Philosophy of Ministry

October 24, 2021January 19, 2023Kirk E. Miller

The following is my philosophy of ministry, originating as an assignment submitted to Martin R. Crain in partial fulfillment for the course PT 7460 MDiv Capstone Seminar, and eventually developed into its next iteration as an official document for South City Church, and eventually now its final form as a foundational document for CrossWay Community Church.

In addition, I’ve attached CrossWay’s Purpose & Pursuits that covers the same general content but in a more popular format for use in things like our membership class.

Philosophy of Ministry (updated 1/2023)Download

Link to audio recording.

Purpose & Pursuits Download

The Trellis and the Vine (Recommended Book)

September 15, 2021December 10, 2023Kirk E. Miller

“This is the best book I’ve read on the nature of church ministry.” – Mark Dever

“If I could put only one new book into the hands of every person preparing for ministry today, The Trellis and the Vine would be it. … In fact, it’s so good that I want every leader and pastoral intern in our church to read it!” – David Helm

The Helvetic Confession’s High View of Preaching

September 10, 2021September 10, 2021Kirk E. Miller

“The preaching of the Word of God is the Word of God. Wherefore when this Word of God is now preached … we believe that the very Word of God is proclaimed, and received by the faithful … and that now the Word itself which is preached is to be regarded, not the minister that preaches….”
—The Second Helvetic Confession (Chapter I)

“Concerning the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven which the Lord gave to the apostles … all properly called ministers possess and exercise the keys or the use of them when they proclaim the Gospel; that is, when they teach, exhort, comfort, rebuke, and keep in discipline the people committed to their trust. For in this way they open the Kingdom of Heaven to the obedient and shut it to the disobedient. … Christ’s ministers discharge the office of an ambassador in Christ’s name, as if God himself through ministers exhorted the people to be reconciled to God. … Therefore, they excercise the keys when they persuade [men] to believe and repent. Thus they reconcile men to God. Thus they remit sins.”
—The Second Helvetic Confession (Chapter XIV)

“Ministers, therefore, rightly and effectually absolve when they preach the Gospel of Christ and thereby the remission of sins, which is promised to each one who believes, … and when they testify that it pertains to each one peculiarly. … The remission of sins in the blood of Christ is to be diligently proclaimed, and that each one is to be admonished that the forgiveness of sins pertains to him.”
—The Second Helvetic Confession (Chapter XIV)

Thinking Biblically about Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, & “Cultural Marxism” (CrossWay Milwaukee Training Seminar)

May 22, 2021May 22, 2021Kirk E. Miller

In this one-day Training Seminar lead, we examined some of the core framework, analytics, and ideologies that serve much of our culture’s current political and social justice engagement. The aim is to look at these things from a Biblical perspective with the goal of better equipping ourselves to navigate the climate in which we live.

Due to the unfortunate volatile and seemingly unproductive nature of current public discourse around these matters, I have decided not to make this material open to the public. However, if you would like to request a copy of my notes for this Training Seminar, you can email my church here.

CrossWay Milwaukee Baptism Class

November 3, 2020Kirk E. Miller

The following is a playlist of videos working through CrossWay’s Baptism Class material (updated 11/2020). More videos will be added to the playlist as the class proceeds.

View full playlist.

The consistent pattern throughout the New Testament is that those who believe in Jesus get baptized. In this way, baptism serves as something of an identifier of those who follow Jesus and have been united to Him by faith. This online video series covers the material from our Baptism Class. If you are a professing believer who has not yet been baptized, we highly encourage you to join us for this class to learn more about baptism and consider taking this step. This class is required at CrossWay for those seeking to be baptized and join the church through baptism.