Jimmy Stokes and Matt Carter

April 6, 2020

Jimmy Stokes from the Northeast Side Church of Christ and HST’s Matt Carter discuss ministry in the age of online church. Topics covered:

  • Communicate to your church:
    • The church is not the building.
    • We are still together in spirit even if we can’t touch each other.
    • Now we’ve learned another way to reach the world.
  • To encourage people to come back when this is over, make sure it’s something worth coming back to. Example: have an “Easter service” when everyone can come back.
  • Because we’re becoming good at online, we are now able to bring in our people who were already stuck at home.
  • When we take medicine, we are expressing faith. When we practice distance we are expressing faith.
  • Whether we live or die, we are blessed in the Lord.
  • When preaching to your camera with no verbal/non-verbal feedback from the congregation, remember that the Lord is listening and the Hebrews 11 celebrities of faith are cheering you on!
  • God is faithful.
  • Your pastoral skills are needed now more than ever before.
  • Enjoy your family and time at home. Play with your children.

Jimmy L. Stokes II has served as preaching minister at the Northeast Side Church of Christ in Bartlett, TN (metro Memphis) since 2010. Bro. Stokes grew up in the Memphis area and is active in the community on a variety of fronts and creatively engages community issues with faith, serves on the Planning Commission in Horn Lake, MS. God uses both his preaching and his musical talents to bless the church. Stokes earned a B.S. in Religious Studies at Southwestern Christian College. He is married to Akilah (Hill) and they have one daughter, Xaria.

Dr. Matt Carter serves as Director of Admissions at HST. He spent many years in campus ministry before coming to the school. Matt’s current research focuses on the area of spiritual gifts and how churches can help Christians find their fit in the congregation. See the One Body Workshop website for more information.

Harding School of Theology, a graduate school of theology (seminary) in Memphis, TN, has been equipping ministers since 1958. Accredited by the Association of Theological Schools, and offering degree programs at the master’s and doctoral levels, HST equips Christian leaders to higher standards of ministry scholarship and challenges them to a deeper faith in God. Combining academic rigor and interpersonal connections, HST emphasizes student engagement in ministry as they study. HST is associated with Churches of Christ, is part of the Stone-Campbell Movement, and is part of Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas.

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