Special Counsel for Mission and Ministry

Intersections magazine is a publication from the Special Counsel for Mission and Ministry dedicated to highlighting the current spiritual and cultural concerns of the moment. Sign up to receive your own copy. 

Making the Case for Christian Higher Education, Spring 2019

Rethinking Short-Term Missions, Summer 2017

Pursuing Resiliency, Summer 2016

Enlightening the Eyes of our Heart, Winter 2015-2016

Prepared for Christ's Return, Summer 2015

Bolder for the Older, Winter 2015

Lipscomb's annual church fair is held every September in Bison Square where students can engage and interact with college ministers and church representatives to learn more about the different worship and service opportunities available to them, and to provide a potential "church home" during their university experience.

Dr. Carroll Ellis burst onto the Lipscomb scene in 1949. As chair of the department of speech communication, he was noted for his dynamic, passionate classroom presentations and administrative informality. Even though a gregarious “people person,” he never gave easy marks to students to win affection. His passion for debate and love for his students resulted in excellent teams and debaters who went on to become university presidents, Ph.D.s, academic department chairs and preachers. He made learning enjoyable, and communication students achieved new levels of excellence under his leadership. Dr. Ellis retired in 1989, and a series of lectures to be presented every other year were developed in his honor under the guidance of a former student, Dr. David Thomas.

Several of the lecture series have been turned into books available for purchase:

• Answered By Fire: The Cane Ridge Revival Revisited, 2022--see HERE.
• Faithful Defiance: Marshall Keeble's Life and Legacy, 2025--see HERE.

A lecture occurred in April of 2025, "The Struggle for the Soul of the Church of Christ: 1889-1929" featuring this discussion: In the closing decades of the nineteenth century, the Restoration Movement underwent a wrenching division that formed two distinct churches: Churches of Christ and the Christian Churches/Disciples of Christ. Among Churches of Christ, the division was followed by several decades of internal identity-forming controversy. Who would define their new identity? The landscape became a “wild democracy,” where various parties pressed their case for what comprised the true New Testament pattern of the church. Three traditions emerged and competed for predominance:

• The “Texas tradition” (Austin McGary, R. L. Whiteside, Foy Wallace Jr)
• The “Nashville tradition” (James Harding, David Lipscomb, J. N. Armstrong)
• The “Indiana tradition” (Daniel Sommer and his followers)

By about 1930, after three decades of intense controversy, something close to a core doctrinal consensus was emerging. It was epitomized in five small volumes entitled Sound Doctrine (1920–25), by C. R. Nichol and R. L. Whiteside and four volumes of N. B. Hardeman’s Tabernacle Sermons (1922ff). Speakers were: John Mark Hicks, Leonard Allen, Edward Robinson, Shelley Jacobs, Bobby Valentine, and others.

Starting a Good Samaritan Fund

Policy and Guidelines

Printable Lesson Plans 

• "The Great Debate: The Sinner's Prayer and Believer's Baptism"
• CHRISTeens Covenant

Best Hiring Practices for Churches 

• Initial Phone Interview Questions
• Taking the Perspiring Out of Hiring
• Releasing an Employee the Right Way

Weekend Seminars

Lipscomb has many offerings when it comes to educating others, both spiritually and academically. We are honored to share this wealth of talent and resources with churches and organizations. The Special Counsel for Mission and Ministry can be directly involved in working with your church for a seminar or leadership consulting. Contact Scott Sager for more information at scott.sager [at] lipscomb.edu (scott[dot]sager[at]lipscomb[dot]edu) and see how we can assist with your church's needs collectively or one-on-one with your leadership staff.