Engaging culture

Voices of the EFCA: A Call for Bold Clarity with Scott Sterner

Amid a post-Christian cultural moment, ReachNational is anchoring in the reasons we exist.

We’d all agree—we want to see more people shaped into the likeness of Jesus through EFCA churches. Across the movement, Free Churches are making significant strides toward the Great Commission. Yet, as we pursue making disciples together, we might feel a gravitational pull toward quick and easy solutions to transform lives. I’m certain God has called us to deeper, joy-filled and relational disciplemaking.

That’s why it’s a pleasure to introduce you to Scott Sterner, EFCA executive vice president of national ministries. In his article below, "A Call for Bold Clarity," Scott articulates a clear picture of how ministry can look moving forward. 

Scott has served in the EFCA for decades, starting in pastoral ministry in Iowa and then as a church planter in Wisconsin. He later served as an associate superintendent with the Forest Lakes District and brought valuable leadership to EFCA ReachNetwork. Scott shares the EFCA’s values and convictions that continue to prove effective as we move toward the fulfillment of our mission.

Recently, Scott and I talked about his history with the EFCA, his encouragement for pastors and his vision for national ministries. I invite you to take a moment to watch our interview and read Scott’s article, calling us to bold clarity. 

With joyful hope, 

Carlton P. Harris, Acting President 

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A Call for Bold Clarity (by Scott Sterner)

Whether we admit it or not, our lives are deeply influenced by the relationships and experiences of our past. If you reflect for a moment, I’m sure you can name a family member, church leader or specific ministry that has significantly influenced—and continues to influence—your life. While looking back might stir difficult memories, it also reminds us how God works in our circumstances to shape us for our role in the kingdom.

For me, I trace a thread of influence back to the early 1980s, when God’s work through faithful EFCA believers gave me a vision for a life transformed by the gospel and prepared for mission and service.  

My discipleship journey 

My EFCA story began in middle school, after my brother came to faith through the youth ministry at Kearney Evangelical Free Church (EFCA) in Kearney, Nebraska. His transformation led me to join a Bible study, and on November 11, 1985, I prayed to accept Christ as my Savior, a milestone recorded in my first Bible. 

While my discipleship journey is unique, it is but one drop in the vast ocean of stories that begin with Jesus and spread from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.

From there, God blessed me with numerous mentors and friends who taught me how to both know the fullness of God through Christ (Eph 3:19) and respond by offering my life to Him as a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1). Before my junior year of college, even after getting married and transferring to study engineering, I couldn’t shake the sense of a deeper calling.  

After much prayer and counsel, I switched my major to music and spent the next 16 years in worship ministry—12 of them at Parkview EFC in Iowa City—before joining several friends to plant EFCA churches in Madison, Wisconsin. From there, I added roles with the Forest Lakes District and ReachNetwork (the EFCA’s church planting ministry), and in June 2024, God led me to my new role as the EFCA executive vice president of national ministries.

While my discipleship journey is unique, it is but one drop in the vast ocean of stories that begin with Jesus and His disciples and spread, by the power of the Holy Spirit, from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Your journey to faith in Jesus, investment in the local church and unique role in God’s kingdom are all tied back to faithful people who lived out the Great Commission. These are the stories we live out together as “one EFCA.” 

Back to our foundation 

As I consider my next step in ministry, I am struck by the tension of our post-Christian culture. The days of “just add water” church growth strategies and overflowing Bible colleges are behind us. While some church leaders might be tempted to address today’s challenges with new campaigns or strategies, I am reminded of both my own faith journey and the story of the EFCA. Though there’s value in systems, our cultural moment calls us back to a stronger foundation, to the reasons we exist, to the stories that shaped us.  

When the EFCA was founded in 1950, the Swedish and Norwegian-Danish Free Churches came together with two overarching goals: 1) to unite around a shared Statement of Faith and 2) to partner to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth. While I grieve with you over the current divisions in our culture, I also believe the EFCA is uniquely positioned to showcase a counter-cultural picture of love and unity. 

Those two original goals of the movement will continue to guide ReachNational as we seek to serve EFCA districts, churches and leaders toward glorifying God by multiplying transformational churches among all people.

1. Guarding the essentials  

ReachNational is committed to discipleship around the gospel essentials. Like the faithful people before us, we are devoted to the inerrancy of Scripture, the centrality of the gospel and creating pathways for multiplying both across the movement.

The good news of Jesus not only gives us a new identity as ambassadors, but also a new calling to spread His ministry of reconciliation to our neighbors and the ends of the earth.

Through the EFCA’s renewed partnership with Trinity International University, we celebrate the emergence of church-based residencies and internships that utilize TIU’s 14 certificate programs, covering everything from theological studies to bioethics. Similarly, EFCA GATEWAY provides accessible theological training for all people through multilingual cohorts built around the EFCA Statement of Faith. These and other courses equip church leaders for ministry and strengthen credentialing pathways.

At EFCA One 2023 in Fullerton, California, we also celebrated the first graduating class of Prepared, the EFCA’s two-year, gospel-centered equipping program for women. By God’s grace, we’re seeing more female leaders equipped to fulfill their ministry calling and support the work of the Church.  

2. Prioritizing mission  

The good news of Jesus not only gives us a new identity as ambassadors, but also a new calling to spread His ministry of reconciliation to our neighbors and the ends of the earth (2 Cor 5:16-21). In ReachNational, we are committed to advancing this same pattern of gospel multiplication. 

One example of this is found in ReachStudents through Apex Missions, who are “helping students take the next step in God’s call to advance the gospel from here to everywhere.” Through short-term mission trips and training, Apex challenges students to embrace their calling to make disciples among all people.  

ReachNetwork is also multiplying gospel pathways through quality systems of assessment, training, coaching and care for church planters. Our goal is not only to plant new churches, but to also plant planters (couples and teams) who are trained, loved and supported in establishing transformational congregations that continue to multiply disciples, leaders and churches.  

More recently, the ReachNetwork team has been developing clearer pathways to help existing churches increase their participation in this vital work of church planting, and we’re excited to share more soon about how every EFCA church can partner in these efforts. 

3. Upholding the “one EFCA" vision 

From the earliest chapters of the EFCA story, an overarching theme has been unity: identity in the gospel, partnership around the Statement of Faith and collaboration in a shared mission. Under Kevin Kompelien and now Acting President Carlton Harris, the vision of “one EFCA”—local, regional, national and international ministries working together toward common ministry objectives with shared values and trusting relationships—continues to bind us together. 

In recent years, ReachGlobal staff have partnered with ReachNational, EFCA districts and local churches toward missionary mobilization and all-nations ministry opportunities within the United States. For example, multiple ReachNational and ReachGlobal ministries—Crisis Response, Immigrant Hope, the All People Initiative and others—are working with Refuge Church (EFCA) in Houston, Texas, to share the love of Jesus with Afghan refugees and other displaced immigrants in one of the most diverse cities in the country. 

EFCA Family: In light of our current cultural moment, let’s look back to our roots. Amid a world rife with division and controversy, let’s reflect on the convictions that have united us from the beginning.

Also in the All People Initiative, Disability and Special Needs Ministry leaders are working with districts and churches to integrate people with disabilities and special needs into every aspect of the local church, both here in the U.S. and around the globe. Immigrant Hope also continues to help EFCA churches reach growing immigrant populations with the gospel through low-cost immigration legal services. Gospel unity shines when congregations make space for people on the margins, to “speak out on behalf of the voiceless, and for the rights of all who are vulnerable” (Prov 31:8 CEB). 

A call for bold clarity 

EFCA Family: In light of our current cultural moment, let’s look back to our roots. Amid a world rife with division and controversy, let’s reflect on the convictions that have united us from the beginning. As cultural norms and beliefs grow increasingly at odds with biblical truth, let’s remember the people and relationships God used to transform us for His kingdom. While our current reality may lead some to despair, I believe it is a powerful opportunity for the light of Christ to shine even more brightly in the darkness (John 1:5)—and to anchor the next generation of disciples and disciplemakers in gospel unity and mission.

The challenges of our time call for bold clarity. They urge us to embrace gospel essentials with renewed fervor, leading to mission multiplication and counter-cultural unity. As we do this, we pray others would see our good works —which flow from our common salvation and faith (Jude 3)––and give glory to God (Matt 5:16). 

Let us seize this moment with hope and courage, trusting that God is at work in and through us to make His glory known. Together, we can be a beacon of His love and truth in a world that desperately needs both. 

*All biblical references are ESV unless noted otherwise. 

Voices of the EFCA is a publication from Acting EFCA President Carlton Harris, highlighting stories, vision and leadership from around the movement. If you would like to receive the "Voices of the EFCA" monthly e-newsletter to your inbox, subscribe here.

This article was included in the 2024 edition of The Movement, our annual print publication highlighting stories of God at work within the Evangelical Free Church America. To view and order copies of The Movement for your congregation, click here.

Carlton P. Harris

Acting President, EFCA

Carlton started ministry in 1981 as a pastoral intern at First Evangelical Free Church in Wichita, Kansas, and has spent 40 years in church leadership. He began his role at the EFCA national office leading the ReachNational division in September 2021 and was named acting president of the EFCA in April 2024. He and his wife, Carol, are members at New Hope Church in New Hope, Minnesota.

Scott Sterner

Executive Vice President of National Ministries, EFCA

In June 2024, Scott Sterner assumed the role of executive vice president of national ministries for the EFCA. Scott has more than 20 years of pastoral experience within two EFCA churches, as well as more than a decade of service in church planting and leadership roles with the EFCA Forest Lakes District and ReachNetwork—the collaborative, district-based church planting effort of the EFCA. Scotts holds a master's degree in theological studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and attends Door Creek Church (EFCA) in Madison, Wisconsin. Scott and his wife Carrie have five children and four grandchildren.

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