Our Ministry Leaders: An Interview with Jay Flowers
Chief Operation Officer | Grace to You
In order to work at Grace to You, men and women must be deacon or deaconess qualified at Grace Community Church. Why is that local church connection essential for the work GTY does?
While Grace to You is neither a church nor a substitute for one, serving the church through John MacArthur’s preaching is central to our mission. That is built into our purpose statement: “Our role is not to supplant the local church’s ministry, but to support it by providing additional resources for those hungering for the truth of God’s Word. We exist to teach biblical truth with clarity, taking advantage of various means of mass communications to expand the sphere of John MacArthur’s teaching ministry.”
For our staff to serve the church effectively and with integrity, it is crucial that we not only belong to a biblically sound church, but specifically that we also sit under John’s teaching. As representatives of and advocates for his ministry, we need to know and affirm what he teaches. Beyond that, we are called, as every Christian is, to live the truth we embrace and proclaim. To that end, our staff members are required to meet the biblical qualifications for deacons and deaconesses—personal character adorns the gospel and makes credible our doctrinal convictions.
Over your years working at Grace to You, what are some ways you’ve seen God use Pastor John’s teaching and the work Grace to You does to strengthen pastors and churches?
The stories we have read and heard of how God has transformed lives through His Word are myriad. Many times, people tell us how a particular sermon of John’s has encouraged, comforted, confronted, or equipped them at just the right time—that kind of direct ministry happening daily through our mass media channels is common. But perhaps the most encouraging feedback comes from church leaders. In some cases, John’s preaching has introduced pastors—or aspiring pastors—to Bible exposition for the first time. In other cases, entire churches have been influenced away from bad theology and unsound doctrine because their pastors were influenced by biblical truth delivered by Grace to You. When we reach a pastor, we reach his entire church. By modeling a faithful, verse-by-verse pulpit ministry, John has served generations of shepherds worldwide and shaped the spiritual expectations and appetites of their congregations.
