On Thursday, April 26, 2018, WSC was privileged to welcome Rev. Lance Lewis from Soaring Oaks PCA in Elk Grove, CA for several engagements on campus. Rev. Lewis gave a WSC chapel message, titled “Grace For The Journey” from Eph. 1:3-14, in which he focused on the importance and necessity of relying upon and returning to the blessedness of God's grace over and over again throughout our lives and ministry.
Rev. Lewis also gave a lunch seminar titled “Moving Forward: God's Call for Redemptive Ethnic Unity,” which was packed to capacity as students, faculty, alumni, staff and members of local churches attended, listened, and asked questions. His presentation included an historical overview of why we must move forward in more faithfully pursuing and realizing ethnic unity, as those redeemed in Christ. This overview included various regrettable examples from early American and Presbyterian history, the period of chattel slavery, the civil rights era, and in more recent decades. Rev. Lewis also presented a Biblical Call to Redemptive Ethnic Unity, in which he identified various OT promises for unity among ethnic groups which were promised in the Christ who was to come. This included an identification of OT Scripture predicting that Christ’s kingdom would encompass people from all ethnicities (Ps. 72) and promising the actual unity of these peoples. (Micah 4:1-3)
He also discussed one of the results of Christ's command is tangible redemptive ethnic unity within the local church (John 17:20-21) and that the Apostle Paul declared that tangible ethnic unity was a core aspect of the Gospel and its application (Eph. 2:11-3:7).
Many attendees and student asked great questions and expressed sincere appreciation for Rev. Lewis' time and thoughts while at WSC.
Rev Lewis will also be speaking Friday and Saturday at the Mission to the World West Coast Conference at New Life Fullerton in Fullerton, CA.
Rev. Lance Lewis was born and raised in Philadelphia where he graduated from Temple University. He' s been married to his dear wife Sharon for 33 years and they have two children, Sarah and Charles. He's served within the PCA for nearly 30 years most of which in a pastoral capacity. He presently serves as the pastor of Soaring Oaks Presbyterian Church in Elk Grove, CA where he's been for nearly five years.
By God's grace and providence the Lord has called Rev. Lewis into a ministry that highlights the beauty, importance and relevance of redemptive ethnic unity which is the tangible, observable unity God has called His people in Christ to experience and enjoy across ethnic & socio-economic lines within the local church as a direct result of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Along with speaking to his denomination and other churches about this important issue, Rev. Lewis has contributed to the following books which address the topic; Aliens in the Promised Land: Why Minority Leadership is Overlooked in White Christian Church and Institutions (May, 2013 Crossway Press) Heal Us, Emmanuel: A Call For Racial Reconciliation, Representation and Unity In the Church (May 2016 White Black Bird Books) and All Are Welcome: Toward a Multi-Everything Church (forthcoming from White Black Bird Books).
