together.” We are one.

Considering this is the very first meeting that I will stand before you, I want to use this opportunity to say a big “thank you!” Thank you for all your prayers. Thank you for all your support. We feel those prayers—not only myself, but Tolu would want me to say “thank you” too, and our children. Thank you so much. It’s a great privilege to serve God with all of our saints all over the world. To the wonderful group of ministers who are here this morning, and the many around the globe who are joining through the live webcast or the video archive, thank you for being a part of this.

Agenda

We have four different sessions for this ministers’ meeting. With God’s help, I will take the first and the last sessions, which will be “The Role of a Minister” and “Questions and Answers.” Brother Bill McKibben, our pastor in Seattle, Washington, will take the second session on “Financial Stewardship,” while Brother John Baros, our pastor from Medford, Oregon, will take the third session on “Church Services and Their Purpose.” This year, we printed copies of the slides in case you want to make notes. For those who are not here, the slides and the document produced by the Board of Directors will be posted on Ministers’ page of our website.

We will have ten-minute breaks between sessions one and two, and between sessions two and three. There will be no need for a break after session three, just as Brother Darrel did it last year (I’m still hiding under “just as Brother Darrel did it”). We plan to finish by 12:20 to give us time to walk to the Fellowship Lodge, where we will be able to have lunch and a great time of fellowship together. All your spouses are invited to join us for lunch, and we will also have an opportunity to say thanks to all the people who prepared the meal.

The Role of a Minister

Until the Lord returns, I think part of my responsibility will always be to talk about who a minister of the Apostolic Faith Church is. This information is not new. There will be nothing you hear this morning that will be foreign. This is still the same old-time Gospel. In fact, Brother Earl Phillips taught on exactly this topic in this same place about twelve years ago. In addition, Brother John Musgrave has taught about the same topic that Brother John Baros will speak about, and Brother Darrel and Brother Bill spoke about “Financial Stewardship” back in the 80’s and 90’s, under Brother Carver, Brother Dwight, and Brother Darrel. We are thankful to God that we can maintain the same standard all through the years.

Scriptural foundation

“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.” – John 15:16

“If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.” – 1 Timothy 4:6

“Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” – 1 Timothy 4:12

Part of that verse from 1 Timothy 4:6 says, “Keep the brethren in remembrance of these things.” That is the reason we have gathered here: to remind ourselves of the very same things. This information is not foreign to us. We have learned them over the years. We know who we have learned them from. We just want to continue to remind ourselves of this wonderful heritage that the Lord has given us.

An Apostolic Faith minister

We are called by God. An Apostolic Faith minister is not self-appointed. We do not go out and start telling everybody, “I should be a minister.” We learned from Brother Darrel that if someone does that, it is the very reason he should not be a minister. We are called by God, not by ourselves. No one here became a pastor by writing to the headquarters, submitting their CV or resume, and saying, “Look at me! Am I not good?” No, that is not Apostolic Faith. We do not submit resumes. John 15:16 says, “I have chosen you and ordained you.” This is a calling. We all must be able to point back to times in our lives when God called us. First out of sin, and then into deeper consecration.

For me, I can point back to the 2022 Watch Night service in Pullman, Washington. We were into the early hours of January 1, 2023, just enjoying a wonderful time of fellowship. The Spirit of the Lord was falling at that Watch Night service, and I just began to consecrate my life. I started praying, “Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord to Thee. Take my moments and my days. Let them flow in ceaseless praise. Take my heart, it is Thy own; it shall be Thy royal throne.” I forgot anybody else was even there and I lost control of myself in prayer. It was all about God.

After we got home, my wife said, “It seemed like God was dealing with you at church. It seemed like God was taking you somewhere, and you were on a journey with God.” I said, “Well, I don’t know what is ahead, but I was just laying it all on the altar.” I remember singing on the altar, “Wherever He leads, I’ll go.” I never knew what I was singing about.

As Apostolic Faith ministers, we all must constantly put our lives on the altar. Not only when we’re called, but every single day, as ministers of this great Gospel.

After some email exchanges, Brother Darrel told me, “I need to come see you.” He said he wanted to talk about the future of our church. I thought, Why does he want to see me? Brother Darrel, talk to the Board about the future of the church. I replied to him, “Okay, I’ll take a flight to Portland.” He said no; he wanted to come to Pullman. So I said, “I’ll drive to Portland.” He said no. I said, “Let’s meet halfway,” but he said no.

Brother Darrel insisted that he needed to drive to Pullman, and he did on May 15, 2023. He came with Sister Debbie. As soon as he dropped his suitcase, he said, “Let’s take a ride.” So the two of us took a ride. I can show anyone the place where I was driving when he said, “Here is a letter for you. You are the man.” I said, “Which man?” This call was a struggle for me. But I remembered my consecration from Watch Night, barely five months before. All had been laid on the altar.

We all have a time in our lives when God called us, but the call does not stop there. Every single day, we must put our lives on the altar. We must say, “Lord, wherever You lead, I’ll go. Whatever You want, I’ll do.” I still feel that way today.

We are called. It is a privilege and it is also a great responsibility. We must pass on the torch as brightly as it was given to us. Our ministry is not only about preaching; it is about how we live our lives outside the pulpit. That affects what we can preach and teach. Brother Darrel told us many times, “If you do not pray, don’t give a Bible teaching in your church on ‘Prevailing Prayer.’” Your saints will know that you are hardly at the altars. If they don’t see you at weeknight services, don’t come behind the pulpit and say, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is . . .” (Hebrews 10:25). The book “The Heart of Yale Lectures” says that we cannot separate our character from our message. We can say that they are separate, yet they are one.

An Apostolic Faith minister is a friend of the Bible and knows our church history, doctrines, traditions, and practices. An Apostolic Faith minister also knows what practices or traditions can be changed, and is not one who would fight the pastor over something unimportant. For example, in Anthony Village, Nigeria, we still use an old hymnbook called “Collected Gospel Songs,” which is great. Here in Portland, during tabernacle meetings we use one hymnbook and a different one for services in the sanctuary, and even another one for Tuesday services in the chapel. An Apostolic Faith minister is not one who would fight the pastor over trivial things such as choosing which hymnbook to use. We keep the main thing the main thing.

An Apostolic Faith minister mostly learns vicariously. That means we need to watch. I worked as Brother Soyinka’s secretary, and one day in the 90’s he came into the office on a Saturday and said, “From today on, go drop your clarinet and follow me to the Sunday school round table conference.” He told me, “When you get there, learn. Watch. Don’t get there and raise up your hand and be teaching the elders.” Nobody taught me how to make announcements; I learned by watching. You will see how your pastor does something, and then you do it the same way. If you are a minister and the pastor is on vacation, don’t do something vastly differently while he is gone. That tells the congregation, “I really want to make sure the saints know the pastor is not doing a good job.” That is assuming a role that is not yours. That is not an Apostolic Faith minister. We keep in the middle of the road.

There are lessons learned that are from experience. Wisdom is gained over time and passed down to us from older ministers. Remember that the basics matter. We need to stay grounded in the foundational principles to ensure effective ministry and leadership.

Sermon structure

Read Scripture first. Brother Earl Phillips gave three rules for starting your sermon. He said the first rule is: Read your text. The second rule is: Read your text. And the third rule is: Read your text! There are many theoretical and practical rationales for why this is important. If you start by talking at length about something that has nothing to do with what the Lord has laid on your heart, that is where the mind of your congregation will be. One exception is if you are a guest minister; we’ve always been taught that in that case, you can begin by quickly delivering greetings from your home church. We’ve also been taught by Brother Darrel that it is important to repeat where the text is from, especially for a Bible teaching. If we only give the Scripture location one time, some may miss it, so we say: “Again, I am reading from . . .,” and then everyone can follow along.

Keep sermons concise. A short sermon is better than one that is too long. In the United States, we typically suggest about thirty minutes for a Sunday morning devotional service, but it could be less. We suggest a maximum of twenty minutes on average for an evening evangelistic or revival service. It’s better to leave the congregation wanting more than wishing the sermon were over ten minutes earlier. We’ve been told, “Don’t circle the plane.” If you were on an airplane, how would you feel if it kept circling the airport instead of landing? Just land the plane! We’ve also been told to avoid rambling or “filler content.”

Listen to feedback. It could be from a spouse, a friend, or a fellow minister. Brother Earl Phillips once said that Sister Sylvia gives him the most feedback on his sermons. He also said, “When Sylvia starts scratching her head, it means ‘Earl, you’re going out of bounds.’” When I heard him say that I wondered, Can Brother Earl go out of bounds? All of us must be accountable. We need people we look up to that we can ask, “Please, let me know what I could do differently to improve.”

Encourage, don’t discourage. Preach messages of hope and encouragement. You can preach a message about Hell positively. In fact, we heard some of that yesterday. Hell is in the Bible, so you can preach a message about it. Jesus preached about it even more than Heaven, but the Bible says God is “not willing that any should perish” (2 Peter 3:9). Hell was not meant for man; it was meant for the devil and his angels. Give people hope! We did not pay them to be there; they came out of their love for the Gospel and the nudging of the Holy Spirit. Once they have come, why would we tell them, “None of you will go to Heaven; you are going to Hell.” They need hope.

This is a lift-up Gospel, not a beat-down Gospel. Brother Darrel told us that the saints are beaten down all week long: they were beaten down on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. When they come to church, the last thing they want is another minister beating them down. They want to be lifted up. Even though the Word of God might challenge them, it should be an inspiration to pursue holy living and to reach higher heights and deeper depths of the Gospel. It should not be a rod, as if we would get to the pulpit and start whipping people. No way! We encourage and do not discourage by preaching messages of hope.

Purposeful opening and closing. Most people will remember how we start and how we end our sermons. Illustrations can be very useful here. Many things can be useful in a sermon, but we want to be especially intentional about how we open and how we close. There are practical, theoretical, Biblical, and theological rationales for why this is so important. For one thing, the ending is what people will take to the altars. When Brother Earl Phillips preached, at the closing he would look around and ask inviting questions. “What will you do about this? God wants to help you this morning.” I love that. Extend an invitation to both the sinners and the saints, because the saints also want to pray. The closing is a crucial part of our sermon, and we should never neglect it.

Engage the audience, avoid distractions. Again, don’t go too long in your sermon. I’ve heard some people say, “You folks need to preach longer.” The problem is, here in Portland, some people drive almost an hour to be at service. Some have brought their children. If it is a weeknight, those kids have to go to school in the morning. Many of them are going to work the next day, and some in big cities may need to leave home around 5:30 a.m. to be early to work. If I am a pastor who is privileged to be in full-time ministry, working from the comfort of the parsonage, I should be sensitive to what others are dealing with.

Avoid preaching about specific individuals’ problems from the pulpit. That is dangerous. There are some ministers who want to know too many details about the lives of their congregation members. Personally, I only want to know what God wants me to know, because the moment we know more about a situation, we are mostly precluded. This can also hinder our bond as believers. If you know too many details, then the moment you preach about a related topic, somebody will say, “That was what I told the pastor yesterday.” We want to avoid that.

If several inspirations come late in the sermon, save them for the next time. I heard this from Brother Dwight: “Don’t take all the fishes from the ocean in one day, or else when you go back the next day, there’ll be no more fish.”

Stay within your role. I once heard a minister at his first opportunity to preach on a Sunday morning. In the sermon, he barely scratched the surface of his topic. Then he said, “This is part one of the sermon. I will give you part two another time.” Well, that was what he intended, but he was not the pastor so that was not up to him. It’s a sad story: I never heard part two, and it has been more than twenty years! We all have roles; stay within yours. Don’t take church problems or issues to the saints. They do not want to hear about that. The saints want to be lifted up. They want to hear about Jesus.

Basic do’s and don’ts when preaching

Preach the Gospel, not personal convictions. Stick to Scripture, not personal opinions or preferences. We read in 2 Peter 1:20, “No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.” Don’t get hung up on one thing so that it is the only thing you preach about. If you are always talking about the ladies’ hair, why are you looking at ladies’ hair all the time? Let’s be careful.

Take the shortcut to Calvary. Brother Nolan gave us this advice, and it is true in anything we do. When we testify, if we have not talked about salvation, we have missed Calvary. When we preach, whatever the topic may be, we always take people to Calvary. That is where it all starts, that is where it continues, and that is where it will end. It is possible in a sermon to take people to Calvary and then lead them away again. We don’t want to do that; we want to leave them at Calvary. The Lord will help them there.

Watch the clock. Keep track of time and avoid overly long sermons. Preach a twenty-minute sermon in about twenty minutes. Don’t preach a twenty-minute sermon in forty minutes. Length does not equate depth or impact. Remember that Paul preached a sermon on Mars Hill with just 260 words. Abraham Lincoln’s best-known speech was one of his shortest: The Gettysburg Address. It was less than three minutes and just 272 words. With that, his work was done. Brother Carver said that if you don’t feel the Spirit on your sermon in the first minute or so, make it very, very short.

I love Brother Carver. Recently, I’ve been reading a lot about Brother Ray and Brother Carver. I was told that when people were preaching and Brother Carver would start saying, “Amen, amen. God bless him,” that was great. But when they heard Brother Carver start saying, “God help him,” that meant it was time to close their Bibles! We have to do what Paul did: he took the shortcut to Calvary in every single sermon. He preached Christ crucified.

Be mindful of speech habits. Avoid repetitive phrasing or filler words that distract. If you constantly say, “Umm, umm, umm,” people will know you as “Umm Umm Preacher.”

Stay focused on your message. Avoid getting stuck on a single topic. That is called “hobby-horse preaching.” When that happens, the topic people tend to get stuck on is almost always a minor one. But when you preach about Calvary, there is so much you can cover.

Don’t preach personal convictions as doctrine. Avoid pushing personal opinions on non-essential matters. I’ll use the “Collected Gospel Songs” as an example again. I still have that songbook and I love the songs! When I watch our saints in West and Central Africa or in Southern and Eastern Africa, I love to sing with them from that book. Yet, I must not think that it is the only hymnbook that should be used everywhere. If you are a pastor and you arrive somewhere new, don’t take away all their hymnbooks and say, “I want ‘Collected Gospel Songs.’”

Don’t put hands in pockets or cross your legs. These habits can be seen as casual or distracting. They may suggest to listeners that our preaching is something casual or common for us, when actually it is a humbling experience.

Avoid excessive use of “I.” The focus should be on God and His Word, not the self. This is true even when we give illustrations or anything else. If at the end of our sermon people have learned more about us than about Jesus, may God help us.

Don’t criticize other Bible versions or churches. We focus on our ministry. We do not tear others down.

Avoid political issues. We preach the Gospel, not politics. This is serious. During the last election in the United States, I attended an event for professors and staff of the university where I was working at the time. I heard some of them discussing how their churches had broken apart because their pastors had taken political positions and preached from the pulpit about politics, party membership, and whom people should vote for. One of them asked me, “What about your church?” I laughed. I said, “We are not broken up. We are strong.” They asked me, “Why?” and I said, “Because we preach Christ crucified.” We lift up Jesus! We do not lift up political parties. That is dangerous. I am yet to see a single church where everyone belongs to one political party. Even here in Portland, though nobody here has told me and I have not asked about it, but I can almost tell that people are in different political parties. We leave that to them and God. The moment we get into politics, we divide.

Be cautious with prophecy. Avoid giving certain dates or making speculative claims. Matthew 24:36 says, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”

Don’t rely on questionable sources. Avoid quoting or elevating radio talk shows or celebrities and their unverified claims. Talk about Jesus! Talk about what He has to offer. I know that our young people may connect more easily when we mention a sports personality or other popular topics, but we need to be careful. It is a fine line before we have gone too far. If you do mention something secular as an illustration, move on quickly and talk about Jesus.

Our purpose is to lift up Jesus. We have been taught many times that we don’t want people to leave a service exclaiming, “Oh, what a preacher!” If that happens, we have failed. For musicians, if people leave a service saying, “Oh, what a voice!” that is a failure. We want people to exclaim, “Oh, what a Gospel! What a Savior!”

Preaching is to cause people to fall in love with Jesus, not with the preacher. Be careful of preachers who are always calling attention to themselves. All attention should be on Jesus. Jesus said of Himself, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (John 12:32). Put Jesus as a signpost for people to see. The moment people call attention to themselves, they cause others to fall in love with them rather than Christ. That is a dangerous place.

The prayer life of a minister

The importance of prayer. Prayer strengthens preaching. Our preaching is only as strong as our prayer life. Without prayer, a sermon is just words, lacking Holy Spirit power. We need to lead by example and we must earn the right to preach on prayer by being a person of prayer. It is very important.

Prayer in personal life. There has to be time for personal prayer and meditating on the Word of God. Prayer time with family is very important—with your spouse, or alone if you are single. A consistent prayer life will be evident in our preaching. It is also important that we pray because it is in our hearts to do, not just because people are watching. We should pray with the workers and saints in corporate prayer meetings whenever possible and for as long as possible. We should pray as we work, as we travel, as we counsel, and as we do all the work of the ministry. In other words, as 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray without ceasing.”

Prayer habits for ministers. Being in the prayer room is a habit. Although it can vary around the world, a good minister will strive to be in the prayer room about thirty minutes before meetings. If we ministers do not prioritize prayer, the congregation will not either. After every meeting, let’s spend time on the altars, including helping seekers. A good minister of the Apostolic Faith is a good altar worker. Someone shared with me that Brother Earl Phillips said, “We don’t want to pray to be seen, but we want to be seen praying.” We want the saints to know we are praying, and it’s also good to pray out loud to encourage others. Let them know that God answers prayer.

Praying publicly. When closing in prayer, don’t preach another sermon. People want to pray. Encourage sinners and backsliders, but avoid long-winded prayers. In the mid-service congregational prayer, please leave room for the preacher’s message. Let’s not get in the habit of praying for ten minutes and taking all the “fishes” that the preacher wanted. Don’t preach a sermon when you have been asked to pray a congregational prayer.

Ministerial practices

Praying for the sick. Pray for the sick with much humility. We must not be arrogant; the power for healing is not in our hands but at Calvary, in the Blood of Jesus. When praying for the sick, especially ladies, we do not put our hands on their shoulders or anywhere else except their heads. Brother Darrel said, “Lay your hands lightly.” Think of how much care ladies put into their hair; don’t ruffle a lady’s hair or anyone else’s hair. Remember, healing is not in our hands.

When you pray for the sick, I will suggest you keep that second hand behind your back so it is not flailing around. I like to put the oil on the individual’s forehead, then put that same hand behind my back and lay my other hand very lightly on their head. Don’t shake them around or touch them—especially a lady, because if you are accused of something, what will you say? God help us. Respect personal boundaries. We pray in faith, not by force. Don’t go to pray for ladies in a private setting by yourself; go with other ministers or elders.

Brother Earl Phillips and Brother John Musgrave showed us how to pray for the sick. [A photo shows Rev. Earl Philipps and Rev. John Musgrave laying hands on and praying for a young woman.] This photo is from one of our old magazines.

Setting and respecting boundaries. Boundaries can show our integrity. Boundaries are needed for dealing with everyone, but especially those of the opposite gender. Don’t counsel people behind closed doors or dark rooms. Don’t be a hugger to everyone. I know someone who will hug anyone he sees, including ladies. If you want to hug a lady, hug your wife. Hugging your family members is also okay.

As much as possible, keep your hands to yourself. This will save us from a lot of trouble. We don’t want to be accused of doing something inappropriate. Sometime ago, someone pointed to two people and asked me, “Is that his wife?” and I said, “No.” The next question was, “Why is he holding her hand like that?” This cannot happen. If a lady is not your wife, daughter, or family member, you cannot hold her hand that way.

It is best to sit with your spouse or family members in church. Don’t go sit with another person’s wife, while her husband is by another man’s wife. This is confusing. If a new pastor comes to that church, he will wonder whose wife is whose.

Handling conflicts. Remember to follow Biblical principles. We do not want to compromise our unity. Ministers should never gang up against their pastor. If one minister goes to another saying, “Look at what the pastor did . . .,” little by little they start building momentum against their pastor. That is a dangerous place to be. There’s no blessing in ganging up on your pastor. By the grace of God, I can say I have never been a part of ganging up against any of my pastors, and I’ve had many in my life.

Pastors should also be careful not to gang up against a fellow pastor. When necessary, it is best to report a deviant pastor to leadership—it could be a district superintendent or leaders at headquarters. Pastors should also administer and welcome constructive feedback.

Church attendance. We lead by example in church attendance. Attend all church meetings and support all church events as much as possible. People notice commitment. Be active in your worship: pray upon arrival, sit up front, say “Amen” with sincerity, share your testimony, encourage the faithful, and do all that God would have us to do. Avoid rebuking the dedicated attendees for others’ absence.

Advice for pastors. The church belongs to the people. It is built by their tithes, labor, and dedication. When I was sent to Portland, I arrived at a church that had been here for 118 years before I came. It was built by faithful people; I cannot get here and then beat them down in my preaching.

Let us lead with love. Win the love of the saints—especially the children. Brother Earl Phillips said to pastors, “If you want a church to love you, love their children. Then, the parents and grandparents will love you.”

We had about four young kids under the age of ten in Pullman, and they all wanted to be pastors. They would sometimes ask me questions like, “Is this shoe okay? Could I wear this as a pastor?” That is good—we need more pastors! Don’t dominate the church; love them, inspire them, and train many to become leaders.

Brother Nolan once told me, “I took a chance on many young people.” He did. He started many of our veterans here in preaching. Let’s take a chance on our workers too. Let’s not think that only we can work in the Gospel.

Don’t rush change. Respect traditions; only make changes when necessary and after giving it much time and prayer.

Don’t make the church about you or your own family. Don’t close the church down just because you and your spouse are on vacation. It’s not your church; it is the Apostolic Faith Church. If you need help, tell your district superintendent or your director what you need. They can send a minister.

Build trust. Keep confidences, because once trust is broken, problems spread quickly.

Obtain leadership approval when it is needed. Don’t just tell someone, “I will make you a minister,” before you have approval from your leaders. Always talk to the headquarters leadership or your district superintendent before you approach anyone about becoming a minister. Even if that person has the call of God, check in first. You may not know what the headquarters knows.

Stay positive. Avoid portraying pastoral life as a sacrifice; it is a privilege and a blessing.

The importance of unity. We are united. We will endeavor to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). We will stand together as ministers, shoulder-to-shoulder. True blessings come from our oneness. We are humble as we pray for one another and pass on the torch of unity to the next generation.

At a ministers’ meeting in 1989, Brother Carver said, “We must not be satisfied with the easy street. We must say, ‘God, send a revival.’ And let’s pray that God will do it tonight, and tomorrow night, and every time in our churches everywhere. There have been some signs of that. There has been some moving. God has been working.” I couldn’t say it better than Brother Carver.

Thank you

Thank you so very much for being here. Thank you for your labor of love. God bless you “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20).

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